This Week's Best Concerts

The 2025 Happy Cities Index was recently released, and there are some surprises on the list. According to the Institute for Quality of Life (that’s the organization who determines these things), there are six main categories that have the most direct impact on happiness: citizens, governance, environment, economy, health and mobility. Coming in at number one? Copenhagen, Denmark, which received an aggregate score of 1039. The top U.S. city? New York, with a score of 902. As much as people bitch about New York, the Quality of Life folks figure that the good far outweighs the bad in America’s largest city. The Big Apple was ranked as the 17th happiest city in the world

But what about Houston, you may ask. The Bayou City finished at number 198 on the list, with a score of 552, right between Ankara, Turkey and Pula, Croatia. Are there areas in which Houston could improve? Certainly. Among them, mobility. But we have a strikingly diverse city representing a variety of cultures, tremendous museums, a vibrant fine arts community and incredible restaurants. And did we mention the live music scene? So, with that, we proceed to….

Ticket Alert

Samantha Fish recently ramped up her artistic trajectory with Paper Doll, an album which takes a solid blues base and pushes the often traditional musical form in a contemporary direction without losing sight of why the foundation is so important. Fish tore it up at the House of Blues earlier this month, so you don’t want to miss her gig at the Heights Theater on Wednesday, September 17.

There aren’t too many popular musicians from Iceland. There is, of course, Bjork, and the band Sigur Rós. But the latest and the greatest from the Land of Fire and Ice is Laufey (pronounced LAY-vay), a young lady who began her professional music career as a cello soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra when she was 15 years old. Since then, she has graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music and released two jazz records, one of which, Bewitched, won the gramophone trophy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Tickets are on sale now for her concert on Saturday, September 20, at Toyota Center.

The Hobby Center is not what most people would think of as a blues venue, but Joe Bonamassa will bring his dozens of guitars and amps to a hall more suited to musicals and jazz concerts than really freaking loud blues-rock shows. Tickets are on sale now for his gig at the Hobby on Saturday, November 15. Hope all that gold leaf holds up under the onslaught. Presales up now, general sale on Friday.

Jeff Goldblum has utilized his quirky persona to branch out from acting in films to serving as a pitchman for a variety of clients. Nothing wrong with that, particularly if Goldblum is using that huckster money to finance his pet project, the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Unbeknownst to some, he is a more than respectable jazz pianist, and Goldblum now has several albums to his credit, including the recently released Still Blooming. Check him out on Wednesday, May 4, at the Hobby Center.

Concerts This Week

Three Houston favorites will perform at the Mucky Duck this week, beginning with the sibling duo Trish and Darin on Thursday. Singer-songwriter Lisa Morales takes the stage on Friday, and on Saturday, Jesse Dayton will showcase his original songs and badass guitar playing. Tickets are still available for all three shows, but I wouldn’t wait around if I were you.

Back in the days when Bill Graham was booking shows at the Fillmores East and West, his philosophy was that “the kids” needed to eat their musical vegetables before they dug into a tuneful dessert. Hence Miles Davis opening for the Grateful Dead and Bob Marley setting the stage for Bruce Springsteen. This diversity is a thing of the past these days, with artist managers and promoters preferring to assemble a bill comprised of performers who are all cut from the same cloth. Case in point: Styx headlining a show that also features Kevin Cronin (formerly of REO Speedwagon) and Don Felder (formerly of the Eagles) at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Friday.

And if the prospect of seeing three acts that dominated (or at least their bands did) AOR radio in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s weren’t enough, Styx will be performing its 1977 album The Grand Illusion in its entirety. ‘Cause Knowledge is Power: the Grand Illusion album cover was inspired by René Magritte’s painting “The Blank Signature,” and the album’s title is shared with the 1937 Jean Renoir film La Grande Illusion. Also, Eric Cartman (of “South Park” fame) has a neurotic compulsion to finish singing the Styx hit “Come Sail Away” once the song begins. And you thought that Styx had no depth!

Rodney Crowell grew up in Houston’s East End and christened himself “The Houston Kid,” so it is entirely appropriate that he will headline a 55th anniversary benefit for community radio station KPFT-FM on Friday at the Heights Theater. Of course he has come a long way since playing honky-tonks around Telephone Road – e.g. membership in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and five number one hits from his 1988 album Diamonds and Dirt – but Crowell is still a Houston guy at heart. He will open the show with a solo acoustic set, and then Guy Forsyth and 78 Special will close out the party.

Alejandro Escovedo, another revered Texas singer-songwriter, will perform on Saturday at the Heights Theater. How to describe Escovedo’s oeuvre? Maybe we should let the man speak for himself. Escovedo says, “I’ve never hidden my love for Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Judy Nylon, Cluster, along with the Stooges, New York Dolls, MC5, Roky Erickson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Joe Ely, Terry Allen; you get the picture. There is always more work to be done and joy to be made. I am nowhere near finished.” And who can argue with that?

Ah, the accordion. A key component in traditional Mexican music, polka and zydeco. Also the object of some derision. What’s the definition of perfect pitch? An accordion in a dumpster from 20 feet. But, as Jerry Garcia once said, comparing the Grateful Dead to black licorice, “Most people don’t like licorice. But the people who do really, really like licorice!” And so it is with the squeezebox. Accordion aficionados will gather at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park on Saturday for the 36th Annual Accordion Kings and Queens concert featuring Sean Ardoin, Brave Combo and The Texas Sweethearts. As is the case with all performances at Miller, the show is free.