Queens of the Stone Age

The Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Black Angels, Soundgarden, Hall & Oates, etc.

The Black Angels Fitzgerald's, May 24 Austin's Black Angels, with a band name pulled straight from the Velvet Underground's catalog, and a high-contrast image of Nico splayed across their logo, are unapologetic in their admiration of the prophetic NYC rock band. The Angels, though, have carved out ... More >>

ACL 2013 Predictions & Rumors: Is This Jimmy Buffett's Year?

2013 marks the first year that the Austin City Limits Music Festival -- Texas' other large outdoor music festival, never to be confused with Houston's own Free Press Summer Fest -- expands to two consecutive weekends with identical lineups. At this point the lineup for the festival, scheduled for Oc ... More >>

Best Shows In Houston This Weekend: Rebelution, Graveyard, Every Time I Die, Walker Lukens, Etc.

Rebelution With J Boog, Hot Rain House Of Blues, Friday, 8 p.m., February 22 For a clue on just how much Rebelution must love ganja, beyond even the exquisitely explicit "So High" on its 2012 release Peace of Mind, consider that the Santa Barbara reggae-pop crew also issued acoustic and dub version ... More >>

The Great Outdoors

Your 2013 music-festival outlook, Texas edition.

Your 2013 Music Festival Outlook (Texas Edition)

I don't know about you, but I am not totally in love with winter weather. Yes, it affords you the ability to wear beanies and cool fingerless gloves and dress like a hoodlum, but it's the heat that I love the most. That's why I love thinking about music festivals, because that's where we all get t ... More >>

Dave Grohl Releases Trailer for Nerd-Boner Doc Sound City

While the Foo Fighters have been on hiatus, lead singer Dave Grohl has been putting the finishing touches on his cinematic love letter to Sound City Studios in Los Angeles. Today the full trailer for Sound City was released online. You can check out the studio's discography here. The studio's du ... More >>

Are These the Most Anticipated Albums of 2013? Seriously?

A Web site (magazine?) called Loudwire posted their list of the most anticipated rock albums of 2013. The first question we have is "anticipated by whom?" Because if the answer is "people who love music," then we've got some major problems here. 10. Motley Crue Really? The tenth most anticipated n ... More >>

Like To Cry? Watch This New Glen Campbell Video

Glen Campbell's long slow goodbye has been going on now for a little more than a year, since he announced he was suffering from Alzheimer's. "A Better Place" is the second video from Glen Campbell's 2011 album Ghost On The Canvas, and it's a tearjerker. It's the goodbye. Featuring Queens of the ... More >>

The Damn Quails & 10 Other Bird-Brained Bands

Tonight the Houston Press Concert Series resumes at Pub Fiction with Oklahoma duo the Damn Quails. The Quails' song "Fools Gold," from their 2011 album Down the Hatch, is tearing it up on Texas country and roots-rock radio right now, landing them three Lonestar Music Awards and airplay on BBC roots ... More >>

Boots Electric

New ZZ Top Tribute Disc Frightens, Titillates, And Confuses Us

Photo By Jim Bricker​If you don't know that Rocks Off is a ZZ Top-friendly place, then you have probably only been reading the blog for the past two or three hours. The two men who run this blog love Billy, Frank, and Dusty with the energy from one thousands suns, and their whole catalog runs ... More >>

Last Night: Kyuss Lives! & The Sword At Warehouse Live

Photos by Groovehouse​Kyuss Lives!, The Sword Warehouse Live September 29, 2011 The reason Aftermath always liked Kyuss was because they sounded sure of themselves, almost arrogant. They weren't timid, but cocksure. Every record we have ever owned from them, all of them, from Wretch, Blues fo ... More >>

Chris Cornell's Best Non-Soundgarden Cuts

​Today is Chris Cornell's birthday, and the Soundgarden lead singer only seems to be getting younger, even at 47 years old. Seriously, last two times we have seen him, his voice keeps regressing back to the early Soundgarden days and he seems to be getting more spry. He lives in France with hi ... More >>

Last Night: Torche & Big Business At Fitzgerald's

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​Big Business, Torche Fitzgerald's July 7, 2011 Big Business and Torche are the kind of bands that when you are talking metal with someone, and you drop the names and you get a blank stare, sweat forms on your back and you die a little. Like when a foodie finds out you ... More >>

Out Today: Bon Iver's Bandwagon Bait, Weird Al Goes Gaga

Greetings From Bon Iver Land! Now, grab a rifle. It's almost dinner time.​In the next few weeks, you may be reading about the new Robert Ellis album, Photographs, so we are just giving you fair warning. It's a stunner through and through, and goes nicely with early morning traffic. Have you ev ... More >>

The Best Albums Of 2011 (So Far)

​The year isn't quite half over, but as of today, "summer" is officially here - even if the calendar needs a few weeks to catch up - and by the time summer is over, so will 2011. Or close enough. So Rocks Off asked our staff to give us their favorite two albums of the year so far, plus one out ... More >>

Last Night: Primus At Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by Jason Wolter​Primus Verizon Wireless Theater May 23, 2011 The most important thing Curtis Armstrong, who would also appear that year as Booger in Revenge of the Nerds, tells Tom Cruise in 1983's Risky Business is this indispensable piece of advice: "Every now and then, say 'What the ... More >>

SXSW: Jack White's Mobile Third Man Record Store

Craig Hlavaty​If you felt like booking it to the parking lot next to Frank at 4th and Colorado on Wednesday afternoon, you would have been treated to a quick acoustic set from Jack White and the Texas debut of his Third Man Rolling Record Store.

Two Timing: The 11 Best Rock Duos

Todd Cole​Wednesday night, noisy indie duo No Age (above) pulls into Fitzgerald's. The two-piece of guitarist Randy Randall and drummer Dean Allen Spunt, starting making waves in 2007 with their debut Weirdo Rippers. 2008's Nouns brought them even more acclaim, and along the way they gained fo ... More >>

Fun Fun Fun Fest: A Pocket Guide To Rocks Off's Picks

All photos courtesy funfunfunfest.comCall us crazy, but we think we may not be seeing Craig after this weekend.​Tonight Rocks Off heads to Austin to cover our third festival this year in the capitol city, Fun Fun Fun Fest. This is also our second trip to the festival in Waterloo Park. Think AC ... More >>

ACL Fest Recap, Day 2: LCD Soundsytem And Bachelorette Cops

Photos by Marco Torres​ For more LCD photos and lots more besides, see our slideshow here. LCD Soundsystem is not a band. It's a six-headed snake, that glides and slithers. It's as if when they perform live they are all mentally tethered into a computer. Saturday night's Budweiser stage show ... More >>

Rocks Off Explains Austin City Limits' "Survival Guide"

Mark C. AustinOne day Austin City Limits will live down last year's "Dillo Dirt" debacle. That day is not today.​This year marks the fourth year that Craig's Hlist will be covering the Austin City Limits Music Festival for the Houston Press and Rocks Off. Each year we get more acclimated to th ... More >>

ACL: What Could Possibly Be Worse Than Last Year's Mudbath?

Mark C. AustinCan't WAIT to go back!​In exactly one week, Rocks Off will be broadcasting live from the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin's Zilker Park. This will be our fourth spin around the grounds since 2007, and every year we swear we won't fall in love with a bartender in the me ... More >>

Dax Riggs

Five Onstage Meltdowns Funnier Than Courtney Love In D.C.

Universal Music Group​As far as Rocks Off knows, everything is hunky-dory for Hole's show at House of Blues this evening. Courtney Love and friends are scheduled to play from 9:45 to 11:15, which Rocks Off is interpreting as they could go on anywhere from 9:45 to 11:15. As Hole's rambling, sl ... More >>

Musical Moms That Make Us Melt

​ With Mother's Day fast approaching, we can't help but recognize all the hot rocker mamas out there making music and babies. It can't be easy to write the next great pop song and have a tiny human being inside you sucking nutrients from your body, in the process girding their loins for making you ... More >>

Fails Of The Week: BBC 6 Listeners, Whitney Houston, Rolling Stone And MGMT

If you're reading this, you're either on the Internet, or else you've mastered multi-dimensional thought-projection processes that would make Michio Kaku cry like a little girl. We'll assume the former, and just in case you don't already know, the Internet has decided that the word "failure" is too ... More >>

Uprising

2009 wasn't a great year for albums, but songs were a different story.

2009 Concert Rewind, January: Scott Weiland Is Still a Jackass, and More

[Ed. Note: For the next two weeks, Rocks Off will be looking back at the many, many, many shows we reviewed this year. Trust us, we've long since lost count. We'll start with this past January, as ever a slow month on the live-music front, but things picked up soon enough... trust us. Enjoy.] Chris ... More >>

Songs By ACL Artists That Should Be Covered By Other ACL Artists

Isn't it fun to imagine all your favorite bands are best friends? And that when they spend time together, as so many of them are doing right this second at the Austin City Limits festival, they would inevitably learn each others' songs? Here are some songs by ACL bands which we'd like to see covered ... More >>

He Said She Said: Ten Artists We Would Go Gay For

​It always happens: you and your friends toss back a few beers and the talk turns to what celebrities and models you find attractive. At first it starts out innocent enough, arguing the merits of Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox, Marissa Miller or Paula Deen. Well that last name is actually just our ... More >>

Who Wants To Be A Contestant On Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

The producers of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire are coming to town Friday today to audition contestants for the show. Our Craig Hlavaty has already gone down this road before; here's his tale and some tips on how to get picked.Back in the summer of 2005, when I was slinging dough for Domino's and stu ... More >>

When the Moon Becomes Round: Songs for the Summer Solstice

Frederic Vincent/ Wikipedia In Houston, June 21 comes and goes with very little fanfare. While technically it's the first day of summer, anyone can tell you summer around here started about two months ago. Nonetheless, it seems like a shame to leave all the celebrating to the pagans; why, they don't ... More >>

Dear Sy~3nc3

U2 Lace Up Their Dirty "Boots"

Among, you know, a few other things, the past 24 hours have been the start of a very, very big year for the band Rocks Off affectionately refers to as the Best Band Ever. U2 appeared alongside Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, "One" pal Mary J. Blige and many more as Barack Obama's opening acts at ... More >>

Eagles of Death Metal

Highly Anticipated Albums of 2008

Drenched in Blog: Amy Wino

How (Not) to Name Your Band

The Adjective Nouns

Being There

The Sixth Annual Austin City Limits Festival feels like home...almost

LCD Soundsystem, Reverend Horton Heat, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Muse, Wilco and Ghostland Observatory: Chris Gray Closes the Notebook on ACL

Drenched In Blog: Day One Da Nang

Fly Like an Eagle

Jesse Hughes proves too sexy for his band, too sexy for his band

Between the Cracks

Profiling local bands

For Those About to Rock

Guitar Hero cranks rhythm-gaming up to 11

Martina Topley-Bird

Anything (Palm Pictures)

Moddening Crowds

DJ Mod Scott brings '60s pop to Helios

All His Life

The Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl is always between rock and a hard place

Body-Slammed

Man's Ruin makes Suplecs sing Sad Songs

Rotation

Fu Manchu King of the Road