Processed with VSCO with 6 preset When Steve DelMonico (vocals/guitar) approached John Faraone (drums) with an impossibly unique band name, there was no way of knowing that 10 years later they’d be sitting at Nolan’s with...
Photo: Dave Rezendes. John Faraone: a man of many bands, many instruments, and one poetic voice. While John wouldn’t call himself a poet, I certainly believe that his lyrics are simply stanzas waiting to be printed....
Photo by James Brooks. Okee dokee folks… I have referenced the Jethro Tull song, “Too Old to Rock & Roll, Too Young to Die,” A few times in my 22 years of writing for Motif, and...
(Photo credit: Keith J.G. McCurdy, from the cover art of Vudu Sister’s Adynata; photograph of the art installation LO SGUARDO - Humanitas - Physis by sculptor Igor Mitoraj at the Neopolis Archaeological Park of Siracusa...
Mount Pleasant. Elmhurst. The Valley Arts District. These are all neighborhoods whose offerings I thought I knew well, having worked in and around Providence over the last few years. But you can certainly miss a...
Buddy Mott. Once upon a time, if you wanted a tattoo, one of the things you could do was traipse to Newport from any of the four corners of the world and get yourself a tattoo...
The actual declaration of Independence was first proclaimed to the people of Newport from this building in July 1776. (Photo by Maureen O'Gorman) It doesn't take long for a person new to Rhode Island to find...
The RI Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced a major initiative to repair potholes caused by a harsh winter. A new Pothole Service Requests Dashboard site on the web – https://www.dot.ri.gov/travel/potholes.php – allows the public to...
The tattoo artist who goes by Mish, of Fall River, MA, created this month’s cover. “I got the nickname when I was younger, and it just kinda stuck,” she says. Also, it stirs a little...
On the “Weekend Update” satirical news segment on Saturday Night Live. anchor Colin Jost displayed a snapshot of an unhinged rant laced with profanity in the form of a Donald Trump post to Truth Social,...
Wednesday, May 276 - 10pmMyrtle, East Providence Join us for the 4th annual Motif Spoken Awards! We are excited to be returning to Myrtle to celebrate RI’s spoken word community. Want to see your favorite Rhode Island...
VOTE HERE! "May your tattoo ink never run dry," as the ancient Portlandian blessing goes, has rarely been more applicable. Motif is proud to partner again with Narragansett Brewery to bring you the RI Tattoo Awards,...
By Lillian MK Photography By Olivia Lunger By Izzy Cooke ...
The Music Awards went off without a hitch this year, and over the course of the evening more than 400 local music lovers dropped by to dance, listen, and cheer on fellow musicians. We'll have...
It’s often said (well, I definitely say this), that some of the deepest conversations and connected moments can happen while one is sitting in a car. This is certainly true for the duo, band, sisterhood...
Image: Olivia Lunger. Local Civil War re-enactor Bill Sherman was having trouble recruiting young people into the hobby, so he hit on a novel idea that is perfectly suited to Gen Z. He immediately telephoned his...
The Continental Congress, befooled. April Fool’s Day originated among the French a few years into the Revolutionary War. Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin had been pleading with them for any sort of assistance. The brand...
If you have been a craft beer lover over this past decade, you may remember when the first Rhode Island Brewery Passport was released. It was changed to an app in 2020. Six years later,...
After attending Chalumeau’s release party for their album BLUE at The Met in Pawtucket last August, I wrote that if you ever got the chance to see them perform live, you should jump on it....
On February 28, after 20 years of being a community staple for first dates, Super Tuesday regulars, and movie fanatics alike, CWTheaters (previously called CinemaWorld) was forced to shut its doors for good. The decline...
Last year, I had a blast and a half working on a fun commercial shoot. I landed the gig because the fella producing, Josh Kirk, asked around to find an actor to portray the client’s...
Photo: Jenn Lombari. @jennlombariphotography ssa lin has been making a local splash like a rockin’ rainstorm after a record-setting blizzard, since releasing her first single, “tallboys,” at the end of 2025. The feedback has been good,...
Here are some hot new local tracks to finish melting the ice. The Hopeless Romantics – “Quiet Kind” The third and final single from The Hopeless Romantics’ upcoming debut album, “Quiet Kind” is also a reworked...
Okee dokee folks… PLEASE stop using AI. The more it knows, the more it grows. We are feeding a beast that will someday destroy us. AI is not your friend, though it may pretend to...
Graphic by Olivia Lunger. ...
Hey idiot, why are you and your friends getting high indoors? Don't you know? We have a planet, a whole, big planet filled with trees, rivers, and critters. The outside world doesn't have to start...
Medical marijuana was legalized in Rhode Island in January 2006, and by May 2022 even recreational sales became legal through state-licensed dispensaries and authorized retailers. Yet it still isn’t safe for medical users to come out of the closet....
Cover artist Elliott Italiano of Jamestown is a self-made glass artist. As a young adult, Italiano's interests centered on fashion, inspiring thoughts of pursuing a degree in luxury marketing and design. He relates to his past...
MAD Magazine cover, Feb 2016: Donald Trump and Alfred E. Neuman We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one. We sought physical attrition; our opponents aimed for our psychological exhaustion. In the process...
Cover artist Mina Miki of Providence calls her baby blanket her longest friend. “His name is Blankie, but now he looks less like a blanket and more like a piece of tangled silk,” she says....
Dear Dr. Brilliant Cliché; I am having terrible luck with relationships and I don’t understand why. I have heard that girls usually look for someone who resembles their father and this is why so many women from dysfunctional families with lousy dads end up in abusive relationships. But my own father was wonderful! He always […]
After a long, snowy winter, spring is right around the corner and the State Ballet of Rhode Island looks to heat things up by presenting their annual spring performance nearly two months earlier than usual. In years past, it would fall on or close to Mother’s Day, giving many a wonderful opportunity to treat mom […]
To follow up my previous piece about the great films showing at Il Cinema Ritrovato next week, I am reviewing another film that will be shown during the festival: Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion, a fascinating, but somewhat forgotten thriller that won the best foreign film Oscar in 1971. Investigation… concerns a police detective who kills his girlfriend […]
“Can you please go inside?” I begged toward the rooftop, where a soon-to-be 70-year-old man was slouched over in a defiant hunch, his Ryobi chainsaw revving. “No, get the lah-duh!” he hollered down, in that patois ubiquitous within the urban-core of RI – an accent that I have self-consciously conditioned myself to be aware of […]
On March 8, at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel, there was something incredible going on. Annie Clark, better known under the moniker St. Vincent, made her presence felt by bringing the noise and leaving everyone in awe. Jenny Hval opened the show with a memorable performance. It was the perfect way to close out the weekend with […]
One of the great things about writing for Motif is cluing people in to theatrical events that otherwise might go unnoticed by the general film-going public. Next week the Italian Studies Department at Brown University will present a touring version of Il Cinema Ritrovato, a yearly festival held to showcase the restoration work performed by the […]
With ripping guitars and fast rhythms mixed with a melancholy vibe, Buffalo’s Newish Star have that classic punk sound mixed with a pop sensibility that keeps them walking the fine line between being a blast from the past and the best new kickass band you’ve ever heard of. They have a new album out, How […]
An enigmatic force and a local legend around Providence, Sage Francis has everyone’s ear when he has a microphone in his hand. He’ll be performing at The Met in Pawtucket on Fri, March 13 with New Haven, Conn-based musician Ceschi Ramos, Brooklyn hip-hop duo Metermaids and fellow Providence artist Storm Davis. In advance of the show, Sage […]
Dave Borges recently debuted his new film, One Foot in the Grave, at Cable Car Cinema in Providence. It was shown to a sizable audience of mostly cast and crew, and it was paired with Bryan Casey’s shorter thriller He Never Said a Word, a film that Borges helped to edit. Both films were commendable. He Never […]
I’m known for complaining about the lack of women playwrights whose work gets produced. One reason artistic directors are reluctant to produce women is because they are telling a “female” story, whereas Death of a Salesman is a “human” story. Amy Herzog’s 4000 Miles is not the stereotypical “female” story. This funny, beautiful and touching […]
