BestFest Finalizes Lineup, Releases Schedule

​As much as Rocks Off has been talking about it, planning it, and writing about it these past two months or so, it doesn't seem possible that our first-ever Best of Houston® BestFest is only 10 short days away. By the time we finish coughing up all the dust from our trip to the no-smoking Austin City Limits Festival in tinder-dry Travis County this weekend, there may only be a day or two left.

In fact, the more we think about ACL, the better and better BestFest looks. The field is smaller, the lineup is stacked with artists we've come to know and love over the years, and the Midtown superblock is about three regular blocks from Rocks Off's apartment. Also, Leon's Lounge, our current favorite H-town watering hole, is literally across the street.

But BestFest is not meant to be a miniature ACL any more than it's a knockoff of Free Press Summer Fest, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Woodstock or Monterey Pop. It's very much its own festival, conceived as a version of the annual Houston Press Best of Houston® issue - the 23rd version of which hits newsstands September 29 - brought to life.

Just today, we finally put the finishing touches on the BestFest musical lineup with funky soul-jazz flautist Althea Rene, Montrose rude boys Ryan Scroggins & the Trenchtown Texans, and the one-of-a-kind Texas Brass Band, which combines elements of New Orleans parade music and marching bands like TSU's famous "Ocean of Soul."

Marco Torres

​Rocks Off would like to thank all the other artists who inquired about playing BestFest, and apologize for not being able to squeeze you in. Hopefully we'll be able to do this again next year - and the best way for that to happen is for you and your friends to buy tickets. So anyways, at long last, here is when and where everyone is playing.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Gates open at noon

HOME BREW STAGE

1:30 p.m. Texas Brass Band
2:30 p.m.: Althea Rene
4 p.m.: The Tontons
5:45 p.m.: Slim Thug
7:45 p.m.: Bun B

MAIN STAGE

1 p.m.: Hell City Kings
2 p.m.: thelastplaceyoulook
3:15 p.m.: Los Skarnales
4:45 p.m.: Chamillionaire
6:45 p.m.: Against Me!
8:45 p.m.: Toadies