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.

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Movie Review

Houston native Wes Anderson shows off comedic side in The Phoenician Scheme

Photo courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features

Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera in The Phoenician Scheme.

If you were to do a poll of the best comedy filmmakers of the 21st century, writer/director Wes Anderson is not the obvious choice to come out on top, but there’s an argument to be made for him. His quirky style doesn’t yield the guffaws that more broad comedies do, but the absurd situations he creates in his films are often more consistently funny than anything else.

Anderson’s inimitable approach is once again on full display in The Phoenician Scheme. At its center is Zsa-Zsa Gorda (Benicio Del Toro), a much-hated businessman who’s looking to complete a number of big projects in the fictional country of Phoenicia. As he seems to be the target of multiple assassination attempts, he appoints his daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), as his heir to try to ensure his legacy.

Both she and his new assistant, Bjorn (Michael Cera), accompany him around the country as he tries to enact a scheme to have others cover the bulk of the cost for the various projects. Those he attempts to convince include Phoenician Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed), brothers Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston), fellow businessman Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric), ship captain Marty (Jeffrey Wright), his Cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson), and Uncle Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch).

Put in Andersonian terms, the film is a mix between the madcap antics from The Grand Budapest Hotel and the impenetrable storytelling of Asteroid City. If you were to try to understand every detail of what’s going on in the story of The Phoenician Scheme, it might take three or more viewings to do so. But the film is still highly entertaining because Anderson fills its frames with his typical visual delights, great wordplay, and his particular version of slapstick.

Much of the comedy of the film derives from Anderson inserting moments that initially come as a surprise and then utilizing them as running jokes. The film features more blood than usual for the filmmaker, but each time a character gets wounded (or worse), it gets funnier. The assassination attempts get broader as the film goes along, and the matter-of-fact way in which they’re treated by Gorda and others is also hilarious.

Of course, Anderson is the cinephile’s comedy director, so the film is also full of high-brow things like allusions to paintings, tributes to other filmmakers, and classical music. Each time Gorda has an attempt on his life, he briefly finds himself in a version of limbo, depicted in black-and-white by Anderson. The cast of characters Gorda finds there - including Bill Murray as God - could come straight out of a 1950s Ingmar Bergman movie.

Del Toro has delivered some great performances over the years, but this one is near the top for him. This is his second Anderson film (following The French Dispatch) and he nails the deadpan method. Also great is Cera, who uses a ridiculous accent to make a big impression. Threapleton, the daughter of Kate Winslet, makes the most of her first big film role. The list of supporting actors is too deep to properly laud everyone, but they all fit in seamlessly.

Opinions will differ, but for this critic’s money, Anderson is at his best when he fully leans into the comedy of his films. He does just that in The Phoenician Scheme, to the point that it doesn’t matter that the story is overly complex. The combination of his eye for visual detail, a witty script, and committed performances make it a success.

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The Phoenician Scheme is now playing in theaters.

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