Toyota Center

The Houston Aeros Are No More, R.I.P.

The Houston Aeros lost 7-0 to the Grand Rapids Griffins in Grand Rapids on Saturday night. With the loss the Aeros are done for this season, having lost the deciding game of round one of the AHL Calder Cup playoffs. And with the loss, the Houston Aeros are done in Houston. They are no more. The nex ... More >>

Tonight's Rihanna Show Postponed

Pop star Rihanna's concert scheduled for tonight at Toyota Center has been postponed due to "illness," according to an announcement Rocks Off recived moments ago from promoter Live Nation. "Unfortunately, as a result of illness Rihanna is unable to perform this evening at Houston's Toyota Center," ... More >>

Report: Aeros To Des Moines; Their Weird Toyota Center Fight Now Includes Talk Of Missing Office Equipment, Bad Ice & Iffy Wi-Fi

I wrote last week that the Houston Aeros might possibly be in the midst of their last-ever regular season homestand. The team's lease with Toyota Center expires at the end of this season, and negotiations though supposedly on-going throughout the season, have not been fruitful. Michael Russo, the M ... More >>

The Last Ever (Possibly Maybe Forever) Disappointing Stand of the Houston Aeros

This time two years ago, the Houston Aeros were making their final push to secure a Western Division playoff spot. They were on a spurt of a fantastic play that would propel them through the end of the season into the Calder Cup finals where they came up just short of the AHL championship. Two year ... More >>

Rockets Crush Mavs: 44-Point Third Buries Dallas, Probably Ruins Playoff Chances

It's never a bad thing when, in one night, you can absolutely destroy a Dallas sports franchise on the floor and, for all practical purposes, ruin their chances of making the playoffs. Given that the Rockets haven't beaten the Mavericks in nine straight tries leading up to last night's win at Toyota ... More >>

Oh, You Mean There Is Actually A Game During NBA All-Star Weekend? (Plus, Can You Name The Rappers In Our Courtside Photo?)

After a weekend of human gridlock at the Galleria, traffic snarls, bottles poppin', and all the parties you could handle, NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston came to a close on Sunday with the Western Conference defeating their Eastern foes 143-138, the Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul getting the game' ... More >>

Last Night: Madonna at Toyota Center

Tickets for Muse's March Prog-stravaganza On Sale Now

Toyota Center already has a trio of big pop shows on the books for 2013 in Lady Gaga, P!nk and Rihanna, but starting right now (at this link) you can buy three English dudes whose production promises to be so immense it will crush those three ladies like a bug. Yes, Muse, the British trio that star ... More >>

2012 Summer Guide: It's a Scorcher

A summer concert season to melt your face off.

Rush Closes 2012 Tour In Houston December 2

Canadian rock behemoths Rush are set to close out their upcoming Clockwork Angels tour here in Houston December 2 at Toyota Center. The album, their first studio set since 2007's Snakes & Arrows, is due June 5 from Roadrunner Records. On the band's last Houston-area date was up at the Cynthia Woods ... More >>

Rockets Sweep Road Trip, Bear Down on the Playoffs

Photo by Groovehouse This Rockets team, it just sneaks up on you. It's loaded with second- and third-tier players, most of whom would be backups (albeit rotation players) on good teams. They struggle with interior defense and have an unproven coach who was once a hated rival. They lost their entire ... More >>

Dynamo Food Update

BBVA Stadium, the shiny new home of your very own Houston Dynamo (and TSU) has announced its primary vendor, and it's not Aramark. Levy Restaurants, the same company that currently does the Rockets' food offerings, will be handling the food concessions at the new stadium. If you've never had any o ... More >>

Saturday Night: Maná At Toyota Center

Photos by Marco Torres​Maná Toyota Center July 2, 2011 It takes a special combination of hype and talent to sell out a concert, let alone two in a row. In recent memory, only two other artists have been booked to perform on consecutive nights at Toyota Center: Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga. Me ... More >>

Last Night: Linkin Park At Toyota Center

Photos by Groovehouse​Linkin Park, Paper Tongues Toyota Center March 3, 2011 "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference." Rock writers cannot change what we see, but we can change how we see them. We ... More >>

Guns N' Roses, Rolling Stones, Prince Coming In 2011?

Sind Axl und Slash wieder Freunde geworden?​Rocks Off is in the concert business for all intents and purposes. We scour Pollstar and other Web sites and almost hourly looking for new shows and tours to tell you about around the clock. In the span of writing this introduction we just listed Luc ... More >>

Dynamo's New Stadium To Compete With Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion For Music Acts

A new player for concerts​The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority agreed on a deal today to be the landlord for the Houston Dynamo in a new downtown stadium, an important -- but not final -- step on breaking ground. Dynamo president Chris Canetti tells Hair Balls the new facility won't jus ... More >>

New Dynamo Stadium May Not Change Concert Climate Much

Marco TorresLady Gaga at Toyota Center, July 25​Conceivably, today's announcement that the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority has agreed to act as landlord for the proposed Houston Dynamo stadium in downtown's East End could present a serious challenge to the Houston area's reigning concer ... More >>

Last Night: Usher At Toyota Center

"He has to be wearing control underwear" Photos by Marco Torres​Usher Toyota Center November 23, 2010 Usher sweats performance. The man doesn't know how to put on a half-ass show, and he packs each one of those shows dangerously full like a munitions specialist loading C4 into a bomb. There' ... More >>

Usher

Cirque du Soleil: Alegría

Believe It Or Not: Yao Ming Plays Basketball At Toyota Center

Photo by GroovehouseBasketball season is almost here​The Houston Rockets played a pre-season game last night at the Toyota Center. Reports are that a very tall Chinese person participated and -- somehow -- did not injure his foot.Incredible, no? Check out the slideshow for proof.

Friday Night: "Jai Ho: The Journey Home" At Toyota Center

Photos by Marco Torres​A.R. Rahman "Jai Ho: The Journey Home" Toyota Center September 17, 2010 The Indian film-score composer A.R. Rahman, now widely known as the winner of two 2009 Academy Awards for Slumdog Millionaire, is the master of the movie-musical genre known as Bollywood. He is also ... More >>

Mascot School: How To Entertain, And What About Having To Pee?

Photos by GROOVEHOUSEHeads up, people​See a slideshow from mascot camp. Saturday morning around eight, merely a handful of hours after my Friday night had ended, I was standing next to the administration entrance at the Toyota Center with a group of high school and college mascots, their parents, ... More >>

Cartoon Band To Play Toyota Center

My my, we're busy today. Rocks Off this sent this into the Twitterverse earlier, but for all you non-tweeters, Gorillaz, the UK hip-hop/electronica/rock band composed of Murdoc Niccals, 2D, Noodle and Russel Hobbs - the cartoon avatars of Blur's Damon Albarn and his pal Jamie Hewlett - are pencile ... More >>

More Lady Gaga Tickets Just Released

​Hot off the wire from our pals at Toyota Center: Hey friends! We are releasing tickets for the Sunday, July 25 and Monday, July 26 Lady Gaga shows right now. They will be in the $49.50 price level (lower bowl and upper bowl seats). These tickets are available at www.toyotacentertix.com, by ... More >>

The Dynamo Stadium Plan Is Magic

​The greatest plan ever has been unveiled.Using absolutely no public funding, the city, by April 1, 2012, will get a 20,000 seat, $80 million Dynamo soccer/Texas State Southern University football stadium that will create a new section of downtown, which will undoubtedly boom with economic growth, ... More >>

Aftermath: Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas Megachurch Metal at Toyota Center

Photos by Linda Leseman​ Whatever happened to Savatage? They really weren't half bad. Somewhere between their 1995 album Dead Winter Dead and the light bulb that lit up in producer Paul O'Neill's head in 1996 and told him to create the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, a metal-lite equivalent of Mannheim ... More >>

2009 Concert Rewind, April: Springsteen, Jandek, Morrissey, The Faint, iFest, Cake... and Nickelback

Harley C. Pitts​ Kevin and Dustin Welch, McGonigel's Mucky Duck, April 2: "Dustin (son of Kevin) Welch stunned the sparse crowd at the Duck last night from the first note of "One False Move," the brilliant opener to his new album, Whisky Priest. While the graying crowd had mostly come to hear the ... More >>

KISS Online Takes the Pruning Shears to Rocks Off's Already-Favorable Review

Photos by Jay Lee/ Click here for a slideshow​ Rocks Off welcomes any artists' opinion of our critiques of their work, be it one of our more shining reviews or the instances where we pull up out the six-shooters and make them dance for their musical sins. But it's when you take our entire review, ... More >>

Aftermath: KISS, Hotter Than Hell and Strutting Like Dinosaurs In Houston Rock City

Photos by Jay Lee​ KISS is a depleting natural and cultural resource. One day there will be no KISS left, and all the world will have is four garish black and silver suits sitting in some futuristic Smithsonian display. We have had KISS on this Earth for almost 40 years, and many people have never ... More >>

Hiding on the Backstreets, Part 3: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's Last (and Final?) Four Houston Shows

[Ed. Note: This is the final installment of our series reminiscing on Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's long history in Houston. See here for the '70s, and here for the '80s and '90s.] April 18, 2000: E Street Band Reunion Tour, Compaq Center (the Summit) Daniel Kramer​"It was on this to ... More >>

Rocks Off Succumbs to That Evil Facebook "Bands I've Seen" List

Chris GrayWilco's Jeff Tweedy at Verizon Wireless Theater, March 2008​If you're reading this at all, Rocks Off will just assume you're fairly familiar with the Internet, and therefore that you more than likely also have a Facebook page. Congratulations - don't you feel special? Rocks Off was recen ... More >>

George Lopez

The "Tall, Dark, and Chicano" comedian stops by Houston on his way to the bank

Summer Sounds

Enough shows to keep concertgoers busy all season long

No Matter Game 7 Outcome, These Rockets Have Heart Of Champions

Photo: Jeff BalkeScrapper Chuck HayesThirty-seven million of the Rockets' approximately $70 million payroll sits on the bench in luxury suits instead of basketball uniforms. With Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady sidelined, the Rockets counter the Lakers' top scoring option -- only one of the best players ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Houston's Concert Horizon

[Ed. Note: Since we already run a list of concerts just added/announced in print, we figured we might as well do it online too.]3 Doors Down: Sat., June 27, 8 p.m. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Baskery: Thu., Sept. 10. McGonigel's Mucky Duck. Cameo, One Way, The SOS Band: Sat., Aug. 15. Arena Th ... More >>

Craiged In Blog: My Year in Concerts

Metallica, Toyota Center, November 20: When Death Magnetic came out in September during Hurricane Ike, initially I dismissed it as I was knee-deep still in the new Black Keys and Beck albums and fence rubble. But somewhere along the line I picked this up again and destroyed my car stereo speakers. ... More >>

Damn the Torpedoes, Live Nation is Full Steam Ahead

Start saving those nickels and dimes, kids, because the biggest tour of 2009 (so far) is headed for Houston. At a press conference in House of Blues' Foundation Room this morning, Live Nation President Bob Roux and Toyota Center General Manager Doug Hall announced Elton John and Billy Joel will br ... More >>

Tonight: Tina Turner at Toyota Center

Aeros Shut Out by Iowa Stars. Twice.

Reporter’s Notebook: Random Scrawlings from the Van Halen Show

Tight Fight: Bring Back the Summit!

Ms. Aero, Where Are You?

Whither Springsteen?

The Houston Aeros Face Off Against the Lake Erie Monsters

This Just In: Tool at the Toyota Center

This Just In: Cure Tour Postponed

Hoops and Hot Dogs

Duck and Cover

The Aeros look to skewer Cincinnati