Toyota Center

Top Five Things to Do in Houston Sports This Weekend: Color Runs, Roller Derby and March Madness

It's almost the weekend and time for the inaugural edition of what to do this weekend in Houston: sports edition. Each week, we'll be giving you color commentary on events in and around the area you might want to choose for some weekend relaxation, all for sports fans. It's the first week of spring ... More >>

The 5 Worst Trends Started By the Class of '99

Chris Gray's write-up of the Brian Setzer Orchestra's "Christmas Rocks" show at the Arena Theatre a couple of weeks ago got me thinking. These days, the swing maestro seems to be comfortably settled into his own little niche in the music industry, playing swingin' Christmas carols to grown folks. Bu ... More >>

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Last Night: Rush at Toyota Center

Rush Toyota Center December 2, 2012 I can't stop thinking big. I can't stop thinking big. Most bands could never manage to come up with a concept album, let alone more than one. And, certainly, any band that did have the chutzpah to make a concept album for their nineteenth release wouldn't think ... More >>

Be a Prima Donna, Pre-Madonna, at Quattro

So, you may have heard that Madonna is coming to town this week. If you were lucky enough to get tickets to her performances at the Toyota Center tomorrow night or Thursday night, you may now be wondering where to park and where to grab dinner or drinks before the show. Quattro at the Four Seasons ... More >>

Saturday Night: Red Hot Chili Peppers at Toyota Center

Red Hot Chili Peppers Toyota Center October 20, 2012 The Red Hot Chili Peppers have stuck around long enough -- through drugs, overdoses, creative strife and changing musical tides -- to have 30 years of hits they can knock out into the nosebleeds at any given live show. Saturday night's Toyota C ... More >>

Lady Gaga Bringing "Born This Way Ball" to Houston In January

Pop empress Lady Gaga will make her first Houston stop in almost two years when her "Born This Way Ball" tour visits Toyota Center January 31, Live Nation announced this morning. A pre-sale for tickets is underway right now on LittleMonsters.com. Tomorrow, cardholders with the tour's principal spon ... More >>

Comment of the Day: The Rockets' Obscenely Huge New Videoboard

We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula i ... More >>

Last Night: Mary J. Blige & D'Angelo at Toyota Center

Mary J. Blige, D'Angelo Toyota Center September 2, 2012 There's a wildly popular scene in comedian/actor Jamie Foxx's hit late 90s television show, The Jamie Foxx Show, in which he dresses up -- or undresses, actually -- as funk singer D'Angelo in penance for some slight done to his girlfriend. In ... More >>

The 8 Most Bro-Tastic Bands of All Time

"Hipster." The word is older than you think: it pops up in an old Seinfeld episode where Jerry refers to Kramer as a "hipster doofus." It even predates that by many years. A few years ago, it was convenient shorthand to refer to someone who overcompensates, who tries too hard to be unique and inter ... More >>

Last Night: LMFAO at Toyota Center

LMFAO Toyota Center June 12, 2012 Check out our photos of LMFAO and fans in our slideshow. One imagines it's both easy and difficult being in LMFAO. You write songs about drinking and getting laid (easy) that are crass enough to seem edgy to teens while not being so crass that parents will keep th ... More >>

Toyota Center Announces October 30 Justin Bieber Surprise

Justin Bieber is coming back. The 18-year-old singer, who is as much a social-media phenomenon and cultural meme as old-fashioned pop star, will bring his Believe tour to Houston October 30 at Toyota Center, the venue announced Wednesday morning. Canadian tween phenom Carly Rae Jepsen ("Call Me May ... More >>

Last Night: Maná At Toyota Center

Maná Toyota Center April 4, 2012 The last time Maná visited Houston, they sold out Toyota Center two nights in a row. The world's premier rock en español band is on the second leg of the Drama Y Luz tour, in support of their latest album of the same name. The group from the land of tequila y ma ... More >>

Tickets For Van Halen's Houston Date Go On Sale Next Saturday

You have all been asking, and now LiveNation is telling. Tickets for Van Halen's June 24th gig at Toyota Center go on sale next Saturday, January 289, and 10 a.m. Tickets will be available online at LiveNation.com or toyotacentertix.com. You know the ticketing drill. A few weeks back LiveNation to ... More >>

Rockets Announce 2011-2012 Schedule -- 6 Things You Need to Know

Kevin Martin: Not a big national-TV draw.​My excitement for the upcoming NBA season was moderately brimming before yesterday (due in large part to a $50 prop bet I placed a couple months ago on the season starting on or before Christmas -- CHA-CHING!), but two things happened yesterday. First ... More >>

Cirque du Soleil: Dralion

Guns N' Roses Tickets On Sale Next Friday

There's a date and venue for Axl & friends' Houston show now - Friday, November 4 at Toyota Center. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. next Friday at livenation.com and toyotacentertix.com, or by phone at 866-4HOUTIX. Welcome to the jungle, y'all. See you at BestFest.

Hangin' Tough

A New Kids on the Block crush leads to a lifelong obsession with music.

Yelawolf

Last Night: Juanes At Toyota Center

Photos by Marco Torres​Juanes, Antonio Orozco Toyota Center March 30, 2011 Right on cue at 8 p.m., the Toyota Center house lights go down and the show starts, although instead of Juanes, it's Antonio Orozco that takes the stage. That was the first tease of the evening, and a foreshadowing of ... More >>

Linkin Park Cancels Houston Show On Doctor's Orders

rocksins.com​Sad news for folks holding tickets to tomorrow night's Linkin Park/The Prodigy gig at Toyota Center. Due to an illness, lead singer Chester Bennington has been sidelined from performing by doctor's orders, making Tuesday at least the band's fourth canceled date on this tour behind ... More >>

The Most Illegal Wrestling Move of All Time!! (with VIDEO)

Never violate the international rules​Anyone who knows me well (or listens to me on the radio, which is practically the same thing as my radio persona is not exactly a closed book when it comes to my personal life) knows that I am a huge fan of professional wrestling. I've been to about a hal ... More >>

Disney Live! Mickey's Magic Show

Aeros Battle Fergie's Humps and Screaming Kids

Screaming kids and Fergie's girlie parts make for a strange day of hockey​Toyota Center was packed with screaming kids and befuddled adults yesterday. But the kids weren't there for a Hannah Montana concert. And Justin Bieber was nowhere to be found.Instead, they were there for a strange day ... More >>

Last Night: Roger Waters' The Wall at the Toyota Center

Photos by Jim BrickerRoger Waters performed The Wall in its entirety Saturday night at Toyota Center. See our slideshow for more photos.​Roger Waters Toyota Center November 20, 2010 Ed. note: The sold-out Roger Waters show was so highly anticipated, we sent two reviewers. Tune in Monday morni ... More >>

Last Night: The Eagles At Toyota Center

Photos by Marco Torres​The Eagles Toyota Center June 27, 2010 For the past five years Aftermath has been told that we should hate the Eagles, but not why. Like a child, we would ask, and all we would hear from the pop-culture constabulary was "because they suck." It's like standing in a line ... More >>

Justin Bieber Plays Toyota Center November 6

​ America's favorite tow-headed prepubescent pop moppet, Justin Bieber, announced the second leg of dates for his My World summer/fall tour, including a stop at Toyota Center November 6. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, June 9 in a special presale (see bieberfever.com), and Saturday, June 12 to the g ... More >>

It's Not Easy Being Green: How Venues And Festivals Handle All That Garbage

Marco TorresSold-out Jay-Z crowd = A lot of trash at Toyota Center.​ On any given night, 18,000 to 25,000 people fill the Toyota Center, whether to watch the Rockets play or to see Lady Gaga in full regalia. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces more than ... More >>

Second Haitian Relief Concert at Warehouse Live This Week Scheduled for Friday

​ On the heels of Bun B's all-star (if borderline interminable) "Houston 4 Haiti" relief concert at Warehouse Live Monday night that reportedly raised in the neighborhood of $10,000, the venue will open its doors - albeit in the smaller studio room - for another benefit Friday night starring f ... More >>

Aftermath: Maxwell Loves All the Single Ladies, Who Definitely Love Him Back, at Toyota Center

Photos by Groovehouse​ Maxwell sure knows his audience. And not just all the single ladies - many of whom were up and dancing to Beyonce's ubiquitous hit the prince of neo-soul used as his intro music Tuesday at Toyota Center - but the men who love them, or at least want to get with them. "Fellas, ... More >>

Aftermath: Kings of Leon, and Their "Fans," Trying Our Patience at Toyota Center

Photos by Groovehouse/ Click here for a slideshow​ Aftermath has seen almost every single step on the road to fame Kings of Leon have taken since their debut album Youth and Young Manhood in 2003. We heard a track off that album in mid-2003, "California Waiting," on a radio show while living in Sa ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day One: Kings Of Leon Rage Against The Fame

Photos by Mark C. Austin​Funny thing happened last night. It was the same thing that happened to U2 in 1987 in the wake of The Joshua Tree, and the same thing that killed Kurt Cobain in 1994. Fame has finally overtaken Kings Of Leon, leaving their core boots 'n flannel crowd in the proverbial pop ... More >>

Houston Aeros Bounce Back

Photo by Fred Trask With the end of the regular season fast approaching, the Houston Aeros chose last week to play some of their best hockey of the past month, defeating the Grand Rapids Griffins, one of the AHL's best teams, by a 2-1 margin on Thursday night. And though they played an error-filled ... More >>

Houston Aeros Bounce Back

Photo by Fred Trask With the end of the regular season fast approaching, the Houston Aeros chose last week to play some of their best hockey of the past month, defeating the Grand Rapids Griffins, one of the AHL's best teams, by a 2-1 margin on Thursday night. And though they played an error-filled ... More >>

Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 5

King's X, Meridian, August 19: "[dUg] Pinnick's bass was very much the lead instrument, negotiating the distance between the complicated vocal harmonies and searing chainsaw riffs with a low-to-the-ground, almost nonchalant assurance." Masters of Metal, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, August 23 ... More >>

Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 1

[Note: Aftermath attended all these shows and reviewed most of them. Even he couldn't see them all.] Six Organs of Admittance, Walter's on Washington, January 18: "[Ben Chasny's] quieter moments reminded me of the softer side of bands like Pavement and Guided by Voices, and the mournful specte ... More >>

Houston Aeros, Now with Boos and Bikinis

I heard something on Friday night in Toyota Center I don't think I've ever heard before. The fans were booing the Houston Aeros. Of course, the Aeros were playing some piss poor and rather lackluster hockey, but I'm just not used to hearing fans in Toyota Center boo the team. And on Friday night, ... More >>

H-Town Holiday Shootout

Put down your Rockets red for a while and enjoy some college b-ballers

Aftermath: Latin Grammys at Toyota Center, Pt. 1

Carlos Santana backstage at the Latin Grammys/ Photo by Olivia Flores Alvarez Is music really the universal language? There was no better place to test that ragged old saw than at Thursday’s Latin Grammys at Toyota Center. As one of the few (if not the only) non-Spanish-speakers in the buildi ... More >>

Slideshow: Tina Turner at Toyota Center

This Just In: Tonight's Eagles Concert Postponed to October

Aeros Staying in Houston for at Least Five More Seasons

Walking with Dinosaurs

Open the door, get on the floor, everybody walk with dinosaurs

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

The Toyota Center

The Houston Rockets vs. the L.A. Lakers

It’s the new and improved Rockets (we hope!)

Drenched In Blog: Broing Down with the Hives

Drenched In Blog: 99 Problems.....

Pom Pilots

Get some spirit at the Cheer America Championships

Best Public Bathroom

Hangover Hoops

2004 begins with Jazz, Rockets