Check Out These Valentine’s Day Shows

This post originally appeared on Vanyaland.

American Echoes / Courtesy photo via Facebook

OK, so we’re going to be up front with everyone in regards to Valentine’s Day 2016. There’s a Rock Of Love marathon airing on VH1 all day on Sunday, starting at 11 a.m. It follows season-long marathons of Flavor Of Love (today) and I Love New York (Saturday), all part of VH1’s 14 Days Of Love festivities that started earlier this month, so there’s a good chance we’re not leaving the couch all weekend long. Couple that—more talk about coupling!—with the frigid temperatures outside, and maybe it’s best to just not leave the house until after President’s Day (or whenever Spring Training starts). But if you can pull yourself away from the couch, here’s what awaits music lovers this Valentine’s Day.

Ruby Rose Fox’s 5th Annual Valentine’s Day Show

There are a lot of mixed emotions on Valentine’s Day, and that’s where Ruby Rose Fox comes in. The Boston singer captures the highs and lows of life through her unmistakable voice and powerful lyrical storytelling, providing the love songs for the lovers and the teary-eyed soundtrack for those on the mend. You could even say that in 2016, Fox is the heartbeat of the Boston music scene. “We all love and hate Valentine’s Day, but this show always takes the edge off for me and leaves me with amazing memories,” she writes. “Our very first show was five years ago this Valentine’s Day!” This is the one time we’ll accept an anniversary falling on February 14. The. One. Time.

$12 advance/$14 doors, 8:30 p.m., Atwood’s Tavern, 877 Cambridge St., Cambridge, 617-864-2792, atwoodstavern.com. More event info via Facebook.

Mini Dresses, Littlefoot, American Echoes, and Soulelujah

If what “they” say is true, that love is blind, then Illegally Blind Presents has to be the trusted source for Valentine’s Day thrills. For a Sunday-night jaunt through the emotional side of indie rock, the Middle East offers up a spectacular bill for its Valentine’s Day Semi Formal: the lo-fi allure of Mini Dresses, the dream-pop sincerity of Littlefoot, and the enchanting indie-folk sounds of American Echoes are capped off by DJs sets from the Soulelujah crew, who don’t tolerate crying on the dance floor. It won’t matter if you have work or school the next Monday, after vibing out to these bands and coloring in your empty heart with crayon, you’ll be dancing the night away like it’s your birthday. And no one needs a lover for that.

$10, 8 p.m., Middle East, 472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-864-3278, mideastoffers.com. More event info via Facebook.

Love, Brunch & Hip-Hop

Here’s something for the daytime. Xperience Creative and Booger Money team up for a hip-hop brunch at the Hard Rock, raising a glass to old school MCs, the songs that soundtracked our first kisses, and all those CD soundtracks you bought for $18.99 at Strawberry’s and Sam Goody back in the day (Love & Basketball, Poetic Justice, and Love Jones). “It’s all for the love of hip-hop”, says Booger Money’s Andrea Hudson. “Our goal is to cultivate an immersive experience by incorporating live art, DJs, and our love for the depths of hip-hop. This particular brunch sound will be heavily influenced by Bad Boy Entertainment with music by DJ Crew, TableManners. Attendees should anticipate the music of Biggie, Diddy, Ma$e, Total and more. We’re focused on an era, one that most equate with their first true love.”

$15 (includes food), 12-4 p.m., Hard Rock Cafe, 22-24 Clinton St., Boston, 617-424-7625, hardrock.com. More event info via Facebook.

Love Will Tear Us Apart: Downtempo Anti-Valentine’s Dance Party

In promoting a party, sometimes you don’t have time to mess around. So naming your event after the legendary Joy Division post-punk classic (perhaps the greatest song of the 20th century) gives you a good idea of what to expect here. The perfect remedy for those who missed Heroes’ pre-Valentine’s Day party at the Middle East the night before (or those who just want to double dip on the darker side of love), this Sunday night bash promises a mix of goth, EBM, electro, synthpop and new wave from DJs Dirge and Xero, all with a downtempo feel. By 10 p.m. Sunday night, you have a pretty good idea of how your Valentine’s Day turned out. If you want to take it down a few notches and sulk in the corner to Wolfsheim’s “Lovesong” or “Awake” by Cosmicity, then this is the place. Just don’t request De/Vision. Don’t be that person.

$5, 9 p.m., Phoenix Landing, 512 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-576-6260, phoenixlandingbar.com. More event info via Facebook.

Personification of Death Tour

Remember that time on The Real World London when Neil Forrester received a pig’s heart with a nail impaled through it for Valentine’s Day? Oh, are we dating ourselves? Cool. Well, this is the live show version of that scene—because sometimes your heart is so blissfully black that nothing other than the Personification of Death tour will suffice. O’Brien’s serves us the extreme sounds on a silver platter: New York thrash and death metal heroes Sicada, who just signed to Tridroid Records, leads the forceful charge alongside Ohio’s Gomorrah and New Jersey’s Eye Of The Destroyer for the most pummeling V-Day show in Massachusetts. Check your love at the door.

$10, 10 p.m., O’Brien’s Pub, 3 Harvard Ave., Allston, 617-782-6245, obrienspubboston.com.