Live Music Now

These are the 7 best concerts to catch in Houston this week

After a huge week in live music, the concert scene slows down somewhat, but there are plenty of good shows to choose from if you’re looking to get out and get down in Houston.

Jesse McCartney jumps off
The next in former boy band members hits a Houston stage after appearances of Justin Timberlake and Harry Styles. Singer-songwriter Jesse McCartney returns to touring with the Better with You tour, based on the single of the same name. McCartney started off in the boy band, Dream Street, before finding success with several Top 20 albums and singles in the 2000s. Anyone with kids who are into Disney shows will know McCartney as his tunes have been used in a number of soundtracks.

Jesse McCartney performs at the House of Blues, located at 1204 Caroline St., on Wednesday, June 20. Nina Nesbitt opens. Tickets start at $25 plus service fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Hop Along to White Oak
Getting a lot of breathy buzz in major music publications, Hop Along has just released its best album in Bark Your Head Off, Dog. The Philly indie band is part of the tsunami of new bands drawing on '90s indie as influences in their sound (especially Pavement), but Hop Along adds another dimension by adding strings and Frances Quinlan's personal lyrics. Come see what the fuss is all about.

Hop Along skips into the White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N Main St., on Wednesday, June 20. Bat Fangs opens. Tickets are $15 plus a $6.57 service fee. Doors open at 7 pm.

Ruthie Foster's Discovery Green blues
Discovery Green’s Thursday night concert series continues what is the best happy hour value in town with free shows in the heart of downtown, allowing music fans the luxury of relaxing on the lawn, and enjoying cold beverages and food options while taking in a concert. Kudos to those behind the programming as well, as the line-up has been eclectic and diverse with different sounds each week. This edition features Grammy-nominated blues artist Ruthie Foster driving down from Austin to perform with the Peterson Brothers. Foster's latest is Joy Come Back.

Ruthie Foster performs with the Peterson Brothers at Discovery Green, located at 1500 McKinney St., on Thursday, June 21. Admission is free. Show starts at 7 pm.

CultureMap Recommends: A Kinky night
Musician, activist, politician, novelist, cigar maker, and all around Renaissance man, Kinky Friedman is always a treat to see live. He's a tried-and-true Texas legend, and seeing him perform is a must for any serious music fan. He's back with his first album of all-original material in four decades with Circus of Life, an apt description for Friedman's extraordinary path. Expect lots of storytelling in what is sure to be a memorable and intimate show.

Kinky Friedman plays McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, located at 2425 Norfolk Street, on Friday, June 22. Tickets are $30 in advance plus a $5 service fee. Show starts at 9:30 pm.

Diana Krall jazzes up Sugar Land
Diana Krall is a superstar not just in the jazz world, but the mainstream as well. Over 25 years, the smoky Canadian chanteuse and acclaimed pianist has sold millions of albums worldwide and won countless awards, including three Grammys. And she must be cool as hell — based on her choice in spouses, marrying the influential British icon, Elvis Costello. She'll delve into her varied and deep songbook, including tracks from her latest, Turn Up the Quiet.

Diana Krall gets jazzy at the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land, located at 18111 Lexington Blvd., on Saturday, June 23. Tickets start at $59.50 plus fees. Show starts at 8 pm.

CultureMap show of the week: Kesha and Macklemore
Who would have thought that two of the more uplifiting, progressive pop stars today would turn out to be once-critical punching bags Kesha and Macklemore? Starting off as a Britney Spears/Katy Perry wannabe (see "TiK ToK," her appearance on Flo Rida's "Right Round"), the Los Angeles native morphed into a cultural force in recent years, speaking out against sexual abuse in the music world following accusations against her former producer. Her latest album, Rainbow, has received accolades for her expanded sound and taking on her attackers head on.

Seattle rapper Macklemore moved past his "Thrift Shop" days to become a voice for inclusion with the hit "Same Love," that even caused controversy in Australia when he performed it during the halftime of a major rubgy match during the height of that country's same-sex marriage battle. While the two may not be similar sonically, other than their duet "Good Old Days," their push for positivity in today's socio-political landscape is noteworthy. A portion of the reasonably priced tickets for the Adventures of Kesha and Macklemore tour will go towards their charitable causes.

Kesha and Macklemore co-headline at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, located at 2005 Lake Robbins Dr. in The Woodlands, on Saturday, June 23. Wes Period opens. Tickets start at $24 for lawn seating, $30.50 for reserved seating. Gates open at 7 pm.

Indie chameleon Caroline Rose blooms
Once an Americana act on Bright Eye's Saddle Creek label, New York City-based artist Caroline Rose took a right hand turn into indie-rock territory on this year's Loner, for the most part ditching the twang in favor of synths, dance beats, and bright guitar riffs, maintaining the sharp, incisive lyrics that make her an artist to watch that produced one of the best albums of 2018. Think of Beck's shifting soundscapes but performed by lady with a penchant for track suits.

Caroline Rose White Oak Music Hall performs at White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N Main St., on Saturday, June 23. Cardoid opens. Tickets are $10 in advance plus a $2.62 service fee. Doors open at 8 pm.

Ruthie Foster will play a free show at Discovery Green this Thursday, June 21.

Ruthie Foster/Facebook

Ruthie Foster will play a free show at Discovery Green this Thursday, June 21.

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Movie Review

Offbeat drama Pillion features command performance by Alexander Skarsgård

Photo courtesy of A24

Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling in Pillion.

Describing the new movie Pillion is almost an act of futility. It contains a variety of seemingly disparate parts that coalesce into a whole to make it utterly fascinating. Few other recent films have been able to walk the line between filthy and wholesome in quite the way this one does, and that’s only because few other filmmakers would actually dare to try.

It centers on Colin (Harry Melling), a meek man in his mid-thirties who still lives at home with his parents, Pete (Douglas Hodge) and Peggy (Lesley Sharp), while working a dead-end job giving out parking tickets. While performing in a barbershop quartet at his local pub, Colin catches the eye of biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgård), who summons him for a clandestine hook-up the following day (which just so happens to be Christmas Day).

With barely a word exchanged between them, Ray establishes a dominance over Colin that quickly leads to them starting a relationship in which Colin does anything Ray asks. And that means more than just sex: Colin, whether desperate for any kind of affection or unlocking a side of himself he hadn’t known, readily agrees to cook, clean, shop, and basically do whatever else Ray wants him to do.

Written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Harry Lighton, the film is astonishing in the way it’s able to mine humor from Colin and Ray’s atypical bond. To call Ray “unfeeling” might not be totally accurate, but the way he treats Colin borders on cruel. However, the way Lighton structures the film, it’s easy to understand why someone like Colin would be willing to go along with the situation. It’s both hilarious and heartbreaking to see Colin debase himself in a variety of ways.

On the flip side is Colin’s heartfelt arc with his parents. It’s established right away that Peggy, who is sick with cancer, is a bit too involved with Colin’s love life, with the opening scene featuring her setting him up on a blind date. But their easy acceptance of his queerness and desire to see him find love is as heartwarming as it gets. The juxtaposition between the wholesomeness of their family and Colin’s new life is also the source of a good amount of comedy.

Lighton does not shy away from the sexual side of Colin and Ray’s relationship, and the scenes he depicts are as graphic as you are likely to see in an R-rated film. Some go up to and a little past what might be expected in a mainstream movie (including the use of a certain fake appendage). Other times they play out in a comical way to illustrate just how far Colin has progressed from the person he was when the film started.

Skarsgård, who stole the show in the Charli XCX movie The Moment, is the attraction in more ways than one in this film. The part calls for someone who’s not only impossibly handsome, but also a person who can stop dissent with just a glance, and he lives up to both qualities equally well. Melling, best known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter movies, also embodies his role perfectly. He plays Colin as weak enough to be run roughshod over by Ray, but not so hopeless as to not be worth rooting for.

Pillion (which is the name of the secondary seat on a motorcycle on which Colin rides multiple times in the film) operates at a storytelling level that is difficult to achieve. Many people will not fully understand the film’s central relationship, but the way it is showcased by Lighton makes it compelling, gut-wrenching, and sexy.

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Pillion is now playing in theaters.

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