Summer concert season is upon us once again in Houston. We can look
forward to ungodly sunburns, severe chafing and mild heat exposure, and
that’s just from walking to your car. It’s a necessary evil for those
of us who plan to brave the Gulf Coast elements and enjoy some of the
best touring acts ever. The concert lineup this year is a wildly varied
one, with enough blues, metal and pop to take care of the entire family
— and keep hearing doctors in business — until Labor Day.
We have hot legs, Mr. Roboto, and only a prescription from Dr. Feelgood
can…Sorry, looks like heatstroke has melted our brains already. Have
fun and stay cool, Houston.
Queensryche
House Of Blues
May 22
Bellevue, Washington’s Queensryche has been prog metalling it up
since 1981, and with albums like Operation: Mindcrime, the band
has a wickedly large cult following. We once met a guy who had not one
but two Queensryche tattoos. On the same leg.
“106.9 The Point B-Day Bash: Lost 80’s Live” With A Flock Of
Seagulls, Dramarama, Gene Loves Jezebel, When In Rome
The Showgrounds at Sam Houston Race Park
May 23
Houston’s favorite station for ’80s and ’90s nostalgia brings us a
lineup that only a valley girl would love, for sure. A Flock Of
Seagulls may be a pop culture punch line, but you have to admit that “I
Ran (So Far Away)” is still a stone-cold jam.
Battle of the Bands
Fitzgerald’s
May 24
There will be a Battle of the Bands competition featuring Metalloyd,
Kemistery, Dead Rotting, Hood, Destroying the Delta, The Dark in Texas,
Iron Pigs, The Abyss, Red November, Vindicate, Skeptical, and I, Human.
4 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.
B.B. King
Arena Theatre
May 29
You really can’t get any more legendary or bluesier than Mr. B.B.
King. One of the last living blues prophets hits town today with his
prized guitar Lucille in tow to school blues fanatics of all ages.
No Doubt, Paramore, The Sounds
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
May 31
It’s been nearly half a decade since Gwen and the boys hit the road
together. Between having kids and releasing solo pop overdoses, Stefani
has been busy as hell, and the rest of the band has spent time backing
Scott Weiland and doing other hired-gun work. After this tour, the
group will be recording its follow-up to 2001’s Rock Steady.
Better Than Ezra
House Of Blues
June 6
It’s hard for us to believe that it was 16 years ago that Better
Than Ezra released Deluxe. Even though BTE went on to record
numerous other albums and release a handful of successful singles,
“Good” from Deluxe remains the band’s lone No. 1 hit. A new
album, Paper Empire, hit stores just a few weeks ago.
Styx, REO Speedwagon, .38 Special
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June 7
So you don’t know what to get your boomer dad for his birthday this
summer? How about this oldster-approved show, where your parents can go
back to a time when all they cared about was having fun and dancing,
before your whiny ass was born.
Jonas Brothers
Toyota Center
June 7
Ahhhh! It’s Joe!! Ahhhh!! It’s Kevin! Ahhhh!! It’s Nick!
Ahhhh!! My parents can’t afford the mortgage this month because
they bought me tickets to the Jonas Brothers from a scalper!
Ahhhh!!
Third Eye Blind
House Of Blues
June 9
That “Semi-Charmed Life” band returns to Houston, plugging its new
Ursa Major release. Can you believe lead singer Stephan Jenkins
is 44? Can you believe Third Eye Blind released other singles besides
“Semi-Charmed” and “Jumper”?
Gavin Rossdale
House Of Blues
June 13
The former Bush front man and current Mr. Gwen Stefani hits town
today to perform cuts off last year’s solo album WANDERlust and
a handful of his ’90s grunge-lite classics. It’s going to be lonely
backstage for Rossdale, as his better half Gwen is also on tour with
her band No Doubt. We wanna know who’s watching their babies Zuma and
Kingston…
Yanni Voices: Live In Concert
Toyota Center
June 13
Here’s some little-known facts about Yanni: He attended college at
the University of Minnesota, where he received a degree in psychology;
he was briefly in a band with John Tesh; and he once challenged Chuck
Norris to a bare-knuckle boxing match at a bar in Hollywood, where he
made the erstwhile “Texas Ranger” cry like a woman after two
minutes.
David Allan Coe, Resin Valley Reefer Boys
House Of Blues
June 14
Mr. Coe turns 70 in September. Coe has done enough drugs and drink
to rival Lemmy and Keith Richards, all the while singing X-rated
country songs that would make the late GG Allin feel right at home. We
all have at least one favorite David Allan Coe song with a title that
we can’t say out loud.
David Byrne
Jones Hall
June 15
The former Talking Heads front man and CBGB’s scene vet hits town to
perform a few Heads songs and a handful of tracks from his two
collaborations with Brian Eno. He threw away that big suit from the
Stop Making Sense concert movie, so don’t hold your breath.
Jenny Lewis, Heartless Bastards
Warehouse Live
June 24
When Miss Lewis isn’t fronting indie swooners Rilo Kiley, the fiery
redhead and former child film star has her own twangy solo projects.
She’s currently touring behind her critically lauded solo album Acid
Tongue, released just last fall.
Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood
Toyota Center
June 24
Clapton is still God. Even at 64 years of age, the man still manages
to astound guitar students with his live work. Humans will still be
deciphering his illustrious playing with Cream, Derek and the Dominos,
and a monolithic solo career, until the sun burns out. Listen to
“Layla” again if you don’t believe us. If that doesn’t convince you,
congratulations on being an emotionless robot.
Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June 30
Bob Ritchie, a.k.a. Kid Rock, is still riding high from his
ridiculously successful “All Summer Long” single almost a year after
its release. What better way to capitalize than with a headlining tour
with Southern rock royalty Lynyrd Skynyrd? The Budweiser will no doubt
be flowing all over The Woodlands like a busted dam.
“Vans Warped Tour” With Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, Shooter
Jennings, Underoath
The Showgrounds at Sam Houston Race Park
July 3
Each year, you can count on the Warped Tour to deliver solid bands,
wicked sunburns and enough teen rebellion to fuel a rocket to the moon.
With the floundering economy, tour founder Kevin Lyman scaled back the
festivities. Fewer bands on tour will mean longer sets for groups in
front of the sweaty throngs. For older bands like Bad Religion, this
means longer career-spanning sets, and for newer bands, it’s a chance
to make an even bigger impression on the crowd.
Beyoncé
Toyota Center
July 4
What better way to celebrate our country’s birthday than with Mrs.
Jigga herself, Beyoncé Knowles? Lady B comes home to wow all the
single ladies with songs from last year’s massive I Am…Sasha
Fierce. Who knows, maybe Shawn Carter will be sipping something
strong backstage…
Aerosmith, ZZ Top
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
July17
This could be one of those shows where you might very well see three
generations in one family rocking out in unison. Concerts as boogie-
and raunch-fueled as this don’t come through very often, and seeing
that between both Aero and ZZ you have about 500 years of rock
experience, we should be in able, if not shaky, hands.
Rise Against, Rancid
Verizon Wireless Theater
July 18
Two generations of punk rock converge on Bayou Place today as Rancid
and Rise Against go head-to-head as duel headliners. Rancid has been
lording over pits since the early ’90s, and just recently released its
first album of new material since 2003’s Indestructible. Rise
Against singer Tim McIlrath has a punk howl in him whose likes haven’t
been heard since the days when Henry Rollins used to testify in
basements with Black Flag.
Coldplay
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
July 22
After selling a trillion copies of its four studio albums (not
really, but awfully close), Britain’s Coldplay has come into its own as
one of rock’s hugest acts. After enduring years of being backhandedly
compared to U2 and Radiohead, folks are now discovering how powerful
Chris Martin and company are in their own right.
Rod Stewart
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
July 24
Mr. Hot Legs has been shimmying onstage for close to 50 years, and
the dude can still make even your Grandma get the vapors. He’s found a
way to climb back into our hearts, over the past decade releasing five
albums chock full of his covers of some of music’s most loved songs. We
all may change, but his rooster haircut has stayed the same.
Judas Priest, Whitesnake
Verizon Wireless Theater
July 24
Leather-clad Rob Halford and the old crew are set to perform 1980’s
British Steel in its entirety today. Whitesnake will probably
play “Here I Go Again” at least twice. No word yet whether Halford will
be hitting up Montrose’s premiere leather/Levi’s club Ripcord after the
show, but a boy can surely dream.
“Crue Fest 2” With Mötley Crüe, Godsmack,
Hinder
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 8
For a second straight year, a group of men that should have
rightfully been tagged and bagged two decades ago hit H-Town for a
night of rock debauchery. Mötley Crüe brings this years
“Crüe Fest” to order with fellow sleaze-tastic rockers Godsmack
and Hinder in tow. A lot of guys’ girlfriends will probably be
backstage…
Green Day
Toyota Center
August 8
A generation removed from Dookie, Billie Joe, Tre and Mike
bring their damaged rock opera spectacle to the massive confines of the
Toyota Center. The band will be firing off cuts from their new 21st
Century Breakdown full-length, along with nuggets from their
already beloved catalog of anthemic punk singles and masturbatory
odes.
“Mayhem Festival” With Slayer, Marilyn Manson, Trivium, Cannibal
Corpse
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 15
This is the kind of show that would have made our mothers shudder
for our eardrums — and our very souls — back in the day.
Nothing much has changed, except the fact that we will be bringing
fancy new earplugs. Manson has reunited with guitarist Twiggy Ramirez,
delighting plenty of folks who grew up on Antichrist Superstar in the late ’90s. And Slayer? Still as brutal and sadistically loud as
ever.
Def Leppard, Cheap Trick, Poison
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 19
Take your pick of songs from this list if you think that you might
not want to hit this up: “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” “Dream
Police,” “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” “Photograph,” “Surrender,”
“Unskinny Bop,” “Rock Of Ages,” “I Want You To Want Me,” “Nothin’ But A
Good Time.” Now what was that about doing laundry and walking the
dog?
Incubus, The Duke Spirit
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 21
Few modern rock bands in the past decade have been as soulful and
eclectic as Incubus. They started out as little more than a Chili
Pepper-biting teen act, but moved on to more textured sounds as they
grew older. Albums like Make Yourself and Morning View earned
the group a dedicated and passionate following. We can’t think of a
band better suited for an outdoor show in The Woodlands.
Heart
Arena Theatre
August 27
The Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy, formed Heart in 1973. They were
quickly compared to Led Zeppelin, with Ann’s Robert Plant-style howl
bowling over fans and critics alike. A whole new generation of young
girls has found out about them through the band’s inclusion on the
soundtrack to the monstrously popular videogame Guitar Hero.
Depeche Mode, Peter Bjorn & John
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 30
Depeche Mode closes out our long hot summer with a night sure to be
full of dark pop and tortured ballads dealing with emotional waste and
inner turmoil under The Woodlands’ sky. The first cold front is at
least a month off, kids, so no trench coats tonight.
This article appears in May 21-27, 2009.