Launch party for Jim Sullivan’s second volume of the Backstage & Beyond series takes place October 30 6-9 p.m. Free and open to the public. Backstage & Beyond: 45 Years of Modern Rock Chats and Rantsfocuses on artists whose musical lives took shape in the mid-70s onward, meaning there’s a lot of interaction with punk, post-punk and new wave bands in the mix: Ramones, Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned, the Cramps, the Police, Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks, Joy Division/New Order, Morrissey, Billy Bragg, the English Beat, Spiritualized and many more. The party for Vol. 1 in July was a gas. The books sold out and so many members of the Boston rock community out in full force. Let’s do it again!