Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Reimagining The Rite of Spring

Stanton Welch's production magnifies the tribal elements, expanding on the original's provocative elements.

Today's 10 Most Predictable Acts to See In Concert

There's nothing quite as soul-crushing as a disappointing concert. We've all been there; shit rolls downhill the minute the dude behind you dumps his beer on your girl's shoes, or the security bro doesn't find your umpteenth "Freebird" request to be quite as funny as you did. It'll ruin the night wi ... More >>

SXSW's Class of 2008: Where Are They Now? (w/VIDEO)

My first true SXSW with the Houston Press and Rocks Off was way back in March 2008, when I was given a wristband to explore/maraud Austin looking for trouble and new bands. This was a time when Justice and MSTRKRFT were what would be called EDM now, and Israel's Monotonix was flipping every wig in t ... More >>

Last Night: Muse at Toyota Center

Muse Toyota Center March 12, 2013 There are certain types of bands you expect to pack arenas: bands who have figured out the power of pop hooks (Maroon 5), bands who play the most populist modern rock imaginable (Nickelback), and the dinosaurs of classic rock (Fleetwood Mac). Muse could have been ... More >>

NFL Free Agency 2013: Your Texans Cheat Sheet (Cap Numbers, Restructure Candidates, and More!)

Back in the day, when I used to have oodles and oodles of idle time on my hands during prime game-show watching hours (that's code for "back in college"), Wheel of Fortune was a staple of my game-show dance card. (For the record, Tic Tac Dough, Joker's Wild and Price is Right -- the Sopranos of game ... More >>

Blake Shelton Has Helped Country's "Old Farts" More Than They Seem to Know

"Can't they just shut up?" That's the question many country music fans proffer when musicians publicly express opinions that dare venture outside of benign Q&A quicksand and into the murky waters of relevant social issues. Country consumers from both sides of the political aisle can get riled up i ... More >>

Last Night: Ryan Bingham at House of Blues

Ryan Bingham House of Blues March 10, 2013 It's tempting to label Ryan Bingham a "throwback," because nothing he does is especially modern. The former rodeo cowboy's brand of classic rock, country-blues, and flatland boogie feels like it blew in from out of the past, like a dust storm from out beyo ... More >>

Hates Singer Looks Back on 35 Years of Houston Punk Rock

As the singer, guitarist, and chief songwriter for the Hates -- Houston's most enduring punk rock band and a local institution -- Christian Kidd (nee' Christian Arnheiter, Christian Oppression, and Christian Anarchy) has seen a lot. And with the band nearing its 35th anniversary (with Kidd as the ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: Broadway at the Box, The First Church of Texaco, God of Carnage, Man of La Mancha

Remembering Patsy Cline, 50 Years After Her Fatal Plane Crash

On March 5, 1963, country singers Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins died in a plane crash near Camden, Tennesee, about 90 miles west of Nashville. Around 6:20 p.m., their Piper Comanche PA-24 aircraft slammed into the ground, killing everyone on board instantly and leaving a six-foot-d ... More >>

Sexual Orientation Questions at NFL Combine Spark Sports Radio Discussion, Create Welcome Distraction

I listen to a lot of sports talk radio. I listen to as much of the various hosts as possible across the five different stations that offer all-sports formats -- yes, five, it's insane. There are some shows and on-air talent I like better than others. We're all like that I would guess. For me, I tend ... More >>

Last Night: Styx at Reliant Stadium

Styx Reliant Stadium March 4, 2013 When Styx made the decision to open with "Blue Collar Man" last night at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, I couldn't decide at first if the band was pandering to its anticipated crowd at something as common as a rodeo or being clever. I vacillated when Lawren ... More >>

Five Art Masterworks That Should Be Metal Album Covers

It's not often that you get the opportunity to combine masterpieces of painting and metal. It's not completely unfounded, considering Guns N' Roses copped from Raphael's School of Athens for the cover of their Use Your Illusion set. But it's rare, like mixing pro wrestling and classical literature. ... More >>

Molly Flogs Houston

Flogging Molly makes the walls sweat at the House of Blues.

Picasso in Black and White

There's good stuff here, but did we really need another round of the master's work?

Free Press Summer Fest '13 Announces Postal Service, Stooges, Cat Power, TV On the Radio, Social D, Geto Boys, Calvin Harris, etc.

Moments ago, the lineup for the 2013 Free Press Summer Festival was announced online at fpsf.com. Let's get to it, shall we?

Rodeo Houston Fun

Go Texan with this guide.

In Defense of New Girl (Hear Us Out...)

River Phoenix's Dark Blood: Not the Epitaph He Deserves.

Happy Birthday Kurt Cobain: Where Would He Be Today?

Last year on this date in honor of what would have been late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's 45th birthday, I wrote a blog supposing where the grunge icon would have been in 2012. It got a lot of traction and people loved and hated it. Imagining him as a dubstep DJ was really for grins and shock valu ... More >>

The Genesis Of King's X: The DUg Pinnick Interview, Part 1

"My house in Texas is a really great thing," DUg Pinnick says, King's X bassist/singer. "So I don't want to get rid of it." Pinnick now lives in Los Angeles, he says, "to further my career." At 62 years old this year, he's got the energy and ambition of a man one-third his age. He's been in L.A. fo ... More >>

Revisiting Robertson Stadium's Forgotten Concert History

After years of dreaming, planning and even a little begging, the University of Houston broke ground on a new on-campus football stadium this month. It's a pretty darn exciting development for the Cougars that marks the beginning of a new era of UH athletics: The program will play its first season in ... More >>

Miles Runs the Voodoo Down on New "Bootleg Series"

Fans of jazz giant Miles Davis were overjoyed in 2011 to hear that Columbia/Legacy had tapped the artist as the next subject of their Bootleg Series, offering rare live recordings of performances only available previously as, well... bootlegs, if at all. Though of course, these "official" releases c ... More >>

Artists Who Need Their Own Sirius/XM Channel Already

I've had satellite radio in my life since Christmas. Nothing is better than falling asleep on the couch on a Saturday afternoon after a big fat lunch with Willie's Roadhouse playing; waking up every few hours to piss during a Ray Price cut and then falling back to sleep. What I love the most, besi ... More >>

Last Night: All-Star Weekend Kick-Off Celebration at Warehouse Live

Slim Thug, Z-Ro, etc. Warehouse Live February 14, 2013 If partying it up in the same building as a bunch of famous rappers sounds like a pretty good time to you, you're in luck: Every rapper in existence is in town for the NBA All-Star Game this weekend, and many of them are planning to have a few ... More >>

Capsule Art Reviews: "Greg Miller: Over Time," "[Houston Times Eight]," "Kathryn Kelley: "The uncontrollable nature of grief and forgiveness (or lack of)," "Mac Whitney: Sculptures and Paintings," "Mie Olise: Crystal Bites of Dust," "Wilo Vargas"

The Sounds of H-Town

Cactus Music wants your help with a "Community-Curated Playlist."

Die Hard, Die Alone

When John McClane lost his family, the movieslost much of John McClane

Rap Capitalism

ScoreMore is the successful byproduct of booking agents Sascha Stone Guttfreund and Claire Bogle trying to deliver the acts they wanted to see.

Roosh Williams: "I'm All About Flow and Lyrics"

If you were a local up-and-coming rapper and you got the call that you will be performing with hip-hop legend Rakim this Saturday in front of an All-Star Weekend audience, you'd be pretty excited. For rapper Roosh Williams, that's an understatement. "I was fuckin' ecstatic," the 23-year-old rapper ... More >>

Dear Grammys, I'm Breaking Up With You

Dear Stupid Grammys, I have a bone to pick with you. I sat through Taylor Swift's uninspired opening act while she half-sung/half-yodeled at a guy on a spinning bullseye. It was complete with an insulting and transparent Alice in Wonderland costume ripoff (which I'm not getting, by the way... is s ... More >>

All the Rappers Who Will Be Here All-Star Weekend, Part 2

"Are you going to StripperFest?" "Excuse me, am I going to what?" "StripperFest. It's a thing at All-Star Weekend." Rewind: All the Rappers Who Will Be Here All-Star Weekend, Part 1 If I told you a complete stranger with his or her own guide to All-Star Weekend told me such a thing, I would be ... More >>

From Ska to Eternity: A Quick History of Fueled By Ramen's Unlikely Rise to the Top

There is a very good chance that fun. is going to walk away with at least one Grammy come Sunday night. As one of the handful of artists with six nominations to their name; the Brooklyn pop-rockers are odds-on favorites to at least win the smaller categories they're nominated in. fun.'s rise to th ... More >>

Hey Astros, You Might Want To Hire Some Radio Broadcasters

The Houston Astros report for spring training next week. The first spring training game is on Saturday, February 23rd. And yet the Astros still do not have a radio broadcast team. Brett Dolan and Dave Raymond were dismissed the day after the 2012 season ended. In early October. And the topic as to ... More >>

The 5 Best Onstage Band Pranks

You might think that it's a little bit early for April Fool's, but pranks go on between musicians and bands year-round. Given that musicians are an immature, jocular sort, tied inherently to an adolescent dream of being a rock star, it should be no surprise that they get into all kinds of crazy insi ... More >>

Last Night: Testament and Overkill at House of Blues

Testament, Overkill, Flotsam and Jetsam House of Blues February 6, 2013 When it comes to '80s thrash metal, there are the Big Four -- Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax -- and there's everybody else. For a good while there, it looked as if "everybody else" might not survive the grunge- and rap ... More >>

The Best Concerts In Houston This Week

Toro Y Moi Fitzgerald's, February 4 Chaz Bundick, aka Toro Y Moi, has just released Anything In Return, another set of chilly bedroom anthems that nestles in nicely among his lengthy discography. Call it chillwave, R&B, indie-pop, whatever, just don't call it slap-dash. Bundick is creating timeless ... More >>

Why Electric Daisy Carnival Texas Should Be In Houston

The largest music festival in the United States in terms of attendance is not Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, or Austin City Limits. While each sees thousands of music fans pass through the gates every year, the real attendance champ is Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas. The 2012 version of the e ... More >>

Grading XXL's Past 5 "Freshman 10" Classes

Apparently there are still rappers who want to make the XXL Freshman 10 class this year. Take Riff Raff, for example. He wants it so badly that he has been following everyone on Twitter who votes for him in the contest. The magazine began running its annual list of noteworthy, "undiscovered" rappe ... More >>

The Destiny's Child Compilation Beyoncé Doesn't Want You to Hear

With all the excitement buzzing around the rumored Destiny's Child reunion during Beyoncé's Super Bowl Halftime set on Sunday, one could be forgiven for picking up a copy of the iconic girl group's latest compilation album, the imaginatively titled Love Songs. After all, it includes a whole stack o ... More >>

Old Gold: The Explosion of Vintage Jewelry In Hip-Hop

In the past year, the hip-hop scene has traded in a great deal of its diamond-encrusted Jesus pieces and record-label logo necklaces for items with a bit more "vintage designer" style. From coast to coast, we are now seeing entertainers and tastemakers flash their vintage Chanel and antique Versace ... More >>

Eli Young Band: "We Like to Stay Busy"

Now more than a decade old, the Eli Young Band is the rare Texas country act whose lyrics are not dominated by their home state and its musical heroes. Their music is largely fiddle-free, rather cut from the same cloth as pop-rockers like Tom Petty, Matchbox 20 and the Wallflowers, and if someone in ... More >>

Battle of the Black Flags: Which One Is Better?

This past week the Internet was abuzz with the news that two different versions of the 1980s hardcore-punk pioneers Black Flag are reuniting. Since Black Flag is so iconic to almost any punk fan, this is big news indeed. But there's a catch: neither of the two versions is the complete, real version ... More >>

Liam Gallagher Is My Hero. Don't Judge Me.

Liam Gallagher is a literary genius. Yes, I said it. And I won't take it back. But wait. Don't start typing out your "Beady Eye sucks and their album tanked" rant just yet. I can explain. I say this based not on Liam's musical prowess but on his inane ability to drop pearls of bitchy wisdom aime ... More >>

Coachella 2013 Takes It Back to the '90s

Coachella, the Only Music Festival That Matters (or so we're told), announced its 2013 lineup late Thursday night, no holograms or Rolling Stones included. Instead, two beloved '90s UK acts whose popularity in the U.S. is spotty at best, Blur and the Stone Roses, headline the first night of the tw ... More >>

Rockets Blocked Out

Sources say Astros Stopped a deal to bring CSN Houston, Rockets Games to DirecTV.

Last Night: Underoath Farewell Tour at House of Blues

Underoath House of Blues January 23, 2013 It looks like all of the members of Underoath finally decided to quit at the same time. The Florida metalcore turned post-hardcore outfit has had no less than 15 people fill its ranks in its 15-year history, leaving the current iteration with no original me ... More >>

Will Long.Live.A$AP Be the Biggest Houston Rap Album of 2013?

There are a few things you should know about A$AP Rocky. He's a pretty motherfucker. His new album, Long.Live.A$AP, is at the top of the charts. And it might turn out to be the biggest Houston rap album of the year. Except that it's not really a Houston rap record at all, of course. A$AP Rocky is ... More >>

5 Bands Who Pioneered Modern Indie-Rock... Besides the Smiths

Legendary guitarist Johnny Marr is set to release his first ever solo record next month after years of being a sideman for other bands, some rather important. In anticipation, he's had some choice words to say that one would have expected more from his less level-headed ex-Smiths compatriot Morrisse ... More >>

The Cavern and the Top 10 Iconic Rock Clubs In History

Last week back in 1957, the most famous rock club in England opened in Liverpool. There was absolutely no rock and roll on the bill that night. The Cavern Club was originally opened to mimic the cellar jazz bars that owner Alan Synter visited in Paris. There was a strict jazz-only policy in place ... More >>