Jonas Brothers

The Chronic: 10 Musicians With Ongoing Illnesses

When they hit the stage and do what they do, it's easy to forget that our musical heroes are basically just talented, driven and very lucky human beings. They're flesh, blood, bone and the right type of grey matter, all formed into a singular unit designed to delight us all with their extraordinary ... More >>

Upcoming: Barry Manilow, Titus Andronicus, Sheryl Crow, Jonas Brothers, Mudhoney, etc.

Angry Samoans: With Swingin' Dicks, Die Rottz., Fri., April 12, 10 p.m., $12. Rudyard's, 2010 Waugh, Houston. Bang Bangz: Sat., April 13, 1 p.m., Free. Cactus Music & Video, 2110 Portsmouth St., Houston. Barry Manilow: Sun., May 19, 8 p.m., $29.99-$139.99. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2005 Lak ... More >>

Last Night: Austin Mahone and Demi Lovato at Reliant Stadium

Demi Lovato, Austin Mahone Reliant Stadium March 3, 2013 I'm determined to make it through this entire review without unleashing my sailor mouth, so bare with me as I use words like "heck" and "darn." I know; it's strange for me, too, but this review is about a tween heartthrob and a former Disney ... More >>

Ten Musicians Who Did Time On Broadway

Broadway has been known to make both actors and singers into legends. However, due to what is known as stunt casting -- which is essentially gimmickry in order to gain ticket sales -- some musicians have headed to Broadway, if only for a short period of time. Here are some of the musical artists fro ... More >>

2012 Summer Guide: It's a Scorcher

A summer concert season to melt your face off.

Main Street Theater's Richard III is punk-goth magnificence

Recasting MTV's Daria With Real-Life Musicians

​There was once a brighter time in the history of MTV when the network occasionally played interesting animated series and occasionally even music videos. Now, instead of Daria, there's Snooki; instead of Beavis and Butt-Head, there's The Situation and Pauly D. Growing up, Daria (1997-2002) w ... More >>

Edgar Allan Poe, Still Wicked After All These Years

​Today we celebrate the birthday of one Edgar Allan Poe, a man whose influence on music simply cannot be overstated. In fact, Rocks Off is going to go on record and say that Poe's writings have influenced more music than any other written work except the Bible, and when you're second place to ... More >>

Island Of Misfit Christmas Albums: Teen Pop Meltdown

​It happens like this: You are in charge of a major teen-pop act who can sell anything with their face or voice on it, be it training bras, shaving cream, or caskets. You have a week off in the summer from touring. Do you let the talent go home and sleep in their own beds or do you shove the ... More >>

Lindsay Lohan & Demi Lovato: Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Pop Stars

You said it, Demi.​If you're a parent, one day you'll inevitably come to the sobering realization that your child's ultimate happiness is out of your hands. Naturally you're going to avoid feeding them Red Bull and Cheetos for lunch (that's a man's meal) or letting them juggle steak knives, bu ... More >>

The Ten Funniest Misunderstood Lyrics Ever

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn GrayJust another day of kicking the dancing queen...​Everybody knows that the part in "Purple Haze" where Jimi Hendrix (who died 40 years ago this month) sings "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky" sounds a lot like "'Scuse me while I kiss this guy." There's even ... More >>

Adam Lambert: Reviewing Our Review

Photos by Faith Silva​Rocks Off would like to take this opportunity to address the hundreds of comments that Brandon Hernsberger's review of Adam Lambert's performance last Wednesday at the Hobby Center provoked. First of all, Rocks Off is not homophobic, nor would we allow anyone we even sus ... More >>

FAIL: "American Idols Live," Montreal Jazz Festival, George Michael, Suge Knight

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Jazz Festival Audience Somehow Unprepared to Enjoy Aimless, Self-Indulgent Noodling: Lou Reed, John Zorn, and Reed's wife Laurie Anderson performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival recently, and treated the audience to improvisational jazz which the linked ... More >>

Trae Day Venue Backs Out; Jonas Bros. Reschedule

​As we mentioned in last week's cover story, Houston rapper Trae tha Truth has been having his share of recent struggles. His luck appears to not have changed much. Just hours after the online commercial for the forthcoming Trae Day, July 22, hit the net, and a mere three weeks before the act ... More >>

Upcoming: 50 Cent, Aventura, Hole, Jonas Bros., Liza Minnelli, Octopus Project, Etc.

​50 Cent: Sat., June 12. Arena Theatre. Agent Orange: Wed., June 30. Rocbar. Asleep At The Wheel: Fri., May 28. Cypress Saloon. As I Lay Dying, Underoath, Between The Buried And Me, Blessthefall, Cancer Bats: Tue., July 27. Verizon Wireless Theater. Aventura: Thu., July 1. Toyota Center. Barringt ... More >>

SXSW As It Happens: Missing Alex Chilton, German Dubstep DJs, J Mascis Stuffing His Face...

Craig Hlavaty12:25 p.m.: Alex Chilton 1950-2010: Memphis misses its native son.​ Welcome back to Rocks Off's minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour breakdown of SXSW's afternoon parties and activites as they happen (almost). Today we've got human Energizer bunny Craig Hlavaty back for more abuse, and ... More >>

Game Time: Hating Duke, A Visual Montage

​I'll admit it, I hate the Duke Blue Devils. The players, the assistant coaches, the head coach, the Cameron Crazies. All of them. In all of their floor-slapping, charge-taking, horrid-flopping, leg-humping, press-conference-crying, nose-picking, baby-whining, face-painting, Speedo-wearing Vita ... More >>

Rid Of Me And Other Great Albums With Truly Hideous Covers

​MGMT's new album, Congratulations, comes out in April! We're excited. MGMT's 2008 debut album, Oracular Spectacular, was fantastic, and we can't wait to hear what they've got in store for the follow-up. We're positive it will be awesome, as those weird-ass kids are only going to get weirder as th ... More >>

Live with Me

The best Houston concerts of 2009: U2, George Strait, Kid Cudi, Jandek, Peaches and even T-Pain.

2009 Concert Rewind, August: Weezy, Blondie, Depeche Mode, JoBros, Katy Perry, Mos Def, De La Soul, Blue October, Green Day and an Audience With King George

Shea Serrano​ Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, House of Blues, August 1: "[Cudi has] tapped John Goldstein, Kanye's famed stage light guy, to help him create an actual feel to his show. Hipster rappers get derided a lot as not being "real rappers," but they put on a hell of a show. The crowd is already his." ... More >>

2009 Concert Rewind, March: Erykah Badu, Britney, Billy Joel & Elton John, A Baybrook Beatdown and A Whole Lotta Rodeo

Mark C. Austin​ Rascal Flatts, Reliant Stadium, March 3: "It's almost devious how much these guys sweetened and tune their songs up, close to the point of an almost automaton-like perfection. Each song is custom-built like a souped-up hot rod, with almost no flourish or guitar vamp going to waste. ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Jay Reatard - If You Haven't Seen the "Piss" Video, Look No Further - Cafe Tacuba, Dax Riggs, etc.

Among this week's Distant Early Warnings comes Jay Reatard, who is set to hit Walter's "Possibly Still" On Washington December 8. The art-damaged garage-rocker recently pissed on (and pissed off) his backing band at Goner Fest 6 in Memphis. It's hard to tell exactly why the things happened in the v ... More >>

Chef Rick Bayless: Reluctant Rock Star

Photo by J.C. Reid​A visitor to Macy's at Memorial City Mall last Wednesday would have been surprised at the more than 100 people -- many of them young women -- lined up in the Kitchen and Home area. Were the Jonas Brothers endorsing a line of tableware? No, but it was a rock star of sorts -- ... More >>

StubHub: Houston Is More "Rockin'" Than Vegas, Less So Than Hartford and Milwaukee

Craig HlavatyThe Phish of the Southwest and king of Houston's summer concert hill: George Strait​Online ticket broker StubHub.com released its annual list of America's Top 20 "Most Rockin' Cities" Friday, with Houston holding steady at No. 17 for the second year in a row. We probably would have be ... More >>

Aftermath: Pete Yorn at Meridian

Mark C. AustinPete Yorn has been and will always be "sad bastard music" to Aftermath's ears. One thing that has always interested us about the forlorn tunes that seem to drip from Yorn's fingers is how big of a female audience he has. We have quietly hypothesized that somehow women are drawn to li ... More >>

Don't Ever Count Britney Out — Just Like These Others.

Back in Black

Hitsville: The Year in Music, by the Numbers

You don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were demol ... More >>

Artist of the Week: The Favorites

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. We like to fancy ourselv ... More >>

Texans Score 30 Grammy Nominations

Allison Krauss, Robert Plant and T-Bone Burnett (far right) Texas artists landed 30 nominations in 20 categories when the contenders for the 51st annual Grammy Awards were announced today, including all five nominees for Best Tejano Album and four of the five Best Norteno Album contenders. All of ... More >>

Music's Ickiest of the Icky, Circa 2008

Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

Schoolhouse: The Rocker

Rainn Wilson comedy is more childish pop than hardcore funny