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

Safe cracking takes center stage in new heist movie Tuner

Photo courtesy of Black Bear

Leo Woodall in Tuner.

Of all the ways that movies depict people trying to steal money and other valuables, safe cracking is among the least exciting. By design, it’s a laborious process that only those with a very certain set of skills can do. While clever editing and the right music can enhance scenes of safes being cracked, there’s a reason that the method is among the least used in heist films.

In the new film Tuner, Niki (Leo Woodall) has a job and a condition that just happens to lend itself well to committing that specific crime. He works as an apprentice piano tuner for Harry (Dustin Hoffman), usually doing the hard work while Harry schmoozes the client. Niki is well-suited for the job because he has a rare condition called hyperacusis, which makes him both sensitive to loud noises and able to hear subtle things that others cannot.

When he runs across a trio of criminals trying to break open a safe at a house where he’s tuning a piano, he helps them more out of frustration than avarice. But when Harry goes into the hospital and racks up huge bills, Niki decides to join the group to make some quick money. They soon want more than he’s willing to give, and he must find a way to extricate himself from them without losing himself completely.

Written and directed by documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher (making his narrative feature debut) and co-written by Robert Ramsey, the film has a nice pace to it despite there being relatively little action. Roher and Ramsey spend the first third or so establishing Niki, Harry, and Harry’s wife Marla (Tovah Feldshuh) as characters, letting the audience understand their relationships and how they interact with each other.

The time they devote to the personal storytelling pays dividends when Niki starts to descend into crime, as his divided loyalties — not to mention the danger of the thefts — insert tension into the plot. That stress is heightened even more when Niki starts a relationship with piano student Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), as getting closer to her necessitates a series of lies.

There comes a point, though, where the plot stagnates to a degree. Niki’s end goal, if he has one, is never clear, and it’s obvious that it’s only a matter of time before things start to fall apart. After starting strong in their character development, Roher and Ramsey take shortcuts as the film rushes toward its conclusion. This is most notable in a weird argument scene between Niki and Ruthie that comes out of nowhere and seems to serve no purpose in the story.

Woodall, who had a memorable turn in season 2 of The White Lotus, is on the cusp of breaking out, and this understated-but-compelling lead role should help him become an even bigger name in Hollywood. Hoffman has a small role, but he remains as interesting as ever despite the lack of screentime. Liu (Bottoms) is also an up-and-coming actor who should become a star with more roles like this one.

Tuner is a low-key thriller that succeeds because of the way the filmmakers approach the under-used method of robbery. Even if it doesn’t quite reach its potential, the film maintains a high quality throughout thanks to its storytelling and acting.

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Tuner is now playing in theaters.

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