Music Matters

This week in music: Live concerts in Houston leave lots of choices for fans

Cold beer and live music, what genius came up with that idea?

The explosion of craft beer in Houston has been a boon to the local music scene. Breweries 8th Wonder and St. Arnold’s regularly book great line-ups to entice suds-lovers to taste their latest batches and now Karbach is getting in on the fun with Karbachtoberfest, named in part for their latest seasonal. Following an electric set by hometown hip-hop star Bun B, who took time away from helping Harvey victims last weekend, three more weekends of the best local acts are on the varied schedule, including Latin funk band Grupo Fantasma and Latin ska group Los Skarnales on Friday as well as the psych-rock of Bright Light Social Hour and electronic cumbia of Gio Chamba on Saturday.

It’s these type of events that keep the local scene vital and relevant, while expanding the reach of acts coming out of Houston. They also help local craft breweries sell a lot of beer. Admission is free and the 6-9:30 p.m. event times making it family friendly too. Shows will take place through October 7. Check out the schedule here.

Indie-dance stars !!! (pronounced chk-chk-chk) descend on White Oak Music Hall on Saturday night and will get asses shaking. Since the band’s inception in the early 2000s, this Sacramento act has been parlayed its contagious mix of funk, 90s NYC Hi-NRG house, and electric stage presence into a successful recording career. Their critically acclaimed 2017 release Shake The Shudder is one of their best. There’s no better band name suited to a live show this fun. Atlanta buzz act Algiers opens. Tickets are $18 in advance. Show starts at 8 p.m.

Somewhere along the way, Depeche Mode became the Rolling Stones of Gen Xers. That’s what happens when a band has over three decades of stone cold classic hits to pull from ("Enjoy The Silence," "Just Can't Get Enough," "People Are People," "Personal Jesus," among many, many more) and a live show to match. The UK-based synth-driven three-piece continues to put out vital and relevant music, including their best album in 15 years in this year's politically fierce Spirit.

Simply put, Depeche Mode are some of the world’s best live performers, playing to hundreds of thousands of fans in stadiums and arenas around the world with dozens of shows in a touring cycle, harnessing the lothario stage presence and souped-up energy of Dave Gahan and catchy-as-hell, heart-on-sleeve songwriting of Martin Gore. This show is a must-see for any discerning music fan. They hit the stage at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Sunday night. Tickets start at $38, gates open at 6 p.m.

Other shows to see

Friday (September 22)
Influential West Coast punks, Descendents, pulled off the feat of a successful reunion a few years back and after several hiatuses, the band is a full-time concern for lead singer Milo Aukerman and crew. It’s hard to think of a group more influential on American punk and alternative music. See them live at House of Blues. Tickets start at $30. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Cigarettes After Sex brings its hushed, melodic and moody tunes to White Oak behind its self-titled album. If you’re a fan of the bands that played the Bang Bang Club on Twin Peaks this season, this will be right up your alley. Tickets start at $15.50. Doors at 8 p.m.

One of country music’s biggest stars, the impossibly good looking Luke Bryan, brings his catalogue of hits to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for his Huntin’, Fishin’, and Lovin’ Everyday Tour. Brett Elredge and Granger Smith open. Tickets start at $38. Gates open at 6 p.m.

Saturday (September 23)
Exciting Austin songwriting Walker Lukens celebrates the release of his new brand new LP (out September 22), Tell It To The Judge with a 3 p.m. in-store at Cactus Music. The new tunes should be stellar based on the talented melding of sounds, genres and eras of his 2013 full-length album, Devoted, plus some really clever videos. Admission is free.

Sunday (September 24)
Against Me!, fronted by charismatic Laura Jane Grace, gave Green Day fans a thrilling set when they opened at the Toyota Center back in March. Fans will be treated to a full set at White Oak behind this year’s album, the wonderfully named Stabitha Christie. Tickets are $20 in advance, show starts at 7 p.m.

Your mom’s AM radio favorite, Daryl Hall and John Oates, drop their '80s classics on Smart Financial Center at Sugar Land. Expect to hear the hits (“You Make My Dreams,” “Private Eyes,” and more) and witness big hair back from when this type of music was completely unironic. Say what you want about these dudes, “Maneater” is still the jam. Tickets start at $59.75, show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday (September 26)
Fast-rising Los Angeles pop-rock band LANY hits House of Blues behind their self-titled album on its LANY Tour: Part 2, which will see them play across the U.S. and Canada. The group recently made Rolling Stone’s Ten Artists You Need To Know. Tickets are $25, show starts at 7 p.m.

Fast-rising Los Angeles pop-rock band LANY hits House of Blues on Tuesday.

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Fast-rising Los Angeles pop-rock band LANY hits House of Blues on Tuesday.

concerts music

Movie Review

Spielberg-inspired movie The End of Oak Street is a dino-snore

Photo by Daniel McFadden

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway in The End of Oak Street.

Steven Spielberg is the iconic director of the last 50 years, so it’s no surprise that many other filmmakers have borrowed from his classic films. But most of the time those come in the form of references or homages, not straight up theft, which is what it feels like watching The End of Oak Street play out in front of your eyes.

Set in the early 1980s in an idyllic suburban neighborhood of an unnamed city, Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) are parents to two teenagers, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery). They’re also possibly heading toward divorce, as Audrey is secretly writing a novel with a thinly-veiled plot about their life, and Brian is cagey about having to earn extra money with a pizza delivery job.

That all gets put on the backburner when a mysterious event takes their entire neighborhood back to the time of dinosaurs. Armed with little more than a shotgun and sledgehammer, Audrey and Brian do their best to keep the family safe in their house. But the longer the ordeal goes on, circumstances force them out onto the streets and into the increasing danger that’s all around them.

Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the film tries immensely hard to be like the Spielberg movies its filmmaker clearly adores, but fails at almost every turn. It never earns the broken family in ‘80s suburbia vibes that were prevalent in E.T., going all in right away in the opening scene with a neighborhood block party that feels forced. Other elements like a bully who has it out for Brian, the family dog that disappears, and an angry neighbor come across as the tropes they are and not as organic parts of the plot.

When it finally gets to its dinosaur sequences, they pale in comparison to those found in Jurassic Park. The strange manner in which the dinosaurs appear is a big part of that, but the action involving them forgoes ominous moments that could build tension for those that play up gore in an unexpected way for a PG-13 movie. Many of the attacks have so little emotional meaning that they come off as comical, which is entertaining but in a hollow way.

As if those weren’t enough, Mitchell — perhaps at the behest of producer J.J. Abrams (who made his own Spielbergian film, Super 8) — tries to honor Spielberg in other ways. Just like in Jaws, he employs the use of a split diopter lens, which keeps characters in both the foreground and background in focus. But instead of using it judiciously, it’s brought out in three separate scenes, including a laughable one with the four family members where it turns into overkill.

Hathaway, coming off of a role in The Odyssey that could earn her an Oscar nomination, is the best part of this film. But even her evident skills are dragged down by the ridiculousness of the story, which requires hysterics that even she can’t sell. McGregor can normally be counted on for a good performance, but he gives several line readings with strange cadences that make his already-underwritten character come off worse. Stella and Convery are okay, but their roles are unmemorable overall.

Mitchell and his team can never settle on exactly what type of film they were trying to make, and so even though The End of Oak Street has a few moments that work, they’re surrounded by many others that don’t. In trying to emulate Spielberg — there’s even a blatant Back to the Future (produced by Spielberg) rip-off towards the end — all Mitchell has done is show how difficult it is to be the master.

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The End of Oak Street opens in theaters on August 14.