Best Concerts of the Week | Houston Press

Guess what? I was just playing with Bob Weir and the rest of the Grateful Dead. No, I’m not tripping balls. What I am doing is having fun with an online application (I guess that’s the correct term) that was introduced to coincide with the release of the 50th anniversary edition of the album Grateful Dead live from the Mars Hotel.

This link will take you to a webpage that contains several popular Dead songs, with isolated guitar, bass, drum, keyboard, and vocal tracks. A virtual mixer allows the user to mute a track—say, Jerry Garcia’s lead guitar—and play along with the rest of the band as if Jerry had called you on stage to sit down. It’s like karaoke for any instrument you might choose. Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to check out the rubber bands on my tie-dye project.

Ticket Alert
Tickets go on sale today for Rick Wakeman’s performance on Saturday, October 26 at the Heights Theater. The “Caped Crusader” will perform a one-man show (one man and a dozen keyboards, of course) that will feature a new piece, “Yessonata,” featuring themes from songs he co-wrote as a member of Yes. Hopefully, Wakeman will leave room in the show for some storytelling. He’s a true storyteller, as the video above shows.

Songwriter Jimmy Webb will perform Sunday, December 1st at the Dosey Doe Big Barn. What is it? Who is Jimmy Webb? Just the guy who wrote some of the best songs of the 20th century, tunes like the beautiful “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” the sublime “Wichita Lineman” and the breathtaking “MacArthur Park.” Yes, for heaven’s sake, “MacArthur Park.” Check out this video of Webb playing it with David Letterman’s band. (Webb is the keyboard player who isn’t bald and doesn’t wear sunglasses indoors.) Singer-songwriter Paul Zollo wrote, “A night with Jimmy on the keys is not unlike hearing George Gershwin or Cole Porter live.” He said so!

Heart’s concert scheduled for Tuesday, October 8 at the Toyota Center has been postponed due to vocalist Ann Wilson’s health concerns. A recent medical procedure revealed an unspecified form of cancer, and Wilson has chosen to undergo chemotherapy this fall. Previously purchased tickets will be valid for a rescheduled date to be announced soon, so hang on to them. Get well soon, Ann, we need you!

Concerts this week
All over town, people of a certain age are rejoicing this week, and among them are a few of my fellow music scribes at the Houston Press. I’m talking about the Totally Tubular Festival, which will stop tonight at 713 Music Hall. When concert promoters say it’s totally tubular, they mean totally. We’re talking Thomas Dolby (“She Blinded Me with Science”), Thompson Twins (“Hold Me Now”), Men Without Hats (“The Safety Dance”), Modern English (“I Melt with You”), Wang Chung (“Dance Hall Days”), Bow Wow Wow (“I Want Candy”) and Tommy Tutone (“867-5309”). You’ll think you’re back in 1982. Now, if only I could find my Members Only jacket. Does anyone have Martha Quinn’s phone number?
The last few years have been difficult for Cage the Elephant and, in particular, frontman Matt Schulz. Gun charges, a divorce and remarriage, a psychosis brought on by a reaction to prescription drugs, and the death of Schulz’s father all contributed to delaying the release of the band’s latest album. Neon Pillfor several years, but Schultz says he’s back in fighting shape. See Cage the Elephant Friday at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.
Jesse Dayton has been in great shape for a few years now. He has released Death Wish Blueshis Grammy-nominated collaboration with guitarist Samantha Fish in 2023, and now Dayton is on the road in support of his latest solo effort, THE The Blues of the Hard Way. That’s a lot of blues, Jesse. For more on the new album, check out the recent Houston Press Interview with Dayton. You can catch the Beaumonster in action Friday at the Continental Club, with Brooklyn Twang guy Luba Dvorak opening.
And what the heck, stick around for the Continental Club’s 24th anniversary party on Saturday, featuring Xanadudes, Allen Oldies Band, New Duncan Imperials, Shame on Me, Journey Agents, Jane Woe, Lonesome Haunts, Dune TX, Cactus Flowers and House Tiger. Click the link for times and locations, as the celebration will encompass both the Continental Club and Shoeshine Charley’s Big Top Lounge down the block.
ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill once told the story of how he met the members of New Kids on the Block. “So you’re the New Kids on the Block, huh?” Dusty Hill asked. “Well, I’m the old fart on the block!” Although the “kids” are now well acquainted with the old farts themselves, they are in the midst of a national tour, with a stop scheduled for Saturday at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.