Evanescence

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 >>

Abandon All Hope: Your Guide to the 2013 Grammy Award Underdogs

There are certain truths we all accept about the Grammy awards, including but not limited to: no matter how many times she's won Taylor Swift will always make that "ohmygod people like me?!?!?!" face; that NARAS president Neil Portnow will show up to make a speech that no one will remember; someone ... More >>

The 5 Most Important Years In Goth Music: 2002

Over the course of the week Rocks Off will be looking at the biggest years for goth music and exactly what they meant for the genre. Arguably the last big goth album by a new band to make a crossover splash was Evanescence's Fallen, released in early 2003. That one band led millions of mall-goths i ... More >>

The 5 Most Important Years In Goth Music: 1983

All this week, Rocks Off will be looking at the biggest years for goth music and exactly what they meant for the genre. Just as Bauhaus was breaking up, a place in England opened up whose gothic importance cannot be overstated. Beginning in 1982, the Batcave intended to bring about a revival of the ... More >>

ShipRocked: A Monstrous Final Day On the Ocean

A few weeks ago, Rocks Off's Kevin Ramer shoved off on the 2012 edition of ShipRocked, which bills itself as "the ultimate rock music cruise vacation." These are his reports. The fourth and final full day of the ShipRocked cruise is a full day at sea. After partying late into the night on Thursday, ... More >>

ShipRocked: KoRn Fights Seasickness but Fans Rage On

A few weeks ago, Rocks Off's Kevin Ramer shoved off on the 2012 edition of ShipRocked, which bills itself as "the ultimate rock music cruise vacation." These are his reports. After a long first night of partying and concerts, Shiprockers woke up in the southernmost part of the United States: Key We ... More >>

KACC: "Gulf Coast Rocker" Is Houston's Last Great FM Hope

Like a wound that never truly heals, the sorry state of commercial rock radio around here continues to be a sore point for many Houstonians. Not a day goes by that several people search for 103.7 FM on the Houston Press Web site -- almost two months after the station changed formats from Adult Alter ... More >>

Avengers Assemble Soundtrack Butt-Rocks into the Future

Time was in the '90s that every big summer action movie came prepackaged with a great hard-rock soundtrack. As the industry went through growing pains it died off a bit, reducing a soundtrack to maybe one or two free downloads from a middling band close to the project. The heady days of hard-rock d ... More >>

Double Duds: The 10 Worst Duets Since "Ebony and Ivory"

Thirty years ago this week, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder hit No. 1 on the charts with their duet, "Ebony and Ivory." The song spent seven weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and the past three decades as a joke. Perhaps history's most hackneyed call for racial harmony (which, admittedly, ... More >>

Saturday: Buzzfest XXVIII At Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Buzzfest XXVIII Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion April 21, 2012 See lots more Buzzfest action in our slideshow. Buzzfest has evolved beyond a local live-music institution at this point. It's closer to a rite of passage, a biannual keystone concert event for Houston's great, eager suburban hordes. S ... More >>

Buzzfest XXVIII

Sonisphere UK Cancelled: Are Music Festivals in Trouble?

News emerged late last month that the U.K. date of Sonishphere, the traveling European hard-rock festival, has been canceled. It's a pretty big blow for music fans across the pond -- the headliners scheduled for the event included Queen with Adam Lambert, KISS and Faith No More, and reunited Swedish ... More >>

MTV Unplugged's 10 Strangest Moments

Those of you fond of criticizing the lack of music on MTV, take note: The network's venerable Unplugged series returns on Sunday with a performance by British indie-poppers Florence and the Machine. It'll be the first of eight shows planned for this year, with The Civil Wars and Dierks Bentley alrea ... More >>

Upcoming: Sleigh Bells, Steve Earle, Hayes Carll, George Jones, Eyehategod, Etc.

Acid Baby Jesus, Night Beats, Paint Fumes: Thu., April 26. Walter's, 1120 Naylor St., Houston. "Praia Urbana" With ATFC, DJ Spen: Sat., March 10, 2 p.m. Last Concert Cafe, 1403 Nance St., Houston. Belanova: Tue., April 24. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline, Houston. Bowling For Soup, Patten Pending, ... More >>

Buzzfest XXVIII Coming April 21: Korn, Blue October, MuteMath, Cage The Elephant & More

"Which button do I push to make R's go backwards?" ​Yes, we are now on the twenty-eighth Buzzfest in Houston history, with the all-day show on April 21 boasting a lineup that includes Korn, The Dirty Heads, Blue October, Evans Blue, Evanescence and Cage The Elephant, plus undercards Foxy Shaza ... More >>

The 71's Raise An Astounding $12K For Latest Album

​Just how viable is Kickstarter in helping an up-and-coming band to raise funds? As much as it saddens us to admit it, it mostly seems to fail. However, for one of our favorite local rock acts, the 71's, it has been an astounding success. Fans of the band have raised a mind-boggling $12,541 f ... More >>

Kurt Cobain At 45: Where Would He Be In 2012?

​Had he not died in April 1994 by his own hand -- or sinister forces working for Courtney Love (insert maniacal laugh) -- Kurt Cobain would have turned 45 years old today. The rock icon killed himself at the age of 27, leaving behind not only a daughter to fend for herself against the wiles of ... More >>

Happy 30th, Amy Lee of Evanescence; Six Reasons We Like You

​While Evanescence and their lead singer, Amy Lee, continue to find mainstream success (their most recent album was number one on the charts when it was released in October), they are a band that is maligned in the same way as other polished heavy bands like Creed and Nickelback, though we are ... More >>

Ten Songs We Want to See Mike Tyson Cover Besides "Girl from Ipanema"

Former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson has been everywhere over the last few years, trying to re-invent himself and rehabilitate his image. From his impersonation of Herman Cain on Funny or Die to his hilarious turn in The Hangover, Tyson has been doing a pretty good job of making people laugh. But, a ... More >>

Last Night: Five Finger Death Punch, Hateebreed, All That Remains at House of Blues

Photos by Marc Brubaker​Confidence in our domestic brand of capitalism may be approaching new lows these days, but Five Finger Death Punch rolled into the House of Blues on Tuesday night riding high on the American dream. The L.A. headbangers' new album, American Capitalist, debuted at number ... More >>

Last Night: Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace & Seether At The Woodlands

Photos by Matthew KeeverAvenged Sevenfold​Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival feat. Avenged Sevenfold, Seether & Three Days Grace Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 5, 2011 First, Aftermath would like to give credit where it's due. To everyone who attended the Rockstar Energy Drink ... More >>

Internet Radio Gives Goth A Sanctuary

​Due to a boo-boo during the installation of XM radio in Rocks Off's car, we know longer have a terrestrial radio antenna in our Matrix. Due to the fact that XM became about as empty and mindless as terrestrial radio shortly after the merger with Sirius, we no longer have satellite radio eithe ... More >>

Musicians Oblige Peer's Request For Honest Critique

​Rocks Off likes to troll the musicians' section of Craigslist in an effort to catch interesting acts at their very inception. Usually we get the same old thing day in and day out: Need FOC (Friend of Christ) bass player for worship band. Must have ride. 18 SERIOUS singer looking for band. M ... More >>

Wanted: $100 Music Video From Emmy Winner

​Rocks Off likes to troll the musicians section of Craigslist in an effort to catch interesting acts at their very inception. Usually we get the same old thing day in and day out: Need FOC (Friend of Christ) bass player for worship band. Must have ride. 18 SERIOUS singer looking for band. Ma ... More >>

Tweens Shrug Off Influence Of So-Called Slutwave Singers

Purple Apple's Olivia, age 13, prefers Joan Jett to Katy Perry.​Earlier this year, Rocks Off took a curious delve into the bewildering appeal of today's successful female pop singers. When such artists are aptly and comfortably categorized into a subgenre called "Slutwave," it makes us wonder ... More >>

We Get The Celebrity Offspring We Deserve

​You always want to be careful when writing about children. Not only because they're the future, as Whitney Houston and Bill Hicks once told us, but because it isn't exactly sporting to use your big person vocabulary and rhetorical arsenal to tee off on someone who hasn't yet been beaten into ... More >>

Pre-Bieber, Five Memorable Musician Interview Gaffes

​Remember in the days before "Bi-winning," when Twitter was all up in arms about Justin Beiber's interview with Rolling Stone? Was it really a surprise that some of the pop star's opinions, as told to the magazine last month, would be half-baked and maybe even a bit ignorant? Put aside for a ... More >>

Effeminate Synthpop Band Death Metal Singer = ???

This could be your new bandmate.​Rocks Off likes to troll the musicians section of Craigslist in an effort to catch interesting acts at their very inception. Usually we get the same old thing day in and day out: Need FOC (Friend of Christ) bass player for worship band. Must have ride. 18 SER ... More >>

A Birthday Trifecta For Lovers Of Oddball Music

Dwight Frye, aka Fritz, in James Whale's Frankenstein (1931)​Today is George Washington's birthday, so there's that. However, February 22 is also the birthday of some truly bizarre figures in American history, and those figures have been the inspiration to a great many musicians.   For inst ... More >>

The Seven Ages Of Goth

​This is not meant as a complete history of goth, as that would be a huge book. Instead, we're aiming to give a simple overview of the musicians, songs and albums that have most defined the genre. Many deserving artists have been left out, and some that we're sure some people feel are not wor ... More >>

"In The Dark": The Birthday Massacre's Beautiful Nightmare

​Since the tail end of the last millennium, The Birthday Massacre has quietly, but steadily built themselves a following as one of the pre-eminent goth synth-rock bands in the world. They're like Evanescence without all that nu-metal and Top-40 crap slathered on top to make the Hot Topic set b ... More >>

Remember Killa Kyleon's Natural Born Killa?

Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Killa Kyleon Natural Born Killa (mixtape, 2010) ​Back in February, Killa Kyleon threw a pictu ... More >>

Summer Swoon

Proudly independent, recent Grammy nominees Silversun Pickups aren't ready to hit the "Panic Switch."

5 Songs That Will Make Us Beat You Up

​Today is the late Judy Garland's birthday, and the embattled drug-addicted star of The Wizard Of Oz (plus a whole trove of movies we have never seen), would have been 88 years old. She was one of the first well-documented victims of drug abuse, at least in hushed tones. She was famous for rou ... More >>

Taylor Swift: Goth Icon In The Making

​ As the summer and its hateful amount of sunlight begins to creep towards us like some kind of humid, rat-borne plague, Gothtopia has been a bit hard-pressed to find spooky news to bring Houston. But today we have an emerging Goth icon whose presence MUST be discussed before she blows through tow ... More >>

Aftermath: Hana Pestle's Convincing Lunchtime Matinee At U Of H

Photos by Travis Hensley​ While most people on campus at the University of Houston were discussing marijuana in some way, shape or form - it was, after all, 4/20 - Aftermath, along with about 50 other people, were focused on the talented Hana Pestle. In our two years at UH, we've never seen so man ... More >>

Idol Beat: How Low Can the Mile High City Go?

​Honestly, I found it hard to concentrate on American Idol knowing I was just an hour away from the return of Lost. Admittedly, sometimes it's hard to concentrate on the show under ordinary circumstances, so this was doubly trying. But I did my best, and I did it for you. By now, you know al ... More >>

American Idol: How Low Can the Mile High City Go?

​Honestly, I found it hard to concentrate on American Idol knowing I was just an hour away from the return of Lost. Admittedly, sometimes it's hard to concentrate on the show under ordinary circumstances, so this was doubly trying. But I did my best, and I did it for you. By now, you know al ... More >>

What Would Jesus Jam? Christian Bands Who Found Secular Success

​Save for a few modern screamo bands like Underoath and the rap-rocking P.O.D., few Christian rock bands have had has as much an impact in mainstream secular music than the Bible-flinging Stryper. In the mid to late '80s the band was the premier Holy Ghost-filled metal band during a time when most ... More >>

Tonight: Evanescence's Testosterone-Driven Counterpart, Bella Morte, at Rocbar

Alanna Wiggins​ Naika Whisperwish and HaVoK continue to bring the sweet, sweet pain to H-Town with tonight's Goth-tacular appearance by Bella Morte. Once more of a straight death-rock band with shades of metal, Bella Morte has steadily grown into testosterone-driven counterpart to Evanescence, and ... More >>

Moments the Grammy Awards Would Rather Forget

Soy Bombed

Idol Chatter

Idol Chatter

Opening day for America's fourth national sport is upon us

Pop-Up Pop Stars

With the help of city government, Matthew Knowles hopes to find the next Destiny's Child. You got a problem with that?

Playbill

Back to School

Big Daddy Kane and friends revisit the era of the flattop

Houston Music Map

Queen Norah reigns, Josh Groban pains, and lots of Natalie Maines