Live Music Now

These are the 5 best concerts in Houston this week

RodeoHouston is right around the corner, which usually means a dip in larger shows coming through town. Thankfully, rock and hip-hop fans will be satiated with some big name acts before Houston goes all boots and saddles for three weeks, kicking off with a powerhouse multiple Grammy Award winner next Monday.

CultureMap's best, biggest, and most notable shows of the week are:

CultureMap show of the week: Muse
Monster British rock trio Muse got off to a slow start. First compared to Radiohead upon their debut album, Showbiz, in 1999, they made a small dent on the U.K. charts and barely a blip in the U.S. But a tour slot on the 2004 Curiousa Festival bill alongside heavyweights The Cure and a fantastic album, Absolution, started their ascent, eventually culminating in albums and singles placing near or at the top of the U.S. charts and multiple headline festival slots, solidifying them as one of the best live acts in the world.

Critics may not love them, but there is no denying that Muse can seduce audiences like few other bands with their mix of glam, prog rock, and Queen-like theatrics. This is a can’t miss performance for any rock fan with the group having eight albums to pull a truckload of great tunes from, the latest being 2018’s Simulation Theory..

Muse takes over Toyota Center, located at 1510 Polk St., on Friday, February 22. Tickets start at $39.50 plus fees. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

Meek Mill at Revention
Philly rapper Meek Mill’s career started out promising enough, his debut album, Dreams and Nightmares, reaching No. 2 on the charts. But his long list of run-ins with the law meant that he missed out on possibly millions of dollars in recordings and touring time. But his legal woes seemed to up the spotlight. Following the latest release from prison last year, Mill released his latest album, Championships, which went straight to No. 1, and he was invited to perform on Saturday Night Live. Unfortunately, this show is sold out with the only hopes of getting in the resale ticket market, but the hype is strong with this one.

Meek Mill is at Revention Music Center, located at 520 Texas Ave., on Saturday, February 23. Tickets start at $85 plus fees on the resale market. Doors open at 7 pm.

John Oates at Heights Theater
One-half of the classic ’80s group, Hall and Oates, John Oates is mostly known for his guitar work in that duo, but he’s also an underrated singer. While his first group was a going concern throughout much of the ’80s, Oates spread his wings in the early-2000s with a solo career, producing five albums under his own name. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is touring behind 2018’s Arkansas, which is much more influenced by blues, jazz, and gospel than the pop music of his early career.

John Oates performs at the Heights Theater, located at 339 W 19th St., on Saturday, February 23. Vanessa Peters opens. Tickets start at $24 plus a $6 service charge. Doors open 7 pm.

Cypress Hill at HOB
Cypress Hill rose to fame in the early-’90s, speaking to a generation of suburban kids with the group’s undeniably catchy melodies and off-the-wall lyrics a la nasal voiced B Real. Singles “How Could I Just Kill a Man,” and “Insane in the Brain” pervaded U.S. youth culture before harder-edged gangster acts shuffled Hill’s stoner-rap to the sidelines. But nostalgia being a powerful motivator and ticket seller, Cypress Hill is back on the road, promoting their latest album, 2018’s Elephants on Acid, sticking largely to their sticky-icky rap playbook.

Cypress Hill lights up the House of Blues, located at 1204 Caroline St., on Sunday, February 24. Hollywood Undead open. Tickets start at $34.50 plus fees. Doors open at 6:30 pm.

CultureMap recommends: Kacey Musgraves
When CultureMap spoke to Jason Kane, managing director of entertainment for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, at the annual RodeoHouston artist line-up announcement in January, he said Kacey Musgraves had been on his radar as a possible performer for the last few years.

Then she released the critically and commercially acclaimed, Golden Hour. Kane smartly booked the crossover country-pop star to open RodeoHouston festivities and she went on to win four Grammy Awards, including Best Album. Other than Cardi B (set to perform at Rodeo Houston on March 1), no other star is going supernova like Musgraves is right now.

Kacey Musgraves opens RodeoHouston at NRG Stadium, located at 1 NRG Pkwy., on Monday, February 25. Tickets start at $20 plus fees. Doors open at 6:45 pm.

The massive British rock band Muse is at Toyota Center on Friday, February 22.

Photo by Danny Clinch

The massive British rock band Muse is at Toyota Center on Friday, February 22.

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Movie Review

The Devil Wears Prada 2 turns up the glamour but lacks substance

Photo by Macall Polay

Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada 2.

When The Devil Wears Prada came out 20 years ago, it was a sensation for essentially two reasons: The showcase of the glamour of the fashion industry, and the performance of Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly. Streep’s withering glares, disdain shown toward Priestly’s subordinates, and delivery of several instantly iconic lines rightfully earned her an Oscar nomination.

Two decades later, the gang has come back together for The Devil Wears Prada 2, trying to recapture some of that magic. Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), freshly fired from her job at the fictional New York Mirror, is brought back into the fold at Runway magazine to be their features editor. Miranda is still in charge and as standoffish as ever, but Nigel (Stanley Tucci) welcomes her back with open arms.

Like everything else, Runway has had to change with the times, going mostly digital and having to kowtow to advertisers to keep the money flowing. That includes sucking up to Miranda’s former assistant, Emily (Emily Blunt), who’s now the head of the New York branch of Christian Dior. However, even Andy’s incisive writing and Miranda’s keen eye for the next fashion trend may not be enough to keep the magazine afloat.

The filmmaking team of director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna have also returned, and they have done a good job of keeping the tone of the original film without relying too much on nostalgia. Most of the main characters have aged/changed in reasonable and appropriate ways, and it’s initially fun to see them all interacting again. The fashion side of things keeps the film feeling high-class, even if most regular people can’t afford most of what’s on display.

The filmmakers have lots of ideas on how to update the characters for the modern world, but the follow-through on those ideas is not as great. Because there is no longer the same power dynamic between Andy and Miranda, Frankel and McKenna go in search of other conflicts, none of which work as well. The two-hour film ends up feeling like a bunch of individual scenes that are tenuously held together by the barest thread of a story.

Strangest of all, though, is the film’s treatment of Miranda. She remains somewhat imperious, but her influence has diminished in multiple ways. In trying to make her change with the times, including bowing to politically correct terminology, the film has neutered what made her such a great character. There is rarely a point where she feels in charge, and the story choices made because of that weaken the film overall.

In 2006, Hathaway was just barely out of her Princess Diaries phase, and she has gone on to become a major, Oscar-winning star with no fewer than five different films coming out in 2026. She remains the heart and soul of this film, and she elevates every scene she’s in. Streep is hamstrung by the changes in her character, but she still brings her unique presence to the role. Tucci remains a delight and has great chemistry with Hathaway, but Blunt is underserved by a role that keeps her apart from the others for large stretches and tethered to an annoying character played by Justin Theroux.

As with many sequels, The Devil Wears Prada 2 is enjoyable just because it allows fans to spend time with some favorite characters again. Even though the filmmakers don’t utilize those characters in ways that are as memorable as the first time around, the film is still a fun time at the theater that gives moviegoers a glimpse at a world many can only dream to be in.

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The Devil Wears Prada 2 opens in theaters on May 1.

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