Concerts

Have an alt-rock feast with the annual pre-Thanksgiving show from Letters to Cleo

The Boston favorites return to the Paradise Nov. 18-19.

Letters to Cleo in concert at the Paradise in 2017. Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe

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Is there a better way to get ready for Thanksgiving than by seeing Letters to Cleo at the Paradise? If so we’re not aware of it.

Ever since 2016 — with the exception of the pandemic-wracked year of 2020 — the local favorites have been reuniting for a pair of shows at the venerable Boston venue every November. One of the best and certainly most engaging Boston alt-rock acts of the 1990s, Letters to Cleo have attacked their Paradise shows with all the energy of the band’s heyday and just enough nostalgia to spur smiles without seeming musty.

Last year’s setlists featured no shortage of favorites from the band’s ’90s output, like “Here and Now” from their breakout 1993 record “Aurora Gory Alice,” and “Awake” and “Pizza Cutter” from 1995’s “Wholesale Meats and Fish.” The encores were a particular treat: They included the band’s cover of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You To Want Me,” a standout from the soundtrack to “10 Things I Hate About You,” and several songs from the film version of “Josie & The Pussycats,” for which LTC’s Kay Hanley provided Josie’s singing voice.

It’s a busy fall already for Hanley: The Dorchester native was scheduled for two solo shows at City Winery Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, marking the 20th anniversary of her album “Cherry Marmalade.” But the Paradise shows will give her and her bandmates another opportunity to say thanks for the memories, and for the continued support.

“We realized that many people have become fans after the band broke up,” Hanley told Chaos Control last year, prior to last November’s Paradise stint. “A lot of people had been fans for almost 20 years and had never seen us. It was super cool to have all these people we never thought we’d see. To connect with a whole new audience was really gratifying.”

Also gratifying, according to Hanley? Making The New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle.