Day for Night 2017

Day for Night stakes its claim as the best music fest in Texas with gasp-worthy lineup

We live in age when music festivals are retreading and repeating themselves, driving fan apathy up and attendance numbers down. The glut of major music events has led to several shuttering their turnstiles across the country the last couple of years. Few can legitimately surprise fans the moment line-ups are announced.

Houston’s very own Day for Night is one of them. Organizers just announced the third edition set for December 15-17 at its perfectly-placed downtown location at the PostHTX basecamp in the historic Barbara Jordan Post Office. The line-up is gasp-worthy, based on its confirmation of musical acts, alongside cutting-edge visual art installations and a summit of talks by influential and news-making figures (Chelsea Manning, Laurie Anderson, Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova). The national music community immediately took notice.

The line-up features a top-notch mix of acts at the height of their powers (Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Radiohead's Thom Yorke, Justice), those who are currently blowing up (Phantogram, Perfume Genius, James Blake, Tyler, The Creator), some old favorites (Roni Size, Jesus Lizard, Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and special sets (Of Montreal performing all of Hissing Fauna You Are The Destroyer on its 10th anniversary, Saint Heron Presents: “Soul Cleansing” with Solange teaming with Earl Sweatshirt and Kaytranada).

At last year’s festival, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler, frontman of one of the biggest bands on the planet and a Houston native expressed his gratitude for what Day for Night was trying to accomplish, stating that he never had anything this unique while growing up here. While organizers pulled off a well-run and expertly curated 2016 edition, the feeling among many was there was room to grow – that it still had a way to go to become a transformational music event for a scene and city that has long suffered from a lack of identity.

The potential for Houston as a music city has been building for some time now with an increasingly strong local scene and more attractive landing spot among touring bands as the number of younger residents climbs. Add a few years of stale ACL Festival rosters (Red Hot Chili Peppers and Killers? No thanks), an ever-commercialized South By Southwest, and the fight between newly built downtown condominium owners and music venues regarding noise ordinances in the “Live Music Capital of the World,” and it’s a perfect storm scenario where HTX supersedes ATX as the cool choice to see live music.

Judging from the reaction to the Day for Night 2017 announcement, this might be the turning point when instead of saying “Are you doing ACL?,” music fans start asking, “Are you going to Day for Night?”

What makes Day for Night – which is starting to resemble a symbiosis of Coachella’s smart musical bookings and Burning Man’s forward thinking art installations – so important, it ultimately could serve as the anchor event that makes the city even more vibrant as a destination for international acts that all too often skip this part of the country for other major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. In return, the ticket holders will come, injecting the local economy with much needed post-Harvey funds and marking a firm X on the map for Houston as a vital cultural hub.

While one half of Day for Night’s name conjures darkness, there are only sunny days on the horizon. It’s an exciting time to be a music fan living in Houston.

Tickets to Day for Night 2017 are $215 to $750 with fees.

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Catch the video on the Day for Night lineup from our news partners at ABC13:

Nine Inch Nails in performance.

Photo courtesy of Cusses

Nine Inch Nails in performance.

concerts music media

Movie review

Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd chase their dreams in music-heavy Power Ballad

Photo by David Cleary for Lionsgate

Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd in Power Ballad.

Writer/director John Carney is one of the great purveyors of movies featuring music (as opposed to musicals) in the 21st century. Starting with Once in 2007 (which was turned into a Broadway musical several years later), he has made music-themed stories like Begin Again, Sing Street, Flora and Son, and now Power Ballad.

Rick Power (Paul Rudd) is a former wannabe rock star who is now the lead singer of “Ireland’s #1 Wedding Band,” The Bride & Grooves. While they mostly play smaller weddings, a gig at a country estate leads to an encounter with Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), a former boy band member struggling to make it as a solo artist. Rick and Danny wind up bonding in a booze- and pot-filled jam session, sharing various song ideas.

After returning to Los Angeles and desperate for a hit, Danny steals one of Rick’s songs, which miraculously turns into the No. 1 “How to Write a Song (Without You).” Rick, initially overjoyed that something he wrote has become big, is crushed when he finds out Danny didn’t give him credit. His quest to find a way to prove his worth sends him into a spiral, upending the ordinary life he had built.

Co-written by Peter McDonald, the film is a nice exploration of two men trying to hold on to their music dreams. Their individual circumstances could not be more different, but each of them knows the ups and downs of the business as well as the other, as well as the ineffable magic of creating that one great song. While the music scenes are hit-and-miss because of a reliance on lip synching, the scene featuring Rick and Danny trading ideas is electric with creativity.

Oddly, though, the film could have used a bit less music and more of a focus on the two men’s personal lives. Rick wound up living in Ireland after falling in love with his future wife, Rachel (Marcella Plunkett), while on tour with his former American band. He spends a decent amount of time with her and his daughter, Aja (Beth Fallon), but his story needed a few more family scenes to drive the point home. Danny’s personal life is all but nonexistent, giving his arc less impact than it could have had.

Instead of loved ones, Carney and McDonald try to give Rick and Danny more depth through friends and business associates. Rick’s bandmate Sandy (McDonald) is a ride-or-die kind of guy for him, but his presence is only good for a few humorous distractions. Danny’s manager Mac (Jack Reynor) is difficult to parse, as he goes to bat for Danny on multiple occasions, but also seems to keep him at arm’s length.

It’s long been joked that Rudd never ages, and that youthfulness serves him well in this role, in which his character is supposed to be much younger than his actual age of 57. His energy and enthusiasm make his character appealing throughout, even when Rick starts to go off the deep end. Jonas is decent in his role, selling the music side well, but there might be a reason his character doesn’t have many scenes requiring him to show emotions.

While Power Ballad has all the hallmarks of another great Carney music movie, it’s missing a few pieces that could have put it over the top. It’s still a fun film with an insanely catchy song at its center, but it’s not quite as memorable as most of the filmmaker’s previous efforts.

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Power Ballad is now playing in theaters.

movies music film