The temperature is dropping and the changing of the season is finally within reach. Gone are the days of triple digits, at least until next year, and sweet relief has arrived. It feels amazing outside, but there's always those weirdos who insist it's "so cold" once it starts to hit below 70 degrees after dark. To those weirdos, I say, what the hell is wrong with you? Some of you are already wearing thick sweatshirts, leggings, beanies even. You are embarrassing us. Just relax, and enjoy not sweating through your outfit. Throw on a light hoodie (maybe even a cardigan, dare I say) and go check out some of the weekend's best live music offerings.
Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds Thursday, October 10, at Double Wide Kid Congo Powers has one of the most impressive résumés in the punk rock business. The California-born rocker was given the honor of becoming the first Ramones Fan Club president in the mid-1970s before picking up his guitar powers to play for groups like The Gun Club and The Cramps. Thankfully, his natural spirit for silliness and solemnity hasn't mellowed with age on his latest albums or his live performances with the Pink Monkey Birds. Unlike some other musicians, he's not just a "kid" in name only, even if his driver's license technically says otherwise. Danny Gallagher
Vampire Weekend Thursday, October 10, at Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie There's nothing like endurance to prove the doubters wrong. Vampire Weekend's days as a colonialist flash in the pan are over thanks to three consistently excellent full-length albums that do not especially sound like any one particular bag of tricks. Kiernan Maletsky
Toro Y Moi Friday, October 11, at House of Blues I have been vocal of my praise for Toro Y Moi's new direction, but it is clear in that dark room that he is drawing a line in the sand from his previous performances. Even if he is just trying it on temporarily, pop star looks good on Bundick. The slowed down push of "Grown Up Calls" has a sophisticated tone live that befits its title. "Never Matter's" driving bass sounds heavy in person and pushes the crowd into each other in the best possible way. I lean over and ask, "Is this what disco sounded like to people who had never heard it before?" I mean it as a compliment. Deb Doing Dallas (Read the rest of her review of the band's February show at Trees here.)
WAVVES Friday, October 11, at The Prophet Bar Based out of San Diego, California-- WAAVES has gained quite a bit of popularity in the last few years with their particular brand of low-fi, noisy, surf rock. The cool kids love their fuck-you attitude, and the fuzzy distorted guitar that buzzes over their catchy pop melodies. This is feel good music for nearly any occasion. Vanessa Quilantan
38 Special Friday, October 11, at Billy Bob's Texas, Fort Worth If you were ever in a fight in the 1980s in some desolate bar far from the reaches of an efficient law enforcement response time, 38 Special was probably playing on the jukebox. The whiskey-soaked Southern rock group has had one of the longest runs of any in the genre. That mixed with a long life on the road has helped them embody the spirit of their music with hits like "Hold on Loosely" and "Caught Up in You." Chances are that every time you hear one of their hits, you remember the surprised look on the face of that biker you smashed over the head with a beer bottle and a tear starts to well up in your eye. Danny Gallagher Billy Joe Shaver Saturday, October 12, at Kessler Theater When speaking of modern country music, the term "outlaw" might be hilarious in its application if it weren't so forcefully misplaced. Waco's Billy Joe Shaver is often overlooked in national discussions of that time in country music. As the writer of almost all of Waylon Jennings' seminal 1973 Honky Tonk Heroes, the album many refer to as the greatest of all outlaw country albums, Shaver is a living treasure. But he's no relic, still touring and still acting the role of outlaw. He's had his brushes with actual illegality, including the alleged 2007 shooting of a man outside a bar in Lorena (he was acquitted in 2010). But Shaver displays his outlaw attitude best in each show by speaking up for his Christian faith, proclaiming, "If you don't love Jesus Christ, then you can go to hell." Kelly Dearmore
Tame Impala Saturday, October 12, at Southside Ballroom Australia's Tame Impala are often pegged as mere psych-rock revivalists. No doubt, that's an easy label to stick them with. Wall of sound excess? Check. Fizzy reverb? Check. Sounding like John Lennon fronting The Jimi Hendrix Experience? Check. But to be fair, Tame Impala's value goes well beyond the neo-psych niche. With an aesthetic built upon texture and fluidity, Tame Impala's sound is both an ode to the past and a look to the future. This technological upgrade to your grandfather's stoner-rock is blissfully satisfying, and lucid as hell. I swear, frontman Kevin Parker could write a hook in his sleep. When those crescendos of his rise, crest and then climax, it always feels momentous -- like skyscrapers crashing down all around you. Consider this sensation, multiply tenfold and then extend it for two hours. That's what it's like to hear Tame Impala live. Get ready for a delirium of sight and sound: a flurry of echoed guitars swirling like watercolors, mercurial vamps replete with soaring pastoral melodies, cosmic projections, spectral lighting. It's going to be a real circus of a show. Word of advice: When the walls of Southside Ballroom start glowing and breathing, don't panic. It's not you, and it's not the 10 hits of blotter paper you ate before the show. It's just the Tame Impala kicking in. Ain't it grand? Jonathan Patrick
Steve Aoki Monday, October 14, at South Side Music Hall Steve Aoki is a lot of things. He's a California native, a DJ, an heir to Japanese steakhouse chain Benihana and the founder of Dim Mak Records. Over the years, he's established himself as a dominant force in EDM culture though a seemingly unrelenting touring schedule, an impressive roster of collaborations, and business endeavors like headphone design for WeSC and the Dim Mak Collection clothing line. His wild live shows are notorious, and not just because he has a penchant for throwing grocery-store sheet cakes into the audience. This week at South Side Music Hall, Aoki brings Waka Flocka and Borgore along for the party, so maybe he can put one of them on cake duty. VQ
Kid Cudi Wednesday, October 16, at Verizon Theater It's been about five years since Scott Mescudi AKA Kid Cudi released his first mixtape, catching the eye of rap superstar Kanye West and branding himself "next" to every backpack rap blogger on the internet. Now, no longer a member of West's G.O.O.D. Music imprint, he has taken a more unexpected and experimental route than many of us would have expected after 2008's "Day N' Nite" became an overnight hit. This Wednesday, he'll be supported by another Kanye West protege, Big Sean, at the Verizon Theater. VQ
