The Hippo: March 16, 2017

FEATURED FOOD

Going Gourmet

Gourmet Food Festival Features 20 Local Vendors

Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)

Images: Courtesy Photo

 

 

A cocktail party-style event featuring samples of food, wine and spirits from about 20 local restaurants and beverage vendors, the 29th annual Gourmet Festival will be held on Sunday, March 19, at Nashua Country Club.

The event is a fundraiser for the Front Door Agency and will include games, raffles and silent and live auctions.

“The feedback we get year after year from people who go to multiple events like this is that they love the flow of it,” Media Relations Manager Lucie Bryar said. “You aren’t sitting down the whole time like the typical rubber-chicken dinner.”

This year’s tasting welcomes longtime participants like MT’s Local Kitchen & Wine Bar of Nashua and Frederick’s Pastries of Amherst and Bedford, plus some newcomers like Big Kahunas Cafe and Grill of Merrimack.

Most restaurants offer dishes that are “not everyday fare,” Bryar said, and are either new or specially prepared for the Gourmet Festival.

“The fun of the festival is that we never know quite what to expect, but we have never been disappointed,” Bryar said. “We had a tuna tartare last year, steak tartare on crostini, some gourmet meatballs with specialty sauces that were amazing, tasty risotto and lamb and a chocolate mousse dessert.”

The beverage vendors will also offer signature drinks created for the event. For example, Bryar said, Southern Wine & Spirits of New England will be offering a special martini, a

“Cowardly Lion’s Courage” Manhattan and an infusion drink using the new Baileys Almande, an almond milk-based Baileys.

Attendees will have the opportunity to talk directly with some of the chefs and beverage producers as they make their way around the tasting.

“That’s one of the unique appeals that’s really kind of cool,” Bryar said. “The chefs are right there for people to engage them in conversation and ask about where they source their ingredients or ask about a new menu item.”

While the tasting is going on, there will be opportunities to bid on silent auction items, and later that evening there will be a live auction and a brief program about The Front Door

Agency’s mission. Proceeds from the event will benefit families in the greater Nashua area that are facing homelessness.

 

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Gourmet Festival

When: Sunday, March 19, 4 to 8 p.m.
Where: Nashua Country Club, 25 Fairway St., Nashua
Cost: $85 per person
Visit: frontdooragency.org/events/gourmet-festival
Participating Vendors: 110 Grill, Bertucci’s, Big Kahuna, Burton’s Grill, Celebrations Catering, Cruzin’ Cakes, Fratello’s, Frederick’s Pastries, LaBelle Winery, MT’s Local Kitchen/Surf/Buckley’s Great Steaks, Nashua Community College, Nashua Country Club, Not Your Average Joe’s, Pine State Beverage, Riverside Barbeque, Southern Wine and Spirits of New England, Stella Blu, Whole Foods Nashua, You You Japanese Bistro

FEATURED NEWS

Weaseling Out

Where Have All The Fishers Gone?

Written By Ryan Lessard (news@hippopress.com)

Images: Courtesy Photo

 

 

The state’s population of fishers — the weasel often mischaracterized as a “fisher cat” — has dwindled significantly in recent years and wildlife experts say there are multiple factors behind the shift, from disease to a losing turf war with other animals.

 

How We Know

Conservation officials don’t have any hard data on the fishers’ population or any means of arriving at a reliable estimate, like they have for some other species, according to Fish and Game wildlife biologist Patrick Tate.

“It’s very costly to acquire population estimates,” Tate said.

Instead, the best data regarding changes in fisher population are derived from trapping numbers. Looking just at how many animals are trapped is misleading on its own since that can fluctuate based on market demand for furs and the number of people engaged in trapping. To overcome this limitation, Tate uses a formula to arrive at what’s called the catch per unit effort index, which counts catches per traps per 100 nights.

Based on this model, fisher numbers have decreased steadily for most of the past decade.

In response to this, Tate said, the limit on trapping licenses was lowered to 450 for the 2015-2016 season. It was about 550 for the past few years.

The reduction is also evident anecdotally to folks who’ve been observing local wildlife for the past several years, like naturalist Dave Anderson with the New Hampshire Forest Society.

He said the biggest decrease can be seen in the northern parts of the state.

“The decrease in New Hampshire fisher populations has not been as marked in southeast New Hampshire,” Anderson said.

Causes

Anderson believes one of the biggest contributing factors to shrinking fisher numbers in the White Mountains area and north of the mountains is the success of other animals like bobcats and the fisher’s weasel cousin, the pine marten.

Bobcats and martens are antagonistic to fishers. While fishers hunt for similar prey as martens — mostly small mammals like rodents and hares — martens prefer more forested and higher-altitude areas and, unlike fishers, they can hunt beneath the deep snow in the White Mountains.

While martens are native to the area, they had largely left the state when much of the forests were cleared for agriculture, preferring places like Maine instead. Since the state’s forests have rebounded, martens have returned over the past 15 years or so, according to Anderson.

Similarly, bobcat numbers have rebounded thanks to conservation efforts that banned bobcat hunting and a better environment for prey species.

Tate thinks the bobcat relationship may play a bigger role in determining the fate of fishers. Studies in Maine that shows fishers were the No. 1 killer of Lynx kittens (a species similar to bobcats) and where bobcat populations were highest in Minnesota, fisher numbers were lowest. What we know about fisher and bobcat populations in New Hampshire follows a similar model.

While fishers might be eating the occasional bobcat kitten, bobcats eat fishers too, but they tend to focus on the smaller females, which can have an exponential impact on the production of future generations.

Add to that the spread of diseases like canine distemper among the state’s fishers, and bobcats have an edge over the weasels.

Distemper was positively identified in two of three fishers tested by Fish and Game. Tate said distemper is a sort of population control mechanism. When the population of an animal species grows too dense, food grows scarce and starvation lowers the animal’s immune system. Right now, this is a natural period of decline in a system of cycles, according to Tate.

He said marten numbers are growing in the state because fisher numbers are shrinking, not the other way around.

“Marten are doing so well because the fisher numbers are so low,” Tate said.

FEATURED ARTS

For The Kids

Concord’s Junior Service League performs The Bremen Town Musicians

Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)

Images: Courtesy Photo

 

 

Most members of Concord’s Junior Service League have little to no theatrical experience, but that doesn’t stop them from producing a spring play every year. Their inspiration is their mission: to raise money for New Hampshire school children. This year’s production is The Bremen Town Musicians, a one-act children’s show directed by Karen Braz, which they perform March 17 and March 18 at St. Paul’s School.

The play, based on the original Brothers Grimm story, is about four animals — a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster — all past their prime years who decide to leave their home and find a new life in Bremen. Their plan is to become musicians. The JSL, which celebrates its 85th birthday this year, is made up of about 25 to 30 members who aim to support women and children in crisis through civic service, fundraising and volunteerism. Their spring play is a decades-long tradition that typically sees audience members during the week via school productions and at weekend public shows.

Cast and crew have been meeting regularly since January to rehearse, make costumes and get ready. All play proceeds go toward back to school supplies for local kids this fall. Braz has been directing JSL plays more than 20 years and is always touched by the dedication.

“It’s their idea, first and foremost, to give back to the community by providing live theater. It’s an experience for children who might not ever be able to see a live show,” Braz said.

“What amazes me is they are able to open up like that and just be silly. Theater isn’t in their blood. … but they’re just going for it.” JSL member Carol Clark said via phone the group tries to choose short plays an hour or less with important morals. Most of the actors are members, but some alumni, like Laura Sagris, come back every year for the spring play.

Sagris said she does it for the kids in Concord, and for her grandchildren, who get a kick out of seeing her on stage and bring flowers after every show.

“I absolutely love that we present it to children,” Sagris said. “I don’t think of it as a fundraiser — my thing is the experience the children get. … They think it’s this really big production. I’ve continued to do it now because I have grandchildren, and to have my grandchildren come see me is awesome. We do the autograph session at the public shows, and it’s hysterical.”

Costumes are borrowed from the Community Players of Concord whenever possible or made by the women themselves. The painted backdrop is rented from Charles Stewart in North Andover, Mass.

Since becoming a member, Clark said she’s learned so much about theater, from the terminology — stage right, stage left, upstage, backstage — to the process of putting up a play. She’s come a long way since her third-grade play, Hansel and Gretel, when she forgot she was on stage and didn’t speak her lines.

“I was so engrossed in the play, I just stood there,” Clark said. Braz would like to see this anniversary commemorated with a packed house.

“I don’t think the public understands how important it is to support the Junior Service League of Concord. They do nothing but charitable work all year long,” Braz said.

FEATURED MUSIC  -  * COVER STORY *

Tribute Mania

How Local Bands are Bringing Old-School Music Back to Life

Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)

Images: Courtesy Photo

 
Off stage, local musician Stephen Murray is a fan of John Lennon and The Beatles. But catch him on stage with his band Studio Two and you’ll find that he’s more than just a fan — he is John Lennon, alongside his fellow mop-topped Beatles.

Studio Two is a Beatles tribute band that recreates, as authentically as possible, the concerts of the Beatles’ early years, from the outfits and accents to the instruments and musical subtleties.

“You can listen to any album or watch any video, but to see and hear the music performed live right there in front of you, it’s a different experience,” Murray said. “A tribute gives anyone who didn’t get to see a certain band a chance to have that live experience.”

Studio Two is one of many local bands using the spotlight to pay tribute to the music they love, and to give other fans of that music a chance to hear it performed it live. Looking to rock out? You might like Foreigner tribute Cold As Ice or Ozzy Osbourne tribute Wizard of Ozz. If country is more your style, give The No Shoes Nation Band Kenny Chesney tribute a try. Whether it’s at a local bar, performance venue or community event, there are tribute bands playing all the time, and you don’t have to travel far or clean out your wallet to see them.

 

More Than Covers

When southern New Hampshire Foreigner tribute Cold As Ice formed, they rehearsed twice a week for over a year and went through several roster changes before setting foot on a live stage. They spent countless hours studying Foreigner recordings and concert footage, transcribing sheet music and critiquing their own rehearsals, all of which they filmed to help them perfect their act.

It stands to reason, then, that being likened to cover bands strikes a nerve for guitarist and co-founder Bruce Bennett.

“I don’t like it when these cover bands learn a couple songs to play at the bar and call themselves a tribute,” Bennett said. “A tribute is not how you think the music should be played. It’s not how you want to play it. It’s not how you guess it is. I’m talking about a real, focused tribute where every member studies the person they’re supposed to play and learns the part note for note.”

Cold As Ice even went so far as to contact real Foreigner guitarist and founding member Mick Jones to settle a question on one of the lyrics, with which he was happy to help. In fact, Foreigner is exceedingly supportive of Cold As Ice, deeming them the No.1 Foreigner tribute and honoring them with a signed platinum record. Original Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm even gifted the band with a video in which he introduces them to stage. They screen the video at the beginning of every show.

“Any member of this band could step up on stage with Foreigner tomorrow and play a set with them,” Bennett said. “If they’re calling us their No. 1 tribute, you know we’re going out of our way to play their music and represent them as professionally as possible.”

Marc Pilcher, frontman for Deerfield-based Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute Southern Breeze, said that while his band isn’t an exact replica of Lynyrd Skynyrd — it has five members, whereas the real Lynyrd Skynyrd had up to seven at points — what it lacks in technicalities it makes up for in energy.

“It’s one thing to do a song as a cover band and go through the motions, but if you call yourself a tribute, there can’t be anything vanilla about it,” Pilcher said. “Since we’re stripped down to a five-piece, we do have to take some liberties, but we try to give people the same live experience they may have had at a Skynyrd show in 1976. We channel that same energy, and I think the crowd can appreciate that.”

 

The Real Deal

A serious tribute band studies not just the original band’s songs but also their attire, mannerisms, speech, instruments, equipment, audience interaction and general live show atmosphere. It’s no easy task recreating the concert experiences of some of the biggest acts in music history, especially when there are diehard fans in the crowd who notice details as small as a guitar pick.

“For a laugh, I had ordered a set of teardrop guitar picks online, the same kind The Beatles used,” Murray said. “At one show, I dropped it on stage, and a guy picked it up and said, ‘Hey, this is the pick they used!’ I was like, ‘Wow, you noticed that?’ People are definitely looking at the little things.”

Studio Two has made their job a little easier by committing exclusively to The Beatles’ early years during which they performed in small clubs around England. By narrowing the focus to one era, the band can dive deeper into the intricacies of those Beatles’ shows. Plus, they don’t have to worry about recreating the more complex psychedelic effects that accompanied The Beatles’ later material.

Many tributes to bands with wide and varied fan bases such as The Beatles or Grateful Dead employ this same tactic; honing in on a certain piece of the musical catalog not only allows the tributes to prioritize quality but also lets them distinguish themselves from their peer tributes and appeal to a more niche audience. Sometimes a tribute will recreate songs or even a whole set from one particular concert as opposed to the studio recordings or a more generalized version of the band’s live performances.

“I’ll take things one step further,” Murray said. “If there’s a recording where John [Lennon] plays a note but it doesn’t ring out because he didn’t hit it all the way or he muted it on accident, I will make a note of that on the sheet music and remember not to hit it all the way. They’re crazy little details only one or two people might know, but that’s what’s fun.”

Not all tributes get as in-depth as Studio Two does, but a good tribute will at least work to perfect the original band’s trademark quality. For Kenny Chesney, it’s all about the fun, party atmosphere; Foreigner goes big with the arena rock stage and oversized amps; and if you go to a Neil Diamond show, you can expect to be dazzled.

“I wear the sequined outfits and ’80s hair, and I try to talk like him and duplicate his gestures,” said Ron Eskin, a Neil Diamond tribute artist based in Nashua. “I try to give it the energy and feel of a real Neil Diamond concert. I may not be a dead-ringer look-alike, but when I start performing, everyone looks at me as the real Neil Diamond.”

 

True Musicians

While tribute bands receive a lot of support from their fans and sometimes even from the band they’re paying tribute to, they also have their share of naysayers. Some would say that it requires less musical talent to perform another band’s songs than it does to perform original music.

“We’ve all heard it,” said Al Francis, bassist and “Paul McCartney” of Studio Two. “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but you can’t let it get to you. We know that what we’re doing is a craft just like original music is a craft, and for every one person who says it’s not, there are a hundred more that come to our shows and love what we do.”

Becoming a tribute artist isn’t indicative of a lack of talent or inability to write and perform original music, Bennett said, because many have prior experience as an original artist or maintain a side project focused on original music in addition to their tribute act. Some tribute artists have even studied music academically, including Stephen Murray and his brother Robert Murray, guitarist and “George Harrison” of Studio Two, both of whom are graduates of Berklee College of Music.

“I’ve written over 100 songs in my life, and I still sit on my couch sometimes and just write songs,” Bennett said. “But personally, I don’t feel a need to go record them or shove them down someone’s throat. I’m OK with playing Foreigner’s music. I get to perform in front of hundreds of people I don’t know. If I did original music, I’d be playing for maybe 50 people who are all my friends and family.”

Not only can a tribute artist be as talented as an original, he said, but a case could also be made that being a tribute act requires more “attention to detail, focus and discipline,” to portray another artist’s vision and do it justice.

Bob Catalano, bassist for Seabrook-based Kenny Chesney tribute The No Shoes Nation Band, agrees.

“I think when people say negative stuff [about tributes], maybe it’s out of jealousy or because they’re a starving musician who can’t make it and it looks like we took the easy way out,” he said. “But it’s not just about singing the songs. A tribute is all-encompassing. You have to be an actor also, and recreate the effect of those concerts and engage the audience even when you aren’t singing.”

 

Show Time

If your dream is to see The Beatles or another disbanded legend perform live, concert DVDs and YouTube clips are the closest you’re going to get. But with an open mind and a little imagination, you can go to a tribute show to get a taste of the experience you missed.

“If there’s a band that doesn’t exist anymore or doesn’t tour anymore or is inaccessible for whatever reason, a good tribute band that took the time to learn the material can bring that band back and make that music accessible again,” Catalano said. “It’s the perfect way to still be able to see that band you love.”

If, like Kenny Chesney, the real band or artist is active and touring, there are still some perks to sticking with a tribute, one being the cost; tickets for popular tribute shows held at local music venues typically fall into the $25-to-$40 range, and there are many other shows held at bars and clubs that you can see for free or a small cover charge. Compare that to Kenny Chesney tickets.

“It costs more than a hundred dollars a ticket to see him, then you get there and he looks half an inch tall,” Catalano said. “But that’s what he has to charge. He sells out stadiums.

He could never play a small venue, but we can. We bring his show to a different level so you can see it up close for just the cost of getting into the club.”
Smaller venues also give the audience a chance to interact with the performer in ways they would not be able to in a stadium setting. That can make a big difference for fans of an artist like Neil Diamond, who is known for his charisma and dynamic stage presence.

“I like to play up to the audience. I’ll come out and walk through the crowd as I’m singing and people will reach out to me. You can’t do that at the real concert,” Eskin said. “If you let the imagination go a bit and can pretend you’re there at his show, it’s like you’re getting the real thing, only more personalized and at a fraction of the cost.”

The original artists are often more limited when it comes to tour dates, the length of their shows and their setlists. One as well-established as Foreigner may only perform in New

England once every couple of years, but you can get your “concert fix,” as Bennett calls it, from a Cold As Ice show while you wait for Foreigner to come around again.

For a band like Foreigner, the standard 90-minute show isn’t a lot of time, especially when they have over 40 years of material. So, to appeal to the largest part of their fan base, classic bands nearly always prioritize their hits. A tribute band, however, can perform more frequent local shows, which lessens the pressure to play a hits-centric set and gives them the flexibility to cater to the interests of diehard fans.

“A tribute band like us can truly get into the tribute by playing a lot of the deeper cuts,” Bennett said. “We can play all those songs on the album that you love but will never hear the real Foreigner play live because they only have time for their biggest hits.”

Finally, while there is no replacement for the novelty or bucket-list appeal of seeing the decades-old band you grew up with perform live, many of them have been reduced to a skeleton of their original lineup — Foreigner currently has one original member, Lynyrd Skynyrd has two — and are nearing the end of their careers. The reality is, you may be getting more bang for your buck at a tribute show when it comes to performance quality.

“The average age of the guys in Foreigner is like, 70. They can only play rock ‘n’ roll for so much longer,” Bennett said. “But they support us and we support them because we have a common goal, which is to keep this classic arena rock music alive.”

 

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Just for Show

Events like the weekly Saturday tribute nights at Patrick’s Pub & Eatery in Gilford and the monthly live music series hosted by Rob Azevedo (host of the Granite State of Mind radio show, which airs live every Thursday at 7 p.m. on WKXL 103.9 FM in Concord) at New England College Concord are giving local original musicians an outlet to pay tribute to notable bands and solo artists.

“We already had musicians play with certain styles like Neil Young or Bob Marley or this and that,” Patrick’s owner Allan Beetle said, “so it wasn’t a huge leap to say, let’s focus on paying tribute to some of the great bands and performers of our time and do that every Saturday night.”
Since Patrick’s started the series this past fall it has hosted tributes to The Beatles, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and others, with each show featuring one local performer or group playing a two-hour set.

While live music is held at Patrick’s throughout the week, Beetle said they “turn up the volume a little more” on Saturday nights and make the tribute shows the focal point rather than background entertainment.

“You won’t get everyone when you say there’s going to be an Elton John tribute, but it does connect with a larger base of people when they know they’re coming to hear that music, as opposed to when we say, ‘So-and-so [original act] is performing tonight,’” Beetle said.

In January, Azevedo decided to host a Grateful Dead tribute night as part of his monthly live music series at New England College Concord. It was such a hit, he did a Neil Young tribute in February and now has tribute shows scheduled through June.

“These are classic, super-innovative and influential artists that I think everyone gravitates to in one form or another,” Azevedo said. “For a lot of musicians, these are the artists they wanted to emulate when they first picked up a guitar and were finding their voice.”

Each show features about 10 local musicians, each performing one to three songs by the chosen artist or band. Then, to close, all of the musicians come to together perform the final song, which they practice for an hour before the show starts. For the Neil Young tribute, it was “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

“It’s like a family,” Azevedo said. “You have a bunch of musicians who have never met before get in a room together, and there’s this undeniable connection fortified by this one particular artist. It’s like they’ve known each other their whole lives through that artist.”

Saturday Tribute Nights at Patrick’s Pub & Eatery (18 Weirs Road, Gilford, 293-0841, patrickspub.com) are held weekly with music starting at 8 p.m. Upcoming shows include a tribute to U2 on March 18, and a tribute to James Taylor and Bob Dylan on March 25.

Tribute Nights hosted by Rob Azevedo of Granite State of Mind take place one Saturday a month at New England College Concord (62 N. Main St., Concord, 715-2306, facebook.com/NECConcord). Upcoming shows include A Tribute to The Women of Classic Country on March 25, The Beatles on April 22, Bruce Springsteen on May 13, and Bob Dylan on June 17. Doors open at 5 p.m., and shows start at 5:30 p.m.

 

Jerry Jam

Every summer in July, more than 2,000 people make the trip to a rural farm property in Bath for Jerry Jam, a family-friendly three-day festival celebrating the musical legacy of Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead.

The festival brings in around 30 bands from all over the country and has even captured the attention of JGB, the reformation of Garcia’s most prominent side project, the Jerry Garcia Band, which he formed in 1975. This year’s Jerry Jam will be the fifth to feature JGB, which is currently led by longtime Jerry Garcia Band member Melvin Seals, who performed with Garcia from 1980 until Garcia’s death and the group’s disbandment in 1995.

The rest of the lineup consists of both full-time tributes to Jerry Garcia and/or Grateful Dead and original acts playing special tribute sets for the festival. They come from a variety of genres including dub and reggae, Americana, bluegrass, funk and jam.

“Jerry had a really broad musical career, and we try to represent all his different musical styles,” said Julia Butterfield, one of the festival coordinators. “The music catalog is so varied that there really is something for everyone.”

Some of the notable bands making their Jerry Jam debut this year include Assembly of Dust, Cabinet, Kung Fu, Max Creek, Pink Talking Fish and others. One of the most anticipated acts, Butterfield said, is an original band from Illinois called The Giving Tree Band.

“We saw their cover of ‘Brown Eyed Women,’ which was part of the Dead Covers Project,” Butterfield said, “but they really embody the spirit of what Jerry Jam is all about — the richness of the legacy of the Grateful Dead, and the sense of family that comes along with that community.”

The festival started a little over two decades ago as a small, one-day get-together of a few dozen friends in a barn in Bethlehem. Since then, the number of festival-goers, or “the Jamily” as they’ve come to be called, has grown every year with Garcia and Grateful Dead fans of all ages.

“I think that’s a big part of what people love about Grateful Dead music,” Butterfield said. “When this community gets together, there’s a feeling of instant family. That’s not something you find at just any gathering or concert or event.”

If you go: The 22nd annual Jerry Jam kicks off Friday, July 21, at 9 a.m. and continues through Sunday, July 23, at Klay Knoll Farm, 471 Pettyboro Road, Bath, N.H. Full weekend passes are $115 each and are currently available for purchase online. Tickets at the gate may also be available as capacity allows. Weekend passes include tent camping; RV passes are sold separately for $50 to $75. All ages are welcome, and children age 12 and under are admitted free, accompanied by a parent. BYOB is welcome for festival-goers 21+. For more information, visit jerryjam.com or facebook.com/TheJerryJam.

FEATURED FILM

NH's Cultural Landscape

Jewish Film Fest includes For the Love of Spock

Written By Kelly Sennott (ksennott@hippopress.com)

Images: Courtesy Photo

 

 

Most non-Trekkies can probably recognize the “live long and prosper” Vulcan salute from Star Trek; what’s not common knowledge is its Jewish origins.

Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock and grew up in a Boston Jewish family, proposed the salute in 1967 while filming the episode “Amok Time.” He felt the planet Vulcan should have a cultural greeting signal, and when the director asked for a suggestion, Nimoy thought of the blessing he saw in the synagogue as a child.

The full story behind the salute is further explained in For the Love of Spock, a documentary that screens in the Granite State part of the New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival, which spans March 23 through April 2.

Now in its ninth year, the festival features 11 films, nine of which make their New Hampshire debuts, with screenings in Bedford, Concord, Keene, Manchester, Merrimack and Portsmouth. The films include documentaries, comedies and dramas from the United States, Israel and Europe, and many are accompanied by active programming for festival-goers, from teddy bear picnics and brunches to Saturday socials and performances by the New Hampshire Gay Men’s Chorus.

Co-chair Linda Gerson said via phone that this is the largest Jewish cultural event in the state, put together by 36 volunteers. The screening committee began meeting Mondays in

July to narrow the 30 flicks Gerson and her co-chair Pat Kalik came up with to create a balanced program of different themes and genres.

“It’s a major endeavor to put on this show, but the community really enjoys it, and it’s become part of the landscape of cultural activities in the state of New Hampshire,” Gerson said, who added that the show is accessible for people of all faiths and cultures. “It’s a labor of love, but it’s something we all enjoy doing.”

Films are mostly new releases from all over the world. This year’s selection explores things like cultural identity, Hollywood secrets, history’s unsung heroes and the joy of brunch.

But one in particular, For the Love of Spock, has a strong New Hampshire connection — its co-producer, Kai de Mello-Folsom, grew up in Sanbornton.

The film, released September 2016, is about the late Leonard Nimoy, his role as Spock and his relationship with his son, Adam Nimoy, who directed the film. De Mello-Folsom learned about the project thanks to a connection from the Sundance Institute, but at first he wasn’t interested; he was trying to move away from crowdfunding projects, and this one looked to raise $600,000 via Kickstarter.

But he and Adam Nimoy hit it off when they met in person, and de Mello-Folsom found himself drawn to the story — and not just because it was Star Trek. (He’s embarrassed to admit he preferred Star Wars as a kid.)

“Without knowing Star Trek, I knew who Spock was, and I knew who the actor Leonard Nimoy was. He was such an iconic person and character,” de Mello-Folsom said. “At the heart of this movie is a story about a father and son, their conflict and their coming back together at the end of Leonard’s life. It’s a beautiful story and great tribute to a wonderful man, and obviously, for the avid Star Trek fans we also have lots of facts and fun stories from the sets.”

For the Love of Spock comprises archival footage and interviews with sources like William Shatner and Walter Koenig. The crowdfunding campaign, launched in June 2015, raised $662,640, becoming Kickstarter’s most-funded documentary, and filming began around the same time, as the crew wanted to finish before the Star Trek 50th anniversary in September 2016.

Adam Nimoy and his dad began talking about the film Thanksgiving 2014. Initially, the idea was to focus on the Spock character, but when Leonard Nimoy died months later, the angle changed to look at Leonard Nimoy himself, as a dad, actor and person.

“[Adam Nimoy] was reluctant to include himself, and include his story into the film, as that’s not what he intended when he and his dad first started working on it. But Leonard’s widow started encouraging him to include his experience,” de Mello-Folsom said. “I think the fact that he was willing to open up through this process and share this personal part of him and his dad was the most interesting aspect of the film.”

 

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NH Jewish Film Festival

Admission: $10 for most screenings, with additional costs for certain special events
Contact: Visit nhjewishfilmfestival.org
Schedule:
Thursday, March 23: For the Love of Spock at 7 p.m., Southern New Hampshire University Walker Auditorium, 2500 N. River Road, Manchester (dress in costume)

Saturday, March 25: The Women’s Balcony at 8 p.m. at Red River Theatres, 11 S. River Road, Concord (Sociable Saturday Night with dessert reception)

Sunday, March 26: All screenings today at SERESC, 29 Commerce Drive, Bedford, Breakfast at Ina’s at 11:30 a.m. (with gala brunch plus visit by Ina Pinkney to be preceded by short film, cookbook available for signing); Paddington at 3 p.m. (teddy bear picnic and crafts activity for kids at 2 p.m.); Sabena Hijacking: My Version at 3:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 30: Fever at Dawn at 7 p.m., at Cinemagic, 1226 Hooksett Road, Hooksett (book club film, special guest speaker Carolyn Hollman); Who’s Gonna Love Me Now at 7 p.m. at Red River Theatres (with special performance by NH Gay Men’s Chorus); For the Love of Spock at 7 p.m., at Redfern Arts Center, 90 Wyman Way, Keene (dress in costume)

Saturday, April 1: Moos at 8 p.m., at Red River Theatres (Sociable Saturday Night with wine and cheese)

Sunday, April 2: Harold and Lillian at 12:30 p.m., at Red River Theatres (guest speaker Matt Newton); The Women’s Balcony at 1 p.m., at The Music Hall Loft, 131 Congress St., Portsmouth; Fanny’s Journey at 1 p.m. at the Redfern Arts Center at Red River Theatres; On the Map at 3:30 p.m., at The Music Hall Loft; at 3:30 p.m. at the Redfern Arts Center; and 5 p.m. at Red River Theatres (festival wrap party)

FEATURED POP

Conventional Wisdom

Queen City Kamikaze Returns to Manchester

Written By Matt Ingersol (listings@hippopress.com)

Images: Courtesy Photo

 
Compete in tabletop and video game tournaments, get your nostalgia fix on with retro video games and discover dozens of local art, comic book and anime-themed vendors at the eighth annual Queen City Kamikaze.

The one-day convention returns to Manchester Memorial High School on Saturday, March 18, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is a one-stop shop for lovers of all things comic, video game and science fiction. Dressing up as your favorite comic book superhero or video game character — or “cosplaying” — is encouraged but not required.

Kamikaze co-organizer Jeff Normandin said the convention has continued to grow larger each year since it began as a small fundraising event for the high school’s video game and anime clubs.

“It started out as just a small thing with a few local artists and vendors, but now we fill the gym up with vendors from all over New England, basically,” he said. “The original plan [for Queen City Kamikaze] was to make it kind of on par with some of the larger conventions in New England like Anime Boston, but also making it more affordable for people … and we also try to make it more engaging for them.”

A $10 entry fee at the door will give you access to all that the convention has to offer, another feature Normandin said is often not the case with some of the larger conventions.

“With other conventions, you’ll pay to get in the door, but then you may pay an additional fee to do any of the tournaments or contests,” he said. “But here, we don’t charge extra to participate in any of the events. You pay the $10 and you can do whatever you want for the day.”

Throughout the day, the school’s gymnasium will be filled with vendors selling merchandise, from comic books to video games and everything in between. NeonBomb, a Manchester comic book store Normandin co-owns, will be there as a vendor. Other vendors will include illustrators and graphic designers selling their original works.

Several specialized workshops and panel discussions are planned in a few of the classrooms and hallways surrounding the gym, including in screenplay or novel writing, crafts, drawing and more.

“One of the things we’re doing a bit different this year is called the Project Cosplay Challenge,” Normandin said. “It’s going to be sort of like a Project Runway type of thing in which participants come in and will be given a bunch of supplies … and they’ll have some parameters to make their own costume using what they’ve been given, and they’ll go out and show off what they’ve made.”

Other Kamikaze staples involving cosplayers include a “cosplay dating game” from 10:30 to 11 a.m., and other game parodies of TV shows like Jeopardy! and Whose Line Is It Anyway? In each game, participants act out the character they are dressed up as.

Set up along several hallways during the convention will be video game tournaments and multiple televisions with old-generation gaming consoles like Atari and Super Nintendo.

There will be tournaments for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and also for Street Fighter V.

“The retro games are going to be more of a pick-up-and-play type thing, so that people can try out different games and systems,” Normandin said. “The tournaments people can sign up at the door for when they pay the entry fee.”

Card game tournaments are also planned, featuring the games Magic: The Gathering, Cardfight!! Vanguard, Weiss Schwarz and Force of Will.

Kamikaze-goers will need to pay additional fees for food. Normandin said different organizations associated with the high school often participate in the convention as their own community fundraiser.

“Oftentimes the [school] track team sells pizza, and the yearbook group will have a cart of ramen noodles, so they always get involved too,” he said.

He added that if you’ve never attended an anime or video game convention before, Queen City Kamikaze is a great starting point.

“It’s become one of the first conventions that a lot of people end up going to,” he said.

“It’s a good one to get your feet wet [as a visitor], because it’s small, but it’s also a good first event as a vendor to see how you do selling your artwork at a convention.”