show reviews

For the first time in over five years, time and travel tested performer Keller Williams brought his one-man circus to the most appropriate venue I've seen him at in years, Houston's newly revamped hot-spot Fitzgerald's. After a conversation Bacon and I had with Kellerlast year before his gig in Dallas, we learned his absence in Houston was due to many things, but mainly stemmed back to his young children and his propensity to be with them on more of a regular occasion. No worries Keller, we still love you and will welcome you with open arms any time you decide to come back. Hopefully, though, it's sooner than 2016.

Read all about the show after the jump.

The first half of the year was jam-packed with musical adventures, and it only got better in the second half. July found us traversing the country to start the month with a pair of Phish shows in Atlanta and continued through September with the re-opening of Fitzgerald's in Houston, and along with it the rebirth of Houston's indie scene.

Check out my favorite shots from the third quarter of the year after the jump.

Words by Melissa "Sausage" Cox. Photos by Anna "HashBrowns" Vernon.

The first time I saw Dr. Dog was the last show I saw at the Gypsy Tea Room right before it closed, and a guy wearing a dog mask went on stage to dance along with the band. The last time I saw Dr. Dog was at the Gilley’s complex, where a drunk girl went on stage and unplugged the opening band’s guitar (The Cave Singers), and then took off her shirt. Just from saying that, you can tell the vast change in their fan base and the people that come see their shows. This would be my fifth time to see them perform. The first time I saw them play I had never heard their music, so from the beginning I have been aware of the pure awesome they emote on stage. They made quite an impression on me, and as with most bands that are genuinely good, they have made an impression on a lot of other people as well. The last time they came into town, I was quite shocked to learn that it had sold out.

So here’s a little bit about the band, and then I’ll tell you a little bit about the show. Dr. Dog is from Philadelphia and has been making music since 2001. It is currently made up of the following members: Toby Leaman (bass and vocals), Scott McMicken (lead guitar and vocals), Frank McElroy (rhythm guitar), Zach Miller (keyboard), and Eric Slick (drums). Their music is very 60’s style groovy rock that usually has a catchy bass line. Their first major album, Easy Beat, was released in 2005. In 2007 they released, We All Belong, which is my personal favorite album of theirs. Since then they have released Fate and Shame, Shame, which have a more polished sound, and have both gained them more and more popularity.

Read the rest of the review and see more photos after the jump.

Once in a great while, a concert is announced that you know is going to be great before you even see it. I grew up listening to the greats thanks to my parents, but whenever I picked up both of Pink Floyd's masterpieces, Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall, I was stuck. Pink Floyd are their own genre, their own complete type of music, and they own it. I had the opportunity to see Roger Waters perform live once before this date, when he brought Dark Side to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for a late summer mind-blowing performance. When I found out that Waters was once again returning, only this time bringing The Wall, I was immediately pushing to both my Houston Press contact as well as my Live Nation contact about getting into that show. I needed to photograph it – it was going to be the biggest show that I had ever had the chance to shoot. Well, call it dumb luck, but I was accepted to shoot the show in the month leading up to it. Let's just say that, even though I had a ton of great shows to catch in November, my mind was completely stuck on the thought that Roger Waters would be in Houston very soon. Well, the moment came, and I was standing in the photo pit with a few photographer friends, awaiting Waters' arrival on the grandiose stage that was set up for his show.

Read all about Roger Water's The Wall performance at Houston's Toyota Center after the jump.

The final day of Voodoo Experience 2010 closed with a bang, with headliner My Morning Jacket enthralling the entire remaining festival crowd. I also had the good fortune to photograph sets from several others including Preservation Hall Jazz Band ft. Jim James & Patrick Hallahan, Voice of the Wetlands Allstars, Paul Oakenfold, MGMT and Deadmau5.

Check out my photos after the jump!

We partied pretty hard on Saturday night/Sunday morning, eventually stumbling back into our hotel room at 7 in the morning just in time for continental breakfast. Our goal was to try and make it early enough for Janelle Monae, but those were pipe dreams. Strolling into the festival at 3:30 with a serious Four Loko hangover, we headed to the closest music we could find.

Read all about the final day of the Voodoo Experience after the jump.

It's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks, but now with the upcoming holiday I'll be finishing up on our festival experiences from a few weeks ago. Saturday of Voodoo was much more lax, taking our time checking out both new and old acts we've mostly never seen before. I ended up catching sets from River City Extension, The Whigs, Cage The Elephant, Die Antwoord, Buckwheat Zydeco, Street Sweeper Social Club, Crystal Method, Eagles of Death Metal and Paul Van Dyk.

Check out my shots from Saturday, October 30th at the Voodoo Experience after the jump!

The 2010 edition of the Voodoo Experience featured an array of performers in all genre's of music and a heavy focus on the city that lays host to the festival, New Orleans. With headlining sets from Ozzy Osbourne, Muse and My Morning Jacket, and standout sets from the likes of Weezer, Hot Chip, Metric, Jonsi, Galactic and Rusko among others on Friday, Street Sweeper Social Club, Die Antwoord, Eagles of Death Metal, The Crystal Method, The Whigs and Boyz Noize on Saturday, and Paul Oakenfold, MGMT, Deadmau5 and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band featuring Jim James on Sunday.

Waking up after a 6:30 am bedtime found the group to be a bit tired and hungover, but after stepping up our game with some brunch-time Four Lokos, we were all set to take on day two of the festival. Read all about it after the jump.

As my recap from Friday, October 29th at the Voodoo Experience will tell you, we jumped around City Park in search of amazing musical experience. It didn't seem to be a problem as we caught sets from Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes, March Fourth Marching Band, Rusko, Stanton Moore Trio ft. Anders Osborne, Eli "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves, Noisician Coalition, Dead Confederate, Kaskade, Jonsi, Metric, Weezer, Hot Chip, Galactic, Raphael Saadiq and Muse.

Check out all of my shots from the day after the jump!

From the 7th of October until the 7th of November, I have been running around Texas and Louisiana hitting three different music festivals and a slew of shows dotted in between. I'm sitting here still soaking everything in from Fun Fun Fun Fest this past weekend, Voodoo Experience the weekend before and ACL a few weeks prior. I've successfully eclipsed my goal of seeing 365 different bands this year, and let me tell ya, I'm tired. I'm ready to sit back and relax, and enjoy my city for a little while. With that being said, I have a ton of content from both Voodoo and FFFF to put up over the next week, so the work's not done yet.

The 2010 edition of the Voodoo Experience featured an array of performers in all genre's of music and a heavy focus on the music of the city that lays host to the festival, New Orleans. With headlining sets from Ozzy Osbourne, Muse and My Morning Jacket, and standout sets from the likes of Weezer, Hot Chip, Metric, Jonsi, Galactic and Rusko among others on Friday, Street Sweeper Social Club, Die Antwoord, Eagles of Death Metal, The Crystal Method, The Whigs and Boyz Noize on Saturday, and Paul Oakenfold, MGMT, Deadmau5 and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band featuring Jim James on Sunday.

With perfect temperatures, great music and plenty of booze to get us riled up, we headed into Friday with full steam and vigor, excited to take on the day. Read all about it after the jump.