AN UNDER-21 GUIDE TO BOSTON

It's your city, too, baby

By Max Pearl

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You were probably excited to move into the heart of Boston and finally indulge in the fast-paced, parentless city-life everyone's been telling you about. And you've probably been pouring over concert and club listings, banging your head against a wall because you've realized you're living in a city that hates you unless you're old enough to buy booze.

Luckily, we know of a few cool places to flex those dance, style and munch muscles, and some hard-working individuals who've been running shit in Boston for years now. They're committed to ensuring events, from gender-bender burlesque parties to trippy psych-folk parlor shows, are all inclusive and undergrad friendly.

Barricading yourself on campus simply isn't good for your disposition. Get out, do some exploring and get to know the city where you'll be spending at least four years of your life.

ALIZA SHAPIRO

Truth Serum Productions [truthserum.org] is the name to know if you're queer in Boston and looking for a night out. Aliza Shapiro, who's been at the helm of Truth Serum for 15 (count 'em!) years, has organized everything from spoken-word performances to drag shows, to off-the-chain dance parties.

Shapiro got her start in the mid '90s while helping run indie record label Pop Narcotic. "I started to get sick of the 'four bands in one night' model and also with seeing so few women on the stage," she says. "So I started to direct my programming to be more inclusive. I started adding in performance artists, video, a drag queen, etc., to mix it up."

CineMental is a schizophrenic monthly film series dealing in gender, sex, love and queerness, hosted usually by the Brattle Theatre [40 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 617.876.6837. brattlefilm.org] every third Wednesday of the month. Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School myspace.com/drsketchysboston] offers life-drawing classes featuring burlesque acts and the occasional fetish model, for an unusual lesson in anatomy, every second Sunday at Great Scott [1222 Comm. Ave., Allston. 617.566.9014. greatscottboston.com].

Truth Serum's most recent success, TraniWreck myspace.com/traniwreck], is a drag show/raucous dance party/variety show, with drag and burlesque performers, and acts featuring everything from stand-up to accordion covers of '90s rock anthems, monthly at the Middle East Downstairs [480 Mass. Ave., Central Sq., Cambridge. 617.864.3278. mideastclub.com].

Basically, if it's queer, Truth Serum is here.

DAN SHEA

What started with house shows while Dan Shea studied at Suffolk University grew into infamous dance parties and punk shows at a string of houses that doubled as regular DIY venues after he graduated. His endeavors since have included booking Mission Hill basement shows, psychedelic and experimental festivals, and a part-time booking gig at the Milky Way [284 Amory St., Jamaica Plain. 617.524.3740. milkywayjp.com]. He's responsible for epic Boston performances from Dan Deacon, Black Dice and Oneida, and he's made them accessible to under-21 audiences. "Punk shows were all I did on the weekends in my teens," he says. "I saw [the scene] disappearing as the years wore on, so I decided to do something about it."

Boston's go-to man for all-things psych, indie and punk is now also booking shows at the Outside the Lines Studio [70 Colby St., Medford. 617.252.0966. outsidethelinesstudio.org], and, rumor has it, he's found a new underground space. Shea's efforts to nurture a friendly, all-ages scene have been DIY by necessity. "If there was a legitimate all-ages venue in the Boston area, then I wouldn't have to book shows at illegitimate spaces," he says. "Ahem, world, can you hear me?"

Shea will host the Boston Underground Summit on September 12th, "an all-ages, round-robin-style smorgasbord of the best of the local underground music scene," at Outside the Lines, and you can learn about upcoming shows he's orchestrating (including the "illegit" ones) at bowaac.com.

THE WHITEHAUS FAMILY

The Whitehaus Family Record [617.477.9480. whitehausfamilyrecord.com], a collectively produced record label, popular DIY venue, events-production group and an endlessly rotating roster of musicians, poets, artists and oddballs, is the most established underground institution in the city.

According to Adam Foam, a promoter for all things Whitehaus, the family got its start in 2006, when some kids started hosting "hootenannies" at their JP home. These hippy-dippy, open-mic sessions blossomed into real shows with flyers and set lists. Eventually, they booked out-of-state performers to play alongside locals and Whitehaus denizens. Last year, they started up a field trip concert series, which took audiences on neighborhood excursions, with performances scheduled at parks and alleyways along a walking tour.

The group recently produced Weirdstock, a three-day, 50-plus-band festival at the YMCA in Central Square, their largest show to date. This school year, Foam says, "We're going to host bigger and better shows. Keep your eyes peeled for Chillith Fair in the spring, the Unfreakable Wreath over Christmas, Wintour 2009," as well as new albums from many of the label's artists. Check myspace.com/treehaushoots for the latest.

JUSTIN CAMERON AND ZAK BROMAN

Electro-disco party mammoth Roguewaves [myspace.com/helloroguewaves] have held down the young and fabulous sector of the local nightlife scene for several years. In addition to promoting and DJing Boston's longest-running 18+ dance party, Paper [Harpers Ferry, 158 Brighton Ave., Allston. Thursdays, 9pm/18+/cover varies. myspace.com/ilovepaper], they've also booked locally and nationally acclaimed DJs and musicians for TRUST, their series of underground parties.

"Roguewaves loves the children, because what a lot of people underestimate about parties like Paper is that the kids who participate actually give a shit," says Cameron. "It's refreshing to see that amount of balls-to-the-wall energy."

According to Cameron, they're pushing an all-inclusive agenda. "We wanted to return to the basics of dance parties, like the early '70s style of hedonistic dancefest," he says. "With underground parties, you get a wider variety of people, and I think we're a little more nondenominational in our approach."

In addition to Paper, and appearances at other 18+ venues like the Savant Project [1625 Tremont St., Mission Hill, Boston. 617.566.5958. thesavantproject.com], Roguewaves hosts TRUST at venues too underground to mention here. Check out trustboston.com, and keep your ears to the ground for more on the upcoming months' rowdy events.

Café Fixe [1642 Beacon St., Washington Sq., Brookline. 617.879.2500. nonevent.org] in Brookline pours the finest cup of coffee from here to Great Barrington, so if you fancy yourself a snob, we suggest you head out on the C line and get your ass schooled by some serious coffee connoisseurs. The free WiFi signal is as strong as the espresso, which may be just the thing you need to get you through those organic chemistry flashcards. And the Boston-based event-production group Non-Event has recently signed on to host monthly shows in the evenings at Café Fixe, featuring electro-acoustic, ambient and other experimental works.

Ten-year-old Diesel Cafe [257 Elm St., Davis Sq., Somerville. 617.629.8717. diesel-cafe.com] and its baby brother, Bloc 11 [11 Bow St., Union Sq., Somerville. 617.623.0000. bloc11.com], are both owned and operated by the leaders of the local coffee empire, Tucker Lewis and Jen Park. While Diesel has pool tables, an old-school photo booth, late-night hours (open till midnight every day!) and inviting couches, Bloc 11 has a spacious courtyard and an adventurous (mostly vegetarian) sandwich menu that features the a, goat cheese and fig jam masterpiece contributed by the owner and head chef of Cambridge's Rialto restaurant, Jody Adams. Tufts students are lucky to have two awesome study spots so close to campus.

Not only is the WiFi free over at Second Cup [111 Brighton Ave., Allston. 617.782.8282. 2ndcupcafe.com], but the sandwiches are irresistible. Seriously, try the Cajun chicken with tomato, cucumber and honey mustard, or the falafel rollup. And, with such delicious coffee from local bean roaster Terroir, large windows that open out onto the street, as well as a quiet, work-friendly ambience, it doesn't take long to become a regular at this family-owned neighborhood spot. The staff is warm and chatty, and during the weekdays, they not tend to mind if you're still sitting hunched over your laptop long after your cappuccino has bottomed out.

If you're looking for designer jeans, dresses, heels, even jackets and jewelry, but don't want to spend $300 on Newbury Street, just head over to Rescue Buy/Sell/Trade [252 Brighton Ave., Allston. 617.202.3838. rescuebuyselltrade.com]. They'll take your old clothes there and give you a portion of the profits or give you store credit. Rescue is more than a clothing boutique ... it's also a venue, hosting the occasional 18+ afterparty, art exhibit and putting on a semi-monthly dance night at the Model Café [7 N. Beacon St., Allston. 617.254.9365] down the street (which is 21+ ... sorry, kiddies).

When you think of Kendall Square's Garment District [200 Broadway, Kendall Sq., Cambridge. 617.876.5230. garmentdistrict.com], your mind is probably filled with its alter ego, "Boston Costume," which plasters ads all over the MBTA come September (and which disappear again before you can say "Thanksgiving"). But the Garment District isn't just for silly costumes. If you're willing to do a little digging, you can unearth some seriously respectable threads, from the Cheap Monday jeans hiding in the men's denim rack in the back, to the fresh pair of Ice Creams in the shoe room that, as of last week, somehow remained untouched.

Winning the award for Allston's biggest non sequitur, Every Little Thing [163 Harvard Ave., Allston. 617.254.1770] packs more Hello Kitty paraphernalia than you can shake a stick at. If you're ever in need of hamburger-shaped erasers or a stuffed Totoro, this is your spot. Japan-o-philes, be warned—between bubble tea shops, the new sushi place on Brighton Avenue and this amazing little boutique, you may end up sapping your wallet a little quicker than you'd expected.

Everybody knows that in the '90s, Boston was a mecca for hip-hop on the East Coast. Some say with talents like Virtuoso, Mr. Lif, Akrobatik and Guru, Boston might have even had a leg up on New York and Philly. One of the longest-standing testaments to this hip-hop renaissance is the Underground Hip Hop [234 Huntington Ave., Boston. 617.262.0200] retail store, which is hidden in Berklee's 'hood, right near the Symphony stop on the Green Line. They carry just about everything hip-hop related, from vinyl and CDs, to paint markers and T-shirts. Happy digging!

Twisted Village [12b Eliot St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 617.354.6898] is a specialty record store that stocks pretty much everything you might have trouble finding at Newbury Comics. They've always got a huge selection of rarities: psychedelic and experimental music, both contemporary and vintage, as well as an untapped goldmine of techno, reggae, dub and breakbeat selections for electronica-heads and DJs looking to burn down a dancefloor. The store also hosts slightly cramped, in-store performances from locally and nationally renowned performers, mostly centered around psychedelic rock, noise music and other strange musical disciplines.

The Comedy Studio [1236 Mass. Ave., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. Tue-Sun 8pm/all ages/$8-$10. 617.661.6507. thecomedystudio.com] is another hidden gem in Cambridge, tucked above the infamously rowdy Hong Kong restaurant in Harvard Square. Ten bucks gets you front row to a six- or seven-comedian lineup, and you'd be surprised at the kind of big-time headliners that make this little hole-in-the-wall a stop on their circuit. Get there early or you may not get a seat!

Rise [306 Stuart St., Boston. 617.423.7473. riseclub.us] is Boston's only after-hours nightclub. As young talent leaks into high-ranking positions among Boston's nightlife elite, the club has recently begun accommodating the more in-your-face sounds of electro and rave music. The 18+ policy and student discounts ensure a college-friendly vibe, and the whole "members-only" thing can be easily dealt with by emailing one of the club's promoters and asking them to put you and your crew on the guestlist.