Hark! Christian Metalcore Rises Again!
Of all the metal subgenres, the most difficult to explain might be Christian metal. We all know a lot of Christian rock is garbage; a marketing tactic employed by drug-addled Pearl Jam ripoffs like Creed. [We think NEEDTOBREATHE is pretty okay — ed.] But Christian metal, especially Christian metalcore, is…
The Jazzy Undercurrents of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’
Kendrick Lamar amplifies the ongoing discourse between hip-hop and jazz — a profound connection existing as part of a musical continuum. Over the years, jazz and hip-hop have shared identities as mutating, maligned genres engaged in conversation. Duke Ellington addressed jazz’s role in the American consciousness when, as quoted by…
A Summer Supper at Lillo & Ella
Okay, so technically it’s still spring. But on a recent balmy evening when the temperature peaks at 85 degrees, then slowly descends to a comfortable 72, it might as well be June. My ideal June, that is, not the Houston version. Anyway, these conditions combined with a reprieve from rain…
Willie Nelson’s Life Story Makes a Fascinating (If Familiar) Read
It’s a Long Story: My Life By Willie Nelson with David Ritz Little, Brown and Co., 464 pp., $30 At the age of 82, the seemingly indestructible musical force that is Willie Nelson shows no signs of slowing down. In just the past couple of years — as he says in this…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Carnival, Tacos & More This MDW
Carnival Houston Friday – Sunday Start MDW off strong with this weekend-long Carnival, celebrating Caribbean, Creole, Central American and South American culture through traditional food and drink, exotic costumes, parades, and entertainment for all ages. Events include a Neon Paint Party on Friday, Street Festival and Parade on Saturday, Picnic…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Get Yourself a FREE Burger
Every Sunday through Sunday, June 14, Brenner’s on the Bayou, 1 Birdsall, will be hosting a Bands on the Bayou spring series at the Blue Bar. In addition to enjoying live music from local acts, guests can cool off and fill up with happy hour specials, including a selection of $4 craft beers,…
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: “Shadow Monsters,” Comicpalooza 2015 and More
Memories, according to artist team Shane and Peter Bernick-Allbritton, change over time. The duo’s latest exhibit, “Shane and Peter Bernick-Allbritton: Hazy Yet Vivid,” which opens on Friday, explores the fluid nature of memories, which they say can be hazy at one point and vivid at another. Memories are fluid, Shane tells…
Meet Fetty Wap, the Biggest New Star at Houston Appreciation Weekend
There’s something a little different about this year’s Houston Appreciation Weekend. As opposed to opening night, the Drake concert is now the true headliner on Sunday. The show, already sold out, doesn’t have the caveat of letting fans volunteer at community-service projects in the city to obtain tickets. There’s still…
Openings & Closings In Houston: Fluff Bake Bar Opens Soon
It has been a long, tough slog since Rebecca Masson’s Kickstarter in December 2013 was successfully funded. More funding had to be secured, a lease had to be negotiated and construction and permitting always take longer than anyone ever expects. Fluff Bake Bar is finally almost here, though. A press…
Houston’s 10 Best Downtown Bars
With Comicpalooza starting today at the George R. Brown Convention Center, we thought it would be a good time to recommend some downtown bars to those attending, many of whom are from out of town, visiting Houston for the first time. Unless you are part of the 1 percent, you probably…
The 10 Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Kenny Chesney, Grady Gaines, Slash, The Nightowls, Drake, etc.
Kenny Chesney BBVA Compass Stadium, May 22 Kenny Chesney is getting up there in years, but his latter-day career has given him a sort of gravitas he didn’t have in his youth. In those days his albums were pretty much standard-issue ’90s hat-act country, not that bad but more than…
Innocence Project of Texas Bigwig Resigns By Sending Dramatic Letter
In a kiss-off letter dripping with bitterness, criminal defense attorney Jeff Blackburn has quit his gig as chief counsel for the Innocence Project of Texas. “What was once a movement has now become a business,” Blackburn wrote the New York-based Innocence Project in a May 13th letter. The Innocence Project…
Houston’s Sarah Davis Is First GOP Lawmaker in Texas to Support Gay Marriage
Quite often, Houston GOP Rep. Sarah Davis clashes with her caucus. Despite a Texas Republican platform calling for “total constitutional rights for the unborn child,” she’s been an outlier in the concerted GOP push to further regulate every uterus in Texas. Last session she notably opposed an omnibus anti-abortion bill…
Report: Former Houston Texan DE Antonio Smith Being Investigated for Child Abuse in Fort Bend County
In his five seasons as a Houston Texan, from 2009 through 2013, defensive end Antonio Smith was one of the team’s more popular players, both with the fan base as well as the locker room. Even during the 2-14 debacle in 2013, Smith was always accountable and available. It’s one…
“Satanic” Day-Care Operator’s Conviction Tossed
Beginning in 1991, Fran and Dan Keller, who ran a daycare out of their Austin home, committed unspeakable acts against their charges — they put one in a swimming pool with a baby-eating shark; they forced the kids to watch as they dismembered an infant; they flew the children to…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Luis Roger of BCN Taste & Tradition — Spain In Houston
In Part 1 of our Chef Chat yesterday, we discussed what first attracted Chef Luis Roger to Houston. We pick up Part 2 of our chef chat with Roger just as he’s taken his first look at the house that is now where BCN is located. He also learns the…
40 Years Later, Rush Remains Timeless
Rush Toyota Center May 20, 2015 It wasn’t more than two or three songs into Rush’s retrospective ‘R40’ show, spanning four decades of music, Wednesday night at Toyota Center that my friend and I noticed them. It was a group of young girls standing on the front row at the…
Freaky Baylor DE Shawn Oakman Takes The J.J. Watt Box Jump Next Level (Amazing VIDEO)
Back in the mid 80’s, if you were a fan of the WWF, you fondly remember the golden age of Hulk Hogan. He was our comic book superhero, the muscle bound beast with the heart of gold who would save us from the revolving door of newly minted villains, usually…
How Amy Schumer Became This Generation’s Latest Truth-Teller
During “Compliments,” a first-season sketch on Inside Amy Schumer, a group of female friends respond to every bit of praise with a verbal self-maiming: “I tried to look like Kate Hudson but ended up looking like a golden retriever’s dingleberry,” says one. Sighs another, “Of course I see everyone when…
Flooding, Hail, Tornadoes, Closed Parks? Happy Memorial Day!
In case you have been out of the state or hiding in your closet for the last few months, we’ve gotten a lot of rain in Texas. This is a welcome contrast to the drought-ridden conditions facing much of the state since 2011 when trees (and wills to live) were…
‘Citizens’ Brings the Wheel Workers’ Power to the People
Not so long ago, it was not easy to practice the indie trade in Houston. There were exceptions, but many bands who didn’t necessarily push a lot of beer — blues-rock, punk/metal, alt-country, etc. – were generally met with low turnouts, and many eventually opted to move to Austin or…
Dwight Howard Diagnosed With Sprained Left Knee, Questionable For Game 2
The NBA Playoffs are the ultimate marathon, so when you have a journey to a title in sports spread out over two months, this is how it goes sometimes. The Houston Rockets spent the last three months of the 2014-15 season meticulously managing Dwight Howard’s right knee. They allowed him to…
UPDATED: Costumes Welcome: Dining and Drinking Deals During Comicpalooza
Comicpalooza runs from Friday, May 22 through Monday, May 25 (Memorial Day) and if you’re attending, there are restaurants in the area that want your business. Wearing a costume? No problem—the deals get even better. Here’s a list of places within walking distance of the George R. Brown Convention Center…
Anything But Bieber: Houston’s Summer Street Ain’t No Boy Band
To call Houston’s own Summer Street Band a boy band would only be a partial truth. Yes, these five teenagers who attend high schools across the city could technically qualify as a “boy” band, at least semantically. But unlike those One Directioners, there are no Zayn or Harry-like antics –…
I Want to Be Friends With My Ex’s New Wife. Help!
MY PARENTS FORCE ME TO GO TO CHURCH Dear Willie D: I’m 17 years old, and I live at home with my parents who forces me to attend church. Most of the time when I’m home I’m tired from school and work. They don’t care that I don’t want to…
Minus the Bear’s Nostalgia Makes Perfect Make-Out Music
Minus the Bear Fitzgerald’s May 19, 2015 The sweetly tapered sounds of Minus the Bear fill the John Green* void in every twentysomething’s life. Last night, couples in the crowd made out to the sounds of a band that strongly encourages making out, matching Minus the Bear’s lyrics of longing,…
A Farewell To Dave — Letterman Signs Off
Unless you’ve been recently sentenced to cryo-prison or are one of those people who doesn’t watch TV (please tell me more about your brave and wholly original stance), you probably know tonight is the last episode of the Late Show with David Letterman. Ever. The weeks leading up to this have…
Another Pass Through Hangout Music Festival 2015
The Hangout Music Festival is arguably the best music festival in the country. Multiple factors contribute to the statement including the strong and diverse musical lineup, the grounds on the beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama, the mostly cheerful attendees and the weather gods that cooperated over the three days of…
Podcast: The ‘Mad Men’ Ending Was the Real Thing
The final episode of Mad Men was upbeat — if you enjoy the death of the counter-culture. On this special episode of the Voice Film Club podcast, Village Voice film editor Alan Scherstuhl and editorial fellow Lara Zarum, along with the Voice’s TV critic Inkoo Kang, discuss the final episode…
Robert Kraft Withdraws Patriots’ Appeal of Deflate-Gate Penalties, Brady Now Twists in the Wind
Throughout the NFL’s Deflate-Gate sage, from the time the accusations that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady ordered several footballs be deflated for the AFC Championship Game in January up through the release of the Wells Report within the last two weeks, Patriots owner Robert Kraft had taken on a defiant tone…
Newsies at the Hobby Flips, Taps and Stomps Its Way to Exuberant , Heart-Pounding Life
The set-up: EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! DISNEY’S NEWSIES IS A HIT! OK, that headline is hardly new news, since this exuberantly retro show, now on a national tour, has been a continual sellout since its 2011 debut at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse. Retooled from the Disney live-action…
Expect a Range of Emotions for Rockets Fans, Players in This Series
Up 15. Down 15. If there is a team more explosive offensively than the Rockets, it is their opponent in this Western Conference Finals. In game one, these two offensive powerhouses exchanged punches right down to the end when the Rockets finally fell to the home team by four, 110-106…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Luis Roger of BCN Taste & Tradition — Spain In Houston
Houston is known as a multicultural city—a true melting pot of people and cuisines from around the world. This begins a series where we take a look at the chefs responsible for creating authentic dishes from several different nations right here in Houston. Chef Luis Roger came from Spain to…
MC Hammer Vs. Rockets Fans In the Twitter Brawl to End Them All
As the Western Conference Finals opened Tuesday night in Oakland, a much greater story lay on Twitter. This story is stronger than our usual foray into “Best Rapper Tweets” of a particular sporting event. Oh no. For the first time in existence, I made a direct connection with MC Hammer…
Latest State Abortion Bill Could Invite Constitutional Challenge
Despite hours of opposition testimony, yesterday the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed a bill restricting minors’ access to abortion without parental consent. The “judicial bypass” bill, passed by the state House last week, was approved 5-2 this afternoon and will now head to the Senate floor. The…
NBA Western Conference Finals, Game 1: Warriors 110, Rockets 106 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
Heading into Tuesday night’s Game 1 of the NBA’s Western Conference Finals, the parallels between last night’s Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers from Game 1 the series before were all right there. Like the Clippers coming off their seven game slugfest with the Spurs, the Rockets were fresh…
The Blockbuster That Cares: Don’t Hate Tomorrowland for Asking Us to Be Better
In a junk-food summer, Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland is a defiant carrot stick, a blockbuster adventure flick where the message is “Think smart.” It’s a deliberate phooey to the kiddie carnage of movies like Transformers and The Avengers, which frighten children about the apocalypse before they can even spell the word…
Cannes 2015: Salma Hayek Eats Her Heart Out in Tale of Tales and Mad Max Isn’t Mad Enough
CANNES, France — “Je m’appelle Max.” Now that’s an opening line, so much better in French, and it’s just one reason I’m glad I waited to see Mad Max: Fury Road here in Cannes on the morning of the festival’s second day, Thursday, rather than at home in the States…
