10 Best June Concerts

Presenting the 10 best concerts happening in Houston this month

May showers give way to hot summer concerts.

Houston’s rainy season almost always leads to issues with the live music schedule, especially for outdoor shows, and each year there seems to be a few gigs that either get cancelled or rescheduled due to a strong Mother Nature flex. However, this year, the city’s concert venues came out of the deluge relatively unscathed, only to set up the next big challenge for the ticket buying masses – the heat.

It takes a hearty sort to be a Bayou City music fan. The June concert slate includes numerous big shows set at open-air lawns and amphitheaters. That means knowing to apply copious amounts of sunscreen, dressing appropriately, and hydrating enough to make Aquaman nod in approval.

But for those who can hack the aggressive temperatures and insane humidity, plenty of shows ahead will make the effort worth it. Here are 10 shows for the month of June that offer ample rewards for live music lovers.

The Kid Laroi, June 4, 713 Music Hall
Following the career path of none other than Canadian pop sensation, Justin Beiber, the young Australian rapper The Kid Laroi found a receptive American audience with his No. 1 hit collaboration, “Stay.” His 2020 mix-tape, F*ck Love, also hit the top of the charts, and he found himself firmly in the center of the cultural zeitgeist last summer when his track, “Forever & Again” made it’s way onto the soundtrack for the biggest movie of the year, Barbie. Glaive and Chase Shakur take on the early slots.

Vampire Weekend, June 6, 713 Music Hall
The debate as to whether wearing shorts on stage is cool or not cool rages on when the New York City indie darlings Vampire Weekend return to Houston. They are back after an extended hiatus with the critically acclaimed Only God Was Above Us, years after they became Pitchfork heroes with their 2008 self-titled debut and 2010’s Contra. They’ll be headlining festivals for the near future, so seeing them at 713 Music Hall will be as intimate as it gets for their legion of fans. La Lom opens.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company 30th Anniversary, June 8, Saint Arnold Brewery
The granddaddy of independently-owned, Texas craft breweries, Saint Arnold is celebrating its 30th Anniversary in style with a blow out party at its downtown campus, featuring a who’s-who of Houston musical talent. Aside from rivers of tasty beer, what makes the party a must-attend is the lineup, including The Suffers lead singer Kam Franklin, rapper Devin the Dude, singer-songwriter Robert Ellis, hip-hop artist Fat Tony, and Splice Records’ R&B house band Bayou City Funk, who will all come together to perform, superjam-style, as The Houston Super Group. DJ Shante and the Blue Heron Yacht Club are also on tap.

Silversun Pickups, June 11, House of Blues
One of the better live acts in the alternative rock world over the last 15 years, the Los Angeles-based Siliversun Pickups got there with a healthy dose of peak-era Smashing Pumpkins hooks and a bit of shoegaze – see “Lazy Eye” and “Panic Switch” for proof. They’re back with their new album, Physical Thrills, produced by peak-era Pumpkins producer, Butch Vig. Coincidence? We think not. Hello Mary opens.

Megan Thee Stallion, June 14 & 15, Toyota Center
She left the Bayou City, conquered the world, and now she’s back to celebrate with some of her biggest headline gigs yet. The Texas Southern grad, massive hip-hop star, Megan Thee Stallion, blew up in 2018 with the then-inescapable smash singles “Hot Girl Summer” and “Cash Sh*t,” later winning Grammys in a guest-starring role on Cardi B’s raunchy send up, “WAP.” Since then, she’s won countless more awards, released chart-topping singles and albums, and now she’s playing two nights at one of the biggest venues in town. GloRilla opens.

Alanis Morissette, June 16, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
One of Canada’s most important and successful musical exports, Alanis Morrisette’s cultural caché recently received a much-deserved boost from the new wave of ‘90s-influenced female pop stars, including Olivia Rodrigo, that cite her as a major influence on their confessional, angst-driven hits. While her commercial peak is long past the days when Jagged Little Pill produced a number of radio smashes (“You Oughta Know,” “Ironic,” “Hand in My Pocket”) en route to selling 33 million copies, Morissette transcends the nostalgia circuit due to the massive cultural impact left in her wake. The immortal rock legends Joan Jett & The Blackhearts open along with Morgan Wade.

DIIV, June 19, White Oak Music Hall
Recently handpicked to open a portion of Depeche Mode’s recent North American leg of their Momento Mori tour, Brooklyn post-punk band DIIV is now playing the headliner, a gift to anyone that saw them crush it at Toyota Center last October. They're on the road supporting their new album, the dark and moody Frog In Boiling Water, which continues a string of fantastic records dating back to the excellent 2012 offering, Oshin. They Are Gutting a Body of Water and untitled (halo) open.

Styx & Foreigner, June 22, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Don’t worry, dads, there’s plenty of shows for you to enjoy during Father’s Day month, as the nostalgia circuit revs up with classic rockers Styx and Foreigner. Styx, led by guitarist Tommy Shaw, found fame in the ‘70s, racking up 20 million album sales and eight top ten singles, including “Come Sail Away,” “Renegade,” and “Blue Collar Man.” Foreigner is one of the best selling bands of all time with over 80 million albums sold (“I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Cold As Ice”), receiving a nod to the 2024 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. John Waite opens.

Mother Mother, June 25, 713 Music Hall
Like many acts today, the Vancouver-based Mother Mother grew their audience via social media, long-dormant songs finding new life during the pandemic on TikTok. Once a modest band only known to Canadian audiences, their song “Hayloft” blew up in excess of hundreds of million streams and they found themselves playing 12,500-capacity venues in music capitals such as London. The tour will be co-headlined by Cavetown; Meet Me @ the Altar starts the night.

Doobie Brothers, June 30, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
A powerhouse of the '70s, the Doobie Brothers brings decades of hits and millions of albums sold, following a successful 50th anniversary tour. That jaunt saw famed member Michael McDonald (the source of an excellent gag in The 40-Year-Old Virgin) come back to the fold after a 25-year break, his buttery vocals a much-welcomed return to the band that saw success with radio-friendly singles such as “What a Fool Believes” and “Long Train Runnin.’” Grammy Award-winning jazz-blue-rock act The Robert Cray Band opens.

Photo courtesy of Megan Thee Stallion

Hot Girl Summer begins with Megan Thee Stallion's two homecoming shows at Toyota Center on June 14 and 15.

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Creed concert review

Creed serve up millennial nostalgia at pyro-packed RodeoHouston concert

Courtesy of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Singer Scott Stapp serenades the RodeoHouston crowd.

Hello, my friend, we meet again.

I’ve had a torrid relationship with Creed. As a circa-2000s punk rocker, it was implied that I was supposed to hate them. Nevertheless, I enjoyed those hook-laden Mark Tremonti riffs and Scott Stapp’s burly, Bono-grasping vocals, with just a hint of irony deep in the mix. I had “One Last Breath” on a burned mix CD, bunched in with Fugazi, Rancid, and Sham 69. I would skip it as quickly as I could, depending on who was in the car. Driving home from a long day slinging milk in the Kroger dairy cooler? Windows down, Stapp up.

When I began my music journalism career 20 years ago (!!!), I began sticking up for them, much to the consternation of a lot of my fellow writers who were hung up on stuff that was supposed to be cooler and hipper. Creed’s pop-culture zenith came right as The Strokes and The White Stripes were thrust on us by the music press as a counter to post-grunge, which other music writers were categorically allergic to. Remember when our biggest problems in America were bands that were overtly influenced by Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains?

In 2012, I interviewed lead singer Scott Stapp along the way for the Houston Press, and I distinctly recall Stapp being confused on our call that a guy from a smug alt-weekly wasn’t asking him stupid questions or making fun of his leather pants. The band was heading to Houston for a two-night stand at the Bayou Music Center in 2012 when they played 1997’s “My Own Prison” and 1999’s “Human Clay” in their entirety.

Fun fact: “Human Clay” has sold over 20 million albums alone, besting Nirvana’s “Nevermind” and Pearl Jam’s “Ten” by only a relatively small margin. Creed moved more physical CDs when people actually bought music.

Somehow, along the way, people stopped hating Creed and Nickelback, and the hate gave way to pre-social media, millennial high school, and pre-9/11 nostalgia. The similarly maligned Nickelback sold out the rodeo in 2024.

On Wednesday, March 11, I saw junior high school kids wearing crispy new Creed shirts with their parents. Gen Alpha is beginning to get curious about what mom and dad were up to during spring break 2001, and Zoomers are rediscovering Y2K fashions. Haven’t you seen those “Mom, What Were You Like In The ‘90s?” memes?

Creed has been sold out for weeks, drawing 70,007 attendees. If you had told someone 10 years ago that Creed would sell out RodeoHouston, they would have been skeptical. And yet here we are, staring down at a sold-out Creed show. These things run in cycles. Emotions fade. Annoyance turns into wistfulness for the days of Nokia brick phones and 99-cent gas. You can even go on a Creed Cruise now.

Creed hit the stage just before 9:30 pm, an enviable bedtime for most elderly millennials, kicking off with the TOOL-chugalug of “Bullets,” with Stapp and Tremonti making the best use of their stage platforms, crucial devices for any major rock band in the 2000s. Unrelenting pyro shot from the dirt surrounding the stage every time Stapp lifted or flailed his arms like Elvis if he discovered cardio.

The dirge of “Torn” — the second single from My Own Prison — was pyro-less, likely giving the cannons a few minutes to cool off. The sweaty Stapp, at just 52, looks to be in better shape than he did 20 years ago, now sporting a conservative haircut like he stepped out of his company’s stadium suite or finished a twilight run at Memorial Park.

Stapp introduced “My Own Prison” with a preachery pep talk that wouldn’t sound out of place at an altar call at Sturgis. The crowd hung on every emphatic word. Maybe seeing two middle-aged dudes wearing Stryper shirts down on the concourse made more sense than I realized. Is Creed actually just TOOL that accepted Christ? The graphics behind the band could’ve fooled me.

Stapp introduced “One” with a speech on commonalities and love. Looking back, Creed’s lyrics were much too earnest, hitting at a time when critics were still hungover from grunge.

During “With Arms Wide Open,” the rodeo cameras would routinely cut to tattooed dads and rocker chicks in the crowd playing air guitar along with Tremonti and singing their guts out like they did the first time they heard it on 94.5 The Buzz. For a large segment of the crowd, they might have had a Gen-X parent jamming this stuff on the way to school in the morning.

“Are you ready to get higher in here, Houston?” Stapp yells. The place erupts as “Higher” starts. Stapp was in his element, pyro shooting off, his silver jewelry dangling, taking in the crowd, like he didn’t expect such a response.

Possibly the last true rock power ballad ever recorded, “One Last Breath,” got the biggest screams of the night; it might also be the Gen-Z “Don’t Stop Believing” as long as we’re making wildly controversial statements. [Editor’s note: Isn’t that Mr. Brightside? -ES]

Welcome back, Creed, from pop-culture purgatory, and props for what might have been the loudest RodeoHouston show in years.

SETLIST

Bullets
Torn
Are You Ready?
My Own Prison
What If
One
With Arms Wide Open
Higher
One Last Breath
My Sacrifice

Courtesy of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Singer Scott Stapp serenades the RodeoHouston crowd.

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