Omar Afra

Worst of "The Worst": Free Press Doesn't Know How Vegan Works

Note: As Omar Afra reminded us on Twitter today, "Worst of" entries are public submissions and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Free Press Houston. Carry on. This week, Free Press Houston released its always-scathing, usually quite hilarious "Worst of Houston List." Other than ... More >>

Friday Night: Stars at Fitzgerald's

Stars, Diamond Rings, California Wives Fitzgerald's October 12, 2012 When I spoke to the fine folks at Fitzgerald's a couple of weeks ago to commemorate the club's first two successful years under new ownership, I wanted to hear about the highlights. Of the hundreds of acts that have graced both Fi ... More >>

Texans-Titans: The Best Rapper Tweets

2 Years After Ownership Change, Fitz Is Thriving

Has it really been two years already since Jagi Katial and Omar Afra became the new owner-operators of Fitzgerald's? Apparently so, because the Free Press Summer Fest partners celebrated their second anniversary at the rickety old live music club on White Oak a couple weeks back with a weekend's wor ... More >>

Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 8 Places to See a Local Act

Year after year after year, Houston nurtures and cultivates its music scene. It has grown into substantial force, arguably as powerful and diverse as it's ever been, with legitimate talent in just about every branch or genre. Accordingly, the city is flush with venues to see said talent, be it wel ... More >>

Top 6 Ways To Improve Summer Fest Next Year

More FPSF 2012 Coverage: • Summer Fest line-up reviews on the Rocks Off blog. • Free Press Summer Fest 2012: The Sexy, Sweaty Crowds • Popsicles and Pizza: The Food of Summer Fest • FPSF: The Bands from Saturday • FPSF: The Bands from Sunday Free Press Summer Fest is very much still a wor ... More >>

Top 9 Comments On Summer Fest 2012: Where's The Women?

As most of Houston and the surrounding area knows by now, Free Press Summer Fest announced its 2012 lineup in the wee hours this morning. By now Rocks Off has had a few more hours to reflect on the festival, entering its fourth year at Eleanor Tinsley Park June 2 and 3, and also to take a shower. O ... More >>

iFest 2012 Heavy On Latin Rock, Funk, South Americans

The Houston International Festival officially announced its 2012 lineup this morning. The music is heavy on Latin-flavored rock, reggae and funk, with Texas well-represented as always and an exceedingly rare Houston appearance by Seun Kuti, son of Afrobeat giant Fela, and his group Egypt 80. Among ... More >>

Summer Fest Promises 2012 Lineup "Soon"

Rocks Off was setting our house in order after our long absence, when at some point we realized that while we were away, we had barely heard anything about this year's Free Press Summer Fest at all. We vaguely remembered the festival leaking electro DJ duo Major Lazer a while back, but that's about ... More >>

Last Night: CocoRosie At Fitzgerald's

Photos by Jody Perry​CocoRosie Fitzgerald's September 28, 2010 A kaleidoscope of musical and visual colors filled up the second floor of Fitzgerald's Tuesday evening as Bianca and Sierra Cassady of CocoRosie performed a nearly two-hour set for an enthusiastic crowd. Still glowing from the new ... More >>

Smashing Pumpkins

Billy Corgan's everlasting gaze

KTRU News Roils, Saddens Local Music Community

UPDATED (5:35 p.m.) to include comments from Rice's B.J. Almond and a new Facebook count. The fate of KTRU's annual outdoor free concert in the spring is one of many things that has yet to be decided.​News of the University of Houston's impending purchase of Rice University student radio stat ... More >>

Third Strike

Grand Prize finallys opens

Train Keeps A-Rollin'

Aerosmith expects first album in nine years.

Is The Westheimer Block Party Done For?

Bun B For Lafayette - ATLiens Freestyle from Decatur Dan on Vimeo. • Dave Bry at the witty pop-culture blog The Awl writes about rap music's eternal embrace of consumerism, using Bun B's most recent release, a rap written in honor of Japanese clothing company Lafayette, as an example. It's a great ... More >>

Flaming Lips Still On For Summerfest... For Now

Neuski via flickr.com​ The Grand Ole Opry, which was supposed to celebrate its 85th birthday party May 25, is currently underwater, like most of Nashville (above). Nashville Public Radio is reporting that the Cumberland River crested at a whopping 52 feet. When does hurricane season start aga ... More >>

Magnolia City Mixtape: Sign the WestFest Petition, And Other Stuff You Need to Know About

MTV Shows Are you READY for Rocks Off's Washington Shore party this Thursday? If not, this video of Jersey Shore's Snooki interviewing Phoenix on MTV will melt your brain. If you read even one Houston-based music Web site, you probably already know that a petition is circulating to show support for ... More >>

Houston 2020: The Future Is Unwritten

But hey, that's not stopping Noise.

One to Grow On

What we'd like to see happen in Houston music this year.

Aftermath: Peace, Love, Little Joe and Hooker Heels at Westheimer Block Party

Photos by Groovehouse​ We'll get the obligatory platitude out of the way first. If any of you didn't Day 1 of the one-and-only two-day edition of the Westheimer Block Party, then you missed an excellent day of music and community in Houston. As we walked between stages spanning the corner of Wes ... More >>

Aftermath: A Weekend With the Magically Reappearing Ralf Armin (and Some Really Gross Portapotties) at Westheimer Block Party

Brittanie SheyDead Roses - that's the ubiquitous Ralf Armin in the hat at left - on the roof of La Strada​ You know how sometimes you'll learn a new word, and in the weeks that follow you'll realize you're hearing that word everywhere, eavesdropping it in conversations and reading it in the newspa ... More >>

One Final Word About the Westheimer Block Party, and the Rest In a Few Easy Clicks

Marc Brubaker​ Things could have gone smoother this past weekend on lower Westheimer. No one is denying that. Rocks Off has learned to live with the inevitable scheduling delays and interminable sound checks, as we're sure most Westheimer Block Party regulars have, but performers please take heed: ... More >>

Aftermath: Local Music Takes Center Stage at The Festival at the Mink

Photos by Marc BrubakerElectric Attitude​Here at Aftermath, we're aware that some people don't always appreciate a good festival, especially when in terms of the logistics: attendance requires you to stay in relatively one place for an extended period of time and share the same small set of bathro ... More >>

Houston Music Fight Club: Michael Berry vs. Outlaw Dave, Don Walsh vs. Dirty Jeff Smith, Notsuoh vs. Mango's

​Another week and yet another clash of the sorta-titans, wherein we pit some of Houston's best and brightest music luminaries against each other in brutal mortal combat. This week we will briefly take a step away from the burgeoning Bayou City indie scene to spotlight two of the town's radio perso ... More >>

Aftermath: Even More Summer Fest at Eleanor Tinsley Park

Photos (except where specified) by Adam P. NewtonHipster... or hippie?​ Let's get the obligatory Summer Fest comments, critiques and criticisms out of the way first: yes, it was hot; yes, unfortunately, there was limited water available; and yes, there was a glaring lack of box-office infrastructu ... More >>

Art, Music and Crap

It's all there -- in a neat little package -- at WestFest Compressed