Live Music Now

These are the 7 best concerts in Houston this week

One-third of 2019 is over and what a year it's been for concerts in the Bayou City.

RodeoHouston exceeded expectations with a handful of over-the-top shows, including Santana, Cardi B, and George Strait. Muse and Michael Bublé rocked Toyota Center. Leon Bridges kicked off another great season at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion last week. And a ton of other great bands already made appearances in a city that continues to draw huge names from across the music world.

It will be hard to live up to those first four months, but if the concert calendar is any indication, the summer will be just as hot with more top caliber shows across the metro than a weekly column can handle.

CultureMap's best, biggest, and most notable shows of the week are as follows:

CultureMap show of the week: Al Green
There is only one question surrounding this show. Why the heck are there still tickets available? The Reverend Al Green is one of music's best legends and talents, with countless timeless singles that are as part of the American experience as apple pie and the Fourth of July.

Simply put, thousands have Green to thank for getting their parents in the mood to create them. That's the power of those silky, smooth vocals and soulful jams that include "Let's Stay Together," "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?," "Let's Get Married," and "Take Me to the River." Better yet, New Orleans band Tank and the Bangas will open, a group that caught its big break after NPR singled them out from thousands of entries as part of its Tiny Desk Contest in 2017. Do not miss this one.

Al Green plays Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land, located at 18111 Lexington Blvd. in Sugar Land, on Tuesday, April 30. Tank and the Bangas open. Tickets start at $59.50 plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

CultureMap recommends: Deerhunter at White Oak
Few indie-rock bands today are as highly revered as Atlanta, Georgia's Deerhunter. Led by the distinctively gangly and charismatic Bradford Cox, the band combines hooky melodies with hints of psych-rock, art school pastiche, and layers of sound. Just check out "Desire Lines" from the 2010's Halcyon Digest as proof of their power.

For a group that hasn't put out a bad album, they have hit a high watermark with one of this year's best in Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? Now on their seventh album, Deerhunter will be able to pull from their back catalog to perform what's sure to be one killer live set.

Deerhunter plays at White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St., on Wednesday, May 1. The TIMKOH opens. Tickets start at $25 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

The Cult at HOB
The Cult were criminally underrated during their heyday due to the fact that they refused to wear spandex at the height of the hair metal and they loved The Doors a little too much. It's too bad, because the group, maintained by the vocal beast in Ian Astbury and supremely talented guitarist Billy Duffy, was insanely good during their best years, producing some fantastic hard rock albums and singles that have aged like fine wine, including "Fire Woman" and "She Sells Sanctuary."

The Cult is at House of Blues, located at 1204 Caroline St., on Thursday, April 2. The Broken Things open. Tickets start at $35 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Silent Disco at Revention
Ever want to know what its like to hang out in a big music space with multiple DJs on stage, no audible sounds emanating from speakers, while the crowd dances to different beats? Welcome to Silent Disco, a strange, yet appealing concert experience that allows the audience to select their evening soundtrack through special headphone sets. Not into house music? Switch over to the hip-hop channel. Or try the '80s channel while your friend raves on with the EDM frequency. Sure to be a crowd pleaser, no matter the musical taste.

Silent Disco goes down at Revention Music Center, located at 520 Texas Ave., on Friday, May 3. Tickets start at $12. Doors open at 8 pm.

The 1975 in Sugar Land
Exploding out of Manchester, the 1975 is one of the more successful U.K. acts to take American shores lately on the strength of dance pop that can be compared to a darker, more experimental take on Maroon 5's vision. Fronted by the eccentric Matt Healy, a Millennial version of INXS' Michael Hutchence, the band broke through with the verbose album, I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, which hit No. 1 in both the U.K. and U.S.

They have another hit on their hands with their most inspired set of their career, 2018's A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, their third No. 1 U.K. album, featuring the singles "Give Yourself a Try" and "Love It If We Made It."

The 1975 perform Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land, located at 18111 Lexington Blvd. in Sugar Land, on Saturday, May 4. Pale Waves and No Rome open. Tickets start at $39.50 plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

The Psychedelic Furs at WOMH
Fans of '80s music and John Hughes flicks will be out in full force for the Psychedelic Furs on Saturday night. Sure, the band's biggest days are behind them, but the tunes they've racked up are fantastic. They are best known for the title track to the Molly Ringwald flick, Pretty In Pink, but their early albums were some of the post-rock era's best, including their 1980 self-titled debut and 1981's Talk Talk Talk. Fans of Echo and the Bunnymen, early U2, and synth-pop will find a home at White Oak this weekend.

The Psychedelic headlines White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St., on Saturday, May 4. Royston Langdon opens. Tickets start at $30 plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

Elle King at WOMH
Los Angeles native Elle King, daughter of comedian Rob Schneider, made waves in 2016 with the hit single, "Ex's & Ohs," a poppy confection that made its way to the top of the alternative charts. She also dabbled in country, getting to No. 1 on those charts with the Dierks Bentley duet, "Different for Girls," that same year. Both songs garnered Grammy nominations, seemingly paving the way toward a solid career.

A few years in the wilderness, a failed marriage, and rock star excess finally gave way to 2018's Shake the Spirit. While it hasn't made as much of a dent as those first big singles, the girl can sing, which is always worth the price of admission.

Elle King rolls into White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St., on Sunday, May 5. Barns Courtney opens. Tickets start at $30 plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

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What are your favorite shows of 2019 so far? Let us know on Facebook.

The 1975 are at Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land on Saturday, May 4.

Photo by Samuel Bradley

The 1975 are at Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land on Saturday, May 4.

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Movie Review

Billie Eilish takes fans behind the scenes in immersive 3D tour film

Photo by Henry Hwu/courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Billie Eilish in Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

In 2021, at the tender age of 19, singer Billie Eilish was already the subject of a documentary, The World’s a Little Blurry. At that point, she had only released one album, so the film threatened to feel too early for such treatment. The ensuing five years have only made her a bigger star, though, so in many ways that movie now feels prescient for the person on display in the new concert documentary with the unwieldy title of Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

Directed by Eilish and blockbuster filmmaker James Cameron, the film takes viewers inside Eilish’s 2024-2025 tour in support of her latest album, 2023’s Hit Me Hard and Soft. Filmed mostly at her series of shows in Manchester, England, the movie is a showcase for Eilish’s music, but it also serves as a smaller exploration of the type of person she is, as well as the impact she has had on her legion of fans.

The draw of the film is the use of Cameron’s beloved 3D technology, which he has employed in each of the three Avatar films. Unlike in those films, where the 3D has the odd effect of making the visuals too realistic for their own good, the technique brings an intimacy to the large-scale show that underscores the unique bond the singer has with her supporters.

Eilish and Cameron go back and forth between performances at the concert to behind-the-scenes sequences, detailing the enormous effort it takes to put on a show like that and how Eilish spends her time getting ready for it. As in The World’s a Little Blurry, this film continues to portray the singer as down-to-Earth, someone who yearns to maintain the connection to her fans that she’s had since she released her first single, “Ocean Eyes,” 10 years ago.

And as the many emotional songs in Eilish’s concert playlist prove, the feeling from the crowd is mutual. While Eilish has multiple bangers like “Bad Guy,” “Therefore I Am,” and the Charli XCX collaboration “Guess,” it’s the sad songs like “Everything I Wanted,” “Happier Than Ever,” and the Oscar-winning Barbie anthem, “What Was I Made For?” that hit the hardest. The depth of feeling emanating from her many sobbing fans singing along to crushing songs cannot be understated.

For audiences of the film, though, it’s the breadth of camera angles and shot choices that make it truly dynamic. There are cameras everywhere, including in the crowd, inside a cube at the center of the stage that rises and descends, following Eilish as she traipses every inch of the long, rectangular stage, and even a small one Eilish uses to bring an extra personal touch to the in-arena screen. Combined, they capture the complete energy of the concert, something that is not always the case in a film of this type.

Eilish has almost as many movies — two — as she does albums — three — which borders on overkill for a singer of her age. But both her music and the movies show her to be a person who knows the responsibility of being a celebrity, someone who understands that her fans are the reason she’s famous at all. Her career may go up or down from here, but it’s clear she’s already made a huge impact on those who love her most.

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Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D opens in theaters on May 8.

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