This Week's Best Concerts

From the beginning – and here I mean the beginning of the show, not time, as “Saturday Night Live” hasn’t been on the air that long – SNL has earned a reputation for being a real pressure cooker. Long hours. Sleepless nights. Unreasonable demands. Backstage fights.*

Add to that a tradition of management treating the careers of performers and writers in a rather cavalier fashion, with loyal team members being dismissed on a whim, often times in a cruel (or at the very least, insensitive) fashion.

Over the past several days, as SNL ramps up to the debut of its 51st season, a number of personnel have received their walking papers. Cast members Michael Longfellow, Devon Walker and Emil Wakim, along with writer Celeste Yim, are all out. Heidi Gardner announced that she will not return next season, but speculation is that she moved on of her own accord. Walker has stated publicly that the atmosphere at SNL could be “toxic as hell.” Wakim called his firing “a gut punch.”

According to numerous books and articles (Live from New York: The Complete, Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as Told by Its Stars, Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live, Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live), much of SNL’s dysfunction can be laid at the feet of the show’s producer, Lorne Michaels.

A man who has long cultivated an image of inscrutability, Michaels is someone who, it would seem, likes to play with his employee’s heads in a variety of ways, so as to keep them off-balance. Making people wait in his reception room for hours. Sometimes not telling future cast members that they had been hired. Playing favorites. Putting tremendous pressure on his staff and mandating unreasonable deadlines “because that’s the way we’ve always done it.”

Michaels is an old dog, so it is highly unlikely that he is going to learn any new tricks. Maybe it’s time for a new dog, er, producer?

*When Chevy Chase returned to SNL to host an episode after leaving the show at the end of its first season, he managed to get into a fist fight with Bill Murray prior to the broadcast. Chase had been taunting Murray for several days, but it was Murray who got the last word, hollering “Medium talent! Medium talent!” as he and Chase were pulled apart.

Ticket Alert

If you like your rock and roll lewd and lascivious, you just might dig a double bill featuring Buckcherry and Nashville Pussy on Sunday, September 28, at Warehouse Live Midtown. Tickets are on sale now for a show that will have something to offend just about everyone.

Austin’s Uncle Lucius returned to the Heights Theater on Friday, October 10, with its signature blend of rock and roll, country and blues. Tickets are currently on sale, and they are going fast.

Lorrie Morgan is the real deal, first appearing onstage at the Grand Ole Opry to sing “Paper Roses” when she was only 13. During the ‘90s, she racked up an armload of platinum and gold albums by bringing a touch of pop into a more traditional country sound. Morgan will perform at the Dosey Doe on Saturday, February 21, as part of the venue’s popular “dinner and a show” format.

Born in Serbia, guitarist Ana Popovic knew her way around a guitar by the time she was a teenager, steeped in American rock and blues. She’s known for her guitar chops, but Popovic is an equally expert vocalist. You can catch her act on Friday, February 22, at the Dosey Doe Big Barn. Again, it’s a dinner / show thing, so go there hungry and ready for some chicken-fried steak.

Concerts This Week

The Fixx was among the best of the early MTV bands, with a sleek rock sound and a commanding visual style. But what really distinguished the band was a run of well-crafted songs like “One Thing Leads to Another,” “Red Skies at Night,” “Stand or Fall” and “Saved by Zero.” Significantly, most of the musicians from the Fixx’s golden era are still around, including Cy Curnin (vocals), Jamie West-Oram (guitar), Rupert Greenall (keyboards) and Adam Woods. Return to those thrilling days of yesteryear tonight at the House of Blues.

Nelly is at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Thursday, on a bill that also includes Chingy and Ja Rule. Early in his career, Nelly set himself apart from the pack by emphasizing his Midwest roots in St. Louis during an era that was dominated by rap from the east coast, the west coast and the south. In addition to his activities as a recording artist, Nelly has appeared in films (The Longest Yard) and television (“CSI: NY”). And if that weren’t enough, Nelly can also boast a third-place finish on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2020.

The Pixies have long been considered one of the most influential alt-rock bands, inspiring acts like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. Almost 40 years on, the band is still touring with a lineup that includes three of the band’s original members (Black Francis, vocals and guitar; Joey Santiago, guitar; and David Lovering, drums). Catch the Pixies on Saturday at the White Oak Music Hall and learn more by consulting this week’s interview with Santiago in the Houston Press.

Conroe-born Parker McCollum will be at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Saturday as part of his “What Kind of Man” tour, on a bill that includes Kameron Marlowe and Vincent Mason. The country juggernaut has been on a roll this year, headlining a Rodeo Houston performance at NRG Stadium in March and releasing the album Parker McCollum in June. Traditionalists will be cheered to hear that the new record has a lean production style, harkening back to his debut, The Limestone Kid.

Several significant rap shows are coming up this week, including performances from Nelly (see above) and Chris Brown (see below), along with NBA YoungBoy at Toyota Center on Saturday. To clarify, “NBA” has nothing to do with the National Basketball Association. It stands for “never broke again.”

It’s been quite a year so far for YoungBoy. In April, he completed over three years of house arrest stemming from convictions for the distribution and manufacture of drugs, possession of stolen firearms and a federal firearm charge. Well, I supposed it gave him plenty of time to write new material and prep for his current tour. And by the way, don’t despair if you couldn’t get tickets for YoungBoy’s concert this week. He will return to Toyota Center for another show on Tuesday, October 28.

R&B singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer and actor Chris Brown has been a lightning rod for controversy over the years, but things seem to have calmed down somewhat in his sphere as of late. Brown will bring his “Breezy Bowl XX” event to Daikin Park on Monday, with a lineup that also includes Summer Walker and Bryson Tiller. Brown is pulling out all the stops for this tour, promising a show that features multiple LED screens, pyro, lasers, inflatables and AI-generated video material.