Love is overrated. At least that’s the stance I’m taking Saturday evening, when I’ll be out of town for a wedding. Unless I can sabotage the engagement in time (I may try), I won’t be seeing any shows that night. On the one hand, this out-of-townness keeps me from making the agonizing decision of whether to see the Rolling Stones or Courtney Barnett. On the other hand, I won’t be seeing either the Rolling Stones or Courtney Barnett.
Life is all about hard questions with no easy answers. What shows should I go to this week? Am I allowed to go to a private birthday party for someone I’ve never met because Suuns are playing? Who seriously thinks Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is an acceptable band name? Is live music more powerful than love? Should I call in a bomb threat to the chapel so I can go hear “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” live?
We don’t have all the answers, but we do have some. Here are the concerts to see in Dallas this week.
Wednesday (06/03)
1. The Montreal art punks Suuns are playing a birthday party at the Texas Theatre. While this is ostensibly a “private” party (that may also qualify as “secret,” considering neither the venue or the band are promoting the show), we have it on good authority that the birthday girl wants people to see this really fantastic group play. So I feel pretty OK about running my big mouth and telling you about this free show at 9 pm. The band is in town recording its next album with the wonderful John Congleton over at Elmwood.
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2. A.R. Rahman might be the biggest deal in music that you’ve never heard of, but if you’ve seen a Bollywood movie in the last decade (or seen Slumdog Millionaire) you’ve definitely heard him. One of the best-selling composers in history, the Indian musician and composer has provided the soundtracks to some of Bollywood’s biggest flicks on his way to winning enough hardware (Golden Globes, Academy Awards, Grammys, and National Film Awards) to make King Midas content. On his first tour in the U.S. in five years, Rahman is swinging by the Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie.
Thursday (06/04)
3. Sam Prekop is the singer for The Sea and Cake, but it would be a mistake to expect that band’s relatively tuneful indie rock from a Prekop solo gig. This is synthesizer-noodling, experimental, soundscape-y stuff. Frankly, it puts me to sleep. It’s not my cup of tea, but it’s rare that a niche, ambient synth act like this gets the level of attention Prekop’s received. If that’s up your alley, the show’s at Club Dada.
4. No one will ever accuse a band called Diarrhea Planet of being subtle. The six-piece outfit from Nashville features four guitarists, each spewing out interlocking riffs of guitar lines that feel like the inexorable, steady progress of lava flows sweeping toward an unsuspecting hamlet at the base of a volcano. Is that overkill? Maybe, but nobody’s asking for polite minimalism from a rock and roll band like this. Diarrhea Planet is a lot of fun, and pretty wild live, as they last demonstrated in these parts at Spillover Fest. The show’s at Three Links.
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Friday (06/05)
5. I remember a couple things occurring to me at the Odd Future show at the then-Palladium Ballroom in December 2012. Mostly, I recall thinking that I was probably getting too old to be at this kind of thing (I was 23 at the time, which still put me squarely ahead of almost everyone in the shock-jock teenage hip-hop crew on stage, and way ahead of most of the rabid teens in the audience who were practically foaming at the mouth as they rapped along to every word, including a chorus about killing people, burning things, and disregarding education). I remember thinking Earl Sweatshirt, who had just returned to the group from his exile in Samoa, was the most talented rapper on stage, but Tyler, the Creator, was clearly the best performer.
Tyler, who is appearing at The Bomb Factory as a solo act, is still the consummate showman. Rap music’s biggest joker, a 24-7 Slim Shady, is talented but kind of obnoxious, and the profane, gravel-voiced “shocking” act is not for everyone — I’m still too old to be at this kind of thing. Either way, his kaleidoscopic production is the work of a demented and worthwhile auteur, and, as noted, Tyler puts on a livewire show.
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6. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah‘s debut album received a weirdly huge amount of buzz when it was released in 2005, but the eponymous release holds up well as a fun, interesting collection of minor indie rock songs. It’s not a masterpiece, by any means, which makes this 10th anniversary tour even more unnecessary. It was the band’s critical and commercial peak, so we can’t blame them for wanting to reclaim past glory, even if it does feel a little desperate. This also keeps us from having to listen to the diminishing returns of the group’s later work. They’re at Club Dada.
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7. The Glitch Mob, who I imagine provide the electronic soundtrack to fraternity hazings and spring break parties the world over, are at South Side Music Hall.
8. Brandi Carlile, who provides the gentle singer-songwriter soundtrack to network television shows that need a little help tugging those heartstrings during particularly emotional scenes, is at House of Blues. For the record, Carlile is pretty great, despite sounding like she contributes to those albums that your mom buys at Starbucks.
Saturday (06/06)
9. The Rolling Stones are one of the greatest rock bands of all time, and I’m willing to entertain and probably make the argument that they occupy the No. 1 spot. What’s also remarkable is this group’s continued relevancy. The last truly great Stones album came out in 1978, but that doesn’t seem to bother anyone too much. There are some shots to be taken at the state of Stones Inc. in 2015 — I was considering an easy crack about Mick Jagger, a 71-year-old man, breaking a hip — but I can’t get too cynical about this mega-concert at AT&T Stadium, whatever the exorbitant ticket prices. The Rolling Stones turn me into a glassy-eyed fan boy. It’s the Stones, man.
10. Courtney Barnett‘s show at Club Dada sold out a while ago, but it would be worth using whatever measures are at your disposal to get into this thing. Barnett is truly fantastic, a garage-next-door rocker whose band could be your life if you could only write songs this funny, compelling, and relatable. The Australian musician is the type who can make you laugh and cry at the same time. If you can’t get in to this, take the time to pick up her record, Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit.
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11. Melt Banana is a Japanese noise rock band strikes me as a more deranged Deerhoof, with screeching vocals and a rock-as-annihilation attitude. This one’s at Three Links.
12. A Nashville talent with Hollywood looks, Tim McGraw was always destined to become one of the biggest names in country music, whether we like it or not. His 2007 tour with wife Faith Hill—a musical power couple rivalled only by the Beyonce and Jay Z union—remains one of the highest-grossing tours of all time. McGraw has the motley crew of Billy Currington and Chase Bryant supporting him on this walkabout, but this should still be one of the biggest shows of the summer at Gexa Energy Pavilion.
13. Blank-Men are a local synth-punk act that made it onto our best new music picks for May, thanks to a great live album they recorded at Rubber Gloves in Denton. The group, who can now fairly bill themselves as “critically acclaimed” should they so choose, are celebrating with this show at the Boiled Owl Tavern in Fort Worth. Stick around to see Year of the Bear, a Fort Worth band celebrating the release of a new album of its own.
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Sunday (06/07)
14. Butch Walker‘s a restless songwriter who, at various points in his career, has dabbled in metal, power pop, and other genre exercises. He’s a real pain in the neck for whoever it is that designates the “genre” tags in iTunes, but the versatility works for the music. Jonathan Tyler opens at South Side Music Hall.
Monday (06/08)
15. Mountain Goats singer John Darnielle is one of music’s finest storytellers, a songwriter who can make tunes about a hopeless Florida couple and a death metal band from Denton sound like full-fledged epics. His indie folk outfit’s latest stellar record, a collection of songs about the interior lives of professional wrestlers, is also about death and heartbreak, with more narrative twists and turns than an episode of Monday Night RAW. The band is rolling through the Kessler for a show that’s likely to sell out shortly.
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16. I always thought of the Gipsy Kings as the Spanish Eagles, until I learned that the popular outfit is from France, and just sing in a Spanish dialect. Now I think of them as the French Eagles. Whatever the case may be, they’re at the Verizon Theatre.
Tuesday (06/09)
17. The New Orleans singer Benjamin Booker has in the past opened for Jack White, another bluesman whose music owes a lot to rock and roll’s forebears while still sounding completely fresh. He’s at Trees.
