Brave Combo

Lights, Camera, Headaches

The quickest way to ruin a music festival? Get actors to show up.

UPDATED: Is ACL Festival Ignoring Houston? Does It Even Matter?

UPDATED (Thursday, 2:50 p.m.) to reflect the Houston-area roots of a few ACL performers this year, as pointed out by reader comments. We stand by our original point, though. As most of our readers no doubt know by now, the Austin City Limits Music Festival announced its 2013 lineup at the stroke of ... More >>

Upcoming: Delta Spirit, GZA, John Legend, Guttermouth, Waka Flocka Flame, Etc.

Akron/Family: Fri., Sept. 7, 8 p.m., $12/$17. Fitzgerald's, 2706 White Oak, Houston. Alanis Morissette: Sun., Oct. 28, 8 p.m., TBA. Bayou Music Center, 520 Texas Ave., Houston. Balmorhea: Mon., Oct. 1, 8 p.m., TBA. Fitzgerald's, 2706 White Oak, Houston. Blaggards: Sat., Sept. 15, 10 p.m., $10. Co ... More >>

Discovery Green's Fall Shows Even Better Than the Spring

Late Monday evening, Discovery Green announced the lineup of its increasingly popular Thursday-evening free concert series, which will resume Sept. 13 with the patchouli-scented Austin group Mingo Fishtrap and Houston rocksteady revivalists the Suffers, who were all over this year's Houston Press Mu ... More >>

Upcoming: Glen Campbell, Toadies, Norah Jones, Crystal Method, Etc.

13 Black Coffins, Ese, Zipperneck, The Failed Attempt: Fri., June 1, 7 p.m., $10. Mango's, 403 Westheimer Road, Houston. 23 Shades, The Solidier Thread: Fri., June 1, 8 p.m., $10/$12. The Bronze Peacock Room @ House Of Blues, 1204 Caroline, Houston. Aesop Rock: Fri., Aug. 10, 8 p.m., $18/$22. Fitz ... More >>

Saturday Night: Accordion Kings & Queens At Miller Outdoor Theatre

Photos courtesy of Miller Outdoor Theatre Advisory BoardBrave Combo​Accordion Kings & Queens Festival Miller Outdoor Theatre June 4, 2011 Timing can be everything. And it only took about ten seconds standing in the wings 20 feet from Clifton Chenier's former guitarist Lil Buck Sinegal and the ... More >>

Texas Zydeco, In Five Indelible Images

​One of Rocks Off's main resolutions most years is to both see more zydeco and write about it more often. Unfortunately, we don't get out to the country as often as we should, and no one ever seems to want to give us a ride to Jax Grill on Friday evenings. We have to remind ourselves to check ... More >>

Free Press Summer Fest Team Taking Over Fitzgerald's

4:38 p.m.: UPDATED with more information from Afra. Matthew KeeverThe crowd dances to Brave Combo at Fitzgerald's 33rd anniversary this past Saturday.​Free Press Houston editor/publisher Omar Afra and Pegstar.net owner Jagi Katial, the principal figures behind Free Press Summer Fest, announce ... More >>

Saturday Night: Cadre, Brave Combo And Brains For Dinner At Fitzgerald's

Photos by Matthew KeeverCadre​Cadre, Brave Combo, Brains for Dinner Fitzgerald's July 24, 2010 Some would argue that Reggae is dead, but the youth of Houston would beg to differ. In dramatic fashion on Saturday night, fans, friends and loved ones were all brought to their feet at Fitzgerald's ... More >>

Houston 101: The Polish In Houston Today And Yesterday

​The recent Polish air catastrophe that claimed the life of President Lech Kaczynski and his wife and almost 100 other members of that country's political elite has opened a window on to Houston's Polish community. Who knew it was still thriving enough to support its own church? Well, it is. ... More >>

Houston International Festival

Miss Rockefeller's? Marcia Ball and Texas Johnny Brown Headline iFest Benefit February 12

brides.com​Like many of you - we're guessing, anyway - Rocks Off never saw a show at Rockefeller's. We didn't get inside the Loop much during high school (too busy checking groceries) and, although we managed to go to Mary Jane's, the Satellite Lounge and maybe the Abyss (it's a little fuzzy) on v ... More >>

2009 Concert Rewind, May: No Doubt, Dave Matthews, Fleetwood Mac, Steve Earle, Fischerspooner, Bob Log and, Um, BuzzFest

Craig Hlavaty​Dave Matthews Band, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, May 1: "It's hard to label what exactly they do, but it can't be called 'jam.' As limitless and expansive the bands who get stuck in that genre may be, folks like String Cheese Incident, O.A.R. and Dispatch cannot hold a flickering ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Anvil(!), David Cook, Lee Greenwood, Skatalites, Tanya Tucker, Tegan & Sara, etc.

​"13th Annual Pimp-N-Prostitute Ball" With MINIKISS, The Crisis, DJ Looney, DJ Jager, DJ Velvet: Sat., Oct. 31. Warehouse Live. Ali Zafar: Sat., Oct. 24. Arena Theatre. Anvil: Sun., Jan. 24. House of Blues. Brave Combo: Fri., Dec. 11. Dosey Doe Coffee Company. Buxton, Surfer Blood, F.G. and the G ... More >>

A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas, Part 2: "Trinity"

[Note: This week Rocks Off is looking at the musical heritage, highs and lows, for each of the five possible states that might result should Texas secede from the U.S. like Gov. Rick Perry wants it to. Yesterday we began with the Panhandle/West Texas "Palo Duro" territory; today it's northeastern qu ... More >>

Defending the Polka

Defending the Polka: Mark Halata of Texavia

www.halatamusic.comPolka may be a musical punchline to a lot of people, but it's no joke to others. That's why no one was laughing when the Recording Academy announced last week that it was eliminating the Best Polka Recording category starting with next year's awards. As reported in The New York Ti ... More >>

Aftermath: Brave Combo at Discovery Green

Photos by Allen Hill It would be interesting to find out how many weddings have taken place at Discovery Green since it opened last year, but it's hard to imagine that any of them could have been any livelier than Brave Combo's free concert there Thursday evening. In its second season, DG's free con ... More >>

Spring Concert Series at Discovery Green Announced

Susan Cowsill, "Just Believe It" Cut from the same cloth as Party on the Plaza comes this year's concert series at Discovery Green. If you haven't visited the downtown park since it opened last April, you're missing one the greenest and absolutely most beautiful facets of our town. In the spirit ... More >>

Spring Concert Series at Discovery Green Announced

Susan Cowsill, "Just Believe It" Cut from the same cloth as Party on the Plaza comes this year's concert series at Discovery Green. If you haven't visited the downtown park since it opened last April, you're missing one the greenest and absolutely most beautiful facets of our town. In the spirit ... More >>

The Art Guys Silver Jubilee Tribute Album Concert and Variety Show Extravaganza

Michael Galbreth and Jack Massing celebrate 25 years together

Oktoberfest

St. Arnold’s annual bash is all about the beer

Dance Hall Days

Fitzgerald's Hits the Dirty 30

Taking Liberty's at Fitzgerald’s

The Sick Old Man of the Festival Circuit

An open letter to the organizers and music bookers of the Houston International Festival

Xmas Marks the Spot

A guide to new holiday discs, from surprise presents to Tannen-bombs

Clear Channel Cajun Invasion

April 5 through 7

Divided Road

As art car festivities move further from their roots, events could be heading on a collision course

Hot Plate

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Rotation

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Rotation

She's the Boss

Houston-bred Sara Hickman has never been keen on constraints

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Sound Check

Squeezebox Serenade

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Rotation

Everything Festival

Sound Check

Static

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Squeeze Me!

Fans of the instrument with folds descend on Houston

Blowing His Own Horn

Karp, the Good Crap

Ely, Allen and BBQ: The next best thing to Lubbock

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The Pop of Punk

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