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These are the 5 best shows to see in Houston this week

From steamy salsa, to cool electronica, it's another hot week of music in Houston. Here are the best shows coming up over the next seven days.

Best show that will bring a taste of Miami to H-Town
Riding the wave of mainstream Latin acts in the late-'90s that included Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias, the former Mr. Jennifer Lopez — also known as Marc Anthony — remains a huge draw on the Latin music circuit. Anthony boasts the most record sales by a tropical salsa artist, and this show will draw a lot of fans, despite having been rescheduled from an early October 2017 date postponed due to “scheduling and logistics issues.”

The multiple Grammy and Latin-Grammy award winner will bring the heat to Toyota Center this weekend. He hasn’t released anything but a children’s music album the last few years, so expect a mixture of his hits from over the years.

Marc Anthony stokes the heat at Toyota Center, located at 1510 Polk St., on Friday, February 16. Tickets start at $55. Tickets from his previously scheduled show will be accepted. Show starts at 8 pm.

Best chance at seeing indie-rock hero in an intimate space
Not since Cat Power has a female-fronted indie act offered such heartache — along with head-nodding tunes — like Waxahatchee. It’s no surprise that Katie Crutchfield started this project following the break-up of a relationship and band — it’s pure heart-on-sleeve, gut punch guitar music that sounds like the most confessional works of Liz Phair, and melodic sensibility of The Breeders.

Four albums in, she has yet to produce a dud, the latest being the fabulous 2017 set Out in the Storm, which chronicles a love gone sour. Following a great booking in Pedro the Lion, Rockefellers has struck programming gold with Waxahatchee, with the benefit of the more intimate space.

Waxahatchee brings the intimacy to Rockefellers, located at 3620 Washington Ave., on Friday, February 16. Night Shop will open. Tickets start at a reasonable $16 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Best electro-pop from north of the border
Valerie Anne Poxleitner, also known as Lights, has made a name for herself in her native land of Canada as a forward-thinking electro-pop star. She earned the Juno, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy, for Best New Artist back in 2009, and later Best Pop Album in 2015 for her disc Little Machines. She’s appeared on tracks with emo-rock bands, rappers and some of the biggest EDM producers around.

Expect an epic light show and a lot of screaming fans dancing along to her high energy show. She’ll roll into town with a new single “We Were Here,” off her acclaimed 2017 album Skin & Earth, from which she wrote and drew her very own comic book series. Not too shabby.

Lights shines at White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N Main St., on Saturday, February 17. Chase Atlantic and DCF will open. Tickets start at $21 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Best show for beat-lovers
Toronto’s Keys N Krates keeps some exclusive company. The trio released music on DJ Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak label, as well as Diplo’s Mad Decent label, meaning their cred as electronic music artists is not to be questioned. Consisting of a drummer, keyboard and turntablist, Keys N Krates has been making waves on the festival circuit with their mix of trap, hip-hop and electronica and they are already booked for summer appearances at major musical gatherings.

Houston EDM fans will get a chance to see them in the cozier confines of Stereo Live as part of their Cura World Tour, promoting their first full-length album of the same name.

Keys N Krates plays at Stereo Live, located at 6400 Richmond Ave., on Saturday, February 17. Promnite and Jubilee open. Tickets are $12.50 in advance. Show starts at 9 pm.

Best show of the week
At the Day For Night Festival back in December, Annie Clark, also known as St. Vincent showcased herself as an artist at the height of her singular creative talent. Her tour for her latest album, Masseduction, one of the best of 2017, relies on a sparse stage set-up – a circular stage for her to stand on, a bank of video screens choreographed to her setlist, and one killer, fashion-forward performer shredding on guitar as good as any professional today. Clark returns to Houston after that triumphant December set, where she expressed her love for Texas audiences (she grew up in the Dallas area) and thrillingly ripped through her biggest alternative hits. Those who missed out will get a second chance to catch a must-see show.

St. Vincent will bring down the House of Blues, located at 1204 Caroline St., on Tuesday, February 20. Tuck & Patti open. Tickets start at $40. Doors open at 7 pm.

Canadian electro-pop chanteuse Lights performs at White Oak Music Hall on Saturday, February 17.

Matt Barnes

Canadian electro-pop chanteuse Lights performs at White Oak Music Hall on Saturday, February 17.

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Movie Review

Clichéd rom-com You, Me & Tuscany can't get by on Italian charm alone

Photo by Giulia Parmigiani/Universal Pictures

Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page in You, Me & Tuscany.

The romantic comedy has become an endangered species in movie theaters, as most of those that are released these days go to streamers like Netflix. While there have been a few recent successful rom-coms in theaters, they are few and far between. All of which is to say that a movie like the new You, Me & Tuscany faces an uphill battle before it’s even released.

Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid) stars as Anna, a former culinary school student who’s struggling in the wake of her mother's death. When she has a chance meeting with an Italian man named Matteo (Lorenzo de Moor) in New York, her dream of going to the Italian region of Tuscany is reignited. Using her last $500 and a plane ticket her mom bought her, she makes her way to Italy looking for an adventure.

With nowhere to stay and knowing Matteo’s villa is unoccupied, she finds a key and makes herself at home. When she finds an engagement ring soon before she’s discovered by Matteo’s family, she decides to pretend to be his fiancée. The more time she spends with them, the bigger the lie becomes, especially when she starts falling for Matteo’s adopted brother, Michael (Regé-Jean Page).

Directed by Kat Coiro and written by husband-and-wife team Ryan and Kristin Engle, the film at times feels like it’s not even trying to be good. While the set-up of the premise is okay, the story quickly turns into an eye-rolling mess when Anna shows up in Italy. Not one bit of the character’s story is believable, and even though Michael catches her in an early lie, every member of the family accepts her at face value despite the abundant red flags.

Of course, many rom-coms are not based in reality, and the filmmakers lean into the genre’s tropes, almost as if they were saying, “We know this makes no sense - just roll with it!” Surprisingly, the gambit works for the most part, as the odd pairing of an American woman, an English-Italian man, and his fully Italian family is enjoyable despite the many groan-worthy moments they produce. The sweet way in which the family brings in a woman still going through grief almost balances out the shoddy way in which the story is told.

Naturally, there are precisely zero surprises about where the plot is heading, as Anna and Michael grow closer despite knowing they should resist the other. Strangely, though, the filmmakers don’t go all-in on the budding relationship, choosing to slow-roll things save for one notable sexy scene in a vineyard. Coiro and the Engles play up the family aspect as much as the romance aspect, and that choice allows the film to survive for longer than it should have.

Bailey, a singer-turned-actor, has not yet found her stride on the acting side of things. Her line deliveries are often stilted and her timing is off in key moments. This doesn’t help her chemistry with older Page, who seems to be getting by on vibes and looks alone. The most enjoyable actors in the film are all Italian, including Marco Calvani, Isabella Ferrari, and Paolo Sassanelli.

There are glimpses of a fully successful film in You, Me & Tuscany, enough to keep it watchable for its entire 104-minute running time. But then they have the Italian grandmother say a gobsmacking line like “If you wanna tap-a that ass, you should tap-a that ass,” and you remember exactly what type of film you’re watching.

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You, Me & Tuscany opens in theaters on April 10.

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