Bud Light

Totally Commercial: Super Bowl Color Commentary with Miss Pop Rocks

Best New Downtown Club

Mercury Room

Suckfest - Sorry, Buzzfest - XXII Lineup Announced

Hey, didn't Korn break up after this album? They didn't? Our bad.In the midst of getting our collective Rocks Off panties in a twist over SXSW next week and the impending sweat-stained Westheimer Block Party, it's easy for us to forget what it's like on the other side of the music-snob fence. ... More >>

Chevy’s Freedom Over Texas with Fireworks presented by Shell

Celebrate your independence with your favorite brand names

Freedom, Now!

Get banged this Fourth

Pomegranate Martini

Ziggy's Healthy Grill

Irie iFest

Finding the coolest runnings at this year's Jamaica-themed Houston International Festival

Maybe This Time

These famous (and not so famous) musicians share their hopes for 2006

Why Do Mexicans Start to Drink Swill When They Get to the United States?

The Mexican replies

Midtown

Thursday, October 10

Safety Zone

Justin Bull Riding Championship

Please Add to Our F*** List

Life is hard; we understand that all too well. Some days, the whole thing just seems meaningless and trite, not unlike like so many new American Idol runners-up who are being foisted upon the general public as if they are the second coming of Freddie Mercury, when they are in all actuality just a du ... More >>

Aftermath: Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kid Rock at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Photos by Kim Douglass What is this place? Where it's OK to wear tank tops that cut off mid-abdomen with a pair of Daisy Dukes and a straw cowboy hat? And is that Bret Michaels eating nachos? A place like this could make any outsider feel like Alice only instead of a wonderland, they may be at a NAS ... More >>

A Bizarre, and Sometimes Electrifying, Tribute to Michael Jackson, Luther and Marvin at Miller Outdoor Theater

​Saturday Rocks Off and a friend attended Keeping the Music Alive, a free concert at Miller Outdoor Theatre. The show was a tribute in honor of the late Michael Jackson, the later Bernie Mac, the even later Gerald Levert, the later still Luther Vandross, and the even yet later still Barry White - ... More >>

The Wheel World

Commenters get angry on both sides of the road over "Ghost Riders."

Talking Turkeys

Are Houston concert fans really all that bad?

iFest Lineup Already Well-Known, Tickets On Sale At 10 a.m.

6:30 p.m. Sunday, April 25, Bud Light World Music Stage In what has become the worst-kept secret since either the end of The Crying Game or last Sunday's revelation that the Flaming Lips are this year's Summerfest headliners, the lineup of April's Houston International Festival has been leaking all ... More >>

Pop Rocks: What We Learned From The Olympics

Another edition of the Winter Games has come and gone, and while the last two weeks have been marked by triumph (the first American medals in Nordic Combined) as well as tragedy (Nickelback's closing ceremony performance), it's time to contemplate the important lessons we'll take away from Vancouve ... More >>

"Why Can't It Be More Like Jazzfest?" Rick Mitchell Debunks The Top 10 Gripes He's Overheard About Houston's iFest

All photos courtesy of www.ifest.orgOzomatli: 8 p.m. Saturday, April 17, Bud Light World Music Stage​ A couple of days ago, Houston International Festival Director of Performing Arts Rick Mitchell emailed Rocks Off and asked us if we'd mind reprinting something he wrote for the blog on iFest's Web ... More >>

The Gulf Coast At iFest: Joe Ely's Rattlesnake Rock, Soulful Latinology, Voodoo Brass And Creole Zydeco

Over the next two weeks, Rocks Off will be previewing acts performing at this year's Houston International Festival Saturday and Sunday and April 24-25 broken down by genre (loosely, anyway) and with a guest pick from a true insider: iFest Director of Performing Arts Rick Mitchell. We're doubling up ... More >>

The Caribbean At iFest: Pass The Kutchie To Neutral Sister, The Mighty Diamonds And Easy Star All-Stars

Over the next two weeks, Rocks Off will be previewing acts performing at this year's Houston International Festival Saturday and Sunday and April 24-25 broken down by genre (loosely, anyway) and with a guest pick from a true insider: iFest Director of Performing Arts Rick Mitchell. Today, the Caribb ... More >>

Latin Music At iFest: Legends, Locals And A Party-Starting Funk Crew

Over the next two weeks, Rocks Off will be previewing acts performing at this year's Houston International Festival Saturday and Sunday and April 24-25 broken down by genre (loosely, anyway) and with a guest pick from a true insider: iFest Director of Performing Arts Rick Mitchell. Today, a look at ... More >>

George Clinton To Play Extended iFest Set For King Sunny Ade

​The Houston International Festival has adjusted its schedule to accommodate the cancellation of Nigeria's King Sunny Ade & His African Beats, who scratched their tour after talking drummer Gabriel Ayanniyi and percussionist Omo Olope were killed in a car accident on their way to a video shoot ... More >>

Rick's Picks For iFest's Second Weekend

Ed. Note: Here are Houston International Festival Director of Peforming Arts Rick Mitchell's choices for can't-miss acts for the festival's second weekend, spread over five categories. Rick should know; he books all the artists. Rocks Off will follow with a few more picks of our own a little later o ... More >>

iFest Closes To An Afro-Cuban-Reggae Beat

Eggs/ breakfastontour.comBaba Maal​ If the first weekend of the Houston International Festival felt like a detour down Canal Street, the second evoked the festival's emphasis on "Spotlighting the Caribbean." Summer picked this weekend to descend two months early, as it tends to do, resulting in in ... More >>

13 Things You'll Never Hear At Anvil

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttTry ordering a real Manhattan at your Golden Tee Palace.​I found myself explaining to a friend last night that my entire philosophy and approach toward bars now that I've gotten older can be summed up by one question: Does it have a Golden Tee machine? If the answer ... More >>

Art Car Food

​What's better than soaking up some Houston humidity and watching a bunch of freaks drive some weird-looking cars? Washing the whole experience down with a bunch of complimentary food and booze - that's what. Well, complimentary, if you don't include the $125 price tag for getting into the VIP ... More >>

Drinking Your Dinner: 5 Calorie-Laden Classic Cocktails

Photo by coffeegeek​Vintage cocktails are undeniably the booze craze of the moment. Blame it on Mad Men. Blame it on "getting back to our roots" and people starting victory gardens once again. Blame it on books like Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. But classic cocktails are ... More >>

Top 5 Booze Ads From The 80s

Earlier this week we looked at some of the most memorable fast food commercials from the 1980s. Now it's time to charge your flux capacitors for a trip back to see some of the best and most sexually perverse booze ads the 80's had to offer. 5. Bud Light: Spuds Mackenzie Who are the ad wizards that ... More >>

Next Month's Music Award Showcase Schedule

​Here we go, y'all. Rocks Off is proud to present this year's HPMA showcase lineup, featuring almost 50 2010 nominees, a few distinguished HPMA alumni and special guests Matt & Kim and Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights. We guess this means this thing is really happening. The showcase start ... More >>

Music Awards Voting Now Open; Trae Added To Showcase

Monica Fuentes​So get to it right here, y'all. Also, late Wednesday, recent cover star Trae the Truth confirmed as the "Special Guest" on the Bud Light Outdoor Stage at the HPMA showcase on Washington Avenue Saturday, August 7. Trae and whoever else he wants to bring with him are scheduled to ... More >>

Saturday's HPMA Showcase, Hour By Hour And Genre By Genre

Monica Fuentes​One of the main ideas behind the Houston Press Music Awards Showcase - besides everyone having a good time, of course - is exposing local artists to thousands of potential new fans in one fell swoop. But those potential new fans have to be willing to take the bait, and with almo ... More >>

More from the Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

GroovehouseZydeco Dots at Bud Light Stage​The party's about to start at the Bud Light Main Stage, the sun is on it's way down and the night's just getting started. "Big crowd at Walter's. The Manichean are struggling towards a late start." -- John Gray "People are arriving in cabs for B L A ... More >>

Raves, Trains and Jitney Mobiles at the Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

Marc BrubakerMatt and Kim on the Bud Light Stage​Best moment? Early in the Matt and Kim set, a train roared through just north of Washington Avenue. The engineer, seeing the huge crowd in the parking lot just east of The Drake, laid on his horn and waved to everyone as the band played on. It ... More >>

Saturday Night: Matt & Kim At The HPMA Showcase

Jim Bricker​Matt & Kim Bud Light Outdoor Stage August 7, 2010 As the sun went down and the moon came up on the crowd at the Houston Press Music Awards Showcase main stage, a palpable sense of relief settled over everyone. The long, hot day was over and the throngs were preparing for Brooklyn' ... More >>

Riding The Musical Wave At Saturday's HPMAs

The American Heist at Walter's on WashingtonJim Bricker​Saturday didn't start out very promising: Almost as soon as Rocks Off arrived at the intersection of Washington and Silver, where the Bud Light main stage was set up, the sky darkened, then drizzled, then began pouring rain. The downpour ... More >>

Brew Blog: What Guinness and Bud Light Have in Common

That fancy Guinness is no more alcoholic than a Bud Light, bro.​ A friend showed up to a party last weekend with a head start on the rest of us. Pointing to the Guinness Draught in his hand, he grinned and said, "This is number nine." That severely impressed some partygoers, who assumed that ... More >>

Happy Hour Scene: King Biscuit

​The Place: King Biscuit1606 White Oak Dr. 713-861-2328www.thekingbiscuit.comThe Hours: Monday through Friday, 3-7 p.m.The Deals: Bud Light and Lone Star drafts are $2, and other select drafts are 75 cents cheaper than normal. Well drinks are $4. The Scene: A happy hour for us, when we haven't ... More >>

Comment of the Day

​Today we published Katharine Shilcutt's "United States of Beer," and of course, expected beer nerds the country over to go apeshit. We closed our eyes and landed our arrow on a typical comment from one of them: Congratulations. This is the stupidest thing I've seen all day. MGD 64? WTH? I' ... More >>

Two Stoners, One Race: Lessons from Last Weekend's Warrior Dash

Photo by Monica FuentesMmmm...muddy.​Two stoners, two very different results at this weekend's Warrior Dash near Conroe. (View the Warrior Dash slideshow) The event, a three-mile obstacle course/run that Red Frog stages across the country, encourages participants to unleash a kind of inner ... More >>

iFest's Second Weekend Brings It All Back Home

Jason WolterTexas Connection: Joe Ely, Lucinda Williams and Townes Van Zandt (not pictured)​See lots more iFest pictures from Saturday and Sunday (and some food) in our slideshows. Yes, it was hot at iFest this weekend. Houston hot. Sunday afternoon, partway through Lucinda Williams' surprisi ... More >>

Brew Blog: Mudbug Beer

Bring on the mudbugs​Recently, my business unit scheduled a weekend "team building exercise." I know what you're thinking - ropes courses, name tags and "sharing sessions." Nope. My team (god bless them) rolls a little bit differently. We had a crawfish boil. No, we're not hiring. Our IT staf ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Saddest Beer Palate Ever

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Freedom Over Texas

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

ACL Fest Schedule Released; Your Guide To The "Death Duels"

Stevie Wonder on FacebookStevie Wonder: Even My Morning Jacket will be watching.​This morning, the organizers of the Austin City Limits Music Festival announced the schedule for the September 16-18 Zilker Park throwdown. We all knew there would be some tough choices, but Rocks Off found that w ... More >>

Happy Hour Scene: Maple Leaf Pub

​The Place: The Maple Leaf Pub 514 Elgin 713-520-6464 http://www.themapleleafpub.com The Deals: $3 wells; $2.50 pints of Miller Lite and Bud Light; various other weekly and daily specials, including cheap shots of the day and $3 martinis on Mondays, which also feature bingo. The Hours: 3 to ... More >>

ACL Last Night: The One, The Only, Stevie Wonder

Photos by Marco Torres​Stevie Wonder Austin City Limits Music Festival Bud Light Stage, Zilker Park, Austin September 17, 2011 Stevie Wonder says we're all part of the same family. Saturday night at Austin City Limits, he had about 45,000 (we're guessing) Jesus children of America in the palm ... More >>

ACL: The Rain Came Down, To The Delight Of Thousands

Marco Torres​Yesterday at about midday at Zilker, a front of dark clouds began drizzling on us during J. Roddy Walston & The Business' set at the ginormo Bud Light, and the rain continues off and on until later in the afternoon. It was a welcome sight and feeling after months now of the jerky- ... More >>

ACL: Arcade Fire, Big As The Great Outdoors

Photos by Jim Bricker​Check out all our ACL 2011 coverage, including our hottest crowd shots and slideshow from Sunday featuring Randy Newman, Arcade Fire and The Walkmen. Arcade Fire Bud Light Stage, Austin City Limits Music Festival, Zilker Park September 18, 2011 Sunday night in a serene ... More >>

Local Punk Compilation Bullshit Vol. 1 Available as Free Download

​According to Mike from Agro-Wax Records, some of Houston's favorite punk-rock noun adjuncts of 2011 will be on a compilation record at the start of the new year. The first installment of the compilation has been sent to be mastered and pressed. The compilation is called Bullshit Vol. 1 and ... More >>