Tool (Band)

Five Artists With Their Own Brand of Booze

It's 2:45 in the morning and you're stumbling to the bar. You've had a few to drink, and you just got your face rocked off by your favorite rock band in the universe. It's time to have one for the road and then get on home (responsibly, in a cab or on a bus, of course). You look up to order and thi ... More >>

REWIND: The Mars Volta at Verizon, 9/17/09

​Note: In a series of tweets Wednesday night, Cedric Bixler-Zavala of latter-day prog-rockers The Mars Volta announced he was effectively done with the band, the result of an evident falling-out with partner Omar Rodriguez-Lopez over touring. "What am I suppose to do be some progressive house wife ... More >>

Houston's Top 5 Large Music Venues

5. TOYOTA CENTER Aeros, Rockets and concerts. Oh my! Houston's Toyota Center is built to impress and hosts big-time, all-star performances, ranging from Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga to Metallica and Tool. When it isn't a sporting event, the venue's playing surfaces are removed, giving way to an extra ... More >>

Music That Will Officially Be Old In 2013

One of my favorite pastimes is reminding my friends how old we are all getting, partly because I am cruel, and probably because even I am astounded that actor Steve Guttenberg is now three years older than Wilford Brimley was when they filmed Cocoon together in 1985. We can all think of things tha ... 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 >>

10 Songs Still Missing From Spotify & What You Can Listen to Instead

As recently mentioned, I'm a pretty big fan of Spotify. Speaking as someone who never got over getting burned by my purchase of Stroke 9's Nasty Little Thoughts I'm a big fan of having the chance to listen to a record all the way through before making a purchase. In their advertising the company i ... More >>

The Rocks Off 100: Tyagaraja, Truly Mystical Musician

Who? Not all that many musicians around here aspire to live like monks, but Tyagaraja (nee Jonathan Welch) does. "I'm studying under a very serious path that comes from a Himalayan monk tradition dating back to 500 B.C., and my music has never been better," he says. Tyagaraja, whose mystical folk-r ... More >>

Last Night: Madonna at Toyota Center

The Devil You Know: The Real Meanings Behind Demonic Band Names

I'm here to do two things, talk about band names and further the cause of Satan. And I'm all out of... Oh, wait, no. I've got plenty of both. Awesome! Let's get started. Lots of bands, mostly metallic but not always, decide that they're going to up the edge factor on their existence by adopting the ... More >>

Reader's Poll: The Best 40 Albums of 1992

As we close out our 1992 week here on Rocks Off -- part nostalgia trip, part making you all feel old -- we look at the best albums of that year. The rock-music world was still on a Nirvana high, and the fruits of Cali hip-hop were ripening, with widely praised and consumed albums from Dr. Dre and Ic ... More >>

Lil Keke's Heart of a Hustla

5 Shows We'd Like to See at HMNS' Burke Baker Planetarium

Recently I decided to put down the cash and become an honest-to-God card-carrying member of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I find that walking the halls of the HMNS is a fine way to kill a few hours before a concert. There is a part of the HMNS that I hold near and dear to my heart, even t ... 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 >>

The 10 Best Houston Concerts of the Summer

How awesome was that cool front that blew through this past Saturday? Finally, your average Houston afternoon has gone from being a blast furnace to mildly toasty, while the mornings and evenings have become sublime. Hey, we'll take it. This must be what they call "fall," so it seemed like the perfe ... More >>

The Billy Corgan/Wilson From Home Improvement Meme

Tuesday Sirius-XM's Alt Nation posted the picture (right) of Smashing Pumpkins mastermind Billy Corgan hanging in their studio on the channel's Facebook page. Slum-dapper in a bucket hat, flannel and army surplus coat, it's obviously a far cry from the tall, lithe guy in silver pants and a ZERO shir ... More >>

The Lotus Effect in Transition

Houston prog-rockers change course after losing their drummer.

Last Night: Puscifer at Bayou Music Center

Puscifer Bayou Music Center June 27, 2012 Always making the most of minimalism, Maynard James Keenan, the mastermind behind Tool and A Perfect Circle, made the back of Bayou Music Center's stage his home Wednesday night, content to let the rest of his band stand and sit in the foreground as he stoo ... More >>

Bottoms Up: 5 Beers From 5 Bands To Give You 5 Hangovers

Whether you're at a show with friends or just putting your feet up while listening to some tunes after a long day at work, for many alcohol is just another part of the rock and roll experience. And when hard liquor gets too expensive and wine seems too highfalutin, there is one drink that's always t ... More >>

Puscifer

iFest: Top 5 Argentine-American Musicians

The Houston International Festival enters its second weekend tomorrow, with featured musical acts WAR, Joe Louis Walker, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Texas Tornados, Del Castillo, Steel Pulse and lots more. Although iFest's performers come from all over the world, all around the main stages will be the sig ... More >>

5 Bands That Should Break Up Immediately

Music fans are selfish. We might act like we only want what's best for our favorite bands, but the truth is that we really just want what will give us the most gratification. A lot of ink, both real and digital, has been used this year to talk about reunions. And while writers might dissect the mot ... More >>

Blue Hate Special: Loving to Loathe Guy Fieri

We've all seen this spiked, peroxide-dyed Food Network star eating his way across America's heartland. We've all heard him choking out limp catchphrases around mouthfuls of food, wheezing out airy, hyena-like whinnies of laughter while wiping grease and mustard off of his perfectly manicured, bleac ... More >>

Readers Poll: Who Is the Most Overrated Artist in Rock History?

The concept of "overrated" and "underrated" has always confused me. There are groups that are critically lauded, yet got little commercial love, like The Band. And then there are groups that were almost universally reviled by critics, like Journey, who consistently managed to sell out shows, sell mi ... More >>

Tori, Tool, TLC And The Other Musical Debuts Of 1992

1992 was a pretty heady year for music in general, with the masses gobbling up all the gangsta rap, grunge, and pop-country they could. That year would see the release of not only R.E.M.'s Automatic For The People, Peter Gabriel's Us, Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power, but also what is arguably The ... More >>

Last Night: HURT At Fitzgerald's

Photos by Matthew Keever​Barely 100 people filed into Fitzgerald's downstairs quarters Thursday night for HURT's acoustic performance. It was warm, and the fans overhead served only to circulate the air around the room as members of the crowd conversed amongst themselves between songs. Onstage ... More >>

Baby's Cryin': Rockabye Baby Sends Us Lullaby Renditions of Van Halen

Yep. ​The folks at Rockabye Baby! remake hard rock from the likes of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Tool, and the Smashing Pumpkins into baby-friendly jams with "soothing mellotrons, vibraphones and bells," replacing all the things that made those bands perfect for well, making rock and roll babies. Thi ... More >>

Libra Soul: The Singing Voice Of The 99 Percent

Photos courtesy of Aiton Extea/Libra Soul​Around this time last year, Rocks Off told you about a man named Aiton Etxea and his quest to find "reason-filled musicians" for the purposes of forming a band. His use of the term "reason-filled" caught our attention because we were regular trollers o ... More >>

Five Real Wizards Who Make Harry Potter Look Like David Blaine

​By the time you read this, your humble narrator will be on the edge of our seat at the West Oaks Alamo Drafthouse watching the triumphant finale of the Harry Potter films. The books and movies have given us of our best times over the past decade, and it's hard to believe that it's all over. ... More >>

The Great Salsa Debate

Taco Milagro vs. Sullivan's Steakhouse in a hip-shaking showdown.

The 25 Most Influential Bands Of The '90s

Trent Reznor, you know, before the Oscar and all the weightlifting. ​As a music writer, we are asked constantly to compare the new with the old, to decipher the periphery where modern bands' influences come from to understand where we are going and what we are seeing. We can hear everything Ke ... More >>

Over One Million Served

Cedar Lounge a Northside institution.

Ten Years After: Our Favorite 2001 Albums

​This hlist is kind of funny now, seeing that the dearly departed White Stripes are smack-dab in the middle with White Blood Cells. We swear this final hlist was made Tuesday afternoon, before Wednesday's breakup announcement. Funny how the band has actually been on the tips of our lips for a ... More >>

In The Jailhouse Now: Tom DeLay's Prison Soundtrack

​Tom DeLay is, in Lonesome, Onry and Mean's opinion, one of the lowest, vilest, most divisive, scum-sucking snake oil salesmen ever to enter politics. Now DeLay is heading to the pokey to serve time for his money laundering activities (pending his appeal, of course). We don't recall another H ... More >>

New Year's Eve at the House of Blues

Ten Songs Worse Than A TSA Pat-Down

​Today is the biggest travel day in the United States, according to the airlines. That means many of you will be experiencing for the first time the intrusive X-rays or demeaning pat-downs handed out by TSA as part of their new "You Assholes Don't Have to Fly, You Know" business strategy. Kee ... More >>

Frickin' Lasers: Six Artists Who Could Really Use Them

Photo illustration by Monica FuentesNow that's more like it.​If you don't have tickets for tonight's Ghostland Observatory show at Warehouse Live, you are shit out of luck. Sorry to say, but the show is sold out, and when things sell out at that venue, they mean it. Seriously, you may have to ... More >>

Last Night: Deftones At Verizon Wireless Theater

"Get away from the garbage can, bitch." Photos by Marc Brubaker​Deftones Verizon Wireless Theater October 20, 2010 For more photos from the show, see our slideshow here. Not many bands have the longevity the Deftones do, and after 22 years and counting, they have their art down to a science ... More >>

True Blood: A Bloody Night On The Sun With Otep

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. Ed. Note: The True Blood report was preempted for Rocks Off HPMA sh ... More >>

Tool's Awe-Inspiring Stinkfist Belts Toyota Center

GroovehouseNo Tool photo approval = singer Maynard James Keenan, the last time he was in Houston.​"For the next two hours, nothing else matters," said Tool's Maynard James Keenan as his band launched into "Jambi" right after stirring the pot of the crowd with "Third Eye" from 1996's Aenima to ... More >>

Tool

Upcoming: Babyface, Disturbed, Loverboy, Nile OK Go, Pentagram, Etc.

​Andrew Karnavas: Fri., July 16. McGonigel's Mucky Duck. Babyface: Fri., Aug. 13. Arena Theatre. Bob Log III: Sun., July 11. Rudyard's. Cornbreadd, Fat Tony, B L A C K I E: Fri., May 28. Dean's Credit Clothing. Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, HaleStorm, Hellyeah: Sun., Sept. 12. Cynthia ... More >>

Shakira, Tool, Kings Of Leon, Roger Waters All On Sale Within A Week

​This morning, Live Nation announced more huge roadshows hitting Houston soon (enough), adding Shakira and prog-rockers Tool to Toyota Center's 2010 roster. On-sale information for Kings Of Leon and Roger Water's in-concert production of Pink Floyd's The Wall was also released; see the end of this ... More >>

Don't Start A Band, Unless You Have Some Clue How To Market Yourself

​ Rocks Off has been bad, very bad. In our last two "Don't Start a Band" blogs, we ragged on our bassist, our drummer and our guitarist. We meant it all in good fun, but we have yet to rag on ourselves, and that's just not fair. So here's to equality and journalistic integrity. We joined the band ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Angie Stone, Ani DiFranco, Beach House, Chrisette Michele, Dax Riggs, Johnny Winter, Yanni, etc.

​American Sharks, Passengers, Big Black Spiders, Young Brothers, The Mahas: Fri., Jan. 22, 8 p.m. Walter's on Washington. Angie Stone, Joe: Fri., March 26. Arena Theatre. Ani DiFranco: Thu., April 8. Warehouse Live. Beach House: Fri., April 23. Walter's on Washington. Blaspherian, HOD, Gravehill ... More >>

Gumby, We Hardly Knew Ye: 10 Stop-Motion Videos for the Late Art Clokey

Late last Friday, Rocks Off learned that Gumby and Davey and Goliath creator Art Clokey had passed away in his sleep at age 88. The pioneering stop-motion animator and his clay work were fixtures in children's television from 1957 on. All of Clokey's characters were moral, fun-loving and devoid of ... More >>

Dr. Strangelove

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

Twitter Ticker: Musicians Love to Overshare

It's amazing the things that people have to say in 140 characters or less. Some take forever to update their adoring public, about their lives while others tweet like it's about to go out of style. Do they not realize everyone can read these things? And that they are, more or less, setting themselve ... More >>

2007 Houston Press Music Awards Showcase

Hip and Hawaiian

Powerful Tool