Concert news

Bruno Mars woos fans with 'Romantic' tour stop in Houston this spring

Photo by John V. Esparza

Pop superstar Bruno Mars will hit the road in 2026 with his first full headline tour in nearly a decade, The Romantic Tour, which will include a stop at Houston's NRG Stadium on Wednesday, April 22.

The 32-city world tour will have an initial 13-city North American leg in April and May, followed by a six-city European leg in June and July before finishing with another 13-city North American leg, August through October.

In addition to Houston, Mars will perform in Arlington on April 18 and San Antonio on September 23.

The tour is in support of Mars' long-awaited fourth solo album, The Romantic, which will be released on February 27.

It is his first solo album in 10 years, following 24K Magic in 2016. He released the collaborative An Evening with Silk Sonic with Anderson .Paak in 2021.

Mars will be joined on all dates by Anderson .Paak as DJ Pee .Wee. Leon Thomas will be the opening act in Arlington and Houston, and RAYE will join him in San Antonio.

Mars is coming off another banner year with two hit songs — “Die With A Smile” with Lady Gaga and “APT.” with ROSÉ — that stayed at No. 1 for 18 weeks and 12 weeks, respectively.

Those collaborations are par for the course for Mars, who has made songs with Gucci Mane, Cardi B, Ed Sheeran, and Chris Stapleton in recent years.

To participate in the Bruno Mars Artist Presale on Wednesday, January 14 at 12 pm, fans must sign up at BrunoMars.com by Monday, January 12 at 12 pm.

For events sold on Ticketmaster, no codes are needed — access is tied to an individual's Ticketmaster account, and anyone who signs up can join the sale.

Remaining tickets will be available during the general on-sale beginning on Thursday, January 15 at 12 pm at BrunoMars.com.

THE ROMANTIC TOUR 2026 DATES

Fri, Apr 10 — Las Vegas, NV — Allegiant Stadium
Tue, Apr 14 — Glendale, AZ — State Farm Stadium
Sat, Apr 18 — Arlington, TX — Globe Life Field
Wed, Apr 22 — Houston, TX — NRG Stadium
Sat, Apr 25 — Atlanta, GA — Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field
Wed, Apr 29 — Charlotte, NC — Bank of America Stadium
Sat, May 2 — Landover, MD — Northwest Stadium
Wed, May 6 — Nashville, TN — Nissan Stadium
Sat, May 9 — Detroit, MI — Ford Field
Wed, May 13 — Minneapolis, MN — U.S. Bank Stadium
Sat, May 16 — Chicago, IL — Soldier Field
Wed, May 20 — Columbus, OH — Ohio Stadium
Sat, May 23 — Toronto, ON — Rogers Stadium
Sun, May 24 — Toronto, ON — Rogers Stadium
Sat, Jun 20 — Paris, FR — Stade de France
Sun, Jun 21 — Paris, FR — Stade de France
Fri, Jun 26 — Berlin, DE — Olympiastadion
Sat, Jul 4 — Amsterdam, NL — Johan Cruijff ArenA
Sun, Jul 5 — Amsterdam, NL — Johan Cruijff ArenA
Fri, Jul 10 — Madrid, ES — Riyadh Air Metropolitano
Tue, Jul 14 — Milan, IT — Stadio San Siro
Sat, Jul 18 — London, UK — Wembley Stadium Connected by EE
Sun, Jul 19 — London, UK — Wembley Stadium Connected by EE
Fri, Aug 21 — East Rutherford, NJ — MetLife Stadium
Sat, Aug 22 — East Rutherford, NJ — MetLife Stadium
Sat, Aug 29 — Pittsburgh, PA — Acrisure Stadium
Tue, Sep 1 — Philadelphia, PA — Lincoln Financial Field
Sat, Sep 5 — Foxborough, MA — Gillette Stadium
Wed, Sep 9 — Indianapolis, IN — Lucas Oil Stadium
Sat, Sep 12 — Tampa, FL — Raymond James Stadium
Wed, Sep 16 — New Orleans, LA — Caesars Superdome
Sat, Sep 19 — Miami, FL — Hard Rock Stadium
Wed, Sep 23 — San Antonio, TX — Alamodome
Sat, Sep 26 — Air Force Academy, CO — Falcon Stadium at the United States Air Force Academy
Fri, Oct 2 — Inglewood, CA — SoFi Stadium
Sat, Oct 3 — Inglewood, CA — SoFi Stadium
Sat, Oct 10 — Santa Clara, CA — Levi’s Stadium
Wed, Oct 14 — Vancouver, BC — BC Place

concerts tours music

Movie review

Messy Frankenstein movie The Bride! stitches camp and confusion

Photo by Niko Tavernise

Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley in The Bride!.

The story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster is now over 200 years old, with Mary Shelley’s book having been adapted or referenced in close to 500 films. Less common is the character of The Bride of Frankenstein, which existed in the original text but has more often than not been excised in adaptations. Writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal has tried to rectify that by giving the character a big showcase in her new film, The Bride!.

Gyllenhaal has reimagined the story as one in which a woman named Ida (Jessie Buckley) becomes possessed by the spirit of Shelley (also Buckley). At the same time, the already-existing Frankenstein’s monster (Christian Bale) approaches Dr. Euphronius (Annette Bening), who specializes in reanimation, with the request to make him a wife. When Ida falls to her death in an “accident” involving her boyfriend (John Magaro), the ideal corpse becomes available.

After Ida’s resurrection, she and the monster become restless being studied by Dr. Euphronius and decide to break out to experience the world. The world, naturally, is not exactly welcoming to them, and soon the couple are on the run for causing mayhem, including a few murders. In hot pursuit are detective Jake Wiles (Peter Sarsgaard) and his assistant, Myrna Mallow (Penélope Cruz), as well as other authorities.

It’s clear that Gyllenhaal wanted to merge the Frankenstein story with Bonnie & Clyde, especially since she sets the film in the mid-1930s. And that wouldn’t have been a bad idea if having the monster and The Bride going on a crime spree was truly the focus of the movie. But most of the time there’s less intentionality in their misdeeds and more confusion, leading to a muddled plot with no clear direction or end goal in mind.

One of the biggest problems is that Gyllenhaal starts the energy of the film at an 11, giving her and everyone else nowhere to go but down. She dabbles in multiple different tones, at times going the straight drama route and other times making what seems like full-on camp. At one point, she even has the monster and the Bride in a dance sequence set to “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” which would be hilarious as an homage to Young Frankenstein if the film weren’t so disjointed.

Most baffling of all is what Gyllenhaal wants from The Bride character. She morphs multiple times over the course of the film, from close to unintelligible at the beginning to rough-and-tumble at the end. There are hints at the lack of control she has over her autonomy, including Shelley’s possession of her and the monster lying to her about her past, but any commentary that Gyllenhaal might be trying to make gets lost amid the oddity of the film as a whole.

Both Buckley and Bale are all-in for their performances, which definitely fall in the “love it or hate it” dichotomy. Each scene is pitched so high that there’s little nuance to either of them, and neither is on par with their previous Oscar-caliber roles. The high-powered supporting cast of Bening, Sarsgaard, Cruz, and Jake Gyllenhaal is watchable based on previous roles, but none of them elevate this particular movie.

Whatever intentions Maggie Gyllenhaal had in making The Bride! are only halfway legible in a film that can never find its tonal footing. There has rarely been subtlety in movies featuring Frankenstein’s monster and related characters, but this one makes all the others seem like stuffy dramas in comparison.

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The Bride! is now playing in theaters.

movies film maggie gyllenhaal annette bening christian bale jessie buckley peter sarsgaard penélope cruz movie review