Live Music Now

These are the top 6 must-see concerts in Houston this week

This is easily one of the best weeks in music in Houston — in terms of sheer selection and star wattage; music fans will be busy. Here are this week's best shows.

Best dance party in the Bayou City
Los Angeles via Brooklyn indie-dance duo Matt and Kim built a positive reputation and a successful career off their high energy shows, consisting of only a keyboard and drums and two very enthusiastic performers. While seemingly underwhelming on paper, the charisma of Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino make it work, drawing audiences worldwide into their very own private dance party. Expect to hear new tracks from their upcoming sixth album, Almost Everyday, and songs that you assuredly heard via car commercials or at their last Houston appearance at Free Press Summer Fest in 2016. For more, read our CultureMap interview with Matt here.

Matt and Kim will have the audience pogoing at White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St., on Friday, April 13. CRUISR and TWINKIDS open. Tickets are $30 in advance plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

Best nostalgia trip of the week
Fans of '90s rock, rejoice! Sponge, underrated alt-rock band of yesteryear returns to Houston to perform the sweet, sweet platinum-selling album Rotten Pinata in it's entirety at the Scout Bar this Saturday. While some of it has definitely aged as much as the band has, the hits still hold up, including the riff-tastic "Plowed" and acoustic-driven ballad "Molly (Sixteen Candles)." The Detroit act may be well past their heyday, but for those who made modern rock radio a must-listen nearly 25 years ago, this will be a fun trip down nostalgia lane.

Sponge relives the '90s at Scout Bar, located at 18307 Egret Bay Blvd. on Saturday, April 14. 5 Dollar Thrill, Empty Shells, Seven to Emote, Luna Lunacy open. Tickets start at $14 in advance. Door open at 7 pm.

Old meets new, jazz meets modern pop
Bust out the fedoras, suspenders and flapper dresses and get ready to dance, old school style with a new school twist. Take the biggest and best songs from the last twenty years and filter them through the lens of swing, ragtime and New Orleans jazz and you have Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox. Whether it's a Bille Holliday-esque take on the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army," a 1920 waltz of Radiohead's "Creep," or a jazzy ragtime version of Oasis' "Don't Look Back and Anger," fans of all genres will find something to like from this performance.

Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox performs at House of Blues, located at 1204 Caroline St., on Sunday, April 15. Tickets start at $35 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

The '80s meets future sexy funk sounds
The smartest duo in all of music, Chromeo brings it's '80s-indebted electro funk to Houston. Founded in 2002 by David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel, the former holds his PhD in French Literature and has lectured at Columbia University, with the former an accountant when not rocking the synths on stage. Together, they have combined the smooth A.M. radio sounds of Hall and Oates and Prince with four-to-the-floor beats and slinky basslines, with a knowing wink to the past — while embracing futuristic sounds. The world-touring act will likely be dropping new tracks from their upcoming 2018 album, Head Over Heels.

Chromeo brings the electro-funk to House of Blues, located at 1204 Caroline St., on Wednesday, April 18. Phantoms & Wrestlers open. Tickets start at $33 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

The Foos in HOU
You got to give it to the affable rocker Dave Grohl, the man's a survivor. Following the suicide of Kurt Cobain and dissolution of Nirvana, undoubtedly the most influential band of the last 25 years, Grohl picked up the pieces and formed the Foo Fighters, which has gone on to produce more hits than his former band. The Foos bring their Concrete and Gold Tour to Houston, promoting the 2017 album of the same name. If you haven't purchased tickets yet, get on it — this one has a good chance of selling out.

Foo Fighters and their catalogue of alt-rock hits come to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Thursday, April 19. The Struts open. Tickets start at $45 for the lawn, $99 for seated and pit. Doors open at 6 pm.

A big country star in an intimate venue

It's a rare occasion when country fans get to see a multi-million album selling artist perform in a venue that holds a few hundred people. Nashville roots star Lee Ann Womack makes a rare intimate stop at the Heights Theater this week as part of her All the Trouble tour. She has won Grammys, Country Music Awards, and sung for Presidents, and now touring her latest acclaimed album, The Lonely, the Lonesome, and the Gone, which she recorded in this fine city's SugarHill Recording Studios. For those who love old school country, sung in the classic Nashville style, this is a must-see show. Move quickly on tickets - standing room and VIP seats are all that's left.

Lee Ann Womack performs at the Heights Theater, located at 339 W. 19th Street, on Thursday, April 19. Vandoliers open. Standing room tickets are available at $28 in advance plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Foo Fighters return to Houston at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Thursday, April 19.

Photo courtesy of RCA Records

Foo Fighters return to Houston at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Thursday, April 19.

concerts music nightlife

Movie Review

Feuding couple fights for survival in dark comedy Over Your Dead Body

Photo courtesy of IFC Films

Jason Segel and Samara Weaving on Over Your Dead Body.

When dysfunctional couples are depicted in movies, about the worst that typically happens is an acrimonious divorce. But in the new comedy/thriller Over Your Dead Body, the husband-and-wife have already gone way past that point by the time they’re introduced to the audience, with their plans leaning toward murder.

Dan (Jason Segel) is a low-level filmmaker relegated to directing pop-up ads, while Lisa (Samara Weaving) is an actor making do in small theater productions. The film finds them heading toward a rare getaway to a remote lake cabin, but it’s clear from the start that the married couple has been at odds for months, if not years. As the film begins, Dan clumsily drops hints at an alibi for his planned murder of Lisa to his ailing dad (Paul Guilfoyle) and others.

His shoddy planning was already sussed out by Lisa, who turns the tables on him when he tries to attack her, revealing a plan of her own. The situation naturally heightens their shared enmity of each other, but their blind hatred turns out to reveal the presence of Pete (Timothy Olyphant) and Todd (Keith Jardine), two escapees from a nearby prison who were helped by guard Allegra (Juliette Lewis). What was once a shared murder plan turns into a fight for survival, forcing Dan and Lisa to work together.

Directed by Jorma Taccone (The Lonely Island) and written by former SNL writers Nick Kocher and Briand McElhaney, the film aims to mine comedy out of darkness. Dan and Lisa’s ire for each other is palpable, and their interactions early in the film are uncomfortable. As the film turns increasingly violent with the introduction of other unsavory characters, most of the humor is derived from the creative ways people are attacked and the ultraviolence that results from them going after each other.

It’s a little tough to get fully invested in the story when the filmmakers throw the audience directly into the plot with almost zero setup. There’s not even a cursory montage of Dan and Lisa being in love, so it’s hard to care a lot about their current hate for each other. Likewise, the presence of the prison guard and escapees is completely random, and the three of them aren’t utilized well in the story despite having a couple of well-known actors portraying them.

The saving grace of the film, though, is the twists and turns it takes in the final act. Everyone on screen is put through the wringer, with each of them suffering multiple injuries or worse. The mayhem becomes so chaotic that it’s almost impossible to tell what’s going to happen next, which slightly makes up for the fact that the story as a whole is lackluster. Even though the audience knows they’re being manipulated, the sequences are entertaining enough to overcome that fact.

The cast as a whole is solid. Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Shrinking) uses his comic sensibility to keep the proceedings light. Weaving (Ready or Not) has done multiple movies in this vein, so she knows how to navigate the comedy/thriller waters. Olyphant feels a little out of place, but he has a presence that elevates his part. Lewis goes a little too manic in her part, and Jardine ably embodies the dumb brute.

The comedy history of Taccone, Segel, and Weaving keeps Over Your Dead Body as a positive experience even when the story doesn’t quite measure up. The film never becomes fully predictable, giving the audience a great dose of pandemonium that lifts it up despite its other faults.

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Over Your Dead Body is now playing in theaters.

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