semi-charmed show

Rockers Third Eye Blind will close out Summer Gods tour in The Woodlands

Third Eye Blind will bring their fourth Summer Gods Tour to Texas in summer '24.

Photo courtesy of Third Eye Blind

Rock band Third Eye Blind will become seasonal deities once again when they present the fourth edition of their Summer Gods Tour, which will include a stop at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands on August 3.

Starting on June 8, the tour will visit 37 cities over the course of two months, culminating with a three-day swing through Texas: Dallas on August 1, Austin on August 2, and The Woodlands on August 3.

They'll be joined by special guests Yellowcard and A R I Z O N A on all dates.

Third Eye Blind has previously used the Summer Gods Tour title in 2017 when they were joined by Silversun Pickups, in 2019 when Jimmy Eat World joined them on the road, and in 2022 when Taking Back Sunday was their special guest.

The band is not touring in support of any specific material, as their last album was Our Bande Apart in 2021. They have released seven studio albums dating back to 1997, selling more than 12 million records over 26+ years.

They are, however, commemorating the 25th anniversary of one of their early hits, “Jumper,” by releasing the world’s first playable .999 silver-coated and .997 karat gold-coated records. These special discs are clearly aimed at superfans, as they cost $450 for the silver version and $800 for the gold version, with a pure gold version available for an unnamed price.

Tickets for the tour will be available for presale on Tuesday, January 9 with Citi, with additional presales throughout the week. The general on-sale will begin on Friday, January 12 at 10 am at ThirdEyeBlind.com.

Third Eye Blind Summer Gods Tour

June 8 Airway Heights, WA BECU Live at Northern Quest
June 9 Nampa, ID Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
June 13 Seattle, WA WAMU Theater
June 14 Bend, OR Hayden Homes Amphitheater
June 15 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre
June 20 Los Angeles, CA Greek Theatre
June 21 Chula Vista, CA North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
June 22 Las Vegas, NV Fontainebleau Las Vegas
June 25 West Valley City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
June 26 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
June 28 Chicago, IL Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
June 29 St. Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre - St. Louis
June 30 Franklin, TN FirstBank Amphitheater
July 2 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
July 3 Buffalo, NY Darien Lake Amphitheater
July 5 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center
July 6 Noblesville, IN Ruoff Music Center
July 7 Clarkston, MI Pine Knob Music Theatre
July 9 Burgettstown, PA The Pavilion at Star Lake
July 11 Gilford, NH BankNH Pavilion
July 12 Camden, NJ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
July 13 Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center
July 14 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 16 Saratoga Springs, NY Broadview Stage at SPAC
July 18 Wantagh, NY Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
July 19 Columbia, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion
July 20 Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
July 21 Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
July 23 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
July 25 Tampa, FL MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre at the FL State Fairgrounds
July 26 Jacksonville, FL VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
July 27 Alpharetta, GA Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
July 28 Birmingham, AL Oak Mountain Amphitheatre
July 31 Rogers, AR Walmart AMP
August 1 Dallas, TX Dos Equis Pavilion
August 2 Austin, TX Germania Insurance Amphitheater
August 3 Houston, TX The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman

concerts music

Movie Review

Denzel Washington brings new spectacle to the Colosseum in Gladiator II

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Paul Mescal in Gladiator II.

There are some films for which making a sequel is natural, and others where a follow-up is wholly unnecessary. Gladiator, which made both tons of money and was named Best Picture at the Oscars, told an impactful stand-alone story that ended with the protagonist dead and no real loose ends. And yet because there’s always more money to be made, here we are 24 years later with Gladiator II.

The lead character this time around is Lucius (Paul Mescal), a general in a North African army who becomes a prisoner of war when the Roman army led by Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal) bests him and his troops in battle. Taken back to Rome, he is put in the pool of captured men forced to fight at the Colosseum for the amusement of twin emperors Geta (Joseph Quinn) and Caracella (Fred Hechinger).

Lucius is controlled by Macrinus (Denzel Washington), an ambitious schemer who bets liberally on his prized fighter and always has an eye to move up in the world. Meanwhile, Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the sister of Emperor Commodus from the first film, is now married to Marcus Acacius and has a unique connection with Lucius that is fairly obvious from the get-go.

Directed once again by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa, the film commits a number of sins throughout its 150-minute running time, the most blatant of which is that, aside from a few embellishments, it essentially tells the same story as the first film. Lucius, like Maximus, is a deposed military leader who’s out for revenge on the person who killed his family. Instead of one obnoxious emperor, there are now two. And the only way for Lucius to earn his freedom is to fight his way out.

Stories told in the same world can echo each other and, if done well, overcome those similarities. But Gladiator II is shockingly boring for a purported sword-and-sandals epic. Scott and his team try to introduce new elements to the fights, like a gladiator riding a rhinoceros or a ship battle inside the Colosseum (with sharks!), but most of the sequences are inert with no propulsion to them.

The action fails because none of the relationships in the film amount to much. There are stand-out characters like Macrinus and the twin emperors, but instead of creating antipathy or strong feelings of triumph or defeat, the story just kind of happens without any sense of excitement or importance. Much of that issue lies at the feet of Lucius, who simply doesn’t inspire in the same way that Russell Crowe’s Maximus did.

Mescal is a fine actor who’s done good work in more intimate roles, but he’s not up to the task of being an action star, at least not in this film. Any bombast he shows with the character feels forced, and the story doesn’t give him enough opportunities to counteract that lack. Washington, however, fills up the screen with his charisma, and it’s during his scenes that the film comes closest to being rousing. Quinn and Hechinger are a lot of fun as the twin emperors, but in the end they feel like retreads of Joaquin Phoenix from the original.

Any sequel should have a purpose that sets it apart from what came before, but Scott, Scarpa, and the rest of their team fail in that respect in Gladiator II. It’s a mostly lifeless film that delivers scenes that would be exciting if they had any kind of good story to back them up.

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Gladiator II opens in theaters on November 22.

movies film

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Rockers Third Eye Blind will close out Summer Gods tour in The Woodlands

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Denzel Washington brings new spectacle to the Colosseum in Gladiator II

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semi-charmed show

Rockers Third Eye Blind will close out Summer Gods tour in The Woodlands

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Movie Review

Denzel Washington brings new spectacle to the Colosseum in Gladiator II

20 Houston restaurants making Thanksgiving easier with to-go meals

Broadcaster Frank Billingsley finds second act at Houston radio station

Gluten-free Austin restaurant picks River Oaks for first Houston store

CultureMap Emails Are Awesome
Get Houston intel delivered daily.