Not only do you have this list of awesome shows to see around DFW this week, but you should know that Fuzzy's Taco Shop opens in Deep Ellum on Monday, so if you live in that neighborhood, "taco" will soon become a verb in your life.
See also: - "Johnny Marr, Minus the Bear, Avenged Sevenfold and More Top Show Announcements"
Kid Rock Saturday, July 20, at Gexa Energy Pavilion, $30 HIS NAME IS KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID KID ROCK! And for 15 years he's been the No. 1 rock star in the South and heartland, combining Southern rock, metal, hip-hop, country rock and some bitchin' hair to take the country's stadiums and arenas by storm. In 1990, the Detroit musician put out his first rap album on Jive, which made him one of the city's biggest rappers. But his rap career died shortly thereafter. In 1997 he returned with a rap-rock album, "Bawitdaba," which was a huge hit but made little sense. He penned a song called "American Badass" that would become a hit and the entrance theme for wrestling star the Undertaker. He dated Sheryl Crow, and together they wrote a song called "Picture," which served as the go-to song for sad weddings in 2001. He played the bad guy in the David Spade film Joe Dirt. He performed at the 2004 Super Bowl where he was overshadowed by Janet Jackson's nipple shield. He became a country/Southern rock artist by mashing up "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Werewolves of London" on his hit "All Summer Long." He followed all this up by starting an annual cruise. Hopefully this helps you understand why Gexa Energy Pavilion will be overrun by guys with no shirts and ladies double-fisting Bud Lite Lime. -- Jaime-Paul Falcon
oOoOO Thursday, July 18, at Dada, $12-$14 Christopher Dexter Greenspan is a solid name, but it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. And it wouldn't look very cool screen-printed across the front of a T-shirt or emblazoned on his Soundcloud, Twitter or MySpace pages, which must be one of the reasons why Greenspan chose to record under the memorable, if a bit tricky to first pronounce moniker of oOoOO. Supposedly, it's verbalized as a solid "oh," and not an awkward series of cooed "ew's" or a ghostly "oo-OO-o-OO" sound, which is what some fans must have first thought because the artist's haunted, ethereal vocals over chopped and screwed beats typically lead bloggers to label them as "witch-house." And since oOoOO quickly gained a following in the blogosphere after releasing the No Summer4U EP in 2010, critics have struggled to label the act's sound as witch-house, screwgaze, chillwave or drag. Currently, oOoOO is touring in support of the act's debut LP, Without Your Love, released last month on Greenspan's own fledgling label Nihjgt Feelings. With oOoOO's latest, you'll hear far-flung influences, from OMD to Broadcast to hip-hop, R&B and pop. Expect openers Sister Crayon to flood the room with equally ethereal loops backing Terra Lopez's warm, bluesy vocals. -- Daniel Rodrigue
Survive, Vulgar Fashion, Corporate Park Friday, July 19, at Dada, $8 Austin's downtempo electronic foursome Survive are headlining a show at Dada this week with Denton's horror-synth duo Vulgar Fashion and that same college town's electro duo Corporate Park, who have a clamorous take on industrial music. If you're into getting nice and dazed, see you there. -- Rachel Watts
Marcia Ball, Michaelis Saturday, July 20, at The Kessler Theater, $17.50-$30 The self-proclaimed "hippie cowgirl trio" from Sugarland, Texas will be opening up for a phenomenal woman of blues, Marcia Ball. Revert to the above video for why you should consider snagging a ticket at the last minute. -- Rachel Watts
Girls Rock Dallas Saturday, July 20, at The Kessler Theater, $5-$35 For the past week, the coolest summer camp in town has been preparing girls for rock 'n' roll and giving them an outlet for self-expression. Spinderella even stopped by earlier to share some of her experience. The showcase will feature the girls' new bands, and it's worth seeing whether you're a proud parent or not. --Kiernan Maletsky The Octopus Project Saturday, July 20, at Granada Theater, $20-$35 The Octopus Project return to Dallas in support of Fever Forms, which came out earlier this month. It's more rowdy blips and bloops from a perpetually strange pop band. KM
Toology Saturday, July 20, at House of Blues, $10 I'm aware this isn't strictly a preview of Tool, but I'm going to take this opportunity to briefly talk about Tool. OK? OK. One of the very few metal bands to combine loud noises, artistic integrity and record sales into a career that only produces one or two albums a decade, Tool are one of the great mysteries of the last 30 years of popular music. With a back catalog that stretches from the sprawling, psychedelic, dreamy "Third Eye" to the punk fury of three-minute beat-downs like "Jerk Off," Tool seem to write a new metal anthem for every generation of kids who discover them. The thing is, you won't get to see Tool very much any more. They played here in 2012, sure, but there's seemingly no danger of that happening again. If it does, it'll be in an arena and you'll have to sell your grandmother on the black market to get a ticket. Nor is there any danger of the fabled new album, seven years in the making, occurring any time soon. Lo and behold, House of Blues has found you a compromise in the form of Toology. Musicians with serious chops, Toology are so good at playing Tool songs that at times you'll be confused as to why Tool are playing but they all look really different. Even better, no one has to sell a grandparent to get in. -- Gavin Cleaver
Hares On the Mountain Sunday, July 21, at Dan's Silverleaf, Free Every Sunday afternoon at Dan's Silverleaf in Denton is where it's at if you're looking for a post-brunch, post-hangover, foot-stomping, hootin' and hollerin' party. More specifically, it's a Hares on the Mountain show. George Neal leads his band of ruffians through a whiskey-fueled expanse of late-1800s imagery, themes of love, death and betrayal, and song lyrics that are always half-shouted with his accompanying over-the-head clapping. Petra Kelly and the violin that is her weapon are of particular importance in Hares because of the romance and drama they bring Neal's songs. She does a little ditty of her own, though, taking the spotlight for a crowd favorite called "Matilda Jones," for which I've never seen a saucier side of Kelly, or a more revved-up Sunday daytime audience. -- Rachel Watts
Dorrough Sunday, July 21, at Prophet Bar, $15-$45 Dallas' own Dorrough hits the big room at Prophet Bar this week with a slew of local rappers including Itz Lil B Man, Billie Gang founder David Empy and rookie Duney Kush. Since his first major hit, ode to Southern car culture "Ice Cream Paint Job," Dorrough has brought the Dallas radio sound to the national scope. Hits like "Get Big" and his feature on Tum Tum's 106 & Park favorite "Yeah Doe," have boded well for the Lancaster High School alumnus. Expect a big crowd for the hometown hero, who has been diligently working the club circuit to promote his new single, "After Party." -- Vanessa Quilantan
One Direction Monday, July 22, at American Airlines Center, $29.50-$89.50 So, let's get this out of the way. Is there an industrial music apparatus, pulling the strings, creating manufactured artists for pure revenue? Sure. So what? Shit's been happening since the '60s, when Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider's newspaper audition ad created The Monkees. Nearly 50 years later, it's still happening. British boy band One Direction, a product of Simon Cowell's X-Factor, operates as a $50 million enterprise, forcing young girls into early puberty and selling out concert halls on the regular. The formula is temporary and disposable and usually not that substantive, but it has its place. One Direction's music will never stand taller than the band, which is the point. But its inception, NKOTB-Backstreet Boys-B2K, is a hell of a thing to experience for each new generation of fans. However, the pop-cultural canon has a short attention span. And even though these dudes will be back over on our side of the pond in a decade, playing to a half-empty Winstar World Casino, the pimple-faced girls who will fill American Airlines Monday will be there then, too. And like the future One Direction, they'll be older, jaded and bitching about the "good ol' days." -- Lee Escobedo
