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    Live Music Now

    Legendary DJ Steve Aoki spins through Houston, promising a packed party

    Johnston Farrow
    Johnston Farrow
    Feb 28, 2018 | 11:36 am
    DJ Steve Aoki holding cake
    Aoki's shows often include possibly being pummeled by a frosted dessert.
    Courtesy photo

    The electronic music world is a fickle industry. Maintaining success in the EDM aka electronic dance music sphere is arguably harder than any genre. Tastes change all the time, new sounds take over almost with the blink of an eye, thus, DJs come and go with the speed of a bullet train.

    One survivor is Los Angeles native Steve Aoki. In the game since the '90s, Aoki not only produces, he’s also one of the most relentless touring DJs, playing countless shows a year. He’ll roll through Texas on his Kolony tour — hitting Stubbs BBQ in Austin February 28; The Bomb Factory in Dallas on Thursday, March 1; and Revention Music Center in Houston on Friday, March 2.

    So how does he maintain the type of lifestyle that revolves around a party?

    “I eat clean, lean and healthy,” Aoki tells CultureMap, from a tour stop in England. “I also make an effort to practice meditation. That is a huge part of maintaining the stamina it takes to do this.”

    Aoki’s taste-making label Dim Mak has been going strong for 22 years. It broke many cutting edge rock and electronic acts including Bloc Party, The Kills, MSTRKRFT, The Klaxons, and more. It also served as a way to get out his music as he’s collaborated with some of the world’s best electronic producers.

    His latest project is Kolony, a hip-hop album that’s more of a collective work, featuring some of the hottest, up-and-coming artists, including Migos, Lil’ Yachty, Gucci Mane, Lil Uzi Vert, and 2 Chainz. Always shifting sounds to stay at the forefront of the latest sound, Aoki started work on Kolony based the type and frequency of his studio guests.

    “I was always in the studio with different hip-hop artists,” he said. “I thought to myself, this actually deserves its own project. It’s more than an album, it’s a brand.”

    Branding is huge with Aoki, as Dim Mak has represented the youth and energy of his audiences, his shows featuring insane antics, such as throwing cakes and crowd surfing in a rubber dinghy. Kolony sees a shift in tone for the DJ/producer, but it was a challenge he was excited to take on.

    “There was a learning curve for me,” Aoki admits. “It’s finding a groove to let them do their thing, then I can add to it. It opens me up to new directions.”

    He sees Kolony as a means to building yet another arm of the Aoki empire, tapping into another segment of youthful audience that’s rapidly gaining relevance within the mainstream.

    “It’s beyond a genre, it’s cultural,” Aoki says. “It transcends music. Working with artists that build that culture, it was great.”

    It would seem like he has a lot to fall back on if the EDM or hip-hop scene passes him by. He’s built a decently successful record label, as well as an e-sports business called Rogue — as well as having served as the resident music director at Surrender, the club located in Wynn Las Vegas, where DJs can make up to $400,000 a night playing to packed crowds.

    But music is still his passion, and touring is still his bread and butter, as evidenced by his recent UK tour and six week U.S. tour with both Desiingner and Grandtheft in tow.

    “Music is everything,” Aoki says. “Music keeps me young and keeps me relevant. It is a huge priority for me.”

    ---

    Aoki spins (and possibly throws cake) at 8 pm, Friday March 2, at Revention Music Center, 520 Texas Ave; 713-230-1600. Tickets $33-$76.

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    Movie Review

    Michelle Pfeiffer visits Houston in new Christmas movie Oh. What. Fun.

    Alex Bentley
    Dec 5, 2025 | 3:30 pm
    Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.
    Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
    Michelle Pfeiffer in Oh. What. Fun.

    Of all the formulaic movie genres, Christmas/holiday movies are among the most predictable. No matter what the problem is that arises between family members, friends, or potential romantic partners, the stories in holiday movies are designed to give viewers a feel-good ending even if the majority of the movie makes you feel pretty bad.

    That’s certainly the case in Oh. What. Fun., in which Michelle Pfeiffer plays Claire, an underappreciated mom living in Houston with her inattentive husband, Nick (Denis Leary). As the film begins, her three children are arriving back home for Christmas: The high-strung Channing (Felicity Jones) is married to the milquetoast Doug (Jason Schwartzman); the aloof Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) brings home yet another new girlfriend; and the perpetual child Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just broken up with his girlfriend.

    Each of the family members seems to be oblivious to everything Claire does for them, especially when it comes to what she really wants: For them to nominate her to win a trip to see a talk show in L.A. hosted by Zazzy Tims (Eva Longoria). When she accidentally gets left behind on a planned outing to see a show, Claire reaches her breaking point and — in a kind of Home Alone in reverse — she decides to drive across the country to get to the show herself.

    Written and directed by Michael Showalter (The Idea of You), and co-written by Chandler Baker (who wrote the short story on which the film is based), the movie never establishes any kind of enjoyable rhythm. Each of the characters, including competitive neighbor Jeanne (Joan Chen), is assigned a character trait that becomes their entire personality, with none of them allowed to evolve into something deeper.

    The filmmakers lean hard into the idea that Claire is a person who always puts her family first and receives very little in return, but the evidence presented in the story is sketchy at best. Every situation shown in the film is so superficial that tension barely exists, and the (over)reactions by Claire give her family members few opportunities to make up for their failings.

    The most interesting part of the movie comes when Claire actually makes it to the Zazzy Sims show. Even though what happens there is just as unbelievable as anything else presented in the story, Showalter and Baker concoct a scene that allows Claire and others to fully express the central theme of the film, and for a few minutes the movie actually lives up to its title.

    Pfeiffer, given her first leading role since 2020’s French Exit, is a somewhat manic presence, and her thick Texas accent and unnecessary voiceover don’t do her any favors. It seems weird to have such a strong supporting cast with almost nothing of substance to do, but almost all of them are wasted, including Danielle Brooks in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The lone exception is Longoria, who is a blast in the few scenes she gets.

    Oh. What. Fun. is far from the first movie to try and fail at becoming a new holiday classic, but the pedigree of Showalter and the cast make this dismal viewing experience extra disappointing. Ironically, overworked and underappreciated moms deserve a much better story than the one this movie delivers.

    ---

    Oh. What. Fun. is now streaming on Prime Video.

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