Now that we have your interest all piqued about the spectacle that is the Texas Renaissance Festival...who wants free tickets? Houstonist has two pairs of tickets to give away for the Ren Fest: one pair that are good for any weekend in November and one pair that are good for Thanksgiving Friday only no more pairs of tickets left, but you can still buy your own. The Ren Fest is normally only open on......

UPDATE: The free tickets are long gone, but seats are still available for both shows. You must buy them at The Mucky Duck with cash or check. We want to send you to the Guy Forsyth show for free because we love you. All of you - buscept for you non-readers. Win tickets by sending us an email (contest at houstonist dot com) stating your case for free tickets. Replies will be judged subjectively......

Love makes you happy. Happiness fuels good pop songs. This is probably why the husband and wife team, the core of Mates of State, seem to pull off the fun pop sound and great harmonies so naturally. The couple met over a decade ago, and their indie-pop fan base has grown with each album they’ve released. Securing opening slots for Death Cab for Cutie and Spoon a couple of years ago didn’t hamper their success,......

Yes, Houston - The Black Godfather is gracing us with his presence this Friday night!!! Houston's own, The Allen Oldies Band will be backin' up Andre Williams at the Continental Club and the show begins at 10 p.m. You don't know who he is? We'll hook you up. A ladie's man from way back, Andre was born in Bessemer, Alabama in 1936 and eventually ended up in Detroit, where he recorded over 50 songs for......

As the Astros start their Spring Training schedule today in Osceola County, the college baseball season has been underway for a couple of weeks now. The annual Houston College Classic returns to Minute Maid Park this weekend as one of the premier regional showcases of top-level NCAA baseball. Starting on Friday and continuing through Sunday, the Juice Box will be host to an almost non-stop flow of games. The teams participating in the tourney are:......

Oh, indie rock. Does such a genre even really mean anything anymore? What was once "independent" is now major label material; a few major label material acts are now "independent." The grass is blue, the sky is green, up is down, down is up; nothing makes sense in this day and age. Leave it to Built to Spill to defy space and time by continuing to rock the same songs they've been playing since 1993......

::World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest:: Or something like that. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's barbeque contest is happening this weekend and Houstonist thinks your tastebuds are as qualified as anyone's to make a judgement. Find yoiur favorite team or choose by the most appealing name on this listing and map of the area. Besides lots and lots of stuff from the grill, expect to find mucho live music to give you a smile for......

The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art is hosting The Beer Can Opener this Friday from 7 p.m. until Midnight! Officially, the Beer Can House opens to the general public on March 1st, however, you can participate in the special preview party, which will be resplendent with zydeco & honky tonk music, barbecue and beer! Shuttling you to and fro are, ART CARS, of course (and, how cool, we might add) - the "to" part......

Did you hear? Radiohead is coming back to town. Despite the fact that most bands decide to skip our fair city in favor of others, Radiohead is bucking the trend (like they're so known for these days) and making yet another stop at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Saturday, May 17. If you were like us, you might have slept through the Internet pre-sale held on Thursday. Apparently, though, people in Cincinnati love Houston......

::The Houston Center for Photography´s 2008 Print Auction:: These are some pretty gorgeous photographs and who'd believe they're all up for sale to benefit one of the coolest organizations in all Houston? Houstonist (a fan of photography, as you well know) was drooling over this one, and this one and this one too. The photographs are on exhibition right now at the HCP galleries until Wednesday, February 13th, and the auction is this Friday......

The Mink's Backroom seems like a haven for music events these days. We say "music events" because these don't seem like your run of the mill shows: we're talking exhaustive musical experiences. First was the Hootenanny, and now there's Menage e Trois. And it's only three dollars! Billing some of Houston's most eccentric bands, Menage e Trois looks like it's going to be a night overflowing with bitingly experimental sounds. The Balaclavas will offer up......

::Rice University's Second Annual Asian Film Festival:: Rice Cinema has put together an amazing lineup films this weekend to round out the end of its Second Annual Asian Film Festival. Houstonist would go to them all if we could. There's an erotic thriller, animation, documentary and a film based on the novel by Houston's own Bapsi Sidhwa. Go forth and prosper! Friday, February 8, 7:30pm Lust, Caution Ang Lee’s lush spy thriller set in......

Many people love The Bravery, and why not? Their blend of rock, pop, electronic and retro style new wave keeps you on your feet. But don't count Brandon Flowers of The Killers as a fan. When The Bravery released their debut album a few years ago, Brandon claimed that the New York City based band was capitalizing on The Killers sound. Hmm ... I think there are some 80's bands that may say the same......

We hope you have your Saturday cleared out because The Proletariat is dishing out so much local music goodness this weekend that we just don't know what to do with ourselves. Besides Friday's Fatal Flying Guilloteens and Co., the Pro serves up the always great Elaine Greer, the indomitable Hearts of Animals and the band formerly known as The Dimes on Saturday, February 2. Oh, and the Fiery Furnaces happen to play, too. Besides the......

As you might have heard by now, after five excellent years or celebrating the local music scene in every shape, size, form and capacity, the Proletariat is closing. But it's not going out without a bang. Start the your mourning period on Friday when the Fatal Flying Guilloteens, Cop Warmth, O Pioneers!!! and Whorehound rule your senses. If you’ve never seen them before, there are three things you need to know about the Fatal Flying......

Bluegrass music is an acquired taste. But mix some Grateful Dead and Phish styling to it, you have something that’s a little bit more digestible: Jamgrass. That’s the best description of the band Yonder Mountain String Band. The band was formed ten years ago in Colorado, out of the ashes of founders Dave Johnston and Jeff Austin’s band Bluegrassholes (which is a great name, by the way – mass appeal all over it). Since then,......

::Your Beat is Nice Tuesday:: Houston's got it's own Music Tuesday tonight with four chances to see our diverse music scene in action:a surviving grunge rocker, a Texas Marine, a mock-yeah-ing-yeah-bird-yeah Hollywood star, and a string quartet. Pick your poison. Foo Fighter at Toyota Center Dave Grohl and his fighets of Foo visit the Toyota Center tonight in support of their 2007 release Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. Having commemorated their tenth anniversary with a......

Today the Rice Design Alliance kicks off this years spring lecture series 30N 60S: Latin American Architecture Revisited with guest speaker Francisco Liernur. Proffessor Liernur is Chair of the School of Architecture at Di Tella University in Buenos Aires, Argentina and has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Princeton, Sci-Arc, and Columbia University. His books include Writings on Twentieth Century Architecture in Latin America and Architecture in Latin America 1965-1985. Following lectures will focus......

So you've done enough shopping and the relatives are driving you crazy -- take an hour away from that insanity and go see some extremely fresh theater. In a Jar...at the Smithsonian, written and directed by Crystal Jackson, is running Thursday through Saturday at DiverseWorks. Six pieces of absurdist comedy (3 monologues, 3 one-acts) and none of them have to do with Santa, reindeer, chimneys, dreidels, or caroling -- thank God! In a Jar...at the......

Good morning, Houston. So you say you're a Dynamo fan, eh? Well, here's your chance to prove it: The back-to-back MLS champs are auctioning off a chance to get close to the team's two MLS cups — literally. If you win the auction, the cups will be dropped off at your house on Christmas Eve and picked up Dec. 26; in between, you can do whatever you want with 'em (within reason, of course).......

San Antonio rock band Girl in a Coma is set to play a show with The Cliks tomorrow night at Fitzgerald’s. The young band [pictured] has had a pretty charmed life thus far; legendary rocker Joan Jett signed the Girl(s) to her Blackheart Record Label, and the ladies have been tapped to go on tour early next year with their idol, Morrissey. It’s easy to see the reason for the band’s good fortunes. Lead singer......

Champagne Bubble Bath The Tasting Room - River Oaks Saturday, December 8th 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. 2409 W. Alabama 713.526.2242 Taste some "sparkling wines", (hey, it's not Champagne, unless it is actually made in Champagne, France, just saying) and try some appetizers. The cost is $50/ per person, but, you get a $5 discount if you donate a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots! Holiday Farmer's Market and Wine Tasting The Tasting......

Looking for a little green space to stretch out those overworked holiday shopping legs? Check out Mosaic on Hermann Park's one acre, 7th floor amenity deck, as they host Hermann Park Conservatory's Urban Green for a Holiday Al Fresco event. Tonight's party will feature cocktails and canapes poolside, and all proceeds will benefit the Hermann Park Conservatory. Tickets at $30 and can be purchased at the door. We were bummed to learn this week that......

::You'll Shoot Your Eye Out, Kid:: A Christmas Story Back by popular demand for a second season at Texas Repertory, this wonderfully warm and wildly funny memoir of growing up in the 1940s follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in his undying quest to get a genuine Red Ryder BB Gun under the tree for Christmas. Join us for the first time, or all over again, as Ralphie pleads his case – only to hear the consistent......

Here you go Houston, more food and wine events for you to peruse. We are going to work to get you more than one Culinary Events posting per week, as the holidays can increase the number of events, dinners, fund-raising food and beverage activities and festivals. Also, we strive to give you some advance notice - as you can't always get your reservations or tickets, which ever the case may be, on the day......

Calling themselves "Houston’s most unusual string ensemble performing all original music," Two Star Symphony is aiming for another Houston national first starting November 30: to be the only string quartet performing with a matched set of instruments created by luthier Anton Krutz of K.C. Strings. The Russia-born Krutz, who began making violins when he was 12 years old, actually crafted the instruments from the same batch of wood and put them through the same varnishing......

Here we go, the big mother of all holidays. Love it, or hate it – it’s nearly December and whether you’re into Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa or whatever else you may be into, December is a really bigass month. If nothing else, the streets are more congested, people drive even crazier than normal and the average Houstonian is pelted with food, drink and festivities. Yeah, we hate drinking and eating, we know how you feel......

There are so many freaking cool things happening this weekend -- here's just a list of what Houstonist has on hand. Please send us the rest. Thursday November 29th HOUSTON. IT'S WORTH IT. Book Launch Party At the Lawndale Parking Lot, 4912 Main Street 6:30PM-9PM Images from the book will be projected on North wall of Lawndale art center. DJ Pooks spins the tunes and there will be refreshments. Proceeds from sales of the......

In 2003, Detroit's Electric Six effectively made it okay for heterosexual males to sing about gay bars to fellow heterosexual males without opening the door for a sexual harassment lawsuit or nursing a bloody nose. Newly armed with their latest and release, I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me from Being the Master, Electric Six is ready to blow Houston's mind one more time. "I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me......

::Diverseworks Presents Jean Baptiste André: Comme En Plein Jour:: If you've picked up the Novemeber issue of ArtsHouston, you may have noticed the "clown" in the corner on the cover. No, it's not a mime. It's French performance artist Jean Baptise André. Tonight, the Texan-French Alliance for the Arts and its presenting partners Global Quality Imports, Inc. help welcome Jean Baptiste André's performace of Comme En Plein Jour to Diverseworks, for a two night engagement......