This Week In Music

Motorcycles and hip-hop: Lone Star Rally, Fall Out Boy, Jay-Z highlight championship week of concerts

The Black Album and black leather highlight the week ahead for music in and around Houston as the city celebrates a world championship with world-class talent and events. From hogs on the historic Strand in Galveston and Mr. Carter visiting the in-laws to a big Party on the Plaza, the stars have aligned for Astros fans to let loose as they are set to toast their team in style over the next week.

Best Show of the Week
At this point does Jay-Z, producer of said Black Album, have to tour anymore? The guy is closing in on billionaire status and he's achieved almost everything a musician and businessman can accomplish, so the only reasons for touring his latest album is either to maintain his profile as the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of the American dream or because he really loves his fans. No matter the reason, droves of hip-hop fans will be at his Toyota Center stop of the 4:44 Tour on Wednesday, November 8, because very few rapper/producers are making impactful music at this level, not to mention, he has a catalogue of hits dating back almost 20 years to pull from.

The biggest question is, will the Queen Bey herself, Beyonce Knowles, make an appearance in her hometown to perform a few songs alongside her world-beating partner? If there’s any stop on this tour where it would happen, this would have to be the one where we get a duet from the power couple who have done a tour together in the past. Fast-rising, 24-year-old Chicago rapper Vic Mensa and Jay-Z protege will open. Tickets start at $39.50, but checking the Toyota Center site, the only seats still available start at $199.50 plus service charges. Doors open at 7 pm.

Biggest Show of the Week
As a former Galveston resident, there are three type of island residents when nearly 600,000 visitors and nearly 300,000 motorcycles descend on the Island throughout the weekend as part of the immense Lone Star Rally. The first type of resident will get out of town, the constant roar too much for them to take; the second will live for three days with earplugs firmly implanted in their skulls; the third will bust out their leather and denim and embrace the sheer madness for what the Lone Star Rally is, which is a really great party with a couple of dozen of bands playing over the course of the weekend.

The Lone Star Rally is one of, if not the biggest (there’s always been arguments over whether the Sturgis, South Dakota rally is bigger), motorcycle enthusiast gatherings in the world. A surprisingly safe and fun event, bikers bust out their tricked out rides and showcase them along The Strand throughout the day, riders filling the bars and cheering on a strong line-up of bands that cater to this sort of crowd. It’s so huge, the City of Galveston commissioned its own economic impact study and the results are impressive.

Performers through Sunday, November 2 include Vanilla Ice, David Allen Coe, Shallow Side, the Zach Tate Band, Tom Keifer and many more. Admission is free.

Best Free Show of the Week
Respect has to be given to The Old 97’s for the sheer longevity of their career. Releasing their first album in 1994, the quartet that got its start in Dallas has produced one of the most respected catalogues of Americana-based rock music, making friends of Hollywood along the way, in no small part due to lead singer Rhett Miller’s good looks, charm and strong songwriting. The band continues to churn out new music, the latest being this year’s Graveyard Whistling.

The band is set to play the Party on the Plaza concert series on Wednesday, November 8, a great venue just outside the George R. Brown Convention Center for any Astros fans that can’t get the celebration out of their system. The best part? The show is free. The Seratones will open.

Other Shows of Note
Friday, November 3
Iron & Wine with John Moreland at the Heights Theater. Tickets are sold out. Doors open at 7 pm.

Sunday, November 5
The Guess Who at Dosey Doe, tickets start at $118 , doors open at 7:30 pm.

Monday, November 6
Toad the Wet Sprocket at the House of Blues, tickets start at $40, doors open at 7 p.m.

Tuesday, November 7
Fall Out Boy with blackbear and Jaden Smith at the Toyota Center, tickets start at $30.50, doors open at 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Nov. 8
The Jesus and Mary Chain at White Oak Music Hall, tickets are $30 in advance, doors open at 7 p.m.

The Last Bandoleros at the House of Blues Bronze Peacock Room, tickets start at $13, doors open at 7 p.m.

Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z brings his 4:44 Tour to Toyota Center on Wednesday, November 8.

WENN.com

Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z brings his 4:44 Tour to Toyota Center on Wednesday, November 8.

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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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