Columbus (Ohio)

For Valentine's Day: A Few Musical Bone-Zone Bummers

Today the Internet is awash with song suggestions to help you get your honeys into a sexin' mood, but I've collected some stories from completely real people that I in no way made up to serve as a warning that your Valentine's playlist has got to be foolproof. I've chosen four to prove that with on ... More >>

SXSW Releases First Batch of 2013 Performers

Here go hell come, SXSW has just released the first batch of names for the 2013 festival. I know, only a week after Fun Fun Fun Fest and a month since ACL. Did you see the FPSF blog from earlier today? Yeah, time is moving too fast. The big names on the list so far include the Zombies, Alt-J, Akro ... More >>

"Free Randy Blythe": Lamb of God/Dethklok Tour Canceled; No Houston Sept. 7 Show (UPDATE: Blythe Has Been Released)

(UPDATE: From Adrenaline PR: "After five weeks in a prison in Prague in the Czech Republic, Randy Blythe has been released on bail and is returning to the United States. Although Lamb Of God has cancelled their summer co-headline tour with Dethklok, the band is currently targeting October 26th as t ... More >>

Houston's Babies Play Vintage Baseball

There's no gloves or batting helmets when Larry Joe Miggins and the rest of the Houston Babies regularly travel back in time to play the game by its 1860 rules.

Top 10 Most Outrageous Onstage Incidents, Antics & Meltdowns

Everyone has their meltdown moments, no doubt about it. We make mistakes and, most of the time, we try to correct them. We have them because we are all human. Unfortunately, though, when you are in the spotlight, your hurts, tantrums, mistakes and meltdowns are all magnified for all the world to se ... More >>

Houston Led Nation in Population Growth in Last Decade, Rice Finds

Rice U video No city in America grew more in population in the last decade than Houston, a Rice study said today. And if you don't believe it, they put out the slick video above to erase any doubt. Houston added 1,231,393 residents between 2000 and 2012, the study of census figures said; the next ... More >>

For Vancouver: The Top 10 Sports Riots

twitpic/Chris WaltsNot bad, Vancouver, but you got some work to do​Oh, behave, Vancouver. Last night, a number of poor sports, distraught by the Canucks' loss to the Boston Bruins in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, went all kung fu on the British Columbia city. By past standards, Van ... More >>

Bedbugs in Houston: Hey, We Ain't Too Bad

Probably from Dallas.​Anytime there's a list involving annoying bugs or pests, you expect Houston to be making a bold bid for the title. But exterminator giant Terminix has just released its list of the worst bedbug-infested cities in America, and Houston isn't on it. We don't make the top 1 ... More >>

Houston Dogs Worst In Country For Attacking Mail Carriers

Probably lives in Houston​It's hard out there for a Houston mail carrier -- if the heat doesn't get you, the dogs probably will. The United States Postal Service has put out its list of the 10 most dangerous cities for dog attacks, and coming in at the top is....us. USPS says 62 Houston lett ... More >>

The End Of The Ocean: No Singers, No Fear Of Caligula

It's a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks off we're trying hard to find meaning in the oddest monikers. The End of the Ocean on Facebook​Let's be very clear about something. As a singer Rocks Off is not in favor of instrumental rock music. Reb ... More >>

Fried Chicken from Kroger

​It is one of life's truly great pleasures to find something delicious in an unexpected place. The best meal of my life was found a few years back at a small Japanese restaurant in a non-descript strip mall on the edge of the Columbus, Ohio suburbs. It was wonderful food, beautifully prepared ... More >>

Brew Blog: Great Lakes Brewery's Dortmunder Gold

​Listening to Wait, Wait ...Don't Tell Me on NPR a few weeks ago, a caller from Cleveland was challenged to come up with something positive about his city. After a long silence that drew plenty of laughs, he said, "Great Lakes beer." The Cleveland-based brewery is definitely one of many reaso ... More >>

Cowboy From Hell: Dimebag Darrell's Best Guitar Solos

findagrave.com​This blog is stupid, because Rocks Off - this member at least - loves everything that Pantera did. In turn, that means we like everything that the Texas metal gods' late guitarist, Metroplex-bred "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, did. But still, let's look back and some of the best solo ... More >>

Sarah Palin's New Show: Houston Blessed Enough To Get Sneak Preview

Saah Palin having some "flippin' fun"​If you've been moping around saying you have nothing to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, relax. You now officially have a reason to offer gratitude. There are a whole bunch of cities in the United States, right? (Yes, right.) Well, there are only eight ... More >>

Columbus: Five Little-Known, And Possibly Inaccurate Facts About Him

Columbus: Amerigo Vespucci's a pimp​Why are you at work? It's Columbus Day!!It is only rampant anti-Italianism that prevents Houstonians from getting a three-day weekend to celebrate the guy who was among the first dozen or so people to discover America.Columbus, of course, is a misunderstood figu ... More >>

Two Cow Garage

Sexiest Cities: Don't Get Too Excited, Houston

Houston;'s hot, but not as hot as....Bakersfield?​Men's Health has found, once again, a surefire way to get mentioned in a bunch of cities who otherwise wouldn't pay it much mind: It's come up with a list of the nation's sexiest cities.How? By, it claims, examining condom sales, birth rates and ST ... More >>

Lower Dens' Jana Hunter On Vulgarity, Exercise And '70s Housing

Ed. Note: Sometime Press contributor Tex Kerschen of Indian Jewelry spoke with former Houstonian Jana Hunter last week, before her new Baltimore-based band Lower Dens' show at Walter's this Saturday. ​Rocks Off: What is a "lower den"? Jana Hunter: The deeper echelons of the dragon's hovel, ... More >>

Credit Cards: Houstonians Have Three, And Owe $5,300 On Them

What about a Costco card? Is that okay?​If you're a Houstonian, you have three credit cards in use, and you have a total debt of $5,328.Many Houstonians right now are going "I wish," we're sure.But the financial firm Experian insists it's so, after a study that looked at credit card use in big cit ... More >>

Wicked: Back Stage Where All Sorts of Things Are Flying About

The Hobby Center is far better than the Music Hall​An enormous dragon hung over the front of the Hobby Center's stage yesterday -- it took 10 hours of work to reassemble it and place it there on Monday.Below, workers were stringing cable, putting hardware and software into its final places, all pr ... More >>

Top 10 Last Words By Famous Musicians

​Musicians tend to be a mouthy lot. It takes a certain kind of soul to want and express your own inner world to the outer world at large. So when the time comes for them to shuffle off this mortal coil, they often have some very interesting exit lines... 10. Ludwig Van Beethoven, "Friends a ... More >>

Booking Mix-Up Forces Psychedelic Horsesh*t To Cancel Notsuoh Show

​Antagonistic folk-punkers Psychedelic Horseshit (right) had to cancel their appearance at Notsuoh tomorrow night with Eat Grapes, The Caprolites and The Wiggins due to a scheduling conflict. It's been quite a while since Houston has seen an appearance by Psychedelic Horseshit, but if Houston ... More >>

How Many Times Will Otters Delay Houston Flights Before Something Is Done?

​If we had a nickel for everytime we had to write an "Otter Delays Flight At Bush Intercontinental" story, we'd...be able to buy whatever costs five cents these days. (Answer: A shiny new nickel. Or an old one.)But believe us -- we are going to be keeping an eye on this disturbing trend. It may no ... More >>

The Man Comes Around: Top Ten Big-Deal Musical Deaths of the Decade

​This past decade saw the passing of an innumerable amount of musical icons and pioneering giants. Not only did we lose the second coolest Beatle, but we lost two of the best dancers and performers the world will ever see. Punk rock and metal saw some of their best and brightest lights get snuffed ... More >>

Aftermath: Our Ten Favorite Performances at Fun Fun Fun Fest

Photos by Marc Brubaker/ Click here for slideshows from Day 1 and Day 2Times New Viking​ If there's anything that Aftermath truly loves about music (outside of watching talented people create outstanding art), it's the innate propensity the medium possesses to bring people together. There is somet ... More >>

Aftermath: Rascal Flatts at RodeoHouston

Photos by Mark C. AustinAnyone who thought that '80s-style power ballads had long gone away with Kurt Cobain's green sweater and Crystal Pepsi is dead wrong. They are kept alive, nightly, by Columbus, Ohio's Rascal Flatts. Bundled-up couples of all ages walked hand-in-hand, and apple-lot ... More >>

CNN To Open A News Bureau In Houston

Bow Wow

Advice from Shad Gregory Moss

Psychedelic Horseshit

Columbus threesome offers up dancey, non-crappy, shoegazer rock

He's So Klute

Tom Withers drops his drum 'n' bass on Clark's

Chefs Rule!

If you can't stand the sight of lopped-off digits and the smell of your own flesh burning, get out of the kitchen

Yin and Yang

The killing of Dimebag Darrell rains on Michael Haaga's Continental Club Plus and Minus Show parade

Fresh Produce

With underground hip-hop or mass-appeal club records, RJD2 is a stickler for details

The Reorient Express

Some churches are still trying to "cure" homosexuals. And some people are still lining up to trade in their sex life for eternal life.

Marinara Monopoly

Has Amerigo's been resting on its "best restaurant in The Woodlands" laurels too long?

Remaking the Band

Will the Pixies 2.0 thrive like Mission of Burma, or stumble like Urge Overkill?

Letters

So, Did You Hear the One About the Funny Muslim?

The Evolution Control Committee

Plagiarythm Nation (Creations/Seeland)

Short Stuff

Seize your three minutes of fame

Fueling the Ire

Despite downpours and dwindling diesel, the Klan tries to mount a soggy comeback

Pop Goes the Bastard

Unlike the UK, Houston resists the urge to commit plagiarhythm

Train In Vain?

Main street's light rail is on it's way, and boosters hope to see passengers lining up for a ride

Where Will They Be?

A look at the rock scene in 2020

Mix Master

Who do we have to thank for Rod Stewart every hour on the hour? This guy, Guy Zapoleon.

Parting Shot

Almost 25 years ago, graphics man Alan Berrent took Hustler "into the pink." Before he dies, he wants to make amends.

Hats Off

Dwight Yoakam's the last great country singer -- and he doesn't need a twang to prove it

Quick Study

Can a middle-class Midwestern white guy play the blues? Yeah, if he's Mark May.

Letters