… your abs, your butt, your boredom with the same old workout routine — that’s Punk Rope’s pledge.

Heaven help us all. Has Clint Eastwood, the macho man known for hanging desperados high and blowing up moods with moody downers like “Mystic River,” turned into an old softy? Kind of. In “Hereafter,” his soulful exploration of the great beyond, Eastwood drops the tough guy facade and deals with his most heartfelt subject yet […]

Concerts and shows:  The latest On sale 10 a.m. Friday — Crystal Castles, 6 p.m. March 19, House of Blues, Boston. $32.50 to $43.25. Ticketmaster.com; (800) 745-3000 On sale noon Friday — Matisyahu: Festival of Lights, 8 p.m. Dec. 6, Paradise Rock Club, Boston. $41.50. Livenation.com; (866) 448-7849 On sale 10 a.m. Nov. 1 — […]

• Cheap Thrill Hear Bach’s B Minor Mass at USM MUSICIANS FROM the USM School of Music, the Choral Art Society and other local professionals will perform Bach’s B Minor Mass under the direction of Robert Russell. This music stands as one of Bach’s great achievements. WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday WHERE: Hannaford Hall, USM, 88 […]

Opening this week: “HEREAFTER” (2:09) (PG-13) Stars Matt Damon, Cecile De France and Bryce Dallas Howard. Directed by Clint Eastwood. A drama centered on three people — a blue-collar American, a French journalist and a London school boy — who are touched by death in different ways. Mature thematic elements including disturbing disaster and accident […]

Sometimes Jeff Daniels will be in the middle of a concert and he’ll think to himself, “This is like a mini-Broadway musical.” He acts, he sings, he plays guitar. With movies including “Dumb and Dumber,” “Gettysburg,” “The Squid and the Whale” and “Terms of Endearment,” Daniels may be best known for his cinematic career. He’s […]

Robby Takac can relate to the excitement being created in Portland by the historic and newly renovated State Theatre.

Takac and his bandmates in Goo Goo Dolls are from gritty Buffalo, N.Y., and have their own recording studio there. It’s located in an historic building that was once the chapel of a private girls’ school. They recently renovated it into a state-of-the-art recording space.

It would have been great “Behind the Music” fodder: “Angry Fiddler Splits from Folkie Troupe.” But for as much as she might be pushed and prodded, Amanda Gervasi can’t speak the least bit ill of her former wolfpack, Gypsy Tailwind, or the wisdom she gained from the full-band experience. The substance shows. Gervasi’s debut, “Merry […]