Editor's Note: As part of CultureMap's State of the Arts series, we are highlighting upcoming fall arts events you won't want to miss.
There have been approximately 3,728 moody chanteuses playing the piano to hit the music scene since Fiona Apple's last album was released in 2005. So when Apple showed up at South by Southwest earlier this year for a couple of shows, the rapturous response to her raw, minimalist yet playful new songs from The Idler Wheel... was truly unexpected.
It seems that in an era of super-packaged and super-produced music (don't worry, Lana Del Rey, I still love you) fans can still be blown away by Apple's "quivery manic incandescence."
When Apple announced her 2012 tour dates, she scheduled a return to Austin but no appearance in Houston. Mercifully, that's been amended with a show now set for Sept. 21 at Bayou Music Center.
It's far from the kind of intimate space that befits Apple's confessional style, but when the only things in the room are Apple, her piano, a clattering percussionist and a couple of thousand rapturous fans, nothing else really matters.
Legendary rockers Styx and Kevin Cronin, lead singer of REO Speedwagon, will team up to co-headline the “Brotherhood of Rock” tour in 2025, which will include a stop at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands on Friday, June 6.
The large, 40-city tour will take place over three months, starting in Greenville, South Carolina on May 28, and wrapping up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 24.
In addition to Houston, the tour will go to Austin on June 4 and Dallas on August 1. It will include special guest Don Felder, former lead guitarist for the Eagles, at all dates.
Fans can expect some of the greatest rock anthems of all time, including “Renegade,” “Keep On Loving You,” “Come Sail Away,” “Can't Fight This Feeling,” and “Hotel California.”
Styx and Cronin (as part of REO Speedwagon) first toured together in 2000 and in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, coming together to form the Rock to the Rescue 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. This will mark their sixth time joining forces on the road.
2022 was the 50th anniversary of Styx's self-titled debut album, but they have yet to slow down. The band released their 17th album, Crash of the Crown, in 2021. Of course, not everyone is a fan, as this classic clip from The Simpsons illustrates.
REO Speedwagon's recording days appear to be done, with their last album coming out in 2009, but the main group of five has been together since 1989. On this tour, Cronin will be joined by REO's lead guitarist Dave Amato and drummer Bryan Hitt.
General tickets for the tour will go on sale starting on Friday, December 13 at 10 am at LiveNation.com.
Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets in the U.S. beginning on December 9 at 10 am through the Citi Entertainment program.
Styx and Kevin Cronin will be offering VIP packages via their own exclusive pre-sales beginning on Tuesday, December 10 at 10 am, as well as at LiveNation.com.