Live Music Now

These are the 5 best concerts in Houston this week

Big music news this week. First off, as CultureMap predicted in December: Lizzo is coming to RodeoHouston.

Also, congratulations to the little music venue that could. McGonigel's Mucky Duck, the intimate and friendly club near the intersections of Kirby Drive and Richmond Avenue (2425 Norfolk St.) is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Founded by Teresa and Rusty Andrews in the summer of 1990, the Duck is known for its loyal customers and shows with two sets a night instead of the traditional one. The venue has been an incubator for local talent, as well as a home away from home for touring musicians, often drawing names that could play — and sell — much bigger venues.

That's the kind of love the Duck has built over three decades. Do yourself a favor and head over for a beer, a bite, and some of the best music in town, including one of the following shows of the week.

CultureMap show of the week: Sarah McLachlan at Hobby Center
Founder of Lilith Fair. 40 million albums sold worldwide. Multiple Grammy award wins. There's not much that Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan hasn't done during her career. Starting off with ethereal, folk inflected pop of her early work, 1988's Touch and 1991's Solace, McLachlan started gaining a wider audience with the edgier, pop-oriented Fumbling Towards Ecstacy in 1993, right as the coffeehouse craze kicked into full gear, the perfect setting for her sound.

McLachlan became a superstar when she founded Lilith Fair, bringing together female-led acts for a multi-city tour, blowing down the doors of a male dominated industry and showcasing the power women had in selling records. Her subsequent album, Surfacing, with hit songs "Adia," "Sweet Surrender," and the infamous SPCA song, "Angel," sold millions and drove the point home and now today's pop climate is now dominated by the ladies. McLachlan hasn't played Houston in ages, so this is a special treat to catch up with the expressive performer.

Sarah McLachlan takes to the Hobby Center stage, located at 800 Bagby St., on Thursday, February 6. Tickets start at $50.50 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Bob Schneider at McGonigel's Mucky Duck
One of the favorites on the Texas music circuit, Bob Schneider, has been writing and releasing music for over 25 years. His former band The Ugly Americans once opened for Dave Matthews Band on tour and included members from Cracker and Mojo Nixon before he set off on his own. His solo career has been varied, embracing folk, rock, funk, and country, including his latest album, Blood and Bones, a mash-up of those styles with introspective slow-burners and upbeat rockers, such as the Beck-sounding "Texaco."

Bob Schneider performs at McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, located at 2425 Norfolk St., on Thursday, February 6. Tickets start at $32 plus fees. Shows starts at 7 and 9:30 pm.

Yola at Heights Theater
Fresh off four Grammy nominations and a taping of Austin City Limits, British singer-songwriter Yola kicks off her American Walk Through Fire tour based on the 2019 album of the same name. She’s toured with Massive Attack, shared the stage with Dolly Parton of the Newport Music Festival, and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys produced her critically acclaimed debut. (Not too shabby.)

Combining country, soul, pop, and R&B, this might be the last chance audiences can see uber-talented performer in such an intimate setting. If you need proof of her power, check out her recent turn on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series.

Yola headlines Heights Theater, located at 339 W 19th St., on Friday, February 7. Thomas Csorba opens. Tickets start at $20 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Highly Suspect at Revention Music Center
Consisting of a trio of friends, Johnny Stevens on guitar and vocals, and twins Rich and Ryan Meyer on bass and vocals and drums, respectively, the Brooklyn-based group Highly Suspect capitalized on the success of their hit 2016 album, The Boy Who Died Wolf, to earn key slots at major music festivals across the country. It was just a few years ago we saw them play a well-received set at the now defunct In Bloom Festival. Based on their hits, “Lydia,” “My Name is Human,” and “Little One,” we suspect these guys really like Queens of the Stone Age and Kings of Leon.

Highly Suspect performs at Revention Music Center, located at 520 Texas Ave., on Saturday, February 8. NAV opens. Tickets start at $35 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

CultureMap recommends: The New Pornographers at White Oak Music Hall
The second Vancouver act to grace local stages this week (Sarah McLachlan being the other), the Canadian indie supergroup the New Pornographers are on the road with their smart, energetic, and catchy-as-hell sound, touting their latest critically acclaimed album, In the Morse Code of Brake Lights.

Bringing together some of the best musicians from the West Coast, including the incredible vocal pipes of Neko Case and sharp lyricism of leader A.C. Newman, the Pornographers haven't released a bad album, starting out with a magnificent run of three almost perfect offerings in 2000's Mass Romantic, 2003's Electric Version, and 2005's high watermark, Twin Cinema. In other words, there are few, if any, bands around that do indie-rock better.

The New Pornographers brings supergroup vibes to White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St., on Sunday, February 9. Diane Coffee opens. Tickets are $30 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

CultureMap recommends: Canadian indie supergroup The New Pornographers plays White Oak Music Hall on Sunday, February 9.

The New Pornographers

Photo by Jenny Jimenez

CultureMap recommends: Canadian indie supergroup The New Pornographers plays White Oak Music Hall on Sunday, February 9.

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Movie Review

Scarlett Johansson makes her directorial debut with Eleanor the Great

June Squibb in Eleanor the Great

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

June Squibb in Eleanor the Great.

One of the more remarkable stories in recent movie history is the very late rise of actor June Squibb. Although not an unknown, having appeared in supporting roles in the 1990s and 2000s, Squibb became a sensation after earning an Oscar nomination for her role in Nebraska in 2013 at the age of 84. She has remained in demand ever since, even playing the lead role in Thelma in 2024 and now Eleanor the Great.

Eleanor (Squibb) is a long-retired woman living in Florida with her best friend, Bessie (Rita Zohar). When Bessie dies, Eleanor’s daughter Lisa (Jessica Hecht) insists she move back to New York to be closer to her family. With no other connections, Eleanor takes Lisa’s suggestion to go to her local Jewish community center to see if she can make some friends there.

Eleanor inadvertently gets pulled into a Holocaust survivor group, where everyone there assumes she shares their history. Out of embarrassment and a love for Bessie, who was a Holocaust survivor, Eleanor starts sharing Bessie’s stories as if they were her own. Nina (Erin Kellyman), an NYU student, happens to be at the meeting and takes a shine to Eleanor. Soon, the two of them are spending lots of time together, with Nina hoping to use Eleanor’s stories for a piece she’s writing for her journalism class.

Scarlett Johansson, making her directing debut, and writer Tory Kamen give Squibb a light-yet-dramatic showcase that plays directly to her strengths. Many films that focus on elderly characters use their age as a joke, pointing out how they don’t mesh well with modern times. The filmmakers mostly eschew that kind of storytelling, instead allowing Eleanor to be a full human being who gets caught up in a lie that she can’t seem to shake.

They also make the wise decision to give Eleanor a compelling foil in Nina, who’s dealing with her own trauma following the recent death of her mother. The grief that Nina and her father, Roger (Chiwetel Ejiofor), are experiencing adds a dimension to the story that that expands its emotional depth. Eleanor and Nina’s growing friendship is portrayed so believably that the inevitable reveal of Eleanor’s deception grows more heartbreaking by the minute.

Johansson has a few minor missteps in her first attempt as a feature filmmaker, but overall she demonstrates an ability to juggle a variety of characters and situations without losing the thread of the plot. The story is a familiar one that’s been done in different ways before, but Johansson and her team keep it engaging throughout despite its predictable beats.

Squibb, who is 95 years old (!!), is yet again a wonder in the role. While her and her character’s age are a big part of the story, that fact never overshadows her acting ability. She’s able to find nuances that make Eleanor into a large presence, proving she is a star through and through. The rest of the cast is also great, especially Kellyman and Ejiofor, who inhabit their storyline well without taking away from the main plot.

There are not many actors who still have the ability to carry an entire movie on their back in their nineties, but Squibb is a delightful exception. The fact that Eleanor the Great is not some disposable trifle makes her continued late-career renaissance all the more impressive, and even more reason to respect her and everyone involved in the film.

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Eleanor the Great is now playing in theaters.

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