Finally, we have a three-day weekend. No doubt the schedule for most over the next several days will be heavy on time spent outside, preferably grilling out or in a swimming pool. (Or better yet, both.) But there are also plenty of great show to be seen, and if the calendar is thinner on festivals than it has been over the past couple months, that's no matter. From Oak Cliff to Grand Prairie, we have ten reasons to leave your back yard and get out to the clubs this weekend.
Black Label Society With Down, Devil You Know, and Butcher Babies, 6:30 p.m., Saturday, May 24, at Verizon Theatre, 1001 Performance Pl., Grand Prairie, verizontheatre.com, $29.50 - $35 For all intents and purposes the solo vehicle of on-again off-again Ozzy Osbourne guitar man, Zakk Wylde, L.A.'s Black Label Society has itself had quite a time of keeping itself together. When they are, of course, they make for a testosterone-fueled brand of heavy metal, full of solos, shredding rawk star pyrotechnics. The trouble is, the band's members -- even Wylde himself -- have a tendency to come and go with some frequency. However, the true highlight for many on this night may well be the return of former Pantera singer, DFW-bred Phil Anselmo, who will be performing with his formidable New Orleans act, Down. Jeff Gage
Johnette Napolitano With Madison King, 7 p.m., Friday, May 23, at the Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis St., 214-272-8346 or thekessler.org, $20-$30 Best known as the husky throated singer for the '80s alternative act Concrete Blonde, Johnette Napolitano has actually had a more interesting solo career than would have ever been suggested by the work with her rather pedestrian band. Indeed, Napolitano has contributed songs to a wide variety of films and television series and has shown a sense of adventure rarely seen while fronting a band. Contemplative and downright folksy, Napolitano's solo work (finally) makes good use of the lady's beautiful baritone. Darryl Smyers
Eagulls With Twin Peaks, 8 p.m., Friday, May 23, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St., threelinksdeepellum.com, $10/$13 at the door Eagulls already have plenty of buzz in their home country of England, opening for the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Franz Ferdinand and Suede. Hitting the U.S. for the first time, watching the brash shoegaze five-piece do their thing should make for a more-than enjoyable way to unwind from another long-ass workweek. Showing off material from their eponymous debut album, including the great "Possessed," let's give these guys a warm Texas-sized welcome and offer to come back again. Olympia, Washington's Twin Peaks open. Eric Grubbs
OFF! With Cerebral Ballzy and Nasa Space Universe, 8 p.m., Friday, May 23, at Club Dada, 2720 Elm St., dadadallas.com, $15 Although it's sacrilege to call any collection of hardcore punks a supergroup, Los Angeles' OFF! would almost certainly qualify for such an ironic descriptor. Fronted by former Black Flag and Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris, OFF! plays hardcore the old fashioned way: gloriously loud, unapologetically unpolished and overwhelmingly offensive. Even though the other members of OFF! have solid punk rock pedigrees, it's clearly Morris' show as he froths at the mouth while "singing" such '80s-inspired fare as "Void You Out" and "Death Trip on the Party Train." Nearing 60, Morris is in amazingly pissed-off individual who shows no sign of letting up or slowing down. DS
Alejandro Escovedo With Max Gomez, 7 p.m., Sunday, May 25, at Kessler Theater, 230 W. Davis St., 214-272-8346 or thekessler.org, $20-$30 Now decades into a recording career that stretches back to the early 1980s, Austin's Alejandro Escovedo has solidified himself as one of Texas music's true living legends. His cocktail Mexican folk and American rock has long since passed the realm of niche listening and garnered critical acclaim around the globe. This year he even made a cameo in the Veronica Mars movie, a sure sign of any artist's pop culture credentials. But catching him in the intimate environs of the Kessler is where he's really meant to be seen. JG French Horn Rebellion With Hey Champ, 8 p.m., Saturday, May 24, at the Foundry, 2303 Pittman St., 214-749-1112 or cs-tf.com, Free Dance music generally seems to go one of two directions: it's either a mindless, repetitious waste of time, or it blows people's minds and breaks through barriers. French Horn Rebellion's 2011 debut record, The Infinite Music of French Horn Rebellion, falls decidedly in the latter category. Not only do they seamlessly weave various dance subgenres together -- such as synth pop ("Up All Night"), disco pop ("In this Moment") and electro funk ("Geomancer's Compass and Other Quasi-Scientific Findings") -- but they also wrap it all together in the form of an elaborate sci-fi space odyssey motif where the protagonist tries to find his place in the universe. This artistic conceit could have been hokey, but it is all done so gleefully that you can't help but dance along and see where the music and the story take you. Brian Palmer
New Fumes With Silk Rodeo and Tommyboy Deejays, 10 p.m., at the Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., 214-948-1546 or thetexastheatre.com, $5 When it comes to programming that soars past unique into far freakier terrain, few venues have anything on Oak Cliff's Texas Theatre. But freaky doesn't begin to describe what will happen there when they screen a 35mm version of the 1973 fucked-in-the-head flick The Holy Mountain. In fact, super-trippy comes to mind. Then, to make sure one stays properly aurally entranced, New Fumes' Daniel Huffman will don his wild-ass animal mask and make noises that sound anything but when layered together in his wonderfully raw, rhythmic manner. Even when he opened for ear-busters My Bloody Valentine last summer, Huffman's music made people stop gazing at their shoes to look up and take it all in. It's going to get weird, but good weird -- if you can handle it. Kelly Dearmore
Rich Medina With Jt Donaldson, Tony Schwa, Tyrone Smily, Jay Clipp and Luke Sardello, 1 p.m., Sunday, May 25, at Club Dada, 2720 Elm St., dadadallas.com, $15 This weekend plays host to the Movement Electronic Music Festival in Detroit, which makes it all the more special that Club Dada has managed to lure New York DJ Rich Medina into Dallas for this Sunday afternoon dance party. Medina is not only a legend of the craft, he's also does things like they ought to be done: on vinyl. He's also done as much as, if not more than, anyone else to ingrain Fela Kuti's Afrobeat into our collective dance subconscious. JG
Journey With Steve Miller Band and Tower of Power, 6:45 p.m., Sunday, May 25, at Gexa Energy Pavilion, 1818 1st Ave., 877-686-5366 or gexaenergy.paviliondallas.com, $45-$205 When Steven Perry left Journey in 1998, most people believed the band would simply go the way of many '80s pop/metal bands: (thankfully) to the dustbin of history. But lo and behold, those high school memories die hard and even with a replacement singer (found on Youtube no less), Journey has proven to be a huge concert draw all over the world. Lead singer Arnel Pineda does sound just like Perry and basically that's all that matters to an elderly crowd gathered to hear such mundane tripe as "Loving, Touching, Squeezing," "Open Arms," and "Don't Stop Believing." DS
St. Vitus With Blood of the Sun and Sons of Hun, 7 p.m., Sunday, May 25, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St., threelinksdeepellum.com, $17/$20 at the door Doom metal doesn't get much better than Los Angeles' St. Vitus. Formed way back in 1978, the band (led by lead shouter Scott "Wino" Weinrich) has self-destructed and reassembled several times. Thankfully, the incarnation performing this time out is the classic line-up that recorded Born Too Late in 1986. St. Vitus' earliest recordings are some of the dingiest and darkest music imaginable. Given extra credit for being on the landmark punk label SST, these Angelistas are required listening for anyone who has ever banged their head or gone elbow to elbow in the moshpits of the world. DS
