Marvin Gaye

Last Night: Alicia Keys at Toyota Center

Alicia Keys Toyota Center March 18, 2013 In concert, Alicia Keys projects such focus and command over her domain, the stage, it can be intimidating to witness up close. One would hate to be a backup dancer and step out of line. But she can also perform with an exquisite vulnerability, the kind of ... More >>

In Plain Sight

McClain Gallery presents a cavalcade of Houston painting.

Top 5 People Who Should Be Judging American Idol

Over the weekend American Idol, struggling to remain relevant in the face of the televised singing-competition series it spawned like The Voice and X Factor, announced its final judges' panel for the upcoming 12th season that begins in January. According to Entertainment Weekly, joining the previous ... More >>

10 Iconic Final Concerts Plus The End Of Beatlemania

The Beatles' concert at San Francisco's Candlestick Park 46 years ago today was the end of an era for the band. Except for a famously unannounced appearance on top the Apple building two and a half years later, it would be the final live performance that the Fab Four would ever play together. It w ... More >>

Last Night: Dukes of September Rhythm Revue at The Woodlands

Dukes of September Rhythm Revue Featuring Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs & Donald Fagen Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion July 17, 2012 This show could have been a punchline waiting to happen. Somebody must have thought "Dukes of September" was a more regal name for this tour than the "Superstars of So ... More >>

Homegrown Houston - 3G

The American Bandstand (Extended) Hot 100

Somehow it's hard to believe that Dick Clark was only 82 years old when he died after suffering a "massive heart attack" Wednesday morning in Santa Monica, Calif. (Since I managed to survive one myself, I've noticed that anytime someone dies of a heart attack, it's always "massive."). Despite his yo ... More >>

Cory Jreamz's Polysemy Is A Mystery Worth Solving

There's something strangely appealing, calming and inviting about the cover of Cory Jreamz's four-track EP, Polysemy: A wine glass on a chair under a tree. But what's the story behind it? The young, artsy rapper, a 17-year-old senior at Pearland 's Glenda Dawson High School, may have been raised i ... More >>

Support Staff: 10 Of Pop History's Greatest Backing Bands

Being behind the scenes is what most musicians who don't write songs or sing expect of their lives once they start seriously playing. A career backing someone up can be extremely rewarding, particularly if you are part of a transcendent group of musicians that goes from simply backing up an artist i ... More >>

Killin' Them Softly: Celebrating 75 Years Of Roberta Flack

To strike someone with the "underrated greatness" term always carries a bit of weight behind it. You know, the quick snap question of "do they deserve it" comes to mind. Sorry, in the class of underrated greatness, diva subsection, lives Roberta Flack who at the platinum age of 75 still takes risks ... More >>

Smooth: 10 Definitive Neo-Soul Tracks

Nearly 12 years after the release of Voodoo, Michael Eugene Archer, better known for his stage name, D'Angelo, has emerged out of his self-imposed exile. After doing battle with drugs and alcohol for a decade, last week the singer kicked off a European tour entitled The D-Tour, for his first live pe ... More >>

Last Night: Red Bull Skooled Tour at Warehouse Live

Check out our slideshow of last night's Red Bull Skooled Tour launch. "Excuse me while I get the turntables straight. Til then, let me help you get some pussy. This the "help you get some pussy hour"!" Before spinning a single record on the turntables, New Orleans' most noted producer/part-time em ... More >>

14 Notable Female Rock Drummers

girlscantwhat.com​Last week, we rounded up a list of our favorite female rock bassists. We'd like to continue the trend of honoring rock's finest females, by next recognizing 14 notable female rock drummers. As usual, we will focus on the live-performing, touring drummers over time, rather tha ... More >>

Saturday Night: Boz Scaggs & Michael McDonald At Verizon

Boz Scaggs & Michael McDonald Verizon Wireless Theater October 1, 2011 Now, Classic Rock Bob doesn't want to come off as some sort of out-of-touch curmudgeon ("What do you mean you don't sell cassettes anymore? Hey! You kids get off my lawn!"), but one of the reasons to love classic rock is very si ... More >>

Honey Honey: Banjos Plucked Like Foreplay

It's a well-known fact that band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off we're working hard to find meaning in the oddest monikers. Trang An​Publicist Renee Harrison has a knack for finding us at our most vulnerable (hint: it's when we've almost reached the answer at the bot ... More >>

“Ruminations of a Cluttered Mind”

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 >>

Full Swag For Das Racist, No Swag For Astros & Paul Wall

​Das Racist is Rocks Off's favorite joke-rap group, ever. It annoys most people we know -including our boss, who is like, "All right, no more Das Racist for everyone's sake, please." That's being nice - Ed. Earlier this year, we traveled to SXSW strictly to catch every show, and we're planning ... More >>

Five Filthy Conway Twitty Ditties Sure To Get Her To Press Charges

The tighter the pants, the stronger the pull. ​True story, back when we were trying to pick out Twitter handles in 2008, we almost went by @ConwayTwitter, but we instead went for a real name. Now the handle is taken, probably by someone who doesn't even like Conway Twitty, who would have been ... More >>

Grant Haze: Guy Who Allegedly Dismembered Ex-Wife Talks of Being Inspired By Sting & Lionel Richie

Grant Haze wants to be an inspiration to his kids​Last week, Grant Haze was just another bland singer-songwriter with a tremendous ego and hoop earrings. Now he's charged with killing his ex-girlfriend, dismembering her corpse, stuffing the body parts in ice chests, and driving them from his N ... More >>

20 Musician Biopics Currently In Development Hell

Happy birthday, Janis.​News came down last week that Sacha Baron Cohen will be stepping into the rhinestones and glitter as Queen icon Freddie Mercury. It's been a long time coming for Cohen, the Borat and Bruno star who is slowly becoming his generation's Peter Sellers and has been rumored to ... More >>

What Is Classic Rock Today?

​What is classic rock in 2010? 15 years ago, it was was the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, anything Eric Clapton touched and every band your dad played in his car while he was making out with the girls he met before your mom. That's how we know classic rock: Big riffs, big voices, in ... More >>

Jimmy Needham

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 >>

The Rockets' Shane Battier: A Man Who Should Never, Ever Sing In Public

Among the tortures the U.S. has inflicted on Gitmo detainees and Panamanian dictators, an old favorite is blasting music. But usually it's something like AC/DC.You want to torture someone? Make them listen to Shane Battier sing. Battier took the mike at a charity auction and -- for some reason -- th ... More >>

Leon's Lounge Needs Some Soul. Brett "Dirty Honey" Koshkin Has The Platters.

​ Leon's Lounge, the venerable Midtown throwback dive, is currently closed for renovations as new owner Pete Mitchell (Under the Volcano) gives it a good scrubbing, but it should be back open before too much longer. Maybe as soon as next month. Earlier this week, Rocks Off heard some equally good ... More >>

Dr. Strangelove

Tool and A Perfect Circle wouldn't work, so Maynard James Keenan channels his love of Hee Haw through Puscifer.

The Top Rock-Star Death Conspiracies: Elvis, Michael, Kurt, Tupac and More

It seems that the stranger and weirder our world gets by the day, humanity struggles to find reasons behind all this calamity and tragedy. We try our best to find conclusions to why bad things happen, and when we can't fully fathom that the awful truth is just that, instead try to blame the influen ... More >>

Ten Cover Songs So Bad They'll Shrivel Your Soul

Two nights ago, while carelessly patrolling the back alleys of the internet, Rocks Off stumbled across Hilary Duff's execrable cover of The Who's "My Generation". Well, what did you think, YouTube commenters? ​ You sure you're not being too harsh? ​ Yeah... ours too. Someday, when we ... More >>

A Third Ward Pawnshop iPod and the Mysterious Fate of Previous Owner "Scooby"

Whoever he is (was?), Scooby's iPod wasn't short on R. Kelly.​So a couple of weeks ago, after three or four years of increasingly faltering service, Rocks Off's 30 GB iPod finally died. Completely. Out of sheer broke-assedness, we had held on to it for longer than most. By the end, its quirks and ... More >>

Andy Vargas, David de la Garza

Get Lit: The Pitchfork 500

Janiva Magness

Five Songs for MLK Day

Red Hog Saloon

When the jukebox is an art form

Playbill

R. Kelly

Happy People/U Saved Me (Jive)

Arts Grant

A basketball icon brings classics of African-American art to TSU

Playbill

Van Hunt

Van Hunt (Capitol)

Hot for Teacher

Jack Black makes School of Rock rock

Alphabet Soup

The Colour Clear knows exactly where it should be filed in the record store. But what about in real life?

War on War Songs

Iraq and roll don't go together well when rockers protest

Black Gold

A gusher lay beneath the surface, but you had to drill deep

Fly Spy

Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson's cash-in pays off

De La Soul

Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (Tommy Boy)

Real & Bold

Mary J. Blige

Whiggin' Out

Avant-rock takes shape in the Afghan Whigs and its wild front man

Rotation

Rotation