The slew of Holiday concerts begins this week with the Donny and Marie Osmand tour. It will be cheesy and perfect and you know you want to go. Elsewhere, New Orleans genius Trombone Shorty visits House of Blues and the venerable CD source turns 20. Congratulations to them.
CD Source 20th Anniversary
Friday, November 29, at CD Source
Record stores are essential cultural cornerstones of any healthy music scene. Unfortunately, these tastemaking hotbeds are slowly disappearing nationwide. Luckily, Dallas' regiment is still going strong — CD Source celebrates its 20th anniversary on Friday. Coinciding with the Black Friday edition of Record Store Day, CD Source's celebration is stacked with 12 live in-store performances from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. With a heap of entertainment, more than 100 Record Store Day special releases and complimentary food from neighboring restaurants (including Freebirds, Royal Thai, and Potbelly), the question isn't why should you go, but why wouldn't you? Jonathan Patrick
Terminator 2, Spacebeach and Fogg
Friday, November 29, at Crown & Harp
Wearing earplugs at a rock show is something that, before this past summer, had never seemed terribly metal to me. The purposeful employment of soft, spongy material designed to keep ears from being muddled into a gooey matter defeats the point of seeing a loud band play, well, loudly, right? This past June, a lesson in the usefulness of earplugs was brutishly handed out when Denton's heaviest band, Terminator 2, took the stage backed by an insane amount of extra amplification at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios. Eardrums were in danger of bursting, just as the walls seemed ready to crumble, as the trio plowed emotionlessly through a doom-filled set. Loud isn't simply loud when it's as moody and satisfyingly destructive as T2's music. But, just to be safe, it'd be a wise choice to stuff a pair of ear plugs into your pocket when T2 play with Fogg and Spacebeach on what will be the noisiest place outside of a Walmart on Black Friday weekend. Kelly Dearmore
Trombone Shorty
Friday, November 29, at the House of Blues
There is a moment on Trombone Shorty's sophomore album, For True, when his maverick musical sensibilities shine through, and that is when he lets legendary guitarist Jeff Beck do an extended solo partway through "Do to Me." The track already features various genre-bending elements, as raucous drums, energetic bass and Shorty's charismatic trombone playing combine to give the song tinges of funk, R&B and brass band jazz flair, but to relinquish the spotlight — even to a legend like Beck — and thus give the song true rock 'n' roll flair, speaks volumes about his desire to make each song brilliant no matter who is responsible for that brilliance. "Do to Me" already overflows with confidence and verve as the danceable, hypnotic grooves mirror the song's flirtatious wordplay, and it shows how dynamic Trombone Shorty's music is, even when he is not the one playing. Brian Palmer
Cowboy Mouth
Saturday, November 30, at the Granada Theater
The long-running, roof-tearing road band first turned its hometown of New Orleans on its collective ear with hits like "Jenny Says" and "How Do You Love Someone" back in the '90s. When the rest of the country wanted to know what all that ruckus was about, they took their act on the road to raucous crowds. The members may have changed over the years, but frontman Fred LeBlanc is still leading the charge with a booming voice that makes it sound like the microphone he's singing into isn't necessary. He leads his band in delivering the kind of house-shaking rock you'd expect from a group that was raised in a city known for partying all night. Danny Gallagher
Donny and Marie Osmond
Wednesday, December 4, at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie
When it comes to Donny and Marie Osmond, it's very difficult not to think about the infamous sketch on SNL that concludes with the brother and sister act passionately making out. Such was the caricature of this super-clean Mormon duo, who became pop and television personalities in the late '70s. The Osmonds' brand of entertainment was a strictly corporate enterprise, an exceedingly wholesome, totally above-board proposition that harkened back to a pre-Elvis America. Occasionally, the music was passable maudlin pop and Marie was, and still is, a fantastically attractive woman. The duo's shtick, however, has always been perfectly coifed and manicured, a stage act flawlessly suited to the holiday fare that will be featured on this particular evening. Christmas music rarely demands more than the passive acceptance of songs heard a thousand times before, songs steeped in tradition presented as easily digested, family-friendly artifacts from a bygone era. Darryl Smyers
