Houston’s Best Weekend Events — What to Do on a Rodeo and Deep Cuts Party Weekend: The Guru Reveals His Best Bets

Houston weekends are packed full of events, but how many of them are truly worthy of your time? PaperCity’s Weekend Guru Matthew Ramirez cuts through the clutter to give you the best options in this weekly series.

Party On

The 1992 cult comedy Wayne’s World is mostly known for its opening scene, a raucous rendition of Queen‘s “Bohemian Rhapsody” set in a car while one of Wayne and Garth’s friends battles motion sickness. However, beyond the easy jokes of guys air-guitaring and singing that song’s ridiculously high falsettos, is an early-90s time capsule that makes a mockery of corporate sponsorships and mindless “content”-oriented media (predating reality TV!), and reckons with the dawn of the go-nowhere nineties slacker ethic.

Of course, the movie is still very funny and often poignant.

It plays Friday, March 9, at 7 pm, as the first of spring’s return of Movies at Market Square Park. As always, the movie is free, with food and beverages from food trucks available, plus lawn games and a photo booth.

Ferg is the Name

A$AP Ferg (of A$AP Mob) was always billed as the group’s streetwise tough guy, a descendant of former New Yorkers who once owned this claim such as Dipset’s Jim Jones. But Ferg has also shown a willingness to experiment with his unique, caterwaul of a voice – witness the high-pitched delivery he perfected on the immortal “Work,” or the frequently avant-garde beats on 2016’s underrated Always Strive and Prosper.

Seemingly as a course correction, his low-stakes 2017 mixtape Still Striving was first and foremost about Ferg’s rapping, a “back to the basics” approach that yielded one of the biggest hits of his career, the Three-Six Mafia interpolation “Plain Jane”. Fresh off A$AP Mob’s surprisingly consistent Cozy Tapes Volume 2 from last fall, Ferg is currently having a moment.

He hits House of Blues Sunday, March 11, with Florida up-and-comer Denzel Curry opening. Doors open at 7 pm; tickets starting at $30.

Ric Flair Drip

An entire movement cropped up while no one was looking: I speak of course, of Latin Trap. Puerto Rico’s Bad Bunny popped up on my radar last summer, and I spent a few weeks in a deep dive bewildered that every one of his videos unanimously had 100-plus million views, and that he was pretty good at rapping: he’s got a frog-in-the-throat bellow, and can switch from double-time to a more relaxed flow with ease.

As a part of a movement that includes the more reggaeton-influenced Ozuna (who’s collaborated with Cardi B), Arcangel, and Spain’s Bad Gyal (among many others), Bad Bunny is the most primed for a breakout. He’s already partying with fellow Puerto Rican (and Houston Astros star) Carlos Correa, landed WWE superstar Ric Flair to star in his video for “Chambea,” and performed (and won) at the Latin Grammys with J. Balvin (more on him in a minute).

Sunday at Smart Financial Centre, with doors opening at 7 pm and tickets starting at $60.50.

Deep Cuts

Houston’s Deep Cuts is probably my favorite local band, but their sights are inarguably set much higher. With a crisp, jazzy sound, they recall a mixture of Ariel Pink and the pop sensibilities of Toro y Moi, or indie-rock forebears like Smith Westerns and Girls.

Deep Cuts’ 2017 single, “Endlessly Refreshing,” was my favorite song of the year, a melancholy, beautiful description of technological-induced ennui. They’re supposed to drop their first official album sometime this year, and are billing this show as “last gig in ???” so see them before they blow up.

Monday, March 12, at White Oak Music Hall. New York City’s Plastic Picnic and locals Narrowhead and Tee Vee open. Doors open at 7 pm with tickets just $8.

J. Balvin’s Bold Rodeo Play

In the most bold curatorial choice of the 2018 iteration of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, reggaeton superstar and Grammy winner J. Balvin steps to the NRG stage Tuesday, March 13 with more than a billion YouTube streams under his belt, including (arguably) his most popular song: “Mi Gente,” which became a smash last fall when Beyonce hopped on the remix and dedicated the infectious banger to those living in Puerto Rico devastated by Hurricane Maria.
From Pharrell to Domincan singer Fuego, the Latin rappers Ozuna and the aforementioned Bad Bunny, to Justin Bieber and Queen Bey herself, there isn’t a corner of the pop music world the Colombian-born Balvin hasn’t left his indelible stamp on.

His 2016 record, Energia, remains a joyful personal favorite, and while perhaps not a household name stateside just yet, Balvin is a massive star in Latin America and a surefire bet to have one of the biggest Rodeo crowds this year. Tuesday, March 13, with rodeo programming starting at 6:45 pm; ticket prices vary.