Live Music Now

DMB, Nicki Minaj, and Kenny Chesney lead the 12 best concerts in Houston this May

April’s concert schedule was the appetizer. Get ready for the main course.

May’s concert calendar is stacked with numerous shows for fans of any genre.

Since pandemic restrictions were lifted two years ago, the live concert world went into overdrive, almost as if fans realized how much they missed going to shows. Ticket prices soared in response to the rising demand, and there are no signs that the public’s desire for lights and music will abate any time soon.

To help you decide where to spend your hard-earned money, here are our biggest and best shows of the month, narrowing down a long list of worthy artists into the following dozen.

Interpol, May 5, Bayou Music Center
New York City’s finest early-2000s post-punk rockers Interpol are riding a wave, having just played their biggest show to date – performing a free show for 160,000 fans in Mexico City. Alas, Houston fans will have to pay to see their stop at Bayou Music Center, but it will be worth it. The band is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Antics, so expect to hear many songs from its second – and arguably their best – album. El Mato A Un Policia Motorizado and Narrow Head support.

Nicki Minaj, May 9, Toyota Center
The Queen of Hip Hop, Nicki Minaj, returns to the Bayou City, her technicolor vision and envelope-pushing lyrics surely to be on full display during her Pink Friday 2 world tour. A sequel of Minaj’s groundbreaking debut No. 1 album, Pink Friday, she has since racked up 17 No. 1 singles and basically become a pop culture icon. A hitmaker in her own right, Monica (of “That Boy is Mine” fame) opens.

Kenny Chesney, May 9, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Certain artists can be expected to make an annual appearance in Houston (see DMB below). Laidback country crooner, Kenny Chesney is one of those, as his rabid No Shoes Nation fanbase will show up in droves to see him ply his Jimmy Buffet brand of new country music that found 40 of his songs hit the top 10 on the country and pop charts. He'll be celebrating 30 years since the release of his debut, In My Wildest Dreams, no doubt plucking gems from across his songbook, including "You Had Me at Hello," "The Good Stuff," and "She's Got It All."

Waxahatchee, May 10, Heights Theater
Waxahatchee, aka Katie Crutchfield, is seemingly everywhere these days. The top-tier singer-songwriter best known for the folk-indie 2020 classic, Saint Cloud, was recently featured in Pitchfork, she appeared with her band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and her new album, Tiger’s Blood has been hailed as one of the year’s best. That makes her intimate show at Heights Theater a rare opportunity to see a fantastic artist on the ascent. Don’t miss it.

Big As Texas Music & Food Festival, May 10-12
A country music and BBQ-centric festival in Conroe? We’re surprised it hasn’t happened sooner. The inaugural Big As Texas Music & Food Festival will feature 75 acres filled with everything country fans could ever want, including – no lies dectected – pig races, line dancing, horse riding, live chainsaw carving, and exotic car shows.

The concert lineup is nothing to kick dust at either with Billy Strings, Dwight Yoakum, Thomas Rhett, Midland, Dierks Bently, Warren Zeiders, Clay Walker and many others on tap to perform. Live art and family-friendly activations from numerous vendors will keep it interesting for all who attend. Giddy up!

Echo & the Bunnymen, May 10, White Oak Music Hall
The pride of Liverpool, Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant are legends that drive Echo & the Bunnymen, rising from the New Wave and early post-punk days, influencing countless bands with a sound of grandeur and majestically epic tunes. A career spanning over four decades now, the band is still a workhorse on the road, touring consistently and still churning out decent albums. But it’s the power of their numerous hit songs like “The Killing Moon,” “The Cutter,” “Lips Like Sugar,” and “Bring on the Dancing Horses” that keep us coming back to see them.

Slowdive, May 11, White Oak Music Hall
Shoegaze is having a moment, y’all.

A scene started in the early ‘90s by mostly British bands who were prone to staring at their feet during live performances, shoegaze acts recently found new life thanks to TikTok, where Gen Zers are using the lush, dreamy songs to soundtrack their videos. Thanks to that, bands like the excellent Slowdive are playing amphitheater-sized venues with fans from across generations. While their 1993 masterpiece album, Souvlaki, is considered one of the genre’s signatures, last year’s everything is alive achieves the same heights as one of last year’s best albums.

21 Savage, May 16, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
One of the biggest hip-hop artists in the game right now, 21 Savage is bringing his American Dream tour to amphitheaters across Texas. The British-born, U.S.-raised rapper has been at or near the top of the charts since his debut album, Issa Album, hit No. 2 in 2017. His tour namesake, American Dream, hit No. 1 in multiple countries following its release earlier this year. J.I.D, Nardo Wick, and 21 Lil Harold open.

Brooks & Dunn, May 17, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
The “Boot-Scootin’ Boogie” boys, Brooks & Dunn are back in Houston. They called it quits in 2010 with their Last Rodeo tour, but the road and adoring fans called to them, leading to a return with their Reboot tour in 2021, including a headlining spot at RodeoHouston in 2023. And why not? The Country Hall of Fame duo comprised of the most country & western names ever, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, are responsible for 30 million albums sold and numerous hits including the aforementioned No. 1 song, alongside “Neon Moon,” “My Maria,” and “Only In America.”

Idles, May 22, White Oak Music Hall
The hard-hitting U.K. rock act Idles might be the most exciting band from across the pond right now. Their latest and fifth album, TANGK, is a high watermark, hitting No. 1 on the British music charts, with longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich behind the boards. Meanwhile, the record has been receiving critical praise and lead singer Joe Talbot is finally being recognized for the treasure he is, the next in the long line of witty, lyrical, and electrifying Brit frontmen. This show is a must-see.

T-Pain, May 29, 713 Music Hall
One of the best party-starters in the hip-hop world, T-Pain brings his aptly named "Mansion in Wiscansin Party" tour to 713 Music Hall. For better or worse, T-Pain is largely recognized as the king of auto-tune, starting the computerized vocal crazy in the early 2000s on hit songs such as the No.1 “Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')” and numerous other inescapable appearances on songs by other artists, including “Low” by Flo Rida and “Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)” by Pitbull.

Dave Matthews Band, May 31, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Love them or hate them, this era’s version of a jam act, Dave Matthews Band has been an institution for three decades, consistently filling mid-to-large venues around the world, performing to a devoted, Birkenstock-wearing clan of fans. Millions of albums sold, and thousands of shows played, paid off with an upcoming induction to the 2024 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s to the point where DMB doesn’t even have to have an album to tour (the last was 2023’s Walk Around the Moon) — they come around to seemingly every major city, every year.

Photo courtesy of Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band performs May 31.

Honorable Mentions
Joe Satriani & Stevie Vai, May 5, 713 Music Hall
Mr. Bungle, May 8, House of Blues
Pond, May 8, White Oak Music Hall
Kamasi Washington, May 14, House of Blues
Real Estate, May 16, White Oak Music Hall
Sean Paul, May 20, 713 Music Hall
Two Door Cinema Club, May 28, White Oak Music Hall

concerts

Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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