From the pirate ship to wedding vows, more than music

An insider's guide to the five things you can't miss at iFest

iFest is more than you think it is. You have to go beyond music to find some ofthe can't miss experiences.
Ozomatli provides a one-two iFest punch with Joe Ely.
Joe Ely is one of our insider's picks for the five things you do not want tomiss at iFest.

The Houston International Festival (iFest) kicks off its 40th birthday downtown this weekend with a celebration that spans 16 acres. For live music lovers, iFest offers an embarrassment of riches on eight stages, from reggae to salsa to roots rock to blues and beyond. Here are the five (musical and otherwise) things for the first festival weekend that you do not want to miss.

1). One-Two Punch No. 1: The Joe Ely Band and Ozomatli

Tomorrow, Texas roadhouse rock will meet a fusion of hip-hop, salsa, reggae and funk when the Joe Ely Band and Ozomatli take the stage back to back on the Bud Light World Music Stage.

The Grammy-Award-winning band Ozomatli (8 p.m. Saturday on the World Stage), espouses the mantra that they will “take you around the world by taking you around the city of Los Angeles”. Along the way, these celebrated performers (who are also U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassadors) will dazzle you with a set likely to throw down everything from East LA R&B, hip-hop and New Orleans second line to Jamaican reggae and more.

Expect to get a preview of tracks from Ozo’s latest CD, “Fire Away”, set to drop on Tuesday.

Closer to home and equally compelling, the lead-in to Ozomatli will be the hard-rocking Texas honky-tonk sound of the Joe Ely Band (6 p.m. tomorrow on the World Stage). Joining Ely on stage will be guitar great David Grissom with Davis McLarty on drums and Jimmy Pettit on bass — the band featured on the blazing “Live At Liberty Lunch” that many consider one of the finest live Lone Star albums around.

2.) One-Two Punch No. 2: Mighty Diamonds and Eddie Palmieri

Veteran Jamaican reggae band Mighty Diamonds will capture your attention at 4:30 PM Sunday on the World Stage. Beloved for their soulful harmonies and skillful songwriting with a message, Mighty Diamonds are among the most enduring and popular reggae bands worldwide.

Closing out the iFest lineup on the first weekend will be legendary Latin salsa and jazz bandleader Eddie Palmieri. A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Palmieri has been called “the genius and prophet of Afro-Caribbean jazz” for a career that spans 50 years, with a 36-title discography (6:30 Sunday, World Stage).

3.) Pirate Ship Ahoy: At the heart of the Houston International Festival is an educational mission. Each year iFest sets out to spread the word about one particular country or region through programs that reach up to 900,000 children across Texas. This year the spotlight shines on the Caribbean, and the festival has produced an entire Living Museum (sponsored by Chevron) chock-full of cultural and educational exhibits in Sam Houston Park.

As you enter the Living Museum, you won’t be able to miss the 40-foot long pirate ship (complete with pirates, belly dancers and more) that has sailed into downtown Houston.

4.) Renew Your Vows: Next door in the Living Museum, iFest has recreated the historic Alto Vista chapel from Aruba, one of the oldest churches in the Caribbean. And the chapel is open for business, whether you want to light a candle for a loved one or renew your wedding vows.

This Sunday at 2 p.m, one lucky contest-winning couple will renew their vows at the chapel with Sunny 99.1 radio personality (and ordained minister) Marc Sherman and will then head off on a five-day trip to Aruba, compliments of Aruba Tourism Authority.

The contest winner has already been selected, but even if you didn’t win, you can still renew your own vows with Sherman, who’ll be on-site at the chapel from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

5.) Satisfy Your Inner Foodie: It’s easy to work up an appetite when you’re cruising from stage to stage or shopping at the many arts markets onsite at iFest. Thankfully, the festival offers more than 50 restaurants with food and beverages from all around the world (including tropical delicacies from the Caribbean).

The Houston International Festival will take place this weekend and next (April 17-18 and 24-25), from noon until 10 p.m. on both Saturdays and noon until 8 p.m. on both Sundays. Download a complete schedule and festival map here.

Darrow works with the Houston International Festival staff and freely admits she is not exactly impartial. However, she points out she was a fan and dedicated festival-goer long before joining the iFest team.

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Movie review

Nerdy teen comedies make a comeback with new movie Summer of 69

Photo courtesy of Hulu

Sam Morelos and Chloe Fineman in Summer of 69.

There was a trend in the late 2010s/early 2020s of bawdy comedies featuring teenage female protagonists, including Blockers, Booksmart, and Yes, God, Yes. Those types of films seemed to go by the wayside in recent years, but they’re making a comeback with the new film Summer of 69.

Abby (Sam Morelos) is a high school senior and video game streamer who has had a crush on her classmate Max (Matt Cornett) for her entire childhood. When she learns that Max has recently broken up with his longtime girlfriend, she’s determined to make her move. With advice from a confidant that Max likes a certain sexual position, Abby sets out to learn as much as she can about it, including hiring a stripper, Santa Monica (Chloe Fineman), to help her.

Coincidentally, Santa Monica is facing a situation where the club at which she works, Diamond Dolls, will be closed if the owner doesn’t come up with $20,000 in a week. Abby, who comes from a well-to-do family, seems to offer the perfect solution, and so the two agree to a week of lessons for that amount. Naturally, all sorts of complications arise, as well as the two women forming an unexpected bond.

Written and directed by Jillian Bell, with help from co-writers Jules Byrne and Liz Nico, the film is both suggestive and innocent at the same time. For all of the talk about sex and innuendo, having the nerdy and inexperienced Abby at the center of the film ensures that the story remains relatively chaste throughout. That includes scenes at the strip club, where Bell makes the choice to show almost no nudity.

Most of the humor of the film stems from Abby’s lack of experience, highlighted by her having “sexual” fantasies about Max that never actually get to the sex part. The juxtaposition between Abby and Santa Monica is also used for laughs, although Bell and her co-writers make sure to include a side story for the dancer that makes her into a three-dimensional person.

What ultimately makes the movie succeed is the way it keeps its characters relatable. Many high school films feel the need to play into a bunch of stereotypes, but those are kept to a minimum here. Instead, Bell upends expectations by delivering honest - sometimes to a fault for the characters - dialogue that acknowledges the spectrum of sexual realities for high schoolers, a version that differs from insatiable horniness of some other teen comedies.

Morelos, one of the stars of Netflix’s That ‘90s Show, makes for a charming lead, someone who can convincingly take her character from awkward to confident over the course of the story. Fineman, best known for her current stint as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, complements her well, showing her comedic prowess in a number of physical scenes. A supporting cast that includes Nicole Byer, Paula Pell, Alex Moffat, and Natalie Morales keeps the energy level high.

Despite its titillating title, Summer of 69 is much more sweet than naughty. Like most coming-of-age movies, it’s about a girl who’s trying to figure out where she fits in the world. The answers she finds aren’t always the ones she was expecting, but in the best possible way.

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Summer of 69 starts streaming on Hulu on May 9.

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From the pirate ship to wedding vows, more than music

An insider's guide to the five things you can't miss at iFest

Movie review

Nerdy teen comedies make a comeback with new movie Summer of 69

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