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Power-posing Greta Van Fleet gets ready to rock Houston on highly anticipated new world tour

Rockers Greta Van Fleet will play Toyota Center on July 28.

Photo courtesy of Greta Van Fleet

Classic rock-influenced band Greta Van Fleet confused and inspired many when they debuted in 2012. Fusing Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, and even The Doors, the young act from Michigan dripped with a bombastic, bluesy, stadium rock vibe that didn't exactly jibe with pop acts their age.

Now, the band consisting of brothers Jake, Josh, and Sam Kiszka plus Daniel Wagner boast a legion of diehard fans, a Grammy Award, and are set to launch a highly anticipated third studio album, Starcatcher, slated to drop July 21. Fans can catch the quartet when they head hit Toyota Center on July 28 — just days after the Starcatcher release date — on the appropriately titled Starcatcher World Tour.

Houston fans who can't get enough Greta can also catch them at Fort Worth's Dickies Arena on July 27 — the only other Texas tour stop. The tour kicks off in Nashville on July 24 and will dot the globe before finally ending in Portugal in December. GVF (as they're known) will tour with Icelandic stud rockers Kaleo, plus Surf Curse, Mt. Joy, and Black Honey in support.

Tickets will be available for the Electric Tomb Presale beginning at 10 am Wednesday, April 19. in the U.S. and Europe. Expect more presale opportunities ahead of the general onsale starting at 10 am Friday, April 21. Score tickets and more Starcatcher World Tour information here.

Legendary among fans for their frenetic live shows, Greta Van Fleet has sold more than 1 million concert tickets worldwide and come with a host of accolades for their 2021 sophomore album, The Battle at Garden’s Gate. Debuting as Billboard's No. 1 Rock Album, The Battle at Garden’s Gate was also named Billboard's No. 1 Hard Rock Album, Vinyl Album, and ranked No. 2 in theTop Album Sales category. The band landed their first Grammy Award for their 2017 EP, From The Fires.

Known for brash, rock 'n' rollin', give-zero-effs showmanship, the band isn't without controversy. Lead singer Josh Kiszka sparked a hashtag campaign (#SpeakUpGVF) for what many considered was his cultural appropriation of Indigenous culture — namely his on-stage costuming. Kiszka took to Instagram to acknowledge the controversy.

No telling if the band will prompt new hashtag campaigns: perhaps regarding which politician they'd like to drop acid with?

Here are the current Starcatcher World Tour dates:

July 24—Nashville, TN—Bridgestone Arena*

July 27—Fort Worth, TX—Dickies Arena*

July 28—Houston —Toyota Center*

July 31—Denver, CO—Ball Arena*

August 2—Salt Lake City, UT—Vivint Arena*

August 4—Seattle, WA—Climate Pledge Arena*

August 5—Portland, OR—Veterans Memorial Coliseum*

August 8—Oakland, CA—Oakland Arena*

August 10—Los Angeles, CA—The Kia Forum*

August 12—Las Vegas, NV—T-Mobile Arena*

September 3—St. Paul, MN—Xcel Energy Center†

September 6—Chicago, IL—Allstate Arena†

September 8—Detroit, MI—Little Caesars Arena†

September 11—Washington DC—Capital One Arena†

September 12—New York, NY—Madison Square Garden†

September 15—Boston, MA—TD Garden†

September 16-17—Asbury Park, NJ—Sea Hear Now Festival 2023

September 19—Philadelphia, PA—Wells Fargo Center†

September 22—Indianapolis, IN—Gainbridge Fieldhouse†

September 23—Cleveland, OH—Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse†

November 6—Hamburg, Germany—Sporthalle^

November 8—Amsterdam, Netherlands—Ziggo Dome^

November 9—Paris, France—Accor Arena^

November 12—Brussels, Belgium—Forest National^

November 14—London, UK—OVO Arena Wembley^

November 16—Dublin, Ireland—3Arena^

November 19—Manchester, UK—AO Arena^

November 20—Glasgow, UK—OVO Hydro^

November 26—Copenhagen, Denmark—Forum+

November 28—Munich, Germany—Zenith+

November 30—Bologna, Italy—Unipol Arena+

December 3—Barcelona, Spain—Sant Jordi Club+

December 4—Madrid, Spain—WiZink Center+

December 6—Lisbon, Portugal—Campo Pequeno+

Tour key:

*with Kaleo

†with Surf Curse

^with Mt. Joy

+with Black Honey

Movie Review

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck square off in Netflix crime thriller The Rip

Photo by Claire Folger/Netflix

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in The Rip.

For as closely tied together as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are, it might come as a surprise how few times they’ve led a movie together. They’ve appeared alongside each other in Good Will Hunting, The Last Duel, and Air, but the only time they were on equal footing in a story was Kevin Smith’s Dogma. So the fact that they are the two true stars of the new Netflix movie The Rip makes it a rare opportunity for the longtime friends to square off against each other.

Damon and Affleck play Lt. Dane Dumars and Detective Sgt. J.D Byrne, respectively, the two highest ranking members of a Miami police department squad that specializes in drug and drug money raids. A tragedy to begin the film already has the team — which includes Detectives Mike Ro (Steven Yeun), Numa Baptiste (Teyana Taylor), and Lolo Salazar (Catalina Sandina Moreno) — on edge, with the FBI and DEA breathing down their neck.

Going off a tip, Dumars gathers the team to raid a house in nearby Hialeah that is supposed to have a stash of a relatively small amount of money. But when they get to the house occupied only by Desiree Molina (Sasha Calle), they discover close to $20 million. The team, required by law to count the money on site, must not only fight the urge to skim a little off the top for themselves, but also worry about the Cartel and other agencies that might want a slice of the pie.

Written and directed by Joe Carnahan, the film is a surprisingly effective crime thriller made even better by its high-quality cast, which also includes Kyle Chandler as a DEA agent. The story is designed for the audience to not know who’s trustworthy until the last possible second, and the various twists and turns it takes are well done, with barely a hint of narrative cheating.

Taking place entirely at night, the mood is set right from the start, with the only surprise being that Carnahan didn’t add in rain for extra effect. He keeps things tense with a number of subtle elements, including having the house located in a seemingly deserted cul-de-sac. This allows for the characters to remain on high alert at all times, with anything out of the ordinary — an unexpected noise, a flashing light, etc. — adding to the stress of the situation.

The only element that could have used a bit more of a punch-up is the characterization. The story is set up to cast suspicion on almost everybody, making it tougher to understand exactly what type of person each of them is. As the two leads, more time is spent with Dumars and Byrne, leaving everyone else with slightly underwhelming arcs. It’s to the credit of the actors that everyone else below Damon and Affleck is still compelling.

Damon and Affleck play their sometimes friendly, sometimes adversarial roles well, showing an ease together that’s a result of their friendship and the acting skills they’ve honed over 30+ years. Taylor, an Oscar hopeful for One Battle After Another, and Oscar nominee/Emmy winner Yeun have a pedigree that elevates their supporting roles. Chandler, Moreno, and Calle each get just enough to demonstrate why they were cast in their respective roles.

Damon and Affleck have had their individual ups and downs throughout their careers, but when they choose to work together, the results are usually good-to-great, as they are in The Rip. It’s a different take on a crime thriller that features a story that will keep viewers guessing until the very end.

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The Rip is now streaming on Netflix.

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