Houston Concert Watch 2/11: Cat Power, Rock Romano and More

I am pleased to report that the Earth continues to spin on its axis following Bad Bunny’s performance at the Super Bowl this past weekend. It all seemed pretty wholesome to me, with a vaguely “Kumbaya” type of vibe. Yes, Bad Bunny’s vocals were delivered in Spanish, but that shouldn’t throw anyone from Houston.

The anti-Bunny “All American Halftime Show” counterprogramming extravaganza featuring Kid Rock was another story entirely. While Bad Bunny drew around 135 million viewers, Kid Rock et al. were streamed by just over six million people during the Super Bowl broadcasts. Actually, it is probably more correct to say “just over six million devices,” since organizers urged Turning Point USA followers to stream the show on multiple devices in order to inflate the viewership numbers.

How bad was it? It would be charitable to say that the production values were a tad on the low side. And it would be accurate to say that Kid Rock’s performance appeared under-rehearsed and slapdash. It looked like he was lip-synching during “Bawitdaba,” though Rock has denied the accusation, explaining that he and his DJ both contribute vocals to the tune. Oh, and by the way, Rock did cop to the fact that his performance was recorded prior to air (stream?) time. Pre-recorded and that’s the best they could do?

When asked about his reaction to Bad Bunny’s performance, Rock said, “Like most people, I didn’t understand any of it.” Most people? At last count, somewhere around 600 million people speak Spanish, meaning that Spanish is the world’s second most-spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese. I wonder if Rock understands the term pendejo?

Ticket Alert

Austin guitarist Charlie Sexton has enjoyed quite a career. From scoring a major hit as a teenage MTV heartthrob (“Beat’s So Lonely”) to founding the Arc Angels to serving a tour of duty playing guitar with Bob Dylan, Sexton has blazed some kind of trail. He will be spanking the plank at the Heights Theater on Friday, April 3, with tickets on sale now.

Though band members count Alice in Chains as a musical influence, Godsmack did not take its name from the Alice in Chains song of the same name. Rather, the monicker came from a case of karma evening things up. Lead vocalist Sully Erna recalls, “”I was making fun of [our drummer at the time], who had a cold sore on his lip, and the next day I had one myself and somebody said, ‘It’s a god smack.’ The name stuck.” So stock up on Carmex prior to Godsmack’s concert on Saturday, May 30, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.

It seems that the Black Keys are back on track. In 2024, the band announced and then cancelled a major tour, subsequently firing managers Irving Azoff and Steve Moir. At the time, there was some speculation that the difficulties arose from low ticket sales. Drummer Patrick Carney told Stereogum, “We got fucked. I’ll let you all know how so it doesn’t happen to you. Stay tuned.” Later, Carney and guitarist Dan Auerbach criticized promoters Live Nation in a Rolling Stone interview, accusing the company of behaving in a monopolistic fashion and creating an atmosphere that was hostile to artists.

But the ship has been righted, and the Black Keys will be on tour this summer, supporting the band’s forthcoming album Peaches!. You can catch them on Friday, July 24, at the White Oak Music Hall (significantly not a Live Nation venue). VIP Experience tickets are on sale today, followed by a presale tomorrow and the general sale on Friday.

It’s not every day that a guy turns 90, so common sense dictates that a serious celebration is in order. Buddy Guy – who will reach that milestone in July – didn’t need any convincing in that regard, and he has assembled a group of badass blues musicians to help him commemorate the occasion. The Buddy Guy Blues Festival will hit the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Saturday, August 29, with Guy headlining a bill that includes Texas guitar slingers Jimmie Vaughan, Gary Clark Jr. and Ally Venable, plus Christone “Kingfish” Ingram. Presales start today, with tickets available for the great unwashed on Friday.

Concerts This Week

It’s celebration time for Cat Power, who will commemorate the 20th anniversary of her 2006 album The Greatest at the White Oak Music Hall on Thursday, performing the record in its entirety.

‘Cause Knowledge is Power (so to speak): While we are on the subject of performing records in their entirety, in 2023, Power released Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert, a live album that recreated Dylan’s historic 1966 concert at the Manchester Free Trade Hall. The show was bootlegged as Live at the Royal Albert Hall, which has caused rock historians some consternation over the years. For the record, this is the concert during which an audience member hollered “Judas!” at Dylan to protest his “going electric” and forsaking his folkie roots. Dylan famously retorted by saying, “I don’t believe you” and then instructing his band to “play fucking loud.”

Rock Romano has been a cornerstone of the Houston music community since the late ‘60s, when he was a member of The Fun and Games Commission, a band that had a national hit with “The Grooviest Girl in the World.” Since then, he has played with Smokin’ Fitz, the Natives and (most notably) Dr. Rockit while establishing himself as an award-winning producer. You can help Rock celebrate his birthday on Saturday at the Continental Club, where he will be joined on stage by Steve Krase, members of the Hightailers, and some top-secret “special guests.”

Los Lonely Boys will play their distinctive brand of “Texican rock and roll” on Saturday at the House of Blues. Reunited after a brief hiatus, the Garza brothers released the album Resurrection in 2024 and have been back on the road ever since.

After starting out as a death metal outfit, the Swedish band Opeth eventually started throwing some prog rock into the mix. It actually got to the point where some of the vocals eschewed the typical death metal growl and were delivered in a soft, almost whispery tone. Guitarist Fredrik Akesson noted, “A lot of people don’t think [the album] Heritage is metal but I think it’s metal to go somewhere people don’t expect.” Well said, Mr. Akesson. That’s metal. Opeth will perform on Sunday at the Bayou Music Center.