Coolest Concert Venues

Coolest concert venues: Where to catch great live performances — big and small — in Houston

Want the low-down on where to see some of the best concerts Houston has to offer?

Whether you're looking to see your favorite touring band at an enormous venue or a fantastic local act in an intimate setting, we've got you covered with the top concert venues in the city.

WAREHOUSE LIVE

813 St. Emanuel St.
713-225-5483

Located near downtown on the East End, Warehouse Live is a 1920s warehouse that has been reborn as a concert venue for major bands as well as those on the verge. It features fantastic acoustics and attracts artists ranging from Drake and Rilo Kiley to Yo La Tengo and Passion Pit, just to name a few.

FITZGERALD'S

2706 White Oak Drive
713-862-3838

A Houston Heights staple since 1977, Fitzgerald's was once home to acts like James Brown and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The renovated dive is considered a local music headquarters for up-and-coming and established independent acts — think Aesop Rock, Minus the Bear and Twin Shadow — as well as local favorites like The Suffers and Los Skarnales.

HOUSE OF BLUES HOUSTON

1204 Caroline St.
888-402-5837

The House of Blues (and the accompanying Foundation Room) located in downtown's GreenStreet complex brings major acts (MGMT, Bone Thugs N' Harmony, The Black Crows) but is sometimes better enjoyed for its crazy cover bands — from Michael Jackson impersonators to '70s-inspired phenoms Le Freak.

CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL PAVILION

2005 Lake Robbins Dr.
281-363-3300

Although it's a bit of a drive for inner loopers, The Woodlands' Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion snags the biggest names coming to town — Lana Del Rey, Elton John and ZZ Top are just a few of the acts to grace the stage this year so far. If you don't want to pony up for the covered seats, the lawn is moderately priced. Rules on what you're allowed to bring can vary depending on the performer, so be sure to check the website beforehand.

TOYOTA CENTER

1510 Polk St.
713-758-7200

With a capacity of more than 18,000, Toyota Center vies with the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for the biggest names in music, attracting pop superstars like Beyonce and Miley Cyrus, country legend Garth Brooks, rap impresario Kanye West or old-school rockers like Billy Joel and the Eagles. Easy access in downtown Houston and amenities, like separate restrooms and concessions, for club level ticketholders, make it a convenient venue for top-of-the-line concerts.

BAYOU MUSIC CENTER

520 Texas St.
713-230-1600

Located in the heart of downtown at Bayou Place, Bayou Music Center (formerly known as the Verizon Wireless Theater) is the perfect place to catch major acts in a more intimate setting. Although it plays host to touring comedians like Chelsea Handler and Kathy Griffin, musical acts such as Jill Scott, Danzig and Damien Rice are just a few who are scheduled to perform later this year.

WALTER'S DOWNTOWN

1120 Naylor St.
713-222-2679

After relocating from their long-time location on Washington, Walter's transitioned to a new space across town on Naylor Street and has continued to draw droves of dedicated local fans to their shows. Whether you're looking to see indie darlings Of Montreal, experimental musician Sir Richard Bishop or garage rockers King Tuff, the venue hosts a wonderfully eclectic variety of shows.

THE CONTINENTAL CLUB

3700 Main St.
713-529-9899

Located on Main Street in Midtown, the Continental Club draws classic acts from multiple genres, from Nick Gaitan & The Umbrella Man to Beetle to A Fistful of Soul (a no-cover '60s soul dance party hosted every third Friday of the month). The Houston counterpart to the Austin staple features a unique atmosphere, with original fixtures from the building's previous incarnation as a 1920s department store, along with tin ceiling tiles and vintage neon light fixtures.

300 Westheimer Rd.
713-526-8338

A Houston institution, this Montrose spot is known to attract a diverse, dance-loving crowd who enjoys uninhibited fun and live music acts that run the gamut from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to Ministry. Be sure to check out Classic Numbers Night each Friday, Houston's longest running weekly event that features music and videos from the '80s mixed by long-time Numbers DJ, Wes Wallace.

AVANT GARDEN

411 Westheimer Rd.
832-519-1429

Avant Garden, a bar and performance art venue in a 102-year-old converted Victorian on lower Westheimer, was formerly known as Helios. Something creative happens almost every night, from jazz, ferocious DJs and live bands to poetry slams, belly dancing, improv comedy and much, much more.

ALLEY KAT BAR & LOUNGE

3718 Main St.
713-874-0722

Sitting only a few doors down from The Continental Club on Main Street, Alley Kat features a separate 'backroom' used for hosting great local concerts — ranging from rock to electronic — in an intimate space. You also can catch sets in the front bar area by incredible local DJ's like Gio Chamba and Damon Allen.

RUDYARD'S BRITISH PUB

2010 Waugh Dr.
713-521-0521

The upstairs space at Rudyard's delivers throbbing live music six nights a week with high-octane bands such as Flowers to Hide and the Fatal Flying Guilloteens. The venue also features Western Swing Wednesdays each week and hosts a number of events by local comedy theater troupe BooTown, including the ever-popular Grown-Up Storytime. This Montrose area institution also offers a fine selection of beers, mixed drinks and hearty pub food downstairs.

LAST CONCERT CAFE

1403 Nance St.
713-226-8563

This funky north downtown bar, concert venue and restaurant is on the National Register of Historic Places. It's nondescript (you've got to know where it is and knock to enter) but also super laid back with a back patio strewn with Christmas lights — and good Mexican food, to boot. The stage out back hosts bands like Green Mountain Grass, Steve Straker and Potroast, geered for a 19-and-up crowd.

Fitzgerald's.

Fitzgerald's Houston place exterior

Photo via fitzlive.com

Fitzgerald's.

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Movie Review

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is technically stunning but lacks emotion

Matt Damon in The Odyssey

Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures

Matt Damon in The Odyssey.

For a story that is 3,000 years old and has been referenced innumerable times since the advent of the moving picture, it’s striking that The Odyssey has not been adapted into a film more often. Christopher Nolan’s new film is, depending on your definition, just the fourth time in film history that someone has attempted to tell the original story (oddly, the third film — The Return — came out just two years ago).

Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, who has been gone from his home of Ithaca for over 20 years. Waiting at home for him is his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland), as well as a hall full of suitors — most notably Antinous (Robert Pattinson) — who are hoping that Penelope will finally believe that Odysseus is dead and choose to marry one of them.

In typical Nolan fashion, the film goes back-and-forth in time often to show what has happened to Odysseus in the past two decades. His sea voyages with his crew have him attacking Troy using the legendary Trojan Horse; taking on the cyclops Polyphemus (Bill Irwin); trying to escape the clutches of the witch Circe (Samantha Morton); living with the nymph Calypso (Charlize Theron); communing with the vision of Athena (Zendaya); and more.

Nolan, who wrote and directed the epic film, has a clear reverence for the material and, perhaps more than any current filmmaker, has the chops to make the sprawling story feel coherent. With a plethora of characters who have names that take some time to understand for those not familiar with the ancient tale, it’s extremely tough to wrangle everything and everyone together, and Nolan and his team make that trick seem relatively easy.

However, there’s a difference between making the story comprehensible and making it compelling, and Nolan is not as successful on this front. As portrayed in this film, it’s difficult to care whether Odysseus ever finds his way home. His connection with Penelope and Telemachus is tenuous, at best, and his status as a hero is called into question on multiple occasions. Complicated protagonists are nothing new, but in a story where the hero’s journey is the whole point, Nolan fails to make the quest all encompassing.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some standout moments along the way. The sequence in Polyphemus’ cave is tremendous, as are a few other scenes in which Nolan’s reported reliance on practical effects make you wonder how the crew accomplished what they did. Damon has said this is the hardest movie he’s ever made, and that effort shows up in every scene, especially those on the water.

At 56 years old, Damon is getting close to elder statesman status in Hollywood, and he ably embodies the role of the respected and feared leader. Hathaway, Holland, and Pattinson get the next most screentime, and each makes their character interesting if not mesmerizing. The murderer’s row of the supporting cast — Theron, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Elliot Page, Morton, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, and more — give each scene a nice sheen whether or not their individual arc makes sense.

While the technical achievements of Nolan and his team in The Odyssey are admirable and occasionally awe-inspiring, the story he lays out is not quite as overwhelming. The structure he chose to use doesn’t allow the story to overcome the episodic nature of Odysseus’ brutal journey, keeping big emotions mostly at bay.

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The Odyssey opens in theaters on July 17.

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