Verizon Communications Inc.

The Top Ten Most Corrupt Tax Breaks

Did you know Apple Inc. was Irish? Did you know the mortgage interest deduction can be applied to yachts? Big million dollar yachts? Or that even though the five biggest oil companies made a collective $137 billion in revenue last year, they also got $20 billion in tax breaks? A year ago Citize ... More >>

How Far Is Too Far: Verizon Argues Its Network Is Protected Under the Fifth Amendment

There is a tenuous balance in the digital world between people who share things online, those with whom they share them and the person/entity in between that facilitates that sharing process. In the simplest terms, that entity is like a bank that holds your money between the time you receive it and ... More >>

Verizon Wireless Theater Now Known As Bayou Music Center

Verizon Wireless Theater will no longer be known under that name, because owner Live Nation's sponsorship deal with the communication provider has expired. The venue, which holds about 3,000 people within downtown entertainment complex Bayou Place, will now be known as Bayou Music Center. Rocks Off ... More >>

Last Night: Lyle Lovett At Verizon Wireless Theater

Photo by Jason Wolter​"We were thinking about what might come next," Lyle Lovett said from the Verizon Wireless Stage Wednesday night, before playing a song he had written with Robert Earl Keen at Texas A&M. "We were thinking about venturing off into the great unknown and, in this case, that m ... More >>

Friday Night: Yo Gabba Gabba Live! At Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by James Bricker​Yo Gabba Gabba Live! Verizon Wireless Theater December 2, 2011 As a parent, Rocks Off can tell you firsthand about the sacrifices involved in child rearing. Most of us know going in that there are trade-offs for raising your own personal organ donors, from simple thing ... More >>

Last Night: Sting At Verizon Wireless Theater

Sting Verizon Wireless Theater November 17, 2011 Photos by Jason Wolter​Sting gets a lot of shit that Rocks Off has frankly never really understood. Is it the myriad social causes? The way he expected you to know who Chaucer was? The tantric sex thing? We're not going to sit here and defend a ... 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 >>

Friday Night: The Avett Brothers At Verizon Wireless Theater

Ed. Note: This review was written by photographer Jason Wolter. Photos by Jason Wolter​The Avett Brothers Verizon Wireless Theater May 20, 2011 Friday night's Avett Brothers show started out much like any assignment would for me: In the pit photographing the Brothers' opening salvo and then ... More >>

Odd Pairs: Ten Upcoming Nights of Music Bring Wild Variations

Photo by groovehouseTry to guess who's playing the same night as Toadies.​Diversity is a big deal in H-Town. In fact, our cultural diversity creates such a wide variety of musical styles, it is hard to figure out just what kind of music town we are. In places like Memphis, Nashville, Seattle a ... More >>

White Stripes Break Up After Exactly Two Houston Shows

Ed. Note: Rumors are floating around about a third Stripes show here, before the Rudz date. If anyone can confirm this, please let us know. White Stripes at Rudyard's, Sept. 14, 2001​About an hour ago, Rocks Off got the news over Twitter that the White Stripes, easily the biggest indie-duo of ... More >>

Upcoming: Buzzfestivus, John Mellencamp, Merle Haggard, Etc.

​Amplified Heat: Fri., Nov. 26. Rudyard's. Authority Zero: Thu., Dec. 2. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Belanova: Wed., Dec. 1. House of Blues. Born Liars, The Energy, The Mahas, Talk Sick Brats: Wed., Nov. 24. Rudyard's. "Buzzfestivus" with Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Eat World. Sun., Dec. 5. Verizo ... More >>

Friday Night: LCD Soundsystem At Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by Marc Brubaker​LCD Soundsystem Verizon Wireless Theater October 8, 2010 With Papa Rocks Off watching The National and Big Brother Rocks Off in Austin enjoying Day 1 of the 2010 Austin City Limits Festival, the introverted, nerdy member of the Aftermath team ventured out of our cave t ... More >>

Last Night: Vampire Weekend And Beach House At Verizon

Photos by Mark Britain​Vampire Weekend, Beach House Verizon Wireless Theater October 7, 2010 It's hard to quantify a show featuring two of the darlingest indie darlings the indie-darling machine has ever invented back-to-back in a non-festival setting. These events don't happen often, because ... More >>

Locked Bar: Rocbar Goes On Hiatus

Photos by Marc Brubaker​Rocbar Houston, our city's fauxiest faux rock and roll bar, located above Verizon Wireless Theater and the Hard Rock Cafe in the Bayou Place complex, has shuttered its doors after four years in the game. The club, claiming it is temporarily shutting down for retooling, ... More >>

This Week In Set Lists: Pixies, Kings Of Leon, Tom Petty, Rush, Etc.

GroovehouseKings of Leon, Toyota Center, October 2009​Rocks Off has been both eagerly anticipating and dreading this week for months now. Anticipating because several of our all-time favorite bands are playing within the span of a few days, as are a couple of our favorite newer bands (though n ... More >>

Post KTRU/KUHF, Possible Houston Mergers & Acquisitions To Come

Photo illustrations by John Seaborn GrayGozer has designs on the Galleria.​Rice University and the University of Houston have reached a deal to convert KTRU into a 24-hour white-noise station to help our city's insomniacs. Fitzgerald's was just bought out by the guys who made Mango's a viable ... More >>

Upcoming: D.R.I., Neon Indian, LCD Soundsystem, Texas Tornados, Etc.

​The American Heist, Hell City Kings, Blackmarket Syndicate, All At Sea: Sat., Sept. 4. Walter's on Washington. Atlanta Rhythm Section: Sun., Nov. 14. Dosey Doe Coffee Company. Best Coast: Sat., Nov. 6. Fitzgerald's. Blitzen Trapper: Tue., Oct. 12. House of Blues. Bring Me The Horizon, Au ... More >>

Upcoming: Night Ranger, KeSha, Soulja Boy, Stars, Etc.

​Black Queen Speaks, Dimitri's Rail: Fri., July 23. Verizon Wireless Theater. Burn The Boats, Venomous Maximus, Secret Prostitutes: Sat., July 24. Rudyard's. Forbidden, Evile, Gama Bomb, Bonded By Blood: Fri., Dec. 3. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Great White, Night Ranger: Sat., Sept. 4. Moody Ga ... More >>

Korn Was Not A F**king Emo Show At Sold-Out Verizon

Photos by Matthew Keever​ Seventeen years after its inception, Korn still managed to sell out the Verizon Wireless Theater on Sunday night for the 2010 Jagermeister Music Tour. Most bands could only dream of continuing to sell-out venues for two decades, but a look at Korn's fan base, which ranges ... More >>

Angela Barrow-Dunlap's Church Girl

She's only as good as she wants to be

Upcoming: Asia, Hawthorne Heights, Natalie Merchant, Silversun Pickups, Etc.

​Ana Egge, Michael Kingcaid, Frank Smith: Wed., May 26. Rudyard's. Asia: Sat., Aug. 21. House of Blues. Asleep At The Wheel: Sat., June 26. House of Blues. Benny Benassi: Fri., June 18. Stereo Live. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: Fri., June 25. House of Blues. The Burden, Side Arms, Ghost Town Electric, F ... More >>

Chelsea Handler

Newly single, this Jersey girl gets all the love she needs from a bottle of Belvedere vodka

Distant Early Warning: Billy Idol, Black Crowes, Carrie Underwood, Dax Riggs, Erykah Badu, Goatwhore, The Spits, Etc.

​Stardeath & White Dwarfs, The Besnard Lakes: Wed., May 19. Walter's on Washington. Billy Idol: Wed., Aug. 25. House of Blues. Black Crowes: Sun., Sept. 26. Verizon Wireless Theater. Candlebox, Another Day, Rowe: Sat., May 15. Scout Bar Clear Lake. Carrie Underwood, Billy Currington, Sons Of ... More >>

Aftermath: We Are Not Sorry For Liking LIGHTS And Owl City At Verizon

Photos by Kendra Berglund​Friday night at a sold-out Verizon Wireless Theater, LIGHTS and Owl City put on surprisingly solid performances. We use the word 'surprisingly,' because we fall into the category of people who oftentimes dismiss these kinds of artists as sans-substance pawns of the ... More >>

Your Sex Is On Tour: Kings Of Leon Announce Second Houston Date In A Year

Nashville alt-rock pin-ups the Kings of Leon are hitting Houston again for the second time in a year, with a newly announced date at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 22. The band has been on a tear since the release of 2008's Only by the Night, shedding their scruffy, twangy indie imag ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Ben Folds, Caribou, Lupe Fiasco, Randy Travis, Steve Martin, Etc.

​Authority Zero, Voodoo Glow Skulls: Fri., April 9. Wired Live. "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Live": Fri., April 16. House of Blues. "Bamboozle Road Show" With Hanson, Good Charlotte, Forever The Sickest Kids, Cartel, Boys Like Girls, All Time Low: Fri., May 28. Verizon Wireless Theater. Ben Folds: Sat ... More >>

Inquiring Minds: Pocket Full of Soul Director and Harmonica Apologist Marc Lempert

As you can also see in this week's print edition of the Press - yes, we still make those - Rocks Off recently had a chance to chat via email with Marc Lempert, director of the harmonica documentary Pocket Full of Soul that screens Saturday night at Verizon before a demonstration of the instrument's ... More >>

While You Weren't Tweeting: Mondays Still Suck

​It's raining, it's pouring, it's really Monday morning. Wait, did you blink? Then you certainly missed the brief appearance of the sun, radiating invisible rainbows over our fair city. Is that a pleasant breeze whipping your tailfeathers 'round? Well, it's about to turn arctic; give it a secon ... More >>

Go Ask Alice: Shock-Rockers Who Can Hang With Mr. Cooper

​Before Lady GaGa, before Clay Aiken, before Marilyn Manson, the nation's ultimate ghastly shock-rocker and parent-baiting troublemaker was Detroit's own Alice Cooper. Cooper and his band weren't the first rockers to shock and frighten the masses with tales of ghouls and blood, but they were one o ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: 311, AFI, HEALTH, Kanye West (Boo!), Regina Spektor, Rob Zombie, etc.

​311, State Radio: Sun., Dec. 6. Verizon Wireless Theater. AFI: Sat., Nov. 21. Verizon Wireless Theater. An Albatross, Dark Meat: Sat., Nov. 7. Mango's. Armin Van Buuren: Fri., Oct. 16. Planeta Bar-Rio. Art Brut: Sun., Oct. 25. Walter's on Washington. Breathe Carolina, Cash Cash, Kill Paradise, F ... 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 >>

Distant Early Warning: Band of Heathens, Glen Campbell, Mastodon, Thursday, etc.

​The Academy Is..., The Secret Handshake, Set Your Goals, Mayday Parade: Thu., Oct. 22. Warehouse Live. All Time Low, Hey Monday, We The Kings, Friday Night Boys: Wed., Oct. 28. House of Blues. Band of Heathens (CD Release Show): Fri., Sept. 11. Warehouse Live. Brand New: Sat., Oct. 31. Verizon W ... More >>

Tonight: Maggots Unite - Slipknot at Verizon Wireless Theater

Remember to wear something you don't mind getting covered with booze, blood, vomit or feces, and probably all four... Slipknot's promo announcement of its current tour. Charming as ever, guys...

Cheech and Chong

Web exclusive!

Aftermath Extra: The Best Concerts of the Year, Part 8

Cheech & Chong/Willie Nelson, Verizon Wireless Theater/House of Blues, October 31: "This morning Aftermath thought his notes had vanished entirely before realizing he had simply mistook the back cover of his notebook for the front. Halloween 2008 was high times indeed." Randy Weeks, Discover ... More >>

Sinbad

This comedian/actor isn’t dead, and neither is his career

Duran Duran Still On... for Now

Although Duran Duran drummer Roger Taylor is battling a pernicious ear infection that makes travel impossible, forcing the '80s icons to cancel last night's show in San Antonio and tonight's in Dallas, the band's publicist says Friday's show at Verizon Wireless Theater is still on. For ... More >>

Venue Shuffle: Rise Against, Tek9 Cancel; Alkaline Trio, Thrice Moved to House of Blues

House of Blues Job Fair at Verizon Wireless Theater

Friday Night: Wilco at Verizon Wireless Theater

Last Night: Interpol at Verizon Wireless Theater

Houston Roller Derby... Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Rockin' Renewal

The imminent launch of new venue Warehouse Live makes it official: Downtown is now Houston's live music hot spot

Letters

Hot Shows

Summertime concerts that will leave you sweating

Rage in a Cage

Best Concert Venue

Verizon Wireless Theater

Unlucky Winners

Is there a Houston Press Music Award jinx?