You may have to take out a loan to get (secondary market) tickets to some of this fall’s best shows, but it would be money well spent.
Leon Bridges & Lianne La Havas | Sept. 18 | Music Hall at Fair Park
It would be near-impossible for Bridges to top his 2015, a year that saw the Fort Worth soul singer become a certified star, but he’s sure giving it a run in 2016, most recently by earning a presidential seal of approval on Barack Obama’s summer playlist. British R&B artist Lianne La Havas, who opens here, has an equally impressive cosign from the late Prince. Any time Bridges comes home feels momentous, and the Music Hall at Fair Park is especially suited to his retro style.
Kanye West | Sept. 22 | American Airlines Center
West has a well-deserved reputation for spectacular and innovative concert tours, and this “Saint Pablo” trek looks to be no different. At his tour opener in Indianapolis, West performed from a suspended platform that emitted lights in every direction as it floated 20 feet above the ground-floor audience. The love-him-or-hate-him force of nature is playing with no opening act, and with no stage. Superstars don’t need them.
Oaktopia with Norah Jones, Beirut, Rae Sremmurd, etc. | Sept. 22-24 | Outdoor stage(s) and venues throughout Denton
Even before this music festival announced that Norah Jones’ headlining set would be her first performance in Denton since the Grammy-winning jazz singer was a student at UNT, the lineup looked plenty impressive: Rae Sremmurd, Cat Power, Best Coast, Andrew W.K., and many more, including dozens of local bands. Denton’s live music scene may have lost some of its best venues, but it ain’t dead yet.
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Kacey Musgraves | Sept. 30 | The State Fair of Texas
Breaking with tradition, the State Fair booked some exciting, contemporary “big names” for its concert lineup this year, most strikingly with opening day performer Kacey Musgraves, a genuinely brilliant musician whose cornball country style is practically tailor-made for this setting. (We’ve also cleared our calendar for Nelly on Oct. 15.)
Foals | Oct. 3 |Granada Theater
Foals is just dandy on record, but in a live setting, the band cuts loose and becomes something truly great, a high-velocity rock band that hits like a jagged elbow thrown in a particularly rowdy mosh pit. (It’s the rock and roll equivalent of going Super Saiyan.)
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Elvis Costello | Oct. 11 | Majestic Theatre
Costello, backed by the Imposters for this jaunt, remains one of music’s sharpest voices, both on the page — his 2015 memoir, Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink, ranks with the best of the genre — and in person. The singer-songwriter is deservedly known as a great raconteur, and that’s never more evident then when Costello is on stage, his already literate songs mixed in with incisive, conversational asides.
Chance the Rapper | Oct. 16 | The Bomb Factory
Few other artists can reach Chance on the ultralight beam he ascended this year with Coloring Book, a hip-hop album that feels more like gospel, a joyous affirmation of life and the ability to endure any challenge, as long as you have the right attitude and a little bit of help from the things you can’t see. Francis and the Lights opens.
Flight of the Conchords | Oct. 26 | Verizon Theatre
The group formerly known as New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-
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Adele | Nov. 1 & 2 | American Airlines Center
Approximately every other person in America has a copy of 21 or last year’s 25, and every single one of them seems to have bought a ticket to one of Adele’s two shows at American Airlines Center. That kind of popularity is earned. The English singer has got the range, and the ability to challenge heartbreak into powerful songs that are going to be ubiquitous for years.
Morrissey | Nov. 16 | McFarlin Auditorium
Even in the era of the high-profile reunion, a Morrissey-Johnny Marr Reconciliation Tour seems less likely than hell freezing over. Smiths fans and members of Morrissey’s sizable cult fanbase are best served by seeing the crooner run through his solo material, and playing The Queen Is Dead for the 1,000th time when they get home.
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