Jefferson Airplane

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 >>

Janis Joplin at 70: What Might Have Been?

Janis Joplin would have been 70 years old on Saturday, which means it's been more than 40 years since she died. But even today Joplin's name is practically a household word, thanks to one of the most powerful, emotional, expressive voices in rock history. Of course Joplin was one of the original '6 ... More >>

Let It Be: How Many Beatles Books Are Enough?

From where I am sitting, I spy at least three Beatles books that were released in the past year alone: A gigantic LIFE job on the Fab Four, a nine-pounder on John Lennon, and another just on the boys' post-Fab solo career work and best singles. All three are great additions to any Beatles library, e ... More >>

Explaining Classic Rock Bands to Kids

This past Sunday, The New York Times ran a piece by Paul Greenberg where the author explained how important the Beatles were to music and pop culture to his five-year old son. The child didn't know that the band had albums, but only knew the Fab Four from iTunes playlists. "When the Beatles record ... More >>

Braving the Boos: Bob Dylan and 10 More Artists Unafraid to Piss Off Their Fans

Forty-seven years ago this week (wow!), a '60s folk icon by the name of Bob Dylan made his third and final appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I. It was a highly anticipated set -- Dylan was the de facto leader of the American folk-music revival at the time, and his folkie flock ex ... More >>

Start the Revolution! 10 Songs About Historical Events

If you ever look at music throughout time, along with a history book -- they kind of complement each other. Some of the greatest songs in rock, R&B and rap have chronicled history both social, major news events, sports, entertainment and political. In my opinion, many times, the song is about what ... More >>

The 10 Greatest Summer Concerts I Never Saw

Well, kids, summer has arrived. If you have ever noticed, all the good concerts seem to come during the summer -- with May being more like a pre-show. My parents, when I was younger, took me to many concerts at some of these venues, mainly Contemporary Christian concerts. I myself had only been to ... More >>

Happy Memorial Day: 10 Songs To Honor Our Veterans

Memorial Day, the last Monday of May is a federal holiday originated to commemorate our country's fallen soldiers. Yes, some view it as a work holiday and a good time to barbecue, but our veterans would have to disagree. To honor our vets, we put together a playlist this day in remembrance of those ... More >>

Summer of Love 45th Anniversary

Nicky Hopkins: Classic Rock's Go-To Piano Man

...and on piano... Nicky Hopkins: The Extraordinary Life of Rock's Greatest Session Man By Julian Dawson Though his name is known mostly to classic-rock liner note readers, even the casual fan has heard his piano work: The wistful opening of Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful," the pumping keys on ... More >>

Friday Night: Winter Jam 2012 At Toyota Center

Winter Jam 2012 feat. Skillet, Sanctus Real, Peter Furler, Kari Jobe, Building 429, Dara Maclean and Group 1 Crew March 23, 2012 Toyota Center Hosted by NewSong and starring Skillet, Sanctus Real, Peter Furler (former lead singer of the Newsboys), Kari Jobe, Building 429, Dara Maclean, Group 1 Crew ... More >>

Law and Order: Top 10 Best (Or Worst) Musicians' Arrests

Nobody is above the law - not even musicians even though some of them may think they are. However, some of their outrageous behavior has become legendary. Others have spawned rumors, killed their careers and/or made them the butt of many jokes. In fact, this makes me wonder why there is not a cele ... More >>

Last Night: Agent Orange At Warehouse Live

Agent Orange, The American Heist Warehouse Live February 21, 2012 In retrospect, Mardi Gras might not have been the best night for venerable surf-punk outfit Agent Orange to kick of their 2012 tour. The crowd in the Warehouse Live studio was sparse, and Rocks Off would like to tell ourselves other, ... More >>

Happy Birthday Paula Deen!: Great Butter-Stained GIFs

​Paula Deen is too easy of a target for the ire of the Internet. She cooks with copious amounts of butter, and has just that right mixture of cheerfulness and Southern sass to drive people crazy. Then, this past week we found out she has been living with diabetes. Not that having diabetes i ... More >>

The 15 Best Bill Graham Presents Posters And Artwork

Photo By Tony MorelliBill Graham in 1974​Twenty years ago this week, legendary concert promoter Bill Graham went to the big backstage party in the sky after the helicopter he was riding in flew into a high-voltage tower in Vallejo, Calif. Also killed in the crash was Graham's girlfriend, Melis ... More >>

Last Night: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals At House Of Blues

Photos by Groovehouse​Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights House of Blues February 17, 2011 For more totally tasteful pictures from Thursday, see our slideshow here. Ooh la la. Aftermath is going to be real up front here. We did not know a whole lot about Grac ... More >>

Last Night: Agent Orange At Fitzgerald's

Photos by David Ensminger​Agent Orange Fitzgerald's January 9, 2010 In the 1987 21 Jump Street episode "Mean Streets and Pastel Houses," fresh-faced Johnny Depp goes undercover as a punk to root out vicious gangland teenage thugs lurking in the inner city. He ends up at a rowdy punk concert r ... More >>

Agent Orange

Last Night: The Black Angels And Black Mountain At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marc BrubakerSee more photos from Wednesday's fever dream in our slideshow.​The Black Angels, Black Mountain Warehouse Live November 17, 2010 Some music is so evocative and overwhelming it can cause you to flash back to before you were even born. Not all of it - when a Mozart sympho ... More >>

Last Night: Heart At House Of Blues

Mark Britain​Heart House of Blues November 4, 2010 In trying to come up with a witty juxtaposition to open our review of Thursday night's Heart show, Aftermath was initially going to throw out a comparison to Jefferson Airplane/Starship, another band that peaked decades ago, enjoyed a brief r ... More >>

Top Eight Notorious Concert Disasters

Daniel R. Davidson via WikipediaThe Station fire in West Warwick, R.I., 40 seconds in​Recently, indie-rock juggernauts Arcade Fire were prevented from playing a gig in Portugal by NATO, which is having a summit on the same date. Arcade Fire offered to play a day ahead of time, but NATO decided ... More >>

The 11 Best Internet-Only Radio Stations

​Should Rice University's pending sale of KTRU to the University of Houston for use as a classical sister station to KUHF go through, Houston would lose one of its oldest sources of independent, over-the-air music programming. Having sat in KTRU's studio many times as a local artist telling th ... More >>

Return Of The King: Elvis Presley's Great Comeback

​In 1957, Elvis Presley was the epitome of cool. But what a difference a decade makes. By the Summer of Love, the still-pompadoured singer was - at the ripe old age of 32 - a musical anachronism in a year that brought the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Monterey Pop and Sgt. Pepper's. Plus, he'd been c ... More >>

A Horse With No Name: Livestock Songs Fit For The Glue Factory

​ At Rocks Off, there is no yin without yang, no Yahweh without Satan, and no Charles Barkley without Godzilla. And since we already presented you with an assortment of rockin' livestock songs (to get you in the mood for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo), it's only fair that we offer a count ... More >>

The Boys Are Back

Kansas City's Get Up Kids have Something to Write Home About all over again.

Bad for the Jews

Self-hating or just everyone-hating? The Coen Brothers aim their contempt at MOTs.

The Forgotten Festival

The 1969 Texas International Pop Festival

Lost Tuneage: Moby Grape

Who Dat? Collectively, Moby Grape probably was one of the most talented bands to come out of San Francisco area during the golden age of hippiedom. Formed in 1966 by drummer Skip Spence and manager Matthew Katz (both of whom had just been fired from Jefferson Airplane), the lineup includ ... More >>

Welcome to Never Ever Land

Be of Good (Blue) Cheer

Last Night: Arrowfest at the Woodlands Pavilion

Houston's Ten Worst Songs

…and we're still not as bad as Dallas

Get Lit: A Turtle’s Life

Get Lit: The Act You’ve Known for All These Years: A Year in the Life of Sgt. Pepper and Friends, by Clinton Heylin

Pavement

Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition

Strange Trip

Heavy rock pioneers Blue Cheer offer the cure for the summertime blues

Extraordinary Machination

Sure, Fiona Apple is crazy...like a fox!

Stairway to Heaven

Gauging 2005's rock deaths with the Greil Marcus Death Meter

Ramblin' Jack Elliott

Monday, October 10, at McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, 713-528-5999.

Hot Tuna

Saturday, February 14

Waves of Fascination

Shortwave radio: Where the lunatic fringe lives, breathes and flourishes

A Beautiful Mind

A spate of tribute shows salutes a healthier Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators

Jorma Kaukonen and Blue Country

Wednesday, February 5

That '70s Movie

Moonlight Mile wastes its setting and its star

Do the Math

The music industry says online piracy's killing the biz. A UTD prof says it ain't.

Soul Mates

Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel enjoy a State of love and trust

Static

Not the Same Old Junkies

A new label and energy return Canada's moaners to the spotlight

Perry Deep

Made in Houston

Hometown stages feature more than one sort of menagerie