Best December Concerts

10 under-the-radar concerts rocking intimate Houston clubs in December

The concert schedule generally follows the weather forecast.

Once the chill sets in around the holiday season, national and international artists slow their touring schedule as ticket buyers are more excited about Santa Claus coming to town. However, this gives Houston’s many local venues a chance to spotlight a seemingly bottomless magical sack of talented musical acts from across the region.

For those who need a break from the bustling Christmas shopping crowds or stressful family gatherings, these upcoming performances are worth checking out at some of the Bayou City’s more intimate and classic clubs, bars, and theaters.

Girl in a Coma, December 6, Last Concert Café
Inspired by The Smiths’ song “Girlfriend in a Coma,” San Antonio rock trio Girl in a Coma – frontwoman/guitarist Nina Diaz, sister Phanie Diaz (drums) and Jenn Alva (bass) – recently returned from an extended hiatus and are back on the road. They first got their big break when they were discovered by Joan Jett, who signed them to her Blackheart Records label in the late-aughts. A mix of riot girl attitude and undeniable hooks led to acclaimed albums such as their debut, Both Before I'm Gone, building a devoted cult following with Sia, Tegan and Sara, and the original Smith, Morrissey, among their champions.

Hayes Carll & Band of Heathens, December 7 & 8, The Heights Theater
Two acclaimed Texas favorites, The Woodlands-raised Hayes Carll and Austin’s Band of Heathens, join forces for two shows at the intimate Heights Theater. For fans of rock, folk, country, and soulful blues anthems, this supergroup built their relationship by sharing stages across the course of a decade. The idea to team up came back in October 2023, when the musicians got together for a “freewheeling family jam” in Luckenbach, Texas, culminating in plans to bring their musical union to the masses.

Hey Thanks! with Holy Worm, Letrainiump, December 7, 1810 Ojeman
The expressively named New Orleans band Hey Thanks! made waves in 2022 with their debut album, Start/Living, recalling upbeat pop, emo, and indie acts like Fall Out Boy, Walk the Moon, and a dash of My Chemical Romance. The former Warped Tour vets are covering the indie circuit having just released the chillwave-sounding single, “Forward,” with surely more music on the horizon.

Troller, Gleaming, Monochrome Lover, December 7, Axelrad
[Update: This concert has been postponed.] For those who prefer Krampus to Santa Claus, Dark Entries heralds in a black Christmas at the monthly goth, post-punk, new wave, and synth night at Axelrad. This month’s edition features Austin darkwave and shoegaze-indebted trio Troller, who recently released a synth-drenched cover of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Today,” following their 2023 album, Drain. Austin's Gleaming and Houston’s Monochrome Lover opens.

Tomar and the FCs with Tweed Smith and The Internationals, December 14, Dan Electro’s
An Austin band and Houston favorite, Tomar and the FCs are a soul group that brings the requisite passion to their live performances. In a special treat, they’ll be joined at Dan Electro’s by the legendary Tweed Smith, former backup singer to the band WAR, who knows a thing or two about the world of funk and soul music. With a reputation as a fiery live presence, expect a show with an unmeasurable amount of Yuletide joy.

Dawes, December 14, Heights Theater
Although not from the Bayou City, the Los Angeles group Dawes has a strong following here due to their critically acclaimed Laurel Canyon-influenced Americana and folk rock. Led by the buttery-voiced Taylor Goldsmith, they’ve just released another great album in Oh Brother. Prepare for the show by watching Goldsmith perform this stripped back, acoustic version of the quintessential Britpop anthem, Pulp’s “Common People,” for AVClub.com. Winnetka Bowling League opens.

Robert Glasper, December 17, House of Blues
One of the best parts about the holidays is when some of our finest talent performs in their hometown. A man with more creativity in his pinky finger than a roomful of musicians combined, Mo City-raised genius Robert Glasper is a five-time Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist, producer, and songwriter who has worked with a who’s-who across the worlds of jazz, pop, R&B, and hip-hop, including Kendrick Lamar, H.E.R., Norah Jones, Herbie Hancock, and Talib Kweli. Taking a break from his many projects for this solo gig, the vibes will go hard.

A Fistful of Soul, December 21, The Continental Club
Get on those dancing shoes. Once a long-running monthly series, the DJs behind A Fistful of Soul return to the Continental Club for one special night to celebrate their 15th anniversary as arguably the best Motown-era soul, old school R&B, funk dance party in Houston, mixed and spun on vinyl records. Over the course of its run, the night attracted international soul night DJs from as far away as Mexico City, Scotland, and England to participate in one of the most unique – and fun! – dance nights in the region.

Tony Kamel, December 26, McGonigel’s Mucky Duck
Another in a long line of talented local singer-songwriters, Tony Kamel will play up close and personal at the famed Mucky Duck, a mix of bluegrass, country, rock, and soul in his repertoire. Need proof of this his chops? His 2019 album, North of Despair, was nominated for a Best Bluegrass Album Grammy. If you like your music gritty but clever – think Jason Isbell and Sturgill Simpson – Kamel delivers it in spades with a wink and a grin.

Toadies, House of Blues, December 29
Despite being 30 years since their groundbreaking alt-rock smash record, Rubberneck, this ain’t no nostalgia gig. Fort Worth’s Toadies still go hard in a live setting, and Houston’s House of Blues has been playing host to the quartet at the end of every year from recent memory, give or take a pandemic. Not that we’re complaining – a group that releases bangers such as “Possum Kingdom,” “Tyler,” and “I Come From the Water,” deserves to celebrate the oncoming new year with us as long as they like.

Girl in a Coma/Facebook

San Antonio rock band Girl in a Coma returns to Houston at the Last Concert Café on December 6.

Movie Review

Korean monster movie Hope starts strong, then chews too much scenery

Photo courtesy of Neon

Hwang Jung-Min and Hoyeon in Hope.

Monster movies can take on all sorts of different flavors, from all-out mayhem to quieter ones where the monster can sometimes be the protagonist. The new South Korean film Hope splits the difference to a degree, delivering action-packed sequences while also attempting to understand the non-humans in a way.

The story starts in medias res, with an unseen creature having already done great damage to a huge bull and laying waste to much of a small Korean town. The local sheriff, Beom Seok (Hwang Jung-Min), tries to take control of the situation in the town, while a group of hunters led by Sung Ki (Zo In-Sung) travel into the nearby woods to see what they can find there.

Thus starts a nearly nonstop, 160-minute epic of each side trying (and mostly failing) to defend themselves against gigantic creatures who seem hellbent on destroying everything in their path. It’s not until 40 minutes into the film that the audience is shown one of the monsters in detail, and the less said the better about what it actually looks like, as the mystery behind it keeps the intrigue going.

That initial section of the film is the best, as Beom Seok — eventually joined by deputy Sung Ae (Hoyeon) — goes on a frantic hunt around the town, always just far enough behind the monster to keep from seeing it. The utter destruction he witnesses and his interactions with various locals are intense and oddly funny, with the hectic conversations he has laced with fear and incredulity over how different people choose to act.

Writer-director Na Hong-jin bounces back and forth between the people in the town and the group in the forest, doing his best to maintain the momentum of the first section. This approach works for a while as each group makes their own discoveries about the creatures and has run-ins with them that more often than not are ill-fated. Using a mixture of relatively good CGI, great production design, and an abundance of gore, the filmmaker shows he knows how to make an effective blockbuster-style film.

The trouble is, he doesn’t know when to stop. Somewhere around the two-hour mark of the movie, the story starts to become repetitive and Hong-jin introduces elements that don’t mesh well with what has come before. For some reason, he decides that some of the creatures should speak, a move that is baffling on several fronts. The biggest one is that they are voiced by English-speaking actors like Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Taylor Russell, but each speaks a non-human language, rendering their performances moot.

Jung-min puts in a fantastic lead performance, one that requires him to vacillate between abject terror and in-control leadership. In-Sung is almost as good, although his character requires him to play one note over and over again. Hoyeon, who some may recognize from Squid Game, delivers an extra shot of energy when she enters the film, something she keeps going despite her character being forced to say some bad lines.

If Hong-jin had kept the focus Hope a little tighter, the sci-fi thriller might have ended up toward the top of this year’s films. But by choosing to extend the story into territories that don’t add much to the plot or make much sense, the filmmaker puts a damper on what was a fun and brutal monster movie.

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Hope is now playing in theaters.

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