Music Matters

Concert Picks of the Week Nov. 12

Chris Brown at the House of Blues
Jewel comes to Verizon Wireless Theater
The Swell Season, with duo members Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

For the most part, the criteria for a CultureMap Concert Pick of the Week are:

1) The music must actually be live (no pre-recorded instruments and no karaoke allowed).

2) The event must actually be taking place in the week this column appears.

3) The most important rule is that the music must be original work. In other words, no cover bands.

If your band plugs in at a bar and rips through a note-perfect set of songs by Journey, Van Halen, Metallica or Pat Boone… I commend you for your mimicry.

But I probably won’t pick you as a live music “must-see.”

I detail the rules, because I’m about to bend the last one a bit in the name of the pure glee and drama that is the music of ABBA.

Next Wednesday (Nov. 18), the original London West End cast of ABBA Mania takes over the stage at Miller Outdoor Theatre for a night of faux-Swedish pop ecstasy. This group has traveled the world and, at this point, does ABBA as good (or better) than the original aging band.

Best of all, the performance is absolutely free and under the stars.

The economic value vs. talent level alone makes this worth making it an unofficial Pick of the Week.

Now, unto the official picks for this week:

Friday

Jewel at Verizon Wireless Theater

Jewel is not the easiest artist to interview. Over her first 14 years as a recording artist I have had interviews scheduled with her numerous times only for them to be canceled, cut short or to end up as very one-sided conversations (me talking/her bored).

One time, during an interview in the Green Room at the Austin City Limits set, her boyfriend (now husband) Ty Murray—a man who rides large farm animals for a living—glared at me from about three feet away as I asked questions.

I think he was waiting for one more stupid reporter to ask her about growing up weird in Alaska, living in a van, being discovered by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers or striving to match the success of her 1995 debut, “Pieces of You.”

So, I’m not going to write about any of that. I will just say that for all the offstage non-congeniality, onstage Jewel sings like an angel and the switch from pop-folk to country on her last album, “Perfectly Clear,” seems to really be working for her.

Tickets $39-$49.

The Swell Season at Warehouse Live

Sometimes life really does imitate art. At other times that very same art starts to looks a whole lot like real life.

Confused?

So was I until I realized that the two members of the Swell Season, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, are the same two faces I remember acting as musicians in 2007's heartbreaking Irish independent film, Once. It turns out that neither are actors, but singer-songwriters who teamed together to write music for soundtracks and ended starring in a movie about singer-songwriters.

Their obvious chemistry has pulled Hansard’s attention away from his regular gig as lead singer of Irish rock darlings The Frames to release a new album with Irglová, “Strict Joy.” Hearing the duo's tear-duct swelling spare odes to making up and breaking up should make for an inspiring, if not emotionally exhausting, evening.

Tickets $39.

Saturday

Chris Brown at House of Blues

Sooooooo... this is awkward.

Anybody remember when Pee-wee Herman took the stage at 1991 MTV Video Music Awards and asked the audience, “Heard any good jokes lately?” following his arrest for exposing himself in public earlier that year?

I feel that same mix of anticipation, fear and “I can’t watch” nervous energy about the moment Chris Brown steps on stage at the House of Blues.

A year that began with Brown and ex-girlfriend Rihanna as hip-hop’s “It” couple has ended with Brown’s name sullied by a felony conviction for assault against her and a year-long public campaign of apology and rehabilitation.

Many are still angry for what Brown did to Rihanna. Others want to see him get his life and career back on track and hope that his new album, “Graffiti” (in stores Dec. 8) can be the beginning.

Either way, Brown’s next chapter starts in Houston, the first tour stop on his first tour since his personal life fell apart.

The crowd reception when he initially enters back into the spotlight should be interesting.

Tickets $30-$75.

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Movie Review

George Clooney shines in Jay Kelly, a sharp and heartfelt look at fame

Photo by Peter Mountain/Netflix

George Clooney in Jay Kelly.

The life of a celebrity is paradoxical in that your life is lived in the public eye, yet who you really are is almost unknowable. Movie history is littered with films that try to dig into the private lives of real and fictional actors, with varying results. The latest film to try to unearth what it means to be famous is Jay Kelly.

In a perfect bit of casting, George Clooney stars in the title role as an actor who’s still world famous even if he’s edging toward the downside of his career. His coterie of helpers, including manager Ron (Adam Sandler) and publicist Liz (Laura Dern), make sure he is taken care of at every turn, often anticipating his needs before he realizes it.

A run-in with an old friend, Timothy (Billy Crudup), sends Jay spiraling, questioning not just the meaning of his 35-plus year career, but also his relationships with his two daughters, Jessica (Riley Keough) and Daisy (Grace Edwards). Jay’s attempt to manage the crisis pits his identity as a celebrity and as a father and friend against each other.

Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, and co-written by Emily Mortimer (who has a small role), the film has to walk the tightrope of making the audience like Jay even as he does and says things that might make him unlikable. There’s a very thin line between the character of Jay Kelly and the real life George Clooney; each is seemingly infinitely charming when dealing with the public, but they lead very different private lives.

Baumbach takes a light approach to the story, occasionally dipping into more serious territory but never going too deep. For some, this may seem like a copout, as if he’s merely pretending to want to explore what celebrity truly is. But as you see Jay navigate his way between his work, his family, and being out among the public, little details emerge that make him increasingly complex.

A lot of the film’s pleasure comes from the strong actors cast in relatively minor roles. There are not enough words to express what it means to have actors like Jim Broadbent as Jay’s mentor, or Greta Gerwig as Ron’s wife, or Stacy Keach as Jay’s father, or Patrick Wilson as a fellow longtime actor. Each of them and more lend an instant air of excellence to the film that elevates the story beyond its simple premise.

Clooney may be playing a version of himself, but as the film notes on multiple occasions, playing yourself is more difficult than it seems. He is deserving of an Oscar nomination, as is Sandler, who doesn’t give off even a whiff of insincerity as a man who has given perhaps a bit too much of himself in aid of another man’s career.

Jay Kelly is not a world-changing film, and some may accuse it of being another navel-gazing Hollywood story. But the forcefulness of Clooney’s performance, the long line of strong supporting actors, and the subtly effective storytelling by Baumbach and Mortimer (making her feature screenwriting debut) help it become much more than might be expected.

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Jay Kelly is now playing in select theaters. It debuts on Netflix on December 5.

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