This Week's Best Concerts

The Curse of Cruz? It seems to be the title of a real-life horror movie. As pundits sifted through the wreckage following the Astros’ ignominious exit from postseason play, some attention was given to the fact that Houston sports teams don’t fare well when the junior senator from Texas is in attendance. Monday’s debacle, it seems, is only the latest instance of Cruz showing up at a game and making a big deal of it, followed by a Houston collapse. According to the people who keep track of such things, Count ~~Chocula~~ Cruz has victimized the Astros and the Rockets on multiple occasions. Prior to Monday’s game, people on social media were begging Cruz to stay home and watch the game on television. But no. I just hope he doesn’t start going to concerts in Houston.

Ticket Alert

The Mucky Duck has just announced some shows that are sure to sell out quickly. Here’s the rundown: James McMurtry on Saturday, December 2; Alejandro Escovedo on Friday and Saturday, January 5 and 6; and Robyn Hitchcock on Friday, January 19.

If your taste in holiday entertainment fare runs more to shreddy prog rock than The Nutcracker or Messiah, you will be pleased to know that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra will be at Toyota Center on Sunday, December 10 for two shows, a matinee and an evening performance. The theme for this year’s extravaganza is “Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” and good seats are still available for both performances.

Concerts This Week

It will be a homecoming this weekend for homeboy Parker McCollum, who performs Saturday at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. McCollum grew up down the road in Conroe and graduated from Woodlands College Park High School, so you know it’s going to be some kind of red dirt party. The neotraditional country artist cites George Strait as his musical north star, so you know that his parents must have raised him right.

If you are in the market for blazing guitars, there are two excellent string-slinging shows to choose from on Saturday. Coco Montoya, who for several years played with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, will be at the Dosey Doe, and Joe Bonamassa, who generally has a Guitar Center’s worth of gear onstage with him, will play at the Smart Financial Centre. Bonamassa is a marketing machine, selling everything from Official Joe Bonamassa umbrellas to back scratchers to action figures on his website, so I can only imagine what the merch table will look like.

Neil Young once sang, “Back in the old folkie days / The air was magic when we played.” For those wishing to float back to the halcyon evenings at Corky’s and Theodore’s in Montrose, an opportunity awaits on Sunday at Main Street Crossing in Tomball, when two folk stalwarts will perform. It’s Trout Fishing in America in the afternoon, followed by an evening show from Shake Russell. Good times then, good times now.

John Mayer just won’t quit. After playing lead guitar for Dead and Company’s tour this summer, he is back on the road with an acoustic tour, which hits Toyota Center on Monday. Since Deadheads are known to show up at performances by any musician who has entered their psychedelic orbit, you might see some tie-dye at the concert. And why not? In an apparent tip of the hat, Mayer has been interpolating a bit of “Dark Star” into performances of “Your Body is a Wonderland.” Does this mean that the song now lasts a half hour?