The 10 Best Concerts in Dallas this Week: Future, 35 Denton & More

The end is nigh. As Supreme Leader Trump marches toward legitimate candidacy, we must cherish each day until the toupee caterpillar crashes into Earth and wipes us out. But since we're talking about the near future, Future will be playing South Side Ballroom, ballin' like the March Madness and shouting out to the Mavericks (and not just because it rhymes with "lavish"). Or for something entirely different, maybe you want to hear a mariachi cover of "Crazy Train" done by none other than Metalachi at Trees. The options, really, are endless.

Tank
8 p.m. Monday, March 7, at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., $25-$32
For those still in middle school in 2007, Tank’s name is probably more recognizable from the Drake line, “Sex, love, pain, baby/I be on the Tank shit” from his breakout single “Best I Ever Had.” In fact, the shoutout was so resonant that Tank himself hopped on the track and did a remix of the song, throwing it back with “So Far Gone, I be on that Drake shit.” That recognition goes a long way when coming from an R&B singer as established as Tank, and it’s the kind of acknowledgement that probably got The Boy cheesing hard when he caught wind of it. Matt Wood

Fetty Wap
With Post Malone, 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., 214-978-2583 or houseofblues.com/dallas, $35
New Jersey native Fetty Wap and local product Post Malone have numerous things in common: Both artists flex the rapper-singer song style that is popular at the moment in their music, and they both burst onto the national scene with viral hit singles in 2015. Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” and Post Malone’s “White Iverson” are still in heavy rotation on radio stations across the country. Their performance styles are similar as well. In a genre dominated by braggadocio, both artists perform with a smile and a sense of joy that permeates the venue and garners adoration from the audience, as Dallas witnessed firsthand last year when Malone made a sold-out debut as a headliner at Trees. This is one of the most anticipated shows of the spring, as it’s an opportunity to see these two stardom-bound performers in a relatively intimate setting, before their real ascension begins. Mikel Galicia

Joe Satriani
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, at AT&T Performing Arts Center, 214-880-0202 or attpac.org, $25-$85
Grammy award-winning Joe Satriani is a guitar virtuoso for the ages. His solo work is an outgrowth of the recognition he achieved as a guitar instructor who’s worked with countless artists, including Kirk Hammet of Metallica and Steve Vai. He’s put out well over a dozen albums since the release of his debut, Not of This Earth, in 1986. Satriani’s cruising songs are driven by his signature guitar solos, which sound like an ever-evolving monologue of shred, spoken with his hands on the ax. It’s those high-pitched wailers that Satriani is all about. No words, just riffs. As a giant in a world of rock ‘n’ roll somebodies, he’s the biggest-selling instrumental rock guitarist and a 15-time Grammy award winner. He’s touring on his most recent album, Shockwave Supernova, and a single called “Music Without Words,” which was written to benefit the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund. Pablo Arauz

-topic
8 p.m. Thursday, March 10, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St., $10
-topic is a peculiar spirit. A staple in the local hip-hop community since 2011 — known as the charismatic, backpack-rapping, back-flipping MC often found sipping green tea and palling around with his eccentric clan of roots rap aficionados — his full story is one rarely told. His mile-wide smile is as much felt as it is seen; it's hard to believe that even as he established deep roots in the scene with the release of Finally Confident, he was living on a couch in Oak Cliff — shared with Fresh Kaufee creator and best friend, Joonbug McIntosh — eventually relocating to what has become Dojo 45. With nothing more than notebooks full of raps and an air mattress, -topic recorded some of his most beloved material on shaky equipment inside of his closet. Rodney Blu

Future
With Ty Dolla $ign and Lil Daniel, 8 p.m. Friday, March 11, at South Side Ballroom, 1135 S. Lamar St., 972-343-2444 or southsideballroomdallas.com, Sold out
Let’s get this out of the way right now: There is no way Future does all the drugs he raps about. There’s no way anyone could be that prolific while also being that fucked up. It’s just not possible (unless your name is Leonardo DiCaprio). That being said, it’s a good thing he isn’t doing all those drugs, as the material he’s putting out at such a breakneck pace is legitimately phenomenal. We haven’t seen an artist produce this much work since Ryan Adams was pumping out albums every other month. And much like Adams, it feels like Future is working this hard as a way to cope with his ever-changing life. It seems he finds solace and balance in it, but you’ve still got to wonder how long he can keep it up. This is his third trip through North Texas since June (with another recently added for JMBLYA in May), and he’s had new material every time. That’s awesome, but he might need a vacation, or someone to talk to. Jaime-Paul Falcon

Vance Joy
7 p.m. Friday, March 11, at Verizon Theatre, 1001 Performance Place, Grand Prairie, $30-$35
From Australia comes Vance Joy, an on-the-cusp indie pop singer-songwriter who's got a knack for the ukelele. Look no further than his single "Riptide" for clarification on the matter. It's a bright and sunny number that will remind you of a blue ocean and palm trees if you close your eyes and just press play. The aforementioned song has surely caused a riptide on the charts, peaking at No. 6 on the Australian ARIA charts and No. 1 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart. Catch Joy at Verizon Theatre to hear more from his debut, Dream Your Life Away. H. Drew Blackburn

35 Denton
With Charles Bradley, Biz Markie, Eliot Sumner, Electric Six and more, 5 p.m. Friday to Sunday, March 11 to 13, downtown Denton, 35denton.com, $25-$65
What a long, strange trip it’s been for 35 Denton. With roots running all the way back to 2005, it’s one of North Texas’ longest-running music festivals, but its path from then till now has been anything but uneventful. That has to do with more than a simple name change or three, or even a change of cities, as the festival formerly known as NX35 and 35 Conferette first got its start down in Austin. After its move to Denton, it turned into arguably DFW’s best festival, landing artists like the Flaming Lips, Big Boi, Jesus and Mary Chain and Solange in the early 2010s, but it’s been a different story ever since 35 Denton took a hiatus in 2014. The volunteer-run fest’s return last year saw a smaller event in terms of high-profile bookings, if not sheer number of acts, while neighboring festivals like Oaktopia have brought stiff competition with nearly identical formats. With the recent decision to drop controversial band Black Pussy from the lineup, it should be a mostly family-friendly affair thanks to folks like Charles Bradley, Biz Markie and a solid lineup of locals. Jeff Gage

Brave Combo
7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 12, at Poor David's Pub, 1313 S. Lamar Blvd., $23
Much has been made of how Brave Combo has made the "uncool" genre of polka "cool" with its self-proclaimed "nuclear polka" style of music. But the group's music transcends styles. It can simply be filed in the "good" category. Members Carl Finch, Jeffrey Barnes, Bubba Hernandez and Danny O'Brien are all outstanding musicians and blend many influences into a seamless package of danceable force. Fronted alternately by the ceaseless verve of guitarist, keyboardist, singer and founder Finch, the Tejano turns of bassist Hernandez and the charming one-offs from multi-instrumentalist Barnes, the band brings positive energy to every show and can make any dank, dark smoky club feel like a sunny outdoor festival. Combo shows, often family events, are some of the few gigs where hormonal trolling and jaded posturing aren't the norm. How could they be when a couple of the band's biggest live hits are guiding the audience through "The Chicken Dance" and "The Hokey Pokey"? Mark Hughes

The Floozies
8 p.m. Saturday, March 12, at Trees, 2709 Elm St., $15-$17
The Floozies may not have been the officiants of the marriage between funk and electronica, but their digital grooves definitely make them the most fun at the reception. Their irresistible beats are faithful to the rhythms of traditional funk but wildly unfaithful in every other aspect of the genre. The Floozies temper sounds into unrecognizable shapes and layer electronic effects over dance-inspiring beats. It's basically like if Daft Punk was formed in 1999 and got way too into dubstep at some point. MW

Metalachi
7 p.m. Sunday, March 13, at Trees, 2709 Elm St., $15
Oh man, when worlds collide. Metalachi hails from a little place you may have heard of and probably should never go to called Juarez, Mexico. What makes them particularly special is that they fuse two genres: It's metal and mariachi music, as you may expect by their name. It's still exciting for metal heads, but it might be among the only metal a person who doesn't fit that description can learn to appreciate. They're also not shy about putting their unique spin on classic rock songs. HDB