Music Matters

These 2 new events will shake up the local music fest landscape in 2018

It's been a buzzy week of music event announcements: Two festivals, In Bloom Music Festival and JMBLYA, will make their way to the Bayou City this spring. In Bloom is the new incarnation of the weather-damaged Free Press Summer Fest and takes place at Eleanor Tinsley Park from March 24 to 25, 2018. JMBLYA, a multi-city Texas hip-hop and DJ event, returns May 6, 2018, after kicking off its inaugural year in 2013 in the Bayou City.

In terms of lineups, In Bloom organizers played it relatively safe, going with established headliners that will bring the crowds, including multi-genre indie-rocker Beck, rock radio favorite Incubus, internationally known DJ Martin Garrix, and alt-rock band Queens of the Stone Age, the latter of which recently made cringe-worthy headlines, at no fault to In Bloom bookers.

JMBLYA, which heavily favors marquee rappers, has not announced its line-up or location yet, but is offering a blind presale $25 general admission ticket. Looking at the lineups from previous years, that price is a steal. The 2016 edition featured Future, Rae Sremmurd, and Post Malone and earlier years had Travis Scott, G-Eazy, Chance The Rapper and Tyler, The Creator.

These two festivals will be vitally important to the Houston music scene for several reasons. For one, it means future growth and diversity for the live music scene. When festivals draw national and international touring acts, it convinces others to mark Houston as a stop on upcoming tours. In addition, many artists will use a festival set as a launching pad to a follow-up solo headlining show at a smaller venue (think White Oak Music Hall or House of Blues).

It’s also a great decision to use Eleanor Tinsley Park as a festival site, where In Bloom will make its home. The space is great and if the weather holds up, it provides a wonderful view of downtown, akin to ACL Fest in Austin’s Zilker Park. It’s also central to mass transit and ride sharing options.

The springtime bookings have the chance to shakeup the festival circuit. In Bloom will be one of the first national festivals of the season. Even with South By Southwest a few weeks earlier, a more inclusive lineup means fan fatigue will be low. JMBLYA should benefit from its May slot, which is still early on the festival calendar.

The cooler months of March for In Bloom and still not-too-oppressive May for JMBLYA will be much more enjoyable than the sweltering humidity of Free Press Summer Fest that took place in June. A pissed off Mother Nature meant the last three years of that event saw venue changes, cancellations and flooding due to extreme weather. Earlier dates mean less predictable forecasts.

The two festivals will provide an opportunity for local acts to cut their teeth in front of bigger audiences. In Bloom features several Houston based acts such as Say Girl Say, Vodi, Velveteen Echo, among others, sharing stages with well-known touring bands. This is exactly how to build a solid local music scene.

All of this is good news for Houston as a music destination city. This weekend's Day For Night is firmly laying down roots and In Bloom and JMBLYA will keep the momentum going to attract bands and music fans from beyond the city limits.

The In Bloom Music Festival takes place on March 24 to 25, 2018 at Eleanor Tinsley Park. Tickets are currently $125 plus fees for a two day, general admission pass. JMBLYA festival is on May 6, 2018. Location TBD. Blind presale tickets go on sale December 15 at 10 am for $25.

Chance the Rapper performed at JMBLYA in 2014. The hip-hop festival will visit Houston on May 6, 2018.

Chance the Rapper/Facebook

Chance the Rapper performed at JMBLYA in 2014. The hip-hop festival will visit Houston on May 6, 2018.

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Movie Review

Over-the-top thriller The Housemaid revels in camp, chaos, and excess

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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