The Pogues

A Paean to the Pogues, For St. Patrick's Day

What does it mean to be Irish? Red hair? The gift of gab? A drinking problem? The itch to fight? Of course not. All you need to be Irish is a deep and abiding affection for the Pogues. When I was probably 15, a freshman in high school, I started staying up late enough to watch Saturday Night Live ... More >>

Bizarre Acting Roles by 20 Famous Musicians

It's a toss-up whether actors or musicians will go to greater lengths to make rent, but some musicians have even found themselves so hard up they've been forced to take an acting gig. Such is the case with the haystack-sized Sleepy LaBeef, who in 1968's The Exotic Ones appeared as the "Swamp Monster ... More >>

The 20 Best YouTube Rock Docs You Can Watch Free (For Now)

**The 31 Best Music Documentaries of All Time So you don't have NetFlix, you hate the video stores (if you can even find one), you don't like going to the little red box next to the liquor store, but you do have an Internet connection, plenty of time on your hands, and an insatiable thirst for rock ... More >>

When Car Commercials And Rock And Roll Collide

This weekend is the big Houston Art Car Parade, where children and adults of all ages can gander at their fellow Houstonians' labors of car love. Each car is a marvel to the ingenuity and the insanity of this race known as the modern Texan. The Art Car festivities have cars on our brains. Rock a ... More >>

Blaggards

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Snubs Rush...Again

Photo by Jeff Balke​A couple years ago, I was sitting on the back porch at the Continental Club talking music with a fairly well known music writer who seemed to believe that anything with a big hook or the slightest inkling of musicianship beyond the garage band aesthetic was utter garbage. I ... More >>

Friday Night: George Jones At Arena Theatre

Photos by Lisa Rosato​George Jones Arena Theatre April 29, 2011 For Rocks Off, going to see George Jones radiated much the same feeling of apprehension we had about the Pogues show at House of Blues in October 2009. On one level, we half-expected - no, feared - a train wreck, a career-marring ... More >>

Last Night: Gogol Bordello At House Of Blues

Photos by Groovehouse​Gogol Bordello House of Blues April 12, 2011 Check out our pics of the Gypsy punks. Maybe a Jolly Roger would have helped. Tuesday night at House of Blues, Gogol Bordello had the captain's wheel, center stage. They had the ocean, in the form of the seething pit of huma ... More >>

Some Can Whistle: A Playlist To Don't Worry, Be Happy

​It's often the little things that make our favorite songs our favorites - the curious, unforeseen additions of small touches like an understated bit of whistling. For those who like to categorize their playlists into themes, we present you with the Rocks Off approved Whistle Playlist. The S ... More >>

"Come On Buick, Light My Fire."

Not official Nike footwear.​Like most of Western society, I'd figured I was pretty much numb to the use of popular songs in commercials. I don't know how far back the practice dates, exactly, but I remember the anecdote from No One Here Gets Out Alive about Jim Morrison shooting down the sugge ... More >>

Music's Biggest Disappointments Of 2010

​Editor's Pick: I'm tempted to say myself on this one. I just didn't connect to a lot of music this year. Especially new music, most of which I was either indifferent to or outright loathed. I'm not really the navel-gazing type, though, so I'll just chalk it up to an off year and move on. I do ... More >>

FAIL: Lady Gaga (Again), Take That, Pogues, Paste Magazine

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn Gray​Fans Upset Because They Won't Get to See Their Crappy Boy Band: We're not sure who to side with on this one. On the one hand, we despise scalpers and other scam artists of Jason Debney's type. Debney screwed a lot of people out of their money by selling ... More >>

9th Ward Ramblers

New Orleans's Zydepunks embody the polyglot culture of their hometown...loudly.

G.I. Blues: A Soldiers' Playlist

​Today is the anniversary of one of the truly momentous occasions in popular music: On March 23, 1958, Elvis Presley reported for induction into the U.S. Army, thus opening up a thousand alternate timelines for musical historians to formulate "What if he hadn't?" scenarios. For the next few years, ... More >>

Aftermath: Drive-By Truckers' Cathartic, Down-Home Halloween Redemption at House of Blues

Photos by Jay Lee​ It took Aftermath most of Friday to figure out why we were in such an awful blue funk after Thursday's Pogues show, especially after the band delivered a more brilliant set than even this 20-year fan thought they were capable of. But after leaving work early and relaxing for a w ... More >>

Aftermath: The Pogues Destroy House of Blues, and Rocks Off Is Ready to Move On

Photos by Daniel KramerThis is about how we feel this morning.​Attention budding music writers, assuming there are still a few of you left who think getting into shows for free is a fair trade for your health, well-being, a decent paycheck and reasonably normal social life: It's not. It's pretty m ... More >>

The Pogues

A Rocks Off Playlist: Halloween Songs That Don't Suck

Yeah... screw this thing.​Let's face it: the Monster Mash blows. So do many of the songs we're forced to suffer through every Halloweentide. A couple of years ago, Rocks Off heard "One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater" on XM Radio's Halloween-themed channel, and wanted to sneak into a ha ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" and the Tragic Ballad of Kirsty MacColl

Lonesome, Onry and Mean has never hidden our distaste for Christmas music. So if we were ever called on to choose our favorite Christmas song, the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" would win hands down. We can still remember the day - we were still Pogues virgins - when the lyrics, waffling between a ... More >>

The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy & the Lash Answers Famous Musical Questions

​Dear Rum, Sodomy & the Lash, Who wrote the book of love? - The Monotones, Newark, NJ Dear Monotones, I'm going to make me a big sharp axe, shining steel-tempered in the fire. I'll chop you down like an old dead tree. Dirty old town, dirty old town. Dear Rum, Sodomy & the Lash, Why do fool ... More >>

No, We Haven't Forgotten About That Other Guy Playing House of Blues Thursday

​Amidst all the rum, sodomy, and lashing going on this week about the Pogues hitting House of Blues Thursday, it's easy to forget that they have a pretty stellar opener warming up the crowd. Hmm, kinda reminds us of another Irish band that brought a really kick-ass young band with them a few weeks ... More >>

Come to Rocks Off's "Helter Skelter Halloween" Party Tonight at Coffee Groundz

​Come on Houston, start your Halloween week off right with us, the mighty he-men of Rocks Off and Beatles Rock Band. Yes, it's been just over a month and a half since we saw all of your faces at Coffee Groundz (2503 Bagby) playing our newish toy, and we miss you so very much. Seriously, no kidding ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: All Hail the King of Irish Rock and Soul, Van the Man Morrison

Obviously with U2 and the Pogues alone, the Irish scene has had a huge effect on the pop music of the past half century. But no list of Irish influences on 20th century rock and roll can be complete without Van Morrison. ​In 1968, LOM's senior year in high school, Them played the Ector County Col ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: The Clancy Brothers, or the Pogues of the '60s

Wonder what the Pogues show Thursday is going to look like? Here's our guess... "I had the good fortune to meet Liam Clancy of the Clancy Brothers once and while talking with him over a cup of tea I mentioned my affection for the Pogues to which he replied, 'The Pogues are a cross between the Clanc ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Celtic Accordion Queen Sharon Shannon

​One of Lonesome Onry and Mean's favorite Pogues tracks is actually Steve Earle's great anti-war song "Johnny Come Lately" from Earle's Copperhead Road album. Earle has frequently spoken of his affinity for Ireland, particularly Galway, which we might call one of his retreats. It was through Earle ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: A Brief History of "Danny Boy" - Evergreen But Not Exactly Irish

​The Pogues are only one week away, so no time like the present to reflect on Irish music. For many Americans, no song epitomizes Irish music like "Danny Boy." Lonesome Onry and Mean was gently prodding my Irish and European friends at the boozer recently regarding their opinions about the top rec ... More >>

No, It's Not Too Early to Start Posting About the Pogues, As a Matter of Fact...

A small band of Irishmen frequent Lonesome Onry and Mean's local waterhole, and they are all abuzz about the arrival of the Pogues at House of Blues October 29. Led by the charismatic and erratic Shane MacGowan, the Pogues set the music world buzzing when they burst onto the London scene in 1982. T ... More >>

Bayou Beat: More Live Nation Ticket Deals, I.J. Gosey at Discovery Green, Bob Fuldauer Leaves Meridian, Tony Campise In Serious Condition

farm1.static.flickr.com/I.J. Gosey​ We have a winner in our Live Nation "Club Passport" photo contest - we think - but are still awaiting a judge's ruling. Stay tuned. Live Nation has expanded its "No Service Fee" promotion once again, to include pretty much every show coming to House of Blues ... More >>

Pink Floyd, Dr. Dre, Velvet Underground and Other Artists We're Glad Discovered Drugs

It was 45 years ago this past Friday... that Bob Dylan met the Beatles for the first time and, more importantly for Rocks Off's purposes, introduced them to marijuana. While this meeting of musical titans would never lead to any actual musical collaboration or "Monsters of Hippie Rock" series of co ... More >>

Single-Album Sets We'd Like to See, Part 1: Bob Dylan, George Strait, The Pogues and More

Initiated by indie-rockers like Sonic Youth, Slint and Built to Spill at mid-2000s festivals - UK/U.S. hopover All Tomorrow's Parties and its various tie-ins being the most prominent - playing a beloved LP front to back in concert is now the hottest thing going on the classic-rock circuit. Within th ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: War, Still "Hard to Believe"

Photos by John Moulder I'm always looking for good lyrics that make sense of the current military situation. I recently got Slaid Cleaves' fine new album, Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away, which contains this wonderful verse in the song "Hard to Believe": "Here comes another blown up kid from ... More >>

St. Patrick's Day Special: Ten Great Irish (Or Irish-American) Musicians and Bands

St. Patrick's Day is, well, today, so, rather than hit the pub to celebrate - which we'll probably still do, to be honest - we thought we'd put together a mixtape for you of our favorite Irish and Irish-American bands along with a favorite tracks by them. Pint of Guinness and shot of Jameson sol ... More >>

St. Patrick's Day Special: The Pogues, "If I Should Fall From Grace With God"

Fun Fact: Perpetually soused Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan's first band was the Sex Pistols-inspired, excellently named Nipple Erectors - later known as the Nips.

The McKenzies

Johnny Flynn: A Larum

It's Official: San Francisco Giving Us 276 Recycling Bins, Superior Attitude

The Hates: 30 Years of Hate 1978-2008

To Do: Help Angela at the Stag’s Head

The Blaggards

Step one: Drink. Step two: Jig.

Sanity Claus: Separating Holiday-Music Gifts from Seasonal Disorders

The Lucky Charms

Blaggards, Houston's only Celtic metal band

Freestyle Fellowship

Sometimes awesome live bands also make magic in the studio

Two Gallants

Monday, October 3, at Walter's on Washington, 4215 Washington Avenue, 713-864-2727.

Letters

Clumsy Lovers, with Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash

Friday, April 2

I'm Not Dreaming of a White Christmas

No snow and no Bing for Racket

The Clumsy Lovers, with Jesse Dayton

Friday, July 18

Flogging Molly

Friday, March 29

Flogging Molly

Friday, November 16

Rotation

Young Dubliners: Red