weekend event planner

Here are the top 10 things to do in Houston this weekend

Have a trill ol' time at Axelrad's holiday party this Sunday.

Photo by Jamaal Vince Photography

Need a good laugh this holiday season?

There will be two holiday-themed comedy shows going on this Friday night. At Cafe Brasil, we have Unpopular Opinions: Holiday Edition, with comedians Peru Flores and Paul Shinneman performing alongside the 2018 National Champions of Earwolf's Improv4humans contest, Houston's very own Can't Tell Us Nothing.

At Station Theater, The ’80s Kids will present Gen-X-Mas: A Holiday Sketch Comedy & Variety Show, a holiday comedy extravaganza where people face their Christmas present. Both shows are at 9:30 pm.

As always, here are your best bets for the weekend.

Thursday, December 19

Russian Winter Bazaar at Russian Cultural Center
The Russian Cultural Center is once again offering unique ethnic souvenirs and gifts that are hard to find anywhere else. Each and every one of them is hand-made in accordance with centuries-old, Russian traditions. Their collection of traditional blue-and-white porcelain — Gzhel — has been expanded recently, and includes many vintage items. They also have several beautiful, Russian tea sets by the famous porcelain factories, such as Lomonosov (Imperial) Porcelain Factory, Dulevo porcelain factory and others. Runs through Thursday, January 9. 9 am.

The Blue Angel at MATCH
If you've never heard of Marlene Dietrich, the androgynous star of the silver screen, a good place to start is this 1930 flick. Directed by Josef von Sternberg (Dietrich's longtime collaborator), the movie is about a sexually repressed instructor at a boys' school who learns of his pupils' infatuation with a local nightclub songstress. He decides to personally investigate the Blue Angel nightclub, but after stealing a glimpse of the smoldering Lola Lola (played by Dietrich), he finds himself consumed by desire and tormented by his rigid propriety. 7 pm.

Friday, December 20

Weekend Cake Shop Pop-Up at Jusgo Supermarket
Lady M New York will be back in town for another weekend pop-up. This time around, the world-renowned bakery will offer Houstonians the chance to take home one of their Mille Crêpe Cakes for holiday entertaining or gift-giving. Each cake is made by hand with quality ingredients and features no fewer than 20 lacy crêpes, delicately layered with airy pastry cream. So, expect a lot of fancy desserts to be sampled at this three-day gathering. 3 pm (noon Saturday-Sunday).

Die Hard at Landmark River Oaks
Let's settle this once and for all: Die Hard is a Christmas movie! The movie is set on Christmas Eve, after all. It's the movie that proved that Bruce Willis (the then-smart-ass co-star of the TV show Moonlighting) could be an action star, as his barefoot, New York cop takes out a bunch of terrorists (led by the late, great Alan Rickman) who take over a LA skyscraper. 11:59 pm.

Saturday, December 21

Best Friends Animal Society presents Holiday Wishes for Shelter Pets
Presented in collaboration with BARC, Montgomery County Animal Shelter Texas, Harris County Animal Shelter and Fort Bend County Pets — Fort Bend County Animal Services, this two-day event will be placing as many animals as possible in homes for the holidays. Adoption fees for dogs have been reduced to $20 and for cats to $10 and include spay/neuter, age-appropriate vaccinations and microchips. Visitors will also be invited to enjoy hot chocolate, cookies, make commemorative pawprint ornaments and cards.

A Drag Queen Christmas at House of Blues Houston
Those who missed the Ho! Ho! Holiday! Drag Bunch that happened at House of Blues last Saturday may want to check out this extravagant, yuletide experience. Hosted by Nina West, this show will have a bounty of cross-dressing divas pulling out the outrageous, over-the-top stops for your amusement. Even though this is an all-ages, seated floor show, there will be adult, ribald humor coming every which-a-way. So, please take this into consideration when you purchase tickets. 7 pm.

Sunday, December 22

Black Slacks Christmas Party at Cactus Music
Let's commend Cactus Music for continuing to sell records and CDs in these heavily streamed times. They continue to stay afloat by having live, in-store performances and getting all genres of musicians to pop in and do some meet-and-greets. For those who've stuck with the spot all this time, come down and celebrate the season with a Christmas party, complete with food, beverages, free CDs and a DJ set from longtime regular Black Slacks. (Just by his name, you can tell he's gonna spin some cool stuff). 1-4 pm.

Trills the Season Holiday Party and Toy Drive at Axelrad
Axelrad will be getting into the Christmas sprit with its holiday party/toy drive. Now in its fifteenth year, this event has raised and handed out over $20,000 in toys for kids all over this city. Bring a new toy to donate and, on Christmas Day, they'll work to bring supplies to the immigrant and refugee population at the Texas border. Nosaprise, Tony Badd, Thread Atlas, and Free Radicals will be performing, with OG Bobby Trill, Joey Flaco, and Ichikara IV Valdez serving as DJs. 4-9 pm.

event-planner

One More for the Road

ZZ Top honors late drummer Frank Beard with Austin tribute concert

ZZ Top/Facebook

ZZ Top will celebrate their late drummer, Frank Beard (middle, after a show in Canada), at one of his favorite venues.

Texas rock trio ZZ Top will play a tribute to their late drummer, Frank Beard, at their scheduled Austin tour stops at ACL Live at the Moody Theater on August 22 and 23. Beard died Monday, August 17, at 77.

The band announced Beard's death in a social media statement.

Lead vocalist and songwriter Billy Gibbons wrote, "Today, Elwood and I lost a great friend and collaborator, and the world lost one of the most naturally innovative drummers and a great and true son of Texas. His signature backbeat was key to keeping ZZ on top."

ZZ Top canceled performances in Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs following Beard's death. The Austin shows will be the band's first onstage again, offering a fitting time to celebrate the Texas great. A statement on the band's website calls the Austin City Limits stage "one of Frank’s favorite venues and in a city that had been something of a second home for him."

Beard was born near Tyler in Frankston, Texas, in 1949. He was raised in Irving, outside Dallas, and the band formed in Houston in 1969. The Austin Chronicle reported in 2013 that Beard was then splitting time between a house on Lake Travis, in Austin, and Houston. He died on his ranch in the Houston suburb of Richmond.

ZZ Top was known for its large performances and elaborate setup, none more so than the Worldwide Texas Tour, which included a Texas-shaped stage and a collection of live Texas animals.

In 1974, the band left its mark on Austin — for better or worse — at "ZZ Top’s First Annual Texas Sized Rompin’ Stompin’ Barndance & Bar B.Q." at the University of Texas. It was the first, but also the last, since around 80,000 of the band's "friends" trashed the venue, earned the disapproval of the famous Coach Royal, and were ostensibly responsible for the venue not hosting another rock show until 1995. ZZ Top's two encores had 20 years to ring out after the legendary, if infamous show.

ZZ Top will make their upcoming Austin appearances as part of The Big One! Tour on Saturday, August 22, at 8 pm and Sunday, August 23, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are still available for both shows at acllive.com.

live music music history celebrities obituary acl live concerts