Day for Night 2017

Day for Night stakes its claim as the best music fest in Texas with gasp-worthy lineup

We live in age when music festivals are retreading and repeating themselves, driving fan apathy up and attendance numbers down. The glut of major music events has led to several shuttering their turnstiles across the country the last couple of years. Few can legitimately surprise fans the moment line-ups are announced.

Houston’s very own Day for Night is one of them. Organizers just announced the third edition set for December 15-17 at its perfectly-placed downtown location at the PostHTX basecamp in the historic Barbara Jordan Post Office. The line-up is gasp-worthy, based on its confirmation of musical acts, alongside cutting-edge visual art installations and a summit of talks by influential and news-making figures (Chelsea Manning, Laurie Anderson, Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova). The national music community immediately took notice.

The line-up features a top-notch mix of acts at the height of their powers (Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Justice), those who are currently blowing up (Phantogram, Perfume Genius, James Blake, Tyler, The Creator), some old favorites (Roni Size, Jesus Lizard, Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and special sets (Of Montreal performing all of Hissing Fauna You Are The Destroyer on its 10th anniversary, Saint Heron Presents: “Soul Cleansing” with Solange teaming with Earl Sweatshirt and Kaytranada).

At last year’s festival, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, frontman of one of the biggest bands on the planet and a Houston native expressed his gratitude for what Day for Night was trying to accomplish, stating that he never had anything this unique while growing up here. While organizers pulled off a well-run and expertly curated 2016 edition, the feeling among many was there was room to grow – that it still had a way to go to become a transformational music event for a scene and city that has long suffered from a lack of identity.

The potential for Houston as a music city has been building for some time now with an increasingly strong local scene and more attractive landing spot among touring bands as the number of younger residents climbs. Add a few years of stale ACL Festival rosters (Red Hot Chili Peppers and Killers? No thanks), an ever-commercialized South By Southwest, and the fight between newly built downtown condominium owners and music venues regarding noise ordinances in the “Live Music Capital of the World,” and it’s a perfect storm scenario where HTX supersedes ATX as the cool choice to see live music.

Judging from the reaction to the Day for Night 2017 announcement, this might be the turning point when instead of saying “Are you doing ACL?,” music fans start asking, “Are you going to Day for Night?”

What makes Day for Night – which is starting to resemble a symbiosis of Coachella’s smart musical bookings and Burning Man’s forward thinking art installations – so important, it ultimately could serve as the anchor event that makes the city even more vibrant as a destination for international acts that all too often skip this part of the country for other major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. In return, the ticket holders will come, injecting the local economy with much needed post-Harvey funds and marking a firm X on the map for Houston as a vital cultural hub.

While one half of Day for Night’s name conjures darkness, there are only sunny days on the horizon. It’s an exciting time to be a music fan living in Houston.

Tickets to Day for Night 2017 are $215 to $750 with fees.

------------------

Catch the video on the Day for Night lineup from our news partners at ABC13:

Solange.

Photo by Rob Loud

Solange.

concerts music media

Movie Review

New movie Friendship pairs Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in a bizarre bromance

Photo courtesy of A24

Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd in Friendship.

Comedian Tim Robinson has gained a cult following thanks to series like Detroiters and I Think You Should Leave, in which his brand of cringe comedy is on full display. The former Saturday Night Live writer/performer has had a few small movie roles over the years, but he’s now getting his first starring role in the off-kilter Friendship.

Robinson plays Craig, a mild-mannered suburbanite with a wife, Tami (Kate Mara), and son, Steven (Jack Dylan Grazer). Craig has a boring life that involves little more than going to his middle manager job while wearing the same clothes day after day, anticipating the next Marvel movie, and helping Tami out with her at-home floral business.

He gets a jolt of energy when Austin (Paul Rudd) moves into the neighborhood. The two men seem to hit it off, with Austin — a weatherman at a local TV channel — even taking Craig on a couple of impromptu adventures. But when Craig commits a couple of faux pas at a group gathering at Austin’s house, their bond starts to fracture.

Even though the film is written and directed by Andrew DeYoung, it’s clear that Robinson had a big influence on the style of comedy it features. There are no big set pieces with a slew of jokes coming one after another. Instead, the film forces the audience to try to vibe with the very particular type of wavelength it’s giving off, one that could almost be called anti-comedy for the way the laughs come out of left field.

The 100-minute film is full of random comedic moments, like Steven kissing Tami on the lips, Craig being obsessed with his plain brown clothes, a group sing-along, and more. More often than not, it’s the way Craig reacts to both normal and abnormal situations that gets the laughs. The character is needy and oblivious, two traits that combine to make many of his actions cringeworthy.

Perhaps most importantly for this type of movie, many things in the story go unexplained or don’t make sense. Seemingly crucial elements are brought up only to fade away just as quickly, while other parts that appeared to be throwaway sections get callbacks later in the film. DeYoung and Robinson are determined to keep the audience on their toes the entire time, never knowing what to expect next.

Robinson has the perfect face for a story like this, one that’s bland enough to blend into the background but memorable enough to sell the jokes. His demeanor is also excellent, never becoming too expressive, even when he gets angry. With long hair, a mustache, and a certain swagger, Rudd is a great complement to Robinson. Only in a film like this would an everyman like Rudd be considered the suave and cool one.

There will be some that will see Friendship and come away wondering what the hell they just watched. But anyone who goes in knowing that they’re about to witness a comedy that challenges their sensibilities will likely have a great time.

---

Friendship is now playing in select theaters.

movies film