It's going to be a hell of a week for live music here in Dallas. Two of the biggest events aren't even straight-ahead concerts so much as they are sprawling celebrations: First is the American Country Music Awards, which spreads itself across several shows with an unreal selection of country music's biggest stars on Friday and Saturday. Then there's Record Store Day, which converges on the area's record shops all day Saturday with special performances from bands both local and national. But there's plenty more to see throughout the week as well. Check those shows out here.
See also: Good Records Outdid Itself With This Year's Record Store Day Lineup
Faster Pussycat 7 p.m., Monday, April 13, at Trees, 2709 Elm St., 214-741-1122 or treesdallas.com, $14-$18 Faster Pussycat is of course a reference to the 1965 Russ Meyer cult film, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! The glam metal band originally formed in 1985, releasing their self-titled debut in 1987. After releasing three albums the band broke up in 1992. In 2001 the band reformed releasing an album called Between the Valley of the Ultra Pussy and have been touring off and on ever since. H. Drew Blackburn
The Free Loaders 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 14, at The Free Man, 2626 Commerce Street, 214-377-9893, Free The Free Loaders have earned their praise in this city. They haven't been sitting around on their asses all these years. It was show after show, no matter if it was in a club, at a party, or some boogie event where the music isn't meant to be appreciated, yet it is there for the ambiance like flowers in a vase. This band of blues, jazz and swing musicians can range anywhere from three to eight members depending on the situation. However, expect a great show packed with fun from experts at their craft. HDB
Amanda Palmer 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, at Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., 214-824-9933 or granadatheater.com, Sold out I dare say that far more people are aware of Amanda Fucking Palmer than have heard her music. With a nearly unparalleled knack for self-promotion, AFP hit it out of the park when her album-funding Kickstarter campaign over-funded its goal by more than 10-fold. A TED-talk evangelist for new models of supporting music, author of The Art Of Asking and general Internet lightening rod, Palmer the provocateur has to some degree overshadowed Palmer the musician. But it was her music and stagecraft that originally provided Palmer with the rabid fan base she has so skillfully cultivated. Dallas is one of eight stops on a tour featuring a solo Amanda accompanying herself on piano and ukulele, performing songs from her catalog. She's also selling new merch, signing some books and otherwise displaying her art for asking. At the time of this writing, the Dallas appearance is the only sold-out tour date. Doug Davis
Sleater-Kinney With THEESatisfaction, 7 p.m. Thursday, April 16, at Granada Theater, 524 Greenville Ave., 214-824-9933 or granadatheater.com, Sold out Sleater-Kinney's return could've gone countless ways, but the electricity of No Cities to Love somehow perfectly balanced a reprisal to the band's glory days with a modern and eternally conscious spin. It works largely because, regrettably, the same female stigmas that the band warred against in the '90s are still relevant. Despite the success of acts like the Coathangers, the idea of seeing a trio of aggressive females spit and shriek continues to exist outside the confines of "permissible female behavior." But screw it, because manners are bullshit and the band has inspired generations of women to rage against the machinations of masculinity. And this intergenerational crowd will be instantaneously unified by the discordant guitar screeches and dueling voices of Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker. And if that isn't intersectionality, I don't know what is. Matt Wood
Stone Temple Pilots With Dreamers, 8 p..m Friday, April 17, at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., 214-978-2583 or houseofblues.com/dallas, $31-$56 Stone Temple Pilots, they're elegant bachelors, but they're only half the men they used to be. Okay, they're three-fourths the men they used to be, but the one who's missing is the most important of the group: Scott Weiland. The San Diego quartet is a long way from its mid-'90s heyday, when the classic rock hooks, mush-mouthed vocals and Gen X ramblings of songs like "Creep" and "Interstate Love Song" propelled them to MTV stardom. (Remember those days?) Then again, maybe Weiland wasn't so crucial after all. His well-publicized troubles with drug addiction led first to STP breaking up and eventually to a messy divorce, the legal battles over which are still ongoing. But it's just as well for the DeLeo brothers and band mate Eric Kretz, who hired Linkin Park frontman and self-proclaimed STP superfan Chester Bennington to take Weiland's place. It's the perfect marriage, as they can punch the clock knowing they have a low-maintenance singer who's living out his dream and sounds just like the real thing. So can we call just hum along? Jeff Gage
Whirr With Wild Moth, Bummer Vacation, Clear Acid 8 p.m., Friday, April 17, at Lola's Saloon, 2736 West 6th Street, Fort Worth, TX, 817-877-0666, $12 Whirr is a shoe-gaze band from San Francisco, California. They bring an update to the sound of some of the pioneers of the genre such as My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. Their sound can be wholly dependent on manipulation and creating a lush guitar-based atmosphere or it can easily take a right turn and rev itself into a fast-paced, post-punk groove. In 2013, they released their debut Pipe Dreams, and last year the follow-up Sway was came out on Graveface. HDB
Ok Go 8 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., 214-824-9933 or granadatheater.com, $24 Honestly I can't name a single Ok Go song, and I've seen every one of the group's "viral" videos that they seem to put out on a yearly basis. You gotta hand it to them: They were the first act to figure out the power of YouTube and exploit it for reverence. Damian Kulash and crew have been making quality power-pop since 1998, and while that's admirable, there's no doubt that the band's audience tripled (and then some) after their first video in 2007. Add in videos with the Muppets and Good Morning America's dedicating entire segments to whatever the group thinks up next, and you cans see why they're not going away anytime soon. So, go to the Granada, listen to some power pop, wait for the treadmills to be brought out, and have a really safe time. Bonus points: They'll be playing a (free) acoustic show beforehand at Good Records' Record Store Day party earlier in the afternoon. Jaime-Paul Falcon
Toni Braxton 8 p.m. Saturday, April 18, at Winstar World Casino, Thackerville, Oklahoma, 1-800-622-6317 or winstarworldcasino.com, $55-$65 In the decade that Buzzfeed has based its nostalgia-based ethos of happy sappy, the 1990s, Toni Braxton was a megastar. She told tens of millions of records; her eponymous debut sold 10 million copies, and her follow-up, Secrets, spread another 15 million into the hands of music fans around the world. Perhaps her biggest hit, "Un-Break My Heart," won a Grammy and stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks. Like any good megastar in their career twilight, Braxton is cashing in at places like Winstar Casino, where she visits this Saturday. HDB
Curren$y 8 p.m. Sunday, April 19, at South Side Music Hall, 1135 S. Lamar St., 214-421-2021 or gilleysdallas.com, $30 New Orleans is a destination for rap. A lot of people know this because of Lil Wayne and Boosie, but people are really only scratching the surface of Nola at that point. More recently people have been turned on to Kevin Gates, who is a young upstart from the city. In between a Boosie or a Wayne and a Gates is Curren$y AKA Spitta. Spitta has been a darling in the rap world for years. He and Wiz Khalifa were inseparable for years before Wiz went and found himself in the mainstream. Producers like the Alchemist and Harry Fraud serve up beats for Spitta because they want to work with him. There's an expression called "your favorite rapper's favorite rapper" used a lot in the rap game, but few actually have the CV to back that claim up. When you consider that Spitta has somehow flown under the radar to many, despite his adoring audience within the creative community of the rap world, you know that he has a solid argument to make. Catch Spitta and say you knew before others did. James Khubiar
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