The Herbal List
Valentine’s Day is upon us! Happy VD, all you lovebirds. Here’s the best of what’s coming up this week.
Before I get started, though, I want to lead with a special plug for a very special event. If you’re able, come out Friday morning (yes, Friday MORNING) for the Proler Percussion Ensemble’s FREE OUTDOOR CONCERT to kick off Nameless Sound’s spring concert season. I’ll put more details below, under the Friday heading, but I just wanted to put that out there before I continued.
Thursday, February 11
100 Strangers: Exhibition/Artist Talk — Alonzo Williams, Jr. set out to travel and photograph 100 strangers on the street. Along the way, he realized something was missing, so he started talking to them. The result is something like Humans of New York. Come check out the show and hear Williams talk at Community Artists’ Collective, 6-9 pm, FREE.
Urban Fun at My Houston 2024 — My Houston 2024 is an ongoing speaking series at Rudyard’s, but this month, they’ve added music and comedy to the mix. Come hear the Free Radicals with Harry Sheppard, The Rainbow Girls, and Frank Freeman play music; laugh to the comedy of Brian Zeolla and Britt Vasicek, and hear Pen Morrison talk about Houston’s legendary Urban Animals outlaw roller skate gang, Ana Mac Naught on the Gulfton Skatepark, and Jeff Kaplan, Evan O’Neil, & Monte Large on Houston’s need for a swimming hole. 6 - 11:30 pm, Rudyard’s, $10 ($8 in advance).
Musiqa presents “Island Time” — Come hear contemporary classical music at the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston. 6:30 pm, CAMH, FREE.
Friday, February 12
PROLER PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE FREE OUTDOOR MORNING CONCERT — I’m just a sucker for free, outdoor, renegade events. Granted, this isn’t exactly “renegade,” in that I’m sure it’s permitted, but close enough. The fact that it’s a morning concert makes it a renegade in time. Plus, if you’ve ever been to a Nameless Sound production, you know that it’s the medicine, the ointment, the salve to soothe those aches that you had forgotten all about because you’d given up on curing them and they’ve become a part of who you are. Afterwards, you’ll find yourself standing a few inches taller and walking with a spring in your step and your vision will be as if a fog has been lifted. Location details on event page in link, 9 - 11:30 am (audiences are encouraged to come and go at their leisure), FREE.
Joshua Decter and Rick Lowe in conversation — Joshua Decter is a New York-based writer, curator and art historian. Rick Lowe is our local genius artist and community organizer. Come hear their public conversation at Rice University, 12 - 1:30 pm, FREE.
Box City — Rahul Mitra’s ongoing series of Box Cities arrives at the Museum of African American Culture, as part of their Gentrification show. 6:30 pm, Museum of African American Culture, FREE.
HSPVA “Spring” Reading at LitFuse — LitFuse is a series of readings at Kaboom! Books. For this installment of LitFuse, young writers from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts will be sharing their work. Kaboom! Books, 7 pm, FREE.
Two Films by Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel — Almost 90 years after its release, Un chien andalou (1929), written by Dalí and directed by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel, still retains its ability to shock audiences. L’âge d’or (1930) is a critique of the Catholic Church and was banned in France until 1979. Menil lawn, 7:30 pm, FREE.
Stephen Lapthisophon: coffee, seasonal fruit, spaghetti and rope — Art opening at David Shelton Gallery, 6 - 8 pm, FREE.
Boo Town at Friday Night Sights — Everybody’s favorite local theater troupe presents a shadow puppet play inspired by the fiber optic cable in Bruce Munro’s Field of Light installation at Discovery Green. 7 - 8 pm, Discovery Green, FREE.
Saturday, February 13
Steve Bug at Jet Lounge — A dedicated, energetic and constantly surprising talent, Steve Bug is nothing less than an electronic music ambassador. Resident Advisor once called Steve Bug the “Gentleman of Techno” referring to his sense of duty and dependability as one of the world’s most renowned DJs and producers. Jet Lounge, 10 pm - 4 am, $25 advance, $30 at the door.
The Root of the Wind is Water — CAMH has partnered with the Houston Grand Opera for a special pop-up performance in the galleries. Select artists from the Houston Grand Opera will present a preview of “The Root of the Wind Is Water,” a new chamber opera set in Galveston that will have its world premiere in Houston and Galveston this May. The performance will be 7-10 minutes in length so be sure and arrive on time so you don’t miss it! Stay after for a lecture and book signing by David Getsy. 1 pm, CAMH, FREE.
Music for Dolphins with Dave Dove and Jason Jackson — Please join Shrimp Boat Projects for Music for Dolphins, a special performance by musicians Dave Dove and Jason Jackson, with audio engineer Ryan Edwards, and presented in collaboration with Galveston Artist Residency. 6 pm, Galveston, FREE.
Nathan Brown Oklahoma Poet Laureate (2013-2014) reading and discussion — Nathan Brown is an author, songwriter, and award-winning poet from Norman, Oklahoma. He served as Poet Laureate of Oklahoma for 2024/14. Kaboom! Books, 7 - 9 pm, FREE.
HeartBreaks ft Grandmaster Flash, Joe B, Mr. Peabody and friends — Grandmaster Flash, the DJ from Wildstyle. This man inspired DJ’s worldwide not only to learn what he does but innovate and transfer the technique to other genres. 9 pm - 2 am, The Hive, $20 presale and $25 at the door.
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS with special guests PLEASURE 2 + GERRITT — Consumer Electronics is a punk / electro / noise duo comprising ageing renegade Philip Best (ex-Whitehouse) and his American wife, the artist Sarah Froelich. Pleasure 2 is Houston’s own Indian Jewelry spinoff. Notsuoh, 9 pm, $10 presale and $12 at the door.
The World Makes No Sense Anymore - Photographs by Gary Watson — “The World Makes No Sense Anymore” is a multifaceted photographic series that explores not the environment of the air, or the water, or the world, but the environment of the human heart and the challenge of sustaining humanity and compassion in a time of extremism and violence. Acker Imaging, 6 - 8 pm, FREE.
Sunday, February 14
LOVE YOU TO DEATH ** Quentin Tarantino Theme Party!** — Come Dressed up as any character from any Quentin Tarantino film to win Prizes and merch!!! Eastdown Warehouse, 5 pm - 2 am, $8.
Whatever Forever : Masquerade Ball — Come have a sexy Valentine’s Night at this Masquerade Ball!!! Bring Bae and treat them to some drinks, dancing, and sexy party vibes. Or if you’re single and ready to mingle this is the place to meet some of Houston’s most amazing people. Get yourself in the mood. 6 pm - 2 am, Etro, FREE.
Monday, February 15
Go see Glover Gill play solo tango piano at the Continental Club for Free. Or
Go see They, Who Sound at Avant Garden for the best in local avant garde improvisational music (possibly with Nestor’s pizza oven in action). Or
Go to the Monday Night Jazz Jam at Cafe 4212. Or
Have a pizza and a frozen mojito and shake your booty at the Flat.
Tuesday, February 16
Read a book! Ride a bike! Call your mom! Clean your room!
Wednesday, February 17
STREETFILMS with Director Clarence Eckerson — Streetfilms is an offshoot of Streetsblog, a national daily news source that connects hundreds of thousands of readers from around the country to the movement to transform transportation and land use policy in the U.S. to make our cities and communities more livable, sustainable and safe. Clarence Eckerson, Streetfilms Director, travels the globe capturing the transformation taking place on the ground and the challenges our American cities still face. Rice Media Center, 6:30 - 9 pm, FREE.
Kermit Ruffins at Axelrad — This is a weekly residency that I have yet to check out, but apparently Kermit Ruffins is playing a weekly gig at Axelrad. FREE.
