Tuesday, March 4
Com Truise/Phantoms/Ronnie Heart (Club Dada): Com Truise is the silly yet memorable alias of musician Seth Haley, who originally hails from Oneida, a small town in Upstate New York. Com Truise’s music couldn’t be further from those serene surroundings, however, as the pervasive synthesizers create a mood of big city alienation that is somehow still entirely fit for a party. And this show will likely be just that. Check out this remix of Sky Ferreira’s “Red Lips” as evidence. Local man-about-town Ronnie Heart opens.
Lorde (South Side Ballroom): If there was a more-discussed debut last year…never mind, there wasn’t. NPR compared Lorde’s absurdly popular crossover single, “Royals,” to “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for crying out loud. I’m not sure if we have a revolution of that magnitude on our hands, but there is certainly something to Lorde’s breakout success. For what it’s worth, I thought “Royals” was Sarah Jaffe the first time I heard it on KXT. Note, this show is, of course, sold out—of course.
Friday, March 6
Childish Gambino (South Side Ballroom): Television star Donald Glover is known almost as much for his alter-ego, Childish Gambino, a novelty rap act that has now given the world two albums worth of bits and youth culture-oriented web humor. As such, said youngsters will be there in droves, but he has his older fans, too. Trust me.
Saturday, March 7
Untapped Fort Worth (Panther Island Pavillion): First of all, you have until noon on Wednesday to win two tickets to this Fort Worth music festival, which you can do by going here. There is much more of a hip hop presence this time around, as Sam Lao, -topic, and the beloved late `90s rap act, People Under the Stairs, will create a desirable balance with the pop rock.
Sunday, March 8
Bun B/Kirko Bangz (Trees): The memory of Bun B’s rain-soaked set at 35 Denton seems much longer in the rear view than just two measly years ago, but it’s true. That being said, let me be the first to recommend the UGK co-founder’s performance in the fairly intimate confines of Trees. He will stop at nothing, not even awful, cold weather, to give his completely ballistic all. We saw it with our own eyes.
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks/Purling Hiss (Granada Theater): Malkmus is having a Peter Pan moment. The former Pavement singer, now fronting The Jicks, made a career out of silly lyrics and barely showing up, but at 47 years old, a man who once defined young slacker rock now finds himself grappling with his own reputation. Can he really get away with these antics while rapidly rounding the corner on middle age? He seemed to provide a defiant answer by kicking off the year with his newest record, Wig Out at Jigbags, which features songs with titles such as “Cinnamon and Lesbians,” and “Surreal Teenagers.” Still, when Malkmus cracks his voice with his signature bratty tone, his fans will likely be glad that he’s not ready to grow up. Purling Hiss is the opening act.
