Music Matters
Final Four brings varsity music talent to H-Town: Kings of Leon, Kenny Chesneyand more
Kenny Chesney on SundayPhoto by Matt Sayles/AP
Kings of Leon on Saturday afternoonPhoto courtesy of Kings of Leon
Sublime with Rome on FridayPhoto courtesy of Sublime with Rome
Alumni of Butler, Virginia Commonwealth, Kentucky and Connecticut aren't the only winners looking forward to a wild 2011 Final Four weekend. Local live music fans are also winners as the recipients of The Big Dance concert series: Three, free multi-act concerts on consecutive nights, Friday through Sunday at Discovery Green downtown.
Friday, 4:45 p.m. - 10:15 p.m. - The festival begins with Los Skarnales, The Hold Steady and headliners, Sublime with Rome (or as I like to think of them, Sublime 2.0). The year-old group features original Sublime bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh teamed with new singer Romer Ramirez who takes over lead vocal duties 15 years after a fatal drug overdose by original singer Bradley Nowell.
Once you get past the personnel changes and the slight name tweak (you can bet a lawsuit from Nowell's family forced that) the group sounds a lot like the original Sublime, playing surfside ska including former top 10 modern rock hits, "Wrong Way," "Santeria," "What I Got" and that old-timey family sing-along... "Date Rape."
Don't sweat it to much if you miss Sublime with Rome this time around. They return to the Cynthia the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on August 12 with ska-rock peers, 311.
Saturday, 11:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. - For those who aren't already weary with excitement over the actual Final Four games that will be played Saturday evening (put me down for Butler and UConn to emerge victorious, by the way), the "tailgatin" begins early with an all-star cast of talent including Vallejo, mod-darlings Panic! At The Disco, funk/soul collective Robert Randolph & The Family Band and smokin' hot rockers Kings of Leon.
Now that's a Final Four!
No need to for me to yak yak about this line-up. Just know that Kings of Leon scores chart-topping alt-rock hits ("Sex on Fire," "Use Somebody," "Radioactive") with the same frequency that Kentucky wins NCAA basketball championships. (But not this year. I got a C-note that says UConn cuts down the nets on Monday night.)
Sunday, 4:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Whatbetter way to play-through that post-Final Four hangover/pre-championship excitement than a concert built on country music, singer-songwriters and a hip-hop DJ who likes to dabble in country and singer-songwriting?
The day begins with Texas tunesmiths Roger Creager and Pat Green along with a set by former Kid Rock turntablist-turned-solo-artist, Uncle Kracker. The real gem in the belt buckle of this show, however, is Kenny Chesney offering Houston its first listen to his new album, Hemingway's Whiskey, played live.
No doubt Chesney will also rev up a some hits and chart-toppers from a 15 year back catalog that include, "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," "How Forever Feels" and "There Goes My Life." It will be impossible to play all his hits though. When it comes to being No. 1 all four Final Four schools have a chance in Houston, but Chesney will be a repeat champion for many years to come.
