Lackluster list or stellar stars?

Weezer, Ween, Cut Copy, Yeasayer to headline Free Press Summer Fest

Yeasayer
Weezer
Ween
MF Doom
Photo by Dwayne C. Bass
Lower Dens
Cut Copy
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
Photo by Dulce Pinzon

Weezer, Ween, Cut Copy, Yeasayer, MF Doom and Sharon Jones will headline the 2011 Free Press Summer Fest, scheduled for the weekend of June 4-5. Festival organizers announced the lineup Monday night at Fitzgerald’s, a venue Omar Afra (of Free Press) and Jagi Katial (Pegstar) took over and fixed up last summer. Afra tells CultureMap that he’s especially happy to be welcoming Junior Brown, a Houston-based blues musician who has never played the festival.

Also of note is Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears and recent lo-fi stars Lower Dens. Houston locals include Bun B, B LA C K I E, Robert Ellis, Roky Moon and Bolt, the Wild Moccasins, Sideshow Tramps and The Manichean, to name a few. New on the list is Wicked Poseur, which features Cley Miller (Young Mammals guitarist/Big Afro/Hype Man) and Arthur Bates (frontman of The Energy). Missing this year are Golden Axe and Houston singer-songwriter Elaine Greer.

This year’s fest offers four different types of weekend passes, from a basic weekend pass (currently listed for $30) to a high-roller pass (if you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it). Although the normal weekend pass is still a bargain compared to Austin City Limits’ pricey tickets, for the amount of cash required to be a “high roller” (a cool $650) you better be able make out with all the bands backstage. Prices will increase after March 1, but Free Press promises to give ample warning before the markup. The actual stage schedule won’t be released until April.

Overall, the lineup is comparable to last year’s, which featured The Flaming Lips, Slim Thug and Ra Ra Riot, among others. Still, we’d hoped for more up-and-coming artists in the vein of Lower Dens. For instance, Houstonians went wild for Warpaint last New Year’s Eve.

But summer isn’t the easiest time to book bands. Warpaint will be touring Europe, as will others. And while the list may seem lackluster to South by Southwest snobs, remember that it’s only the festival’s third year in existence. Summer Fest has improved the Bayou City’s music reputation and promises only to better the scene.

Afra tells CultureMap readers to stay tuned. “We have a couple more bands we’re holding out on announcing,” he says.

Check out the complete list below:

Weezer
MF Doom
Ween
Cut Copy
Yeasayer
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
Z-Ro
Black Dahlia Murder
Big Bang
Hayes Carll
Bun B
Tobacco
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
HEALTH
Junior Brown
Fucked Up
The Black Angels
Lower Dens
Kylesa
Eternal Summers
Thavius Beck
Protomen
The Memorials
Those Darlins
The Roller
Indian Jewelry
Iron Age
Espantapajaros
By the End of Tonight
RIVERS
Amplified Heat
Black Leather Jesus
Featherface
The Back Pockets
Vincent Priceless
Pasadena Napalm Division
Clockpole
Delicious Milk
Cavernous
American Fangs
The Handshake
Woozy Helmet
The Grass Skirts
Niceguys
Venomous Maximus
Linus Pauling Quartet
The Hates
Tha PHounDation
Young Girls
Glasnost
Stephen Farris
Female Demand
Arthur Yoria
Simple Success
Black Congress
Defending the Kingdom
Buxton
Eastern Sea
Leg Sweeper
Romulus Ate
Disfrutalo
B L A C K I E
Perseph One
Roky Moon and Bolt
Weird Party
Dead Revolt
Muhammadali
Nosaprise
Rusted Shut
Somosuno
Cop Warmth
Organ Failure
Giant Princess
Poopy Lungstuffing
The Annoysters
Los Skarnales
Ani DiFranco's Dick
Jody Seabody and the Whirls
State VS Judd Nelson
Thunderkunt
Wild Mocassins
Sideshow Tramps
Co-pilot
The Watermarks
Limb
Sings
Giant Battle Monster
Young Mammals
Vivian Pikkles and the Sweethearts Uber Alles
Robert Ellis
Ceeplus Badknives
Grandfather Child
The Ton Tons
Eyes Burn Electric
The Manichean
Tax the Wolf
The Mahas

unspecified

fins and all

Towering downtown skyscraper and former headquarters for oil giant set for new high-rise apartment conversion

Photo by Getty Images

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An empty downtown skyscraper harking to Houston's energy capital brand may soon reignite the high-rise living trend in downtown.

The tower formerly known as the Humble Oil headquarters and now the Exxon building (800 Bell St.) has been sold to an out-of-state developer with plans to convert the structure to residential units. Ralph Bivins, a former CultureMap scribe, was first to break the news on Realty News Report.

Bivins reports that the 1.2 million-square-foot building was sold to a New York investment group affiliated with CMI Developers. Notably, the group boasts experience in historic redevelopment and apartment conversions. Bivins adds that the age of the Exxon building (it was completed in 1962) and its high local profile might yield available historic preservation tax credits for the developers.

As downtowners may recall, the former Exxon HQ at 800 Bell for around eight years when the company relocated to its modern new campus.

Culturally, the building has been significant as a towering symbol of Houston's energy powerhouse status. At the time of its opening, Bivins notes, the building was considered the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Its famed Petroleum Club atop the building was the site of myriad power deals, and later, special events.

Looking forward, the building presents numerous opportunities for adaptive reuse. The first floors of the building, once open to neighbors who utilized the Exxon cafeteria, can be an ideal mixed-use locale for restaurants and even retail. One hopes the building's signature "fins," crafted to block the hot Houston sun, remain a design feature.

The large scale of the Exxon tower raises the opportunity for placing a significant amount of retail or restaurants in the lower levels of the building, located between Milam and Travis. The old Exxon parking garage, located nearby, comes with the deal, Bivins point out — always a boon for parking-scarce downtown areas.

Given the green-light status of the hotly contested I-45 expansion project and plans to redevelop Midtown and areas near the Pierce Elevated, the high-rise residential could be an epicenter of new downtown growth.