weekend event planner

These are the 15 best things to do in Houston this weekend

This weekend brings an end to this year’s Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It’s one last chance to try your luck in the carnival, eat cotton candy bacon, and put on your finest Western wear.

Away from the NRG complex, a lot of musical events will be going down this weekend, from the return of Daryl Hall to a salute to Dave Brubeck to Musica Tra Amici saying goodbye. This weekend also offers an RV show, a plant sale, a wine and tapas gala, and a celebration of comic art.

Thursday, March 20

The Ultimate RV Show
The Ultimate RV Show features the latest makes and models of new RVs. Show attendees can check out more than 200 fully-staged RVs in all classes, from compact, lightweight tent trailers to truck campers, travel trailers, fifth wheels, toy haulers, Class-A motorhomes, and more. Attendees can also play a pro from the American Corn Hole League and win prizes, ride a mechanical bull, and pose for photos with kangaroos and baby lemurs. Noon (10 am Friday-Sunday).

Moody Center for the Arts presents Moody Project Wall - Christopher Sperandio: "Comics Without Borders" opening reception
Moody Center for the Arts will celebrate the student-curated and artist-led Moody Project Wall installation, "Comics Without Borders." Opening in coordination with the multi-day event Comics Sans Frontières, guests can see how Rice students co-curated a selection of original comic art sourced from the archive of American comic book artist Jack Katz, recently donated to Rice University. Pulitzer Prize-winning comic artist Art Spiegelman will hold a public conversation afterwards. 5 pm.

Rad Day 2025
Rad, the 1980s cult classic that greatly influenced BMX culture, is returning to theaters for a one-night-only event, on the day of its 1986 original release. While the film wasn’t a box office success upon its original release, it has become an iconic touchstone for fans. Now, it’s taking over 700 screens across North America. Along with the film, you’ll also get the world premiere of A Rad Documentary, which chronicles the making of the film and its impact. 7 pm.

Friday, March 21

4th Wall Theatre Company Fête: 15th Season Announcement Party
4th Wall Theatre Company will present their inaugural Fête celebration, a gala dinner announcing their upcoming season. The party will be inspired by their spring 2025 production of Hamlet, a stripped-down re-imagining of Shakespeare’s classic for a modern audience. The event will feature a cocktail hour followed by a royal feast from the Aaron Bludorn-lead culinary team. There will also be entertainment, an auction, and a raffle. 6:30 pm.

Ensemble Theatre presents Flex
Flex is a powerful play about swagger, determination and sticking together. It’s 1997 and the WNBA is changing the game. Every player on Plainnole’s Lady Train basketball team now dreams of going pro — but first, they’ll have to navigate the pressures of being young, gifted, Black, and female in rural Arkansas. Candrice Jones’ play about a high school basketball team explores the fierce strength of young Black women in the South and what it means to be part of a team. Through Sunday, April 13. 7:30 pm (2 & 7 pm Saturday; 3 pm Sunday).

Houston Symphony presents "Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody & The Little Mermaid"
Based on a catchy little tune by Paganini, Rachmaninoff’s diabolically difficult Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini blends explosive piano feats with melodies that melt the heart. And music director Juraj Valčuha leads music sprinkled in fairy tale magic: swim through the wonders of Liadov’s Enchanted Lake, then dive under the sea with Zemlinsky’s lavishly romantic The Mermaid, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Mermaid” story. Pianist Kirill Gerstein will be featured in the concert. 7:30 pm (2 pm Sunday).

Voice of Brubeck: Themes and Explorations
Voice of Brubeck: Themes and Explorations will include major orchestral and vocal works of jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck. It will feature jazz artist Chris Brubeck, along with The Moores School of Music Symphony Orchestra, soloists Simone Gundy (The Voice) and Horace Alexander Young, and the Paul English Quartet. The concert includes some of Brubeck’s sacred vocal music, a few of his jazz masterpieces, and a five-movement orchestral tour-de-force, Theme and Explorations, commissioned by Andre Previn. 7:30 pm.

Saturday, March 22

Houston Arboretum presents Spring Plant Sale
Shoppers can upgrade their garden with Texas native plants during Houston Arboretum & Nature Center’s Spring Plant Sale. The two-day sale features perennial and annual wildflowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees, perfect for attracting butterflies, bees, and other pollinators while helping to conserve water, reduce mowing, protect the soil, and save money on fertilizer and pesticides. Plant quantities may be limited, and the plant list is subject to change based on availability. Proceeds benefit the Arboretum’s conservation and education efforts. 9 am.

Houston Food Bank presents Empty Bowls Houston
As part of a grassroots effort by artists and craftspeople in cities and towns across the country to feed the hungry, Empty Bowls Houston is implemented locally by Houston-area ceramists and artists working in various media, the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Houston Food Bank. Attendees have the opportunity to select a bowl from thousands of hand-crafted bowls, donated by Houston-area ceramists and craft artists, and receiving a simple lunch. Pottery, woodturning demonstrations, and live music will be featured at the event. 10 am.

Chef Tristen Epps presents Pardon My French
As part of the preparations for Buboy, a tasting menu restaurant inspired by the Afro-Caribbean diaspora, chef Tristen Epps will host a pop-up at downtown steakhouse Guard & Grace. The one-night-only meal will explore the influence of French cuisine on cultures around the world. Epps, a contestant on the current season of Top Chef, will serve dishes such as Texas wagyu steak frites, foie gras pate, and ricotta dumplings with local greens and truffle. 6 and 8:30 pm.

Patrons for Bellaire Parks presents 15th Annual Wine & Tapas Gala
Patrons for Bellaire Parks' 15th Annual Wine and Tapas Gala will feature the theme of “Magic in the Park.” Bellaire Civic Center will be transformed into a magician’s playground with entertainment including a silent auction, a wine pull, liquor toss game, and a magic show. Food from many favorite local establishments will be served tapas-style, so that guests can sample many different dishes. The event, dedicated to raising funds for a renewal of Evergreen Park, will honor local musician Ezra Charles. 7 pm.

Daryl Hall in concert
Is anyone else still torn up that Hall & Oates is no more? It seems the pair that were once the most popular pop duo of all time aren’t even on speaking terms. That means we’ll probably never get them on the same stage singing “Private Eyes” or “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do).” Well, Hall will be here this weekend, in support of his 2024 solo album, D, performing both old and new tunes. He'll be joined by special guest Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze. 8 pm.

Sunday, March 23

Main Street Theater presents Memoriam
In the near future, Memoriam Inc. buys and sells memories, digitizing them for mass-viewership. Now Rachel, a buyer for Memoriam, is going after the most important and most personal memory acquisition she has ever sought: the memories of the last Holocaust survivor on earth — who happens to be her own grandmother. Memoriam, making its world premiere, is a powerful, painful, loving story of family and what memories mean, who owns them, and what we owe to future generations. Through Saturday, April 19. 3 pm.

Girl Tones, with The Velveteers, in concert
Girl Tones, of planet Earth, are a high-energy rock duo brought to life by two sisters named Kenzie and Laila. Both classically trained musicians, Kenzie transitioned from cello to guitar and Laila from piano to drums in an effort to electrify sentient beings from this galaxy to the next. Already in 2025, Girl Tones made their way to Europe to once again support Cage The Elephant out on the road. They are now back in North America for a string of shows with The Velveteers, including Sunday night’s show in Houston. 7 pm.

Musica Tra Amici presents Eric's Farewell
Eric Halen, together with a small group of friends and the tireless support of his family, realized a dream that seemed almost impossible: creating a new chamber music series in Houston. Over 11 seasons, their dream has flourished into a Houston institution and now, as Halen takes his well-deserved retirement from the Houston Symphony, he is taking a triumphant last turn at Musica Tra Amici in a typical program exploring both the works we know and love and some that we will fall in love with. 7 pm.

Photo by Lora Karam

Daryl Hall will play the Arena Theatre on March 22.

event-planner

super duper

Quirky Houston DJ drops genre-blending mix CD inspired by video games

Photo by Dustee Torres

DJ Squincy Jones

If you’re the type of person who has dubstep, Southern hip-hop, and Koji Kondo’s iconic “Ground Theme” from Super Mario Bros. in your streaming-music library, then Squincy Jones has created the perfect playlist for you..

Photo by Dustee Torres

DJ Squincy Jones

Super Nintendub is the name of the mix where the Houston-born-and-bred DJ mashes up all those aforementioned music genres. A capella bars from Houston heavyweights (Megan Thee Stallion, Paul Wall) and other Dirty South MCs (Three 6 Mafia, 8Ball & MJG) gets laid over grooves from underground dubstep artists (Numa Crew, Blay Vision, Hamdi). But we also get music from various Nintendo (Castlevania III, Ninja Gaiden) and Super Nintendo (Super Mario World, Final Fantasy VI) games. Jones also throws in audio samples from commercials and gaming-heavy movies like WarGames, The Wizard, and the Adam Sandler-produced Grandma’s Boy.

Needless to say, Jones has always been a gamer. He’s had his run of game systems: NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, even the old-school Atari 2600. He recalls his days blowing the dust out of such cartridges as Contra, Double Dragon, and Duck Hunt. In the past, Jones has released a series of mashup mixes – titled Blend Pack – with cover art that resembles/salutes classic video games.

“I'm a huge fan of all the eight-bit and 16-bit stuff,” says Jones (government name: Shane Rector), 41. “I play a lot of the new games, or I have played a lot of the new games, but not as much anymore. You know, being a parent and having a full-time job – you don't really have time for video games anymore.”

Super Nintendub is a sequel to Nintendub, a dubstep mix he played during a party way back in 2008. “I added some a capellas, [like] a Bun B a capella,” he recalls. “I had some other Dirty South tunes from the time. I layered them because they're at the same tempo as dubstep. Another friend that does music gave me a folder of Nintendo songs. So, I just randomly layered it on top and kinda slowed down the Nintendo music, and it sounded cool as hell to me.”

The mix picked up fans overseas when he dropped it online. “I've always wanted to make a follow-up to it because I got so much good feedback,” he remembers. “People from all over were writing about it."

Jones decided to release Super on compact disc, sold in rectangular keep cases – packaging that’s very familiar to gamers – with double-sided artwork also by Jones. (A digital link is available upon request to those who buy the CD.) While the limited-edition disc is available for purchase on Jones’s Bandcamp page, the CD mix shouldn’t be confused with the Super mix that’s currently playing on the page.

“I wanted to have them in the mix as well,” he says. “But I'm not entirely, you know, confident with my production skills. So, I just kinda had it on the side to go along with the release of this mix.”

Since releasing Super in September, Jones says he’s gotten good feedback from those who’ve bought a copy. “Because it looks like a video game,” he says, “a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, cool! Is it an actual game or an actual DVD or whatnot?’ But it's always hit or miss because some people are like, ‘Oh, man, I don't have a CD player’ or "Wow, you actually printed a CD,’ because everything's, you know, digital.”

He’s looking into playing a big-screen version of Super, where videos of the rap songs are spliced in with video-game footage and other retro clips, somewhere around here. “I was thinking like either a movie theater or somebody mentioned Aurora Picture Show, or maybe Wonky Power, to do like a viewing or showing or whatever – kind of have a party for it.”

Even though Jones enjoys merging gaming and music – his dual obsessions – he still prefers to be known as more than a video-game DJ. A veteran of the Houston DJ scene for a quarter of a century, he continues to do gigs like his upcoming monthly residency at Eight Row Flint.

“I do open-format DJing,” he says. “I've done raves and dubstep parties. I've played on the radio. I've played at Mid Main, where it’s a mainstream crowd. In this day and age, everybody has their branding or whatnot. I just love video games, so I just kind of take that as my branding, I guess.”

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