If you happen to live under an actual rock, you might not have been aware that Houston’s music (and journalism) world is currently on fire, largely because a major player in that scene, Omar Afra, the Free Press Houston CEO, head honcho of famed music/art festival Day for Night, and co-founder of the sadly-departed Free Press Summer Festival, has been accused of sexual assault by at least two women…
Written on August 14, 2018 | Posted in
Posts
So. I stopped doing these little weekend-preview things a while back, because honestly, it was eating my life and giving me a nervous breakdown; I kept running out of time to do ’em, which meant I had to scramble, and that stressed me out, and y’know, other stuff needed to get done, right? Lately, though, I’ve been missing it…
Written on September 23, 2016 | Posted in
Posts
Oh, yes. Ever since the very first-ever Free Press Summer Fest hit this city, there’s been grumbling and griping out there (and from me right here, it’s true) about why in the sweet fuck did Omar Afra and his Free Press Houston crew decide to schedule their big-ass music fest for the hottest part of the H-town summer? And could we please-please-please make it “Fallfest” or “Winter Fest” or something?…
Written on September 17, 2015 | Posted in
Posts
Yes, it’s that time. Time to once again brave the blistering Houston summer heat, damage our eardrums, get our favorite t-shirts filthy (Pro Tip: Do not wear your favorite t-shirt.), spend a shit-ton of money, listen to a lot of awesome music, nearly pass out a few times, high-five friends, smile at some very cool […]
Written on June 3, 2015 | Posted in
Posts
Before I crash out for the night, though, I’d been wanting to post about these for a little while now, and the deadlines are coming up really quickly, so… There’re two different sets of awards you need to go and vote for, right damn now, namely the Houston Press Best of Houston 2014 Awards and The 1st Annual Sammy Awards…
Written on September 19, 2014 | Posted in
Posts
Yes, yes, yes, yes. The kind folks who run the Free Press Summer Festival popped up today, less than a month before this year’s festival kicks off (Saturday, May 31st, & Sunday, June 1st), to release two very, very awesome things: the official schedule for the festival and the mobile app for the festival…
Written on May 7, 2014 | Posted in
Posts
If there’s anything I’ve learned in all the years I’ve spent doing critical writing, both in college and after, it’s that you can make anything have a theme. Not that everything actually has a theme, mind you, but rather that if you read…
Written on July 17, 2013 | Posted in
Features,
Live Reviews
Got word today that yes, the official-schmofficial schedule for this year’s Free Press Summer Fest is now online…
Written on May 1, 2013 | Posted in
Posts
Today’s a big day, at least in the realm of H-town music media, because it’s the 10-year anniversary for two of my favorite publications/sites/etc., namely {Free Press Houston} and {Houston Calling}…
Written on March 8, 2013 | Posted in
Posts
Hey, all — already into the weekend, I’m afraid, but there’s still lots going on tonight, Friday, March 8th/b>. Get on out the house, y’all…
Written on March 8, 2013 | Posted in
Posts
Boom. There it is, y’all — those crafty people over at {Free Press Houston} just released the lineup (so far, anyway) for this year’s Free Press Summer Fest. Take a look at the poster over there on the right…
Written on February 28, 2013 | Posted in
Posts
Start of the weekend, folks, and yeah, it’s looking like a damn busy one, kicking off tonight, Friday, October 26th, and rolling on from there. Here’s what’s up for this evening…
Written on October 26, 2012 | Posted in
Posts
Yeah, I know I’ve skipped more than a few “Pt. 3″s lately; sorry about that, but in most of those cases, it just felt like there I didn’t have much to say about even the good shows that were going on those past Sundays… Not the same deal for today, mind you…
Written on August 26, 2012 | Posted in
Posts
By Sunday, I felt like I was a pro at getting around on the Free Press Summer Fest grounds. The festival organizers were also getting better at knowing what they needed to change…
Written on June 22, 2012 | Posted in
Features,
Live Reviews
I didn’t really enjoy the Free Press Summerfest… I devoured it. When I go to a concert with my wife, I try to enjoy myself, take it slow, kick back and relax, but by myself…
Written on June 15, 2012 | Posted in
Features,
Live Reviews
This was the fourth installment of an exhilarating, up-and-coming summertime weekend music festival in the fair city of Houston, thrown by the preeminent local events and entertainment rag of the same name, the Free Press. In its first year, the Free Press Summer Fest featured Broken Social Scene as one of the headliners. Don’t get me wrong…
Written on June 12, 2012 | Posted in
Features,
Live Reviews
And here we are, heading into Sunday, May 27th; it’s a wee bit quieter than the past two days, but there is still some great stuff going on…
Written on May 27, 2012 | Posted in
Posts
I’ve been very, very remiss when it comes to posting about the impending Free Press Summerfest, I’m afraid, and now here we are, and it’s just over a week from today…
Written on May 26, 2012 | Posted in
Posts
Yes, yes — it’s now the weekend, and there’s a lot going on. Things’ll get crazier as the weekend goes on, but even tonight, Friday, September 23rd, is pretty damn nuts. First off (and coming up pretty quick), those crazy art-punks in the aptly-named {Art Institute}…
Written on September 23, 2011 | Posted in
Posts
Damn. First off, yes, I do realize it’s been two freaking weeks since the end of this year’s Free Press Summerfest, and a week-and-a-half since the first installment…
Written on June 20, 2011 | Posted in
Features,
Live Reviews
After only the first couple of hours of being at this year’s Free Press Summerfest, I was feeling really freaking old. There was a time when I could pull off an all-day festival in the blistering heat of summer…
Written on June 8, 2011 | Posted in
Features,
Live Reviews
Next installment of little mini-writeups for Free Press Summerfest, right here; sorry, I meant for it to go up last night but ended up staying up late with a sick munchkin…
Written on June 2, 2011 | Posted in
Posts
Awesome, awesome, awesome. Got an email earlier today from the folks behind the Free Press Summerfest, promising that they’d have the official schedule for the deal up shortly…
Written on May 10, 2011 | Posted in
Posts
I could be completely off the mark, but when it come to live music, it’s always felt like Houston has been starved for choice. Maybe it’s the numerous venues that have been torn down to be replaced by generic bars, or maybe it’s the fallout from the Walter’s on Washington incident…
Written on April 15, 2011 | Posted in
Features,
Live Reviews
Okay, I’ll admit it: I’m watching the SXSW coverage ramping up and feeling somewhat bummed that I’m not there to witness it. sigh. This may sound a little crazy, but I’ve only ever been to SXSW one damn time…
Written on March 16, 2011 | Posted in
Posts
In case you hadn’t seen it already, today brought some news on the Free Press Summerfest front: the {Free Press Houston} crew announced four new artists for this year’s ‘fest, namely OutKast‘s Big Boi…
Written on March 15, 2011 | Posted in
Posts
Couldn’t make it out to the official “unveiling” night for this year’s Free Press Summerfest show, sadly, due to, well, it being Valentine’s Day & all…
Written on February 15, 2011 | Posted in
Posts
While it might not win you points with any but the most hipster-ish of dates this coming Valentine’s Day, the {Free Press Houston} folks have a little party set up, just for you. Well, you and pretty much anybody else who’s psyched to learn who…
Written on February 9, 2011 | Posted in
Posts
Saturday, January 30th is upon us (well, technically, anyway, since midnight just passed), and there’s still a crap-ton of stuff to check out, as before. Here’s where I’d go, if, um, I were you…
Written on January 29, 2011 | Posted in
Posts
Uh. Wow. It’s been a rough week at the Day Job, so I’ve been mostly just keeping my head down, trying to get deadlines met & whatnot; the site’s been the furthest thing from my mind most of this week. Which explains the look of stunned surprise that’s currently working its way off my face…
Written on September 30, 2010 | Posted in
Posts
Okay, so the really big news for tonight (Thurs., September 23rd) is that it marks the reopening/rebranding/re-whatever-ing of venerable club fixture Fitzgerald’s, which was sold a while back…
Written on September 23, 2010 | Posted in
Posts
Hey, all — still mostly offline at the moment, but I managed to get a spare second at a computer, so I figured I’d better post about a couple of things while they’re hot(-ish)…
Written on July 29, 2010 | Posted in
Posts
Next pile of bands, right here… I’m a wee bit nervous, I have to say, about the weather — if it’s pouring Saturday & Sunday, the Summerfest is going to be, um, interesting. I saw what Eleanor Tinsley Park looked like last year…
Written on June 3, 2010 | Posted in
Posts
Not sure if this’ll go up before the Blogger cutoff, but hey, it’s worth a shot… Earlier today the Free Press Houston gang pulled back the curtain and revealed some new details about the upcoming Free Press Summerfest (June 5-6). And honestly, it’s kind of a mixed bag, for me. First and foremost, they’ve now […]
Written on May 1, 2010 | Posted in
Posts
Y’know, I’m already pretty blown away by the lineup for this year’s Free Press Summerfest (coming up in just over a month, June 5-6) — I mean, they’ve already got The Flaming Lips, Lucero, Mix Master Mike, Cro-Mags, Detroit Cobras, Dead Prez, Stars…the list goes on & on — so I’m having a bit of […]
Written on April 30, 2010 | Posted in
Posts
Yours truly spent some quality time last night with his peers in the H-town music-writing community last night, thanks to Caroline Collective-izer and all-round cool guy Matthew Wettergreen, who cajoled and coerced nearly a dozen writer-type people into showing up at Cecil’s and hanging out for a few hours. And it was a hell of […]
Written on February 18, 2010 | Posted in
Posts
Man…those crazy FPH folks make me jealous (not to mention lazy & slow). In the now-several years it’s been around, the Free Press Houston has grown from a hearts-in-the-right-place local Public News-style B&W music/etc. paper…
Written on October 25, 2008 | Posted in
Zines