It's been a while since I've been to a real punk rock show. There was that Misfits 25th anniversary debacle a while back, and then I saw X with the Rollins Band, but by and large, it seemed as if my punk days were firmly behind me. Like most 31-year olds, I had kind of gravitated away from snotty three-chord diatribes somewhere in my mid-to-late 20s. I think the only "punk" bands I listen to on a regular basis these days are Black Flag, Bad Religion, and the Ramones. But back in the day, I was a pretty big fan of both NOFX and No Use For A Name, so I figured what the hell -- I'll take a little stroll down Memory Lane... [more] || [Mel House] || [04/02/08]

Walter's on Washington is an interesting place -- it seems to be the only venue in Houston where the smaller the audience, the better the show. And it's not hard to figure out why. Artists at Walter's seem to feed off the intimacy that only a small audience can bring. Try going to the Meridian, for example, and see a band actually engage the people in the crowd with conversation outside the normal banter that musicians love so much. That's what makes Walter's the type of venue where bands know that, regardless of how small the crowd is, those in attendance will be rabid... [more] || [Brandon Hernsberger] || [04/02/08]

Almost every year since its inception, the Houston Rodeo has included at least one show that is more rock-oriented. That must-have ticket for this year was John Fogerty on March 12th at Reliant Stadium. As expected, Fogerty wasted no time dealing out cranked-up versions of songs from the huge catalog of hits that he has amassed over forty years of performing... [more] || [Bill Reed] || [03/26/08]

Cheesy though they can be, I love top ten lists. Honest, I really do. The main reason is that it's just not humanly possible to listen to everything potentially cool that comes out in a year. I don't care who you are or how little of a life you have outside of your blog, one person simply cannot do it. While I run this e-zine/blog/etc. mess we call Space City Rock, I myself miss a ton of supremely cool shit, just by virtue of limited funds and limited time. And because I'm a full-blown music addict, that absolutely kills me. I have twitchy fits over the fact that no, I haven't yet heard the new Beirut album, or that damn, I never got a chance to listen to the burned copy of the new Interpol a kindly friend sent my way. I could give a crap about "breaking" a band -- I just want my fix, man... [more] || [a whole mess o' folks] || [03/04/08]

To say that Walter's on Washington is the best venue in Houston in which the possibility exists to interact with the performing artists would not only be an oversimplification; it would not be doing the place justice. Walter's is important to Houston because artists are almost literally forced to coexist with their (sometimes overbearingly obsessed -- good for you, Houston) fans. It was no different tonight, as dual (well, sort of "dual") headliners Yeasayer and MGMT took to the stage in front of a very good-sized MLK Day-eve Sunday night crowd... [more] || [Brandon Hernsberger] || [03/26/08]

Okay, so what the hell am I supposed to make of these listenlisten folks, anyway? They're a cryptic bunch, playing live only sporadically, keeping a low profile in the Houston scene, capitalizing their name a ridiculous number of ways -- over the past few years, I've seen Listen Listen, listenlisten, LISTEN!LISTEN!, and ListenListen!, myself -- and then releasing a beautifully-done self-titled EP this past year that's a CD sleeve glued to a slice of honest-to-god wood with the band's name (and EP title) burned into it... (listenlisten plays at Rudyard's on Saturday, March 15th, along with Citay & Sunburned Hand of the Man.) [more] || [Jeremy Hart] || [02/28/08]

As the lights lifted from behind the stage, it was apparent right away that it was a different Foo Fighters show for Houston. The stage, backed by four screens, was packed with an eight-piece band. Guitarist (ex-Foo) Pat Smear, organist Rami Jaffee, percussionist Drew Hester, and Jessy Greene on strings joined the band for the opener. "Let It Die," off latest album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, seemed like an odd way to start off, but as soon as the distortion kicked in, the growl was heard. It became the Dave Grohl Show... [more] || [Dwayne Cathey] || [02/01/08]

When a band like Metallica plays live backed by a symphony orchestra, it's understandably a matter of notable oddity. However, when classic rock group Kansas did exactly that last Saturday night at the Stafford Centre, it was a completely natural and perfect fit. Openly heralding a celebration of the 30th anniversary of their Point of Know Return progressive concept album, released in 1977, both the longtime original stalwarts and resurfacing line-up members of Kansas joined forces to revel in the time-tested AOR popularity of the unique sound that they've established and honed throughout the last four decades... [more] || [Bill Reed] || [1/22/08]

Acoustic folk band Buxton, from La Porte, TX, releases its second full-length album, A Family Light, on Saturday, January 19th at Houston's Walter's on Washington. Before they hit the stage, I got a chance to sneak a listen to the album and emailed some questions off to the band, who were kind enough to answer them. For its part, the new album is quite impressive, with well-thought-out lyrics, smooth, expansive sounds that seem to be coming in off the Great Plains, and even some rowdier songs where the Buxton guys show the energy they bring to their live shows... (Buxton plays their CD release show at Walter's on Washington (4215 Washington Ave, Houston, TX. 77007), with By The End of Tonight, Papermoons, & Ghost Mountain.) [more] || [Pedro] || [01/18/08]

Eleven years ago, when I saw the Meat Puppets at the Astroarena opening for Stone Temple Pilots, they were pedigreed by Kurt Cobain via Nirvana's MTV Unplugged appearance, they had a gold record in Too High to Die, a hit song, and a new record that was supposed to solidify them as post-grunge cow-punk superstars. But they broke up, moved back to Phoenix, started a few different supergroup bands, got back together, broke up again, and even went to prison... [more] || [Tom Koenig] || [12/20/07]

They appeared, seemingly, out of nowhere: an instrumental metal juggernaut that almost instantly started conquering the hearts and minds of the H-town indie scene. The three guys in Rustler have only been Houston-dwellers for a relatively short time, having been washed ashore by the ravages of Katrina, but in that short while they've managed to turn some scenester heads and release an utterly badass EP, Phonetic Whips, which spits out some of the proggiest, nearly jazziest metal you're ever likely to hear... (Rustler plays at Walter's on Washington on Saturday, November 17th, along with Bowel & The Dead See.) [more] || [Jeremy Hart] || [11/17/07]

Leaving a stage littered with faux blood and body parts in his wake, Vincent Furnier, a.k.a. Alice Cooper, brought his classic form of heavy metal shock rock to an overflowing crowd of adoring fans on October 22nd at the Verizon Wireless Theater. It's been over forty years since the black-eyelinered Cooper revamped his mid-sixties psychedelic-based rock act into the standard musical fare of past FM hits that effectively put him of the map, recording-wise, with the much-fanfared release of his Love It To Death album in 1971. Over the years, he and his band have since amassed one of the most enviable chains of recognizable songs in the hard rock market... [more] || [Bill Reed] || [11/09/07]

I guess you can go home again. Literally, for me. My wife and I dropped off the kiddos at my parents' house and headed to Fitzgerald's for the long-awaited and anticipated Axiom 20th Anniversary Party. From the official blog, you could feel the excitement for this event, with many musicians and fans reuniting in Houston to remember our misspent youths and that venerable club, The Axiom, which gave a generation of Houston kids a place to explore art, music, and general weirdness... [more] || [Pedro] || [10/18/07]

Another sultry, wet Houston Wednesday, this time in the newly smoke-free Walter's on Washington, where I was pleasantly discombobulated by the clear view of the newly expanded stage. While I have always loved Walter's odd scene, touchy relationship with the locals (on any evening the cops could storm the place), and the strong pours, it needed a space for five to play without the threat of poking out eyes with pointy metal guitars and a Boeing 757 jet engine fan set in the wall above the drummer to clear the nicotine haze. Consistent with my "Chosen One" status and the work of the Houston City Council, both of my wishes came true... [more] || [Andrew Perkins] || [10/18/07]