Live Music Now

These are the top 6 must-see concerts in Houston this week

This is easily one of the best weeks in music in Houston — in terms of sheer selection and star wattage; music fans will be busy. Here are this week's best shows.

Best dance party in the Bayou City
Los Angeles via Brooklyn indie-dance duo Matt and Kim built a positive reputation and a successful career off their high energy shows, consisting of only a keyboard and drums and two very enthusiastic performers. While seemingly underwhelming on paper, the charisma of Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino make it work, drawing audiences worldwide into their very own private dance party. Expect to hear new tracks from their upcoming sixth album, Almost Everyday, and songs that you assuredly heard via car commercials or at their last Houston appearance at Free Press Summer Fest in 2016. For more, read our CultureMap interview with Matt here.

Matt and Kim will have the audience pogoing at White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St., on Friday, April 13. CRUISR and TWINKIDS open. Tickets are $30 in advance plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

Best nostalgia trip of the week
Fans of '90s rock, rejoice! Sponge, underrated alt-rock band of yesteryear returns to Houston to perform the sweet, sweet platinum-selling album Rotten Pinata in it's entirety at the Scout Bar this Saturday. While some of it has definitely aged as much as the band has, the hits still hold up, including the riff-tastic "Plowed" and acoustic-driven ballad "Molly (Sixteen Candles)." The Detroit act may be well past their heyday, but for those who made modern rock radio a must-listen nearly 25 years ago, this will be a fun trip down nostalgia lane.

Sponge relives the '90s at Scout Bar, located at 18307 Egret Bay Blvd. on Saturday, April 14. 5 Dollar Thrill, Empty Shells, Seven to Emote, Luna Lunacy open. Tickets start at $14 in advance. Door open at 7 pm.

Old meets new, jazz meets modern pop
Bust out the fedoras, suspenders and flapper dresses and get ready to dance, old school style with a new school twist. Take the biggest and best songs from the last twenty years and filter them through the lens of swing, ragtime and New Orleans jazz and you have Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox. Whether it's a Bille Holliday-esque take on the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army," a 1920 waltz of Radiohead's "Creep," or a jazzy ragtime version of Oasis' "Don't Look Back and Anger," fans of all genres will find something to like from this performance.

Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox performs at House of Blues, located at 1204 Caroline St., on Sunday, April 15. Tickets start at $35 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

The '80s meets future sexy funk sounds
The smartest duo in all of music, Chromeo brings it's '80s-indebted electro funk to Houston. Founded in 2002 by David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel, the former holds his PhD in French Literature and has lectured at Columbia University, with the former an accountant when not rocking the synths on stage. Together, they have combined the smooth A.M. radio sounds of Hall and Oates and Prince with four-to-the-floor beats and slinky basslines, with a knowing wink to the past — while embracing futuristic sounds. The world-touring act will likely be dropping new tracks from their upcoming 2018 album, Head Over Heels.

Chromeo brings the electro-funk to House of Blues, located at 1204 Caroline St., on Wednesday, April 18. Phantoms & Wrestlers open. Tickets start at $33 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

The Foos in HOU
You got to give it to the affable rocker Dave Grohl, the man's a survivor. Following the suicide of Kurt Cobain and dissolution of Nirvana, undoubtedly the most influential band of the last 25 years, Grohl picked up the pieces and formed the Foo Fighters, which has gone on to produce more hits than his former band. The Foos bring their Concrete and Gold Tour to Houston, promoting the 2017 album of the same name. If you haven't purchased tickets yet, get on it — this one has a good chance of selling out.

Foo Fighters and their catalogue of alt-rock hits come to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Thursday, April 19. The Struts open. Tickets start at $45 for the lawn, $99 for seated and pit. Doors open at 6 pm.

A big country star in an intimate venue

It's a rare occasion when country fans get to see a multi-million album selling artist perform in a venue that holds a few hundred people. Nashville roots star Lee Ann Womack makes a rare intimate stop at the Heights Theater this week as part of her All the Trouble tour. She has won Grammys, Country Music Awards, and sung for Presidents, and now touring her latest acclaimed album, The Lonely, the Lonesome, and the Gone, which she recorded in this fine city's SugarHill Recording Studios. For those who love old school country, sung in the classic Nashville style, this is a must-see show. Move quickly on tickets - standing room and VIP seats are all that's left.

Lee Ann Womack performs at the Heights Theater, located at 339 W. 19th Street, on Thursday, April 19. Vandoliers open. Standing room tickets are available at $28 in advance plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox brings a touch of old school to the new at House of Blues on Sunday, April 15.

Postmodern Jukebox/Facebook

Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox brings a touch of old school to the new at House of Blues on Sunday, April 15.

concerts music nightlife

Movie Review

New thriller Crime 101 majors in cool with Hemsworth at the wheel

Photo courtesy of Amazon Content Services

Chris Hemsworth in Crime 101.

The career of actor Chris Hemsworth is a curious one, as it feels like he’s a huge star (mostly from playing Thor in Marvel movies) and not at the same time, with most of the non-MCU movies featuring him in a lead role failing to become big successes. But he still has a certain presence about him, which is why he’s being given another chance to prove his star power in the new thriller, Crime 101.

Hemsworth plays Davis, a talented thief who knows how to get what he wants without resorting to violence. When a job early in the movie turns slightly sideways, it makes him think twice about working with his handler (Nick Nolte), who seems to prefer someone with a stronger touch, like the up-and-coming Ormon (Barry Keoghan).

Davis is the main character, but two others who come into his orbit get their own subplots. Lou (Mark Ruffalo) is a slightly schlubby LAPD detective who’s convinced he knows the pattern of an unknown thief that likes to hit places close to Highway 101. Sharon (Halle Berry) works for a high-end insurance agency known for working with ultra-wealthy clients, the types who might be a great target for a thief like Davis.

Written and directed by Bart Layton, the film has a decent propulsion to it that comes with most crime thrillers. Davis and Ormon represent the yin and the yang of criminal approaches, and and it’s interesting to see the juxtaposition between the two as their simmering rivalry heats up over the course of the film. When the film commits to actually showing its crimes, it has an excitement that’s worth watching.

Unfortunately, Layton displays a real lack of focus, taking the audience into subplots with each of the three main characters that prove unnecessarily distracting. Lou’s marriage problems may explain his disheveled appearance, but there’s no need to see him deal with them with wife Angie (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Sharon’s troubles with her male-dominated company prove slightly pivotal, but still don’t merit the time put into exploring them.

The most baffling subplot is Davis pursuing a relationship with Maya (Monica Barbaro), a woman he randomly meets. At different points in the movie, including many of his interactions with Maya, Davis seems like the most uncomfortable, antisocial person in the world. And yet he somehow morphs into a suave smooth-talker who’s able to convince anyone to do what he wants at other key points, making it unclear exactly what kind of person he really is.

Hemsworth does relatively well in the lead role, but he’s still missing that certain something to make his character, and therefore the movie, truly compelling. The rest of the cast is fine, too, but each of them seem to be putting in just the minimal amount of effort to make the film watchable. Ruffalo and Barbaro come off the best, but with the talent in the cast (11 Oscar nominations and one win), they could have been used better.

Crime 101 has most of the ingredients to be another great entry in the genre, and it succeeds when it actually decides to deliver on its promise. But too much of the film is spent on things that have no real bearing on plot or character development, leaving the movie in the middle of the pack.

---

Crime 101 is now playing in the theaters.

movies film