Blog: Houstoned Rocks

Ed. Note: This is part of our sister papers LA Weekly and OC Weekly's coverage of the Coachella festival's just-concluded second weekend. We told you earlier about the ways folks try to sneak dr... Continue reading "An Interlude In Coachella Jail" >

Forro In the Dark Fans expecting to hear gentle renditions of the lilting folk melodies of northeastern Brazil from Forro In the Dark were probably initially shocked, but ultimately awed, by the ... Continue reading "The Best of iFest's First Weekend: The Wailers, Fatoumata Diarawa, etc." >

Buzzfest XXX feat. Shinedown, Bush, Stone Sour, Papa Roach, P.O.D., Hollywood Undead, The Dirty Heads, etc. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion April 20, 2013 Zombies, alt- and jock-rock, new-age r... Continue reading "Saturday: Buzzfest XXX at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion" >

Curren$y, Young Roddy, Corner Boy P, Monster Beats, Doughbeezy feat. Killa Kyleon, L.E.$., The Kid Named Breezy Warehouse Live April 19, 2013 Friday night, stoners from across the area came out... Continue reading "Friday Night: Curren$y, etc. at Warehouse Live" >

Perhaps no band in the real world has had quite as much of an impact on the world of Doctor Who as the Beatles did. Both were of course fantastic products of England in the '60s, but some of the ... Continue reading "The History of The Beatles In Doctor Who" >

Carrie Underwood Toyota Center, April 23 Seemingly shoved off the queen-of-country throne by Taylor Swift's ascendancy, Carrie Underwood may have taken the title right back now that Swift has cr... Continue reading "The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Carrie Underwood, Filter, Paramore, etc." >

Wavves Fitzgerald's April 18, 2013 I didn't get the memo, but apparently we were celebrating 420 early at Thursday night's Wavves show at Fitz. That place was not only sold out and packed ass to... Continue reading "Last Night: Wavves at Fitzgerald's" >

Do not download Bradley Munoz's, better know as P.L.X.T.X., album Selective Mutism. In fact, don't call it an album at all, because that is in no way what it is. Munoz's insistence on sending me ... Continue reading "P.L.X.T.X. Explores an Inner Scream on Selective Mutism" >

I had a hernia operation in the early summer of 2006, and had nothing to do all day but hobble around with cool cane a borrowed from Grandpa Hlavaty and play on the Internets for two months or s... Continue reading "Slip Slidin' Away: My Life as a Rock Journalist With the Houston Press" >

The great hope of rock and roll critics at the start of the 21st century, the Strokes, released their newest record Comedown Machine last month. It was met with the sort of lukewarm reviews that ... Continue reading "Why Has the Strokes' Comeback Tanked?" >

Your financial situation be damned, Record Store Day 2013 is coming this Saturday, April 20, to drain your wallet of life and those little green pieces of paper. This Saturday your dance card sh... Continue reading "Your 2013 Houston Record Store Day Rundown" >

Cave Singers Fitzgerald's, April 19 The Cave Singers are hard to pin down. Made from parts of Pretty Girls Make Graves and the Blood Brothers, among other decidedly less folky bits, the Singers... Continue reading "The Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Cave Singers, Buzzfest, Crystal Castles, etc." >

Rocks Off asked our staff members who will be covering the Houston International Festival for us this weekend to give us one or two choices for artists they don't want to miss. Forro In the Dar... Continue reading "Acts You Shouldn't Miss at iFest's First Weekend" >

Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo Stafford Centre April 17, 2013 If you grew up during a particular window of the early 1980s, there were certain things you couldn't escape: economic malaise, the San ... Continue reading "Last Night: Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo at Stafford Centre" >

With nerves on edge after Monday's Boston Marathon explosions, officials at the Houston International Festival and City of Houston say they are up to the challenge of meeting the security needs ... Continue reading "Officials Promise iFest's Security Needs Will Be Met" >

Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off's advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, "funny, serious or unpredictable." Something on your mind? Ask W... Continue reading "Ask Willie D: Hanging Onto Photos of My Exes; Rich Girl, No Man" >

Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they'... Continue reading "The Rocks Off 100: Robin Kirby, Silk and Sandpaper Songwriter " >

I could sit here and write paragraphs about my appreciation of Geddy Lee. He was the first true influence I had as a bass player when I was in high school. For years after, I admired not just his... Continue reading "The 10 Greatest Rock Bassists in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Geddy Lee Edition" >

My last official day at the Houston Press is tomorrow, so these past two weeks I have been sifting through my body of work here at Rocks Off, almost seven years of words. I've been gleefully over... Continue reading "Transcribing Is a Bitch: The Collected Craig Hlavaty Interviews" >

Son Volt is heading down the highway with a new album in tow, Honky Tonk, but instead of lamenting still waters and beatnik poets, Jay Farrar and company have gone strictly Bakersfield, even nami... Continue reading "Son Volt's Travel Guide to Five Bizarre Tour Stops" >