Live Music Now

These are the 7 best concerts in Houston this week

One-third of 2019 is over and what a year it's been for concerts in the Bayou City.

RodeoHouston exceeded expectations with a handful of over-the-top shows, including Santana, Cardi B, and George Strait. Muse and Michael Bublé rocked Toyota Center. Leon Bridges kicked off another great season at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion last week. And a ton of other great bands already made appearances in a city that continues to draw huge names from across the music world.

It will be hard to live up to those first four months, but if the concert calendar is any indication, the summer will be just as hot with more top caliber shows across the metro than a weekly column can handle.

CultureMap's best, biggest, and most notable shows of the week are as follows:

CultureMap show of the week: Al Green
There is only one question surrounding this show. Why the heck are there still tickets available? The Reverend Al Green is one of music's best legends and talents, with countless timeless singles that are as part of the American experience as apple pie and the Fourth of July.

Simply put, thousands have Green to thank for getting their parents in the mood to create them. That's the power of those silky, smooth vocals and soulful jams that include "Let's Stay Together," "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?," "Let's Get Married," and "Take Me to the River." Better yet, New Orleans band Tank and the Bangas will open, a group that caught its big break after NPR singled them out from thousands of entries as part of its Tiny Desk Contest in 2017. Do not miss this one.

Al Green plays Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land, located at 18111 Lexington Blvd. in Sugar Land, on Tuesday, April 30. Tank and the Bangas open. Tickets start at $59.50 plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

CultureMap recommends: Deerhunter at White Oak
Few indie-rock bands today are as highly revered as Atlanta, Georgia's Deerhunter. Led by the distinctively gangly and charismatic Bradford Cox, the band combines hooky melodies with hints of psych-rock, art school pastiche, and layers of sound. Just check out "Desire Lines" from the 2010's Halcyon Digest as proof of their power.

For a group that hasn't put out a bad album, they have hit a high watermark with one of this year's best in Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? Now on their seventh album, Deerhunter will be able to pull from their back catalog to perform what's sure to be one killer live set.

Deerhunter plays at White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St., on Wednesday, May 1. The TIMKOH opens. Tickets start at $25 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

The Cult at HOB
The Cult were criminally underrated during their heyday due to the fact that they refused to wear spandex at the height of the hair metal and they loved The Doors a little too much. It's too bad, because the group, maintained by the vocal beast in Ian Astbury and supremely talented guitarist Billy Duffy, was insanely good during their best years, producing some fantastic hard rock albums and singles that have aged like fine wine, including "Fire Woman" and "She Sells Sanctuary."

The Cult is at House of Blues, located at 1204 Caroline St., on Thursday, April 2. The Broken Things open. Tickets start at $35 plus fees. Doors open at 7 pm.

Silent Disco at Revention
Ever want to know what its like to hang out in a big music space with multiple DJs on stage, no audible sounds emanating from speakers, while the crowd dances to different beats? Welcome to Silent Disco, a strange, yet appealing concert experience that allows the audience to select their evening soundtrack through special headphone sets. Not into house music? Switch over to the hip-hop channel. Or try the '80s channel while your friend raves on with the EDM frequency. Sure to be a crowd pleaser, no matter the musical taste.

Silent Disco goes down at Revention Music Center, located at 520 Texas Ave., on Friday, May 3. Tickets start at $12. Doors open at 8 pm.

The 1975 in Sugar Land
Exploding out of Manchester, the 1975 is one of the more successful U.K. acts to take American shores lately on the strength of dance pop that can be compared to a darker, more experimental take on Maroon 5's vision. Fronted by the eccentric Matt Healy, a Millennial version of INXS' Michael Hutchence, the band broke through with the verbose album, I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, which hit No. 1 in both the U.K. and U.S.

They have another hit on their hands with their most inspired set of their career, 2018's A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships, their third No. 1 U.K. album, featuring the singles "Give Yourself a Try" and "Love It If We Made It."

The 1975 perform Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land, located at 18111 Lexington Blvd. in Sugar Land, on Saturday, May 4. Pale Waves and No Rome open. Tickets start at $39.50 plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

The Psychedelic Furs at WOMH
Fans of '80s music and John Hughes flicks will be out in full force for the Psychedelic Furs on Saturday night. Sure, the band's biggest days are behind them, but the tunes they've racked up are fantastic. They are best known for the title track to the Molly Ringwald flick, Pretty In Pink, but their early albums were some of the post-rock era's best, including their 1980 self-titled debut and 1981's Talk Talk Talk. Fans of Echo and the Bunnymen, early U2, and synth-pop will find a home at White Oak this weekend.

The Psychedelic headlines White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St., on Saturday, May 4. Royston Langdon opens. Tickets start at $30 plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

Elle King at WOMH
Los Angeles native Elle King, daughter of comedian Rob Schneider, made waves in 2016 with the hit single, "Ex's & Ohs," a poppy confection that made its way to the top of the alternative charts. She also dabbled in country, getting to No. 1 on those charts with the Dierks Bentley duet, "Different for Girls," that same year. Both songs garnered Grammy nominations, seemingly paving the way toward a solid career.

A few years in the wilderness, a failed marriage, and rock star excess finally gave way to 2018's Shake the Spirit. While it hasn't made as much of a dent as those first big singles, the girl can sing, which is always worth the price of admission.

Elle King rolls into White Oak Music Hall, located at 2915 N. Main St., on Sunday, May 5. Barns Courtney opens. Tickets start at $30 plus fees. Doors open at 8 pm.

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What are your favorite shows of 2019 so far? Let us know on Facebook.

The 1975 are at Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land on Saturday, May 4.

Photo by Samuel Bradley

The 1975 are at Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land on Saturday, May 4.

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Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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