So, jumping ahead to the “Ticket Alert” portion of this column, it has just been announced that Harry Waters (son of Roger, who some would categorize as a son of a bitch) will be touring next spring with a show – created under his father’s direction – called “Legacy – A Pink Floyd Show.” The repertoire will include selections from the classic Pink Floyd albums “The Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here,” “Animals” and “The Wall.” The Houston date has been set for Sunday, March 24, at the Hobby Center.
I don’t know anything about Harry Waters, except that he played keyboards in his father’s backing band for several years. That is, until he was fired by Roger, along with most of the rest of the band, prior to a 2017 tour. Harry described the firing as “doubly hurtful,” since he was canned by his own father.
Certainly, relationships between fathers and sons can be complicated and sometimes not really understood by those outside looking in. But (evidently) when Roger began to recruit him for this upcoming tour, Harry didn’t tell him to honk off. Loyalty? Maybe they made up post-firing? Yeah, but still…
Sure, it’s different when the person in question is a family member, but Roger Waters has, quite correctly, been identified as a control freak, a selfish bandmate, a man lacking in empathy, an egomaniac, an antisemite, a geyser of hate and a guy who wore Nazi-esque regalia onstage. So why would anyone – even those who dearly love Pink Floyd’s catalog – want to attend a show with “Roger Waters Presents” atop the billing? Might as well call the band “Mein Führer and His Bunker Boys.”
OK, I’m done. But for the record, if I need to hear some Pink Floyd music performed live, I will seek out a performance by the excellent tribute band Brit Floyd. They are gifted musicians and seem like decent sorts.
Ticket Alert
If you love soul music (and who doesn’t, really?), don’t miss out on the “Love of Soul” tour, stopping at Toyota Center on Friday, March 12, The tour boasts a triple bill highlighted by Fantasia, whose career got started in 2004 when she knocked the “American Idol” judges on their collective ass with a powerhouse rendition of Gershwin’s standard “Summertime.” Anthony Hamilton and October London will open.
Latina popsters Ha*Ash (sisters Hanna Nicole and Ashley Grace) are set to perform at the 713 Music Hall on Sunday, May 16. The siblings have racked up a bunch of hit records while distinguishing themselves as philanthropists and being named as ambassadors for the Save the Children Foundation.
We’re barely out of September (one more day, anyway), and tickets are already on sale for Slipknot’s show at Daikin Park on Friday, August 6, 2027. The concert promises to be a BFD, as it will mark the masked metal marauders’ first headlining stadium tour, which is billed as “The (sic)est Stadium Tour.” Clever, boys, clever. And with Bring Me the Horizon and Polyphia (from Plano) opening, it’s a strong bill.
Concerts This Week
Well, this is the one that everyone has been waiting for. Everyone, that is, who is of a certain age, probably male, and can really identify with Jason Segel’s and Paul Rudd’s characters in the movie I Love You, Man. Yep, I’m talking about Rush, a band that is in the midst of a tour that was never supposed to happen. Following the death of drummer Neil Peart a few years ago, surviving members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson announced that Rush was closed for business.
But after allowing some time for healing and reflection, the boys embarked on a brief tour at the start of the summer, joined by drummer Anika Nilles and keyboard player Loren Gold. Being Canadians, they were cautious and began the tour on a modest scale. But as the demand for tickets increased, Lee and Lifeson decided to add more shows in different cities, and that’s what brings them to Houston Thursday night at Toyota Center. Be sure to get there early, though, as the pre-show videos are definitely worth your time and funny as hell to boot.
There are few success stories like that of Don Was. From moderate success with his first band of note, Was (Not Was), and the songs “Knocked Down, Made Small (Treated Like a Rubber Ball)” and “Walk the Dinosaur,” Was went on to produce top-drawer artists like the Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt and Bob Dylan.
In the meantime, he directed several music-based documentary films and was appointed president of the jazz label Blue Note Records in 2011. But Was was (?) always a player first and foremost, and he has appeared as a bassist on numerous stages with a wide variety of musicians, most recently in the Pan-Detroit Ensemble, which will perform on Thursday at the Heights Theater. For more on this musical venture, check out Jesse Sendejas’ Houston Press interview with Was from earlier this week.
Oh, and if you need yet another option for live music on Thursday, British neo-folkies Mumford and Sons will play the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. On Friday at the Pavilion – and this will be a treat – Boz Scaggs (please, Boz, sing “Loan Me a Dime”) will headline a show whose bill also includes Irma Thomas, the “Soul Queen of New Orleans.” That’s about as real as it gets. And ‘Cause Knowledge is Power, be aware that Thomas recorded the first (some would say best) version of “Time is on My Side,” which was a hit for the Stones in 1964.
Then it’s back to the Way Out in the Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Saturday for ZZ Top, Cheap Trick and El Campo homeboy AJ Vallejo. This show will mark ZZ Top’s first appearance in Houston since drummer Frank Beard’s passing, so the vibe may be a bit strange. On Sunday, filling out a busy weekend at the CWMP, TLC, Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue will kick it old school, though this time there will be no intro for the ages from Patrick Stewart.
Kacey Musgraves has never been a typical country artist. She has admitted that, during the early part of her career, she would “wake and bake” by hitting a gravity bong first thing in the morning (“The best part of wakin’ up…”), but by 2024, her song “Deeper Well” noted that she had cut back considerably on that sort of activity, along with other habits that “waste [her] time.” And then there’s “Follow Your Arrow,” in which she encourages listeners to “Kiss lots of boys / Or kiss lots of girls, if that’s something you’re into,” adding later, “Roll up a joint, or don’t.” Catch Musgraves’ act on Monday at Toyota Center. Or don’t Whatever you’re into.
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