It's Party Time

The 10 hottest (and most exclusive) Super Bowl parties in Houston

Houston is set to host Super Bowl LI on Sunday and the city’s social scene is kicking into high gear with several mega soirees going on all week, and weekend, long.

So many parties, so little time.

Allow us to narrow down the choices for you. Before the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons hit the field at NRG Stadium, get amped for the big game at these 10 hottest Super Bowl parties.

Thursday, February 2

The Big Texas Party: Presented by CultureMap, ESPN Radio, SB Nation
Former Houston Oilers Mike Barber, Gregg Bingham, and Cris Dishman, along with former Dallas Cowboys Ed "Too Tall" Jones and Randy White, are set to host blowout Super Bowl soiree, The Big Texas Party. And they’re taking this pre-game bash for the NFL’s biggest game of the year seriously with tasty ‘cue from some of the city’s top joints (think El Burro & The Bull, Feges BBQ, and Killen's Barbecue), plus bourbon, beer, surprise NFL stars, and a slew of VIP guests like Elvin Hayes, Jamaal Charles, Jadeveon Clowney, and Ricky Williams. What’s more, country star Bart Crow, named one of Rolling Stone’s “10 new country artists you need to know,” will perform. You don’t want to miss it! (Silver Street Studios; 2000 Edwards St., 77007; Tickets:$125 to $1,250).

EA Sports Bowl
It’s video game paradise at EA Sports Bowl, the successor to the long-running EA Sports Madden Bowl. Pro athletes will go head-to-head in both EA SPORTS Madden NFL 17 and FIFA 17 tournaments before a trio of top entertainers hit the stage, including country music singer Sam Hunt, Grammy-nominated duo The Chainsmokers, and Snoop Dogg. Expect to see sports stars like Eric Berry, Dak Prescott, Mike Evans, and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson on the sticks. (Club Nomadic; 2121 Edwards St., 77007; Tickets: $100-$275 per person).

Friday, February 3

Bruno Mars at Club Nomadic: Presented by LIFEWTR
Pop superstar Bruno Mars, who just released his 24K Magic album, will bring his Uptown Funk to newly-constructed, 62,500 square-foot traveling nightclub Club Nomadic. Our dancing shoes are ready. (Club Nomadic; 2121 Edwards St., 77007; Sold out, but tickets on Ticketmaster resale site $200-$1,200 per person; agencies like Vivid Seats also have tickets starting at $158).

ESPN The Party Houston
Super Bowl weekend gets Fergalicious at ESPN’s The Party thanks to a performance by The Duchess herself, Fergie. DJ Khaled will also headline the over-the-top affair in a warehouse decorated in "construction chic." If you can’t score a ticket to the exclusive shindig, watch it live on ESPN at 10 pm CST (1201 Oliver Street, Tickets: invite only).

Leather and Laces (Friday and Saturday night parties)
A favorite of Victoria's Secret models and Hollywood celebrities, the sexy Leather and Laces soiree spans two nights. Friday, NKOTB member and Blue Blood star Donnie Wahlberg and his wife Sirius XM/iHeart Radio Host and actress Jenny McCarthy will host with Sprint Cup Winner Kyle Busch. Victoria Secret Angel's Adriana Lima and Sara Sampaio will head up Saturday’s party, which will feature performances by Cirque USA, DJ Michael Jerome, DJ Avi, and DJ Automatic (Hughes Manor Campus; 2811 Washington Avenue; Tickets: $375 to $20,000).

Saturday, February 4

Taste of the NFL
Top chefs from the 32 NFL cities, including Houston's Robert Del Grande of Cafe Annie, will team up with Hall of Fame and alumni players from each of the NFL franchises to serve up delicious fare at the 26th annual Taste of the NFL. The Band Perry will play for guests including Fox sports broadcaster Daryl Johnston, Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields, and celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern. Taste of the NFL is dedicated to raising funds for hunger relief (University of Houston; Tickets: $700 - $10,000).

Rolling Stone Live Super Bowl Party
It stands to reason that this party, hosted by leading entertainment publication Rolling Stone Magazine, boasts a killer lineup of artists including Grammy-nominated rapper Diplo, hip-hop artist Nas, and DJ Cassidy. The magazine, which has covered the music industry since 1967, is celebrating its 50th anniversary and, as this A-list event kicks off the celebration, it’s guaranteed to be one heck of a blowout bash (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Tickets: invite only).

DirectTV's Super Saturday Night
“Bad Blood” singer Taylor Swift will be the top bill at the DirecTV’s 12th annual Super Saturday Night concert, slotted for the night before the Big Game. The event, hosted by Mark Cuban, marks Swift's first time performing as part of the Super Bowl festivities (Club Nomadic; 2121 Edwards St., 77007; Tickets: invite only).

The 2017 Maxim Party
Houston-based rapper Travis Scott and DJ Khaled headline Maxim Magazine’s legendary annual bash. Get your motors running, there will also be a Monster Energy FMX Motorcycle show, as well as art installations and countless celebrity attendees (Smart Financial Centre, Sugar Land; Tickets: $750 - $22,500).

Sunday, February 5

2017 Players Tailgate
Tailgate like a VIP with chef and TV personality Guy Fieri and over 30 NFL players. Fieri, joined by chefs Eddie Jackson, Aaron May, Douglas Rodriguez, Reno Henriques, Rodolfo Valdes and Pete Blohme, has created a menu of stellar eats, including made-to-order gourmet nachos, tender brisket smoked 18 hours, and whole Maine lobster. Bon appetit (Mike Calvert Toyota; Tickets: $699 per person).

Pop superstar Bruno Mars performs Friday night at Club Nomadic.

Photo by Kai Z. Feng

Pop superstar Bruno Mars performs Friday night at Club Nomadic.

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super duper

Quirky Houston DJ drops genre-blending mix CD inspired by video games

Photo by Dustee Torres

DJ Squincy Jones

If you’re the type of person who has dubstep, Southern hip-hop, and Koji Kondo’s iconic “Ground Theme” from Super Mario Bros. in your streaming-music library, then Squincy Jones has created the perfect playlist for you..

Photo by Dustee Torres

DJ Squincy Jones

Super Nintendub is the name of the mix where the Houston-born-and-bred DJ mashes up all those aforementioned music genres. A capella bars from Houston heavyweights (Megan Thee Stallion, Paul Wall) and other Dirty South MCs (Three 6 Mafia, 8Ball & MJG) gets laid over grooves from underground dubstep artists (Numa Crew, Blay Vision, Hamdi). But we also get music from various Nintendo (Castlevania III, Ninja Gaiden) and Super Nintendo (Super Mario World, Final Fantasy VI) games. Jones also throws in audio samples from commercials and gaming-heavy movies like WarGames, The Wizard, and the Adam Sandler-produced Grandma’s Boy.

Needless to say, Jones has always been a gamer. He’s had his run of game systems: NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, even the old-school Atari 2600. He recalls his days blowing the dust out of such cartridges as Contra, Double Dragon, and Duck Hunt. In the past, Jones has released a series of mashup mixes – titled Blend Pack – with cover art that resembles/salutes classic video games.

“I'm a huge fan of all the eight-bit and 16-bit stuff,” says Jones (government name: Shane Rector), 41. “I play a lot of the new games, or I have played a lot of the new games, but not as much anymore. You know, being a parent and having a full-time job – you don't really have time for video games anymore.”

Super Nintendub is a sequel to Nintendub, a dubstep mix he played during a party way back in 2008. “I added some a capellas, [like] a Bun B a capella,” he recalls. “I had some other Dirty South tunes from the time. I layered them because they're at the same tempo as dubstep. Another friend that does music gave me a folder of Nintendo songs. So, I just randomly layered it on top and kinda slowed down the Nintendo music, and it sounded cool as hell to me.”

The mix picked up fans overseas when he dropped it online. “I've always wanted to make a follow-up to it because I got so much good feedback,” he remembers. “People from all over were writing about it."

Jones decided to release Super on compact disc, sold in rectangular keep cases – packaging that’s very familiar to gamers – with double-sided artwork also by Jones. (A digital link is available upon request to those who buy the CD.) While the limited-edition disc is available for purchase on Jones’s Bandcamp page, the CD mix shouldn’t be confused with the Super mix that’s currently playing on the page.

“I wanted to have them in the mix as well,” he says. “But I'm not entirely, you know, confident with my production skills. So, I just kinda had it on the side to go along with the release of this mix.”

Since releasing Super in September, Jones says he’s gotten good feedback from those who’ve bought a copy. “Because it looks like a video game,” he says, “a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, cool! Is it an actual game or an actual DVD or whatnot?’ But it's always hit or miss because some people are like, ‘Oh, man, I don't have a CD player’ or "Wow, you actually printed a CD,’ because everything's, you know, digital.”

He’s looking into playing a big-screen version of Super, where videos of the rap songs are spliced in with video-game footage and other retro clips, somewhere around here. “I was thinking like either a movie theater or somebody mentioned Aurora Picture Show, or maybe Wonky Power, to do like a viewing or showing or whatever – kind of have a party for it.”

Even though Jones enjoys merging gaming and music – his dual obsessions – he still prefers to be known as more than a video-game DJ. A veteran of the Houston DJ scene for a quarter of a century, he continues to do gigs like his upcoming monthly residency at Eight Row Flint.

“I do open-format DJing,” he says. “I've done raves and dubstep parties. I've played on the radio. I've played at Mid Main, where it’s a mainstream crowd. In this day and age, everybody has their branding or whatnot. I just love video games, so I just kind of take that as my branding, I guess.”

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