21 Things To Do in Dallas This Week

Thursday

Muscle Shoals, Alabama, has long been a mecca for musicians the world over for sharing its name with the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. And it’s also where the electro-rock duo BoomBox calls home. Composed of Zion Rock Godchaux (son of former Grateful Dead members Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux) and DJ Harry, BoomBox’s fifth studio album, Western Voodoo, hit the streams last fall and is the group’s first album with new member Harry. Zion’s longtime collaborator, Russ Randolph, left the band in 2016 but the lineup change seemingly hasn’t stopped the band from further innovation. Describing the new album as “dirty disco blues,” Zion says the new album is the band’s most musically diverse to date. Combining bass-heavy disco beats and dripping drumpads with Zion’s auto-tuned vocals and electro-fied guitar strumming makes for dynamic listening. And the group’s penchant for energetic stage antics will make it all the easier to stomp to the beat. 7 p.m. Thursday, May 9 at Canton Hall, 2727 Canton St., $25. Nicholas Bostick


Tiger won't be there but Tony will. We mean Romo, as in the former Cowboys quarterback and present football analyst, who'll join the field of the whitest group of men outside an Ivy League frat house for the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson. Our knowledge of golf begins with Caddyshack and ends with Tiger Woods, as God intended, so forgive us if we don't recognize any other names competing in the annual golf tourney, though we like Cody Gribble. Don't know that he's any good, but he's a local who shares a last name with that famed Texan, Dale. The first round tees off at 7 a.m. Thursday, and the action, to use the term loosely, continues through Sunday at Trinity Forest Golf Course, 2100 South Haskell Ave. Will Romo perform on the course as he did on the football field? Let's hope not. The poor man probably can't stand another broken bone. Daily grounds tickets tickets start at $45 and veterans, active-duty members of the military and kids under age 17 get in free. Find tickets at attbyronnelson.org. Patrick Williams


Gorilla vs. Bear hosts its seventh outing this week and features the Chromatics. You'll remember the electronic outfit from the popular music blog's second a handful of years ago. Editor and founder of Gorilla vs. Bear, Chris Cantalini always brings the best up-and-coming and already trending acts to Dallas (past GvsB shows have included Danny Brown and Glass Candy, to name a couple). Cantalini has a real knack for bringing great music to Dallas, and fans of his blog always know what to expect. Joining the Chromatics are Montreal-based electronic band Desire and electronic duo In Mirrors. 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., $37. Diamond Rodrigue


Well, that's a bit disappointing. AT&T Performing Arts Center's Elevator Project is bringing a City Dionysia to Strauss Square, but as near as we can tell, there won't be a single maenad in sight. No Dallas matrons of the arts, drunk as Cooter Brown and dressed in panther skins, will be tear-assing around downtown, whacking people with pine cones on a stick and ripping random men apart in ecstatic worship of Dionysus (no more than usual, anyway). Dallas' version, modeled on an ancient Greek theater festival, does promise "excessive drinking of wine, guitar battles, partial nudity, open flames, theatrical fog/haze, naughty words, stilt-walking, vulgar puppetry, gorgeous drag, bloody violence and a one-of-a-kind adaption of an ancient Greek classic," ATTPAC says. Plus food. So, except for the guitar battles, we're talking your basic Park Cities engagement shower. The Greek classic in this case is Euripides' The Bacchae, which includes puppets, possibly vulgar. The carnival-like festival begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday outdoors at Strauss Square, 2389 Flora St. Find tickets, $25, at attpac.org. Patrick Williams


Longtime fans of British rockers The Cult and the band’s multi-platinum-selling Sonic Temple won’t want to miss this tour. The Sonic Temple Tour commemorates the 30th anniversary of the release of their 1989 album, which featured some of The Cult’s top songs including charting singles “Fire Woman,” “Sun King,” “Edie (Ciao Baby)” and “Sweet Soul Sister,” as well as fan favorites “Soul Asylum” and “NYC.” The set list for the tour will reportedly draw from The Cult’s 10 studio albums, with the centerpiece being a “super set” focused on tracks from Sonic Temple — some songs of which haven’t been performed in the three decades since the album’s release. Formed in 1983 as Death Cult before shortening the name, they refined their sound with the release of Spiritwalker, which soared to No. 1 on the U.K. independent charts and kick-started the band’s history of charting singles. Led by Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, The Cult continue to bridge the divide between hard rock and indie alternative rock. The Broken Things open. 7 p.m. Thursday at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., $35-$89.50. Daniel Rodrigue


 If you’re pissed you won’t be able to see The Killers at Woodstock 50 due to its supposed cancellation, don’t worry. All hope has yet to be lost. The Las Vegas-based, four-piece rock group is hitting The Bomb Factory after spending months in the studio, putting together a new record. It will be their sixth release in nearly three years. Earlier this year, the Killers put out the single “Land Of The Free,” a tear-jerking tune about President Trump’s proposed border wall, racism and the lack of gun control reform in the U.S. Frontman Brandon Flowers has said the band’s latest album is likely to come out early next year. 8 p.m. Thursday, May 9 at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., $80 and up. Jacob Vaughn


Uli Jon Roth made a career out of combining two personal obsessions: Jimi Hendrix and western classical music. His approach has always pivoted on these two pillars, on imbuing the wide-screen compositional force of classical with the spiritual aesthetics of Jimi Hendrix. It’s on this unlikely and frankly odd ground that the guitarist carved new avenues in metal and Americana rock, first with his initial band Dawn Road, and then later with much larger acts Scorpions and Electric Sun. In addition to dozens of blues, metal, and prog rock records, Uli Jon Roth has written large-scale works for orchestra and in the ‘80s invented a new sort of guitar — the so-called “sky guitar” has extra strings, frets and is capable of reaching the elevated frequencies of a violin. Guy’s done a lot. 9 p.m. Thursday at Trees, 709 Elm St., $17.50 and up. Jonathan Patrick


Friday

Uptown Players’ annual Broadway Our Way show has evolved from giddy fundraiser to slick showcase for Dallas’ top musical theater stars. Flipping gender roles allows men to sing famous torch songs and women to belt big ballads from Broadway shows past and present. This year’s BOW, written by B. J. Cleveland and directed and choreographed by Cleveland and Jeremy Dumont, features special guest Cedric Neal, who left Dallas a few years back (he was a longtime member of DTC’s Brierley acting company) to star in several shows in London. Recently, Neal made it to the semifinals of The Voice U.K. Expect him to ring the rafters of Kalita Humphreys Theater (3636 Turtle Creek Blvd.) with his phenomenal vocals. Tickets are $35-$60. Runs through 2 p.m. Sunday, May 12 (all other performances 8 p.m.). Uptownplayers.org or 214-219-2718. Reba Liner


The Strumbellas bridge the gap between scrappy folk and catchy pop. Thanks to frontman Simon Ward's soaring vocal delivery that's at times syrupy sweet and other times raspy and raw, the Canadian sextet's brand of catchy pastoral pop delivers emotionally charged singalong songs sure to make audiences toe-tap, air guitar and table-drum along. The Strumbellas released a fourth studio album, Rattlesnake, in late March. 8 p.m. Friday at Canton Hall, 2727 Canton St., $15-$28. Diamond Rodrigue


There is a magical celebration for people who love throwing caber, sheaf and stone, wearing kilts, Highland dancing, comparing Scottish dog breeds, learning about and eating shortbread and haggis, and watching strangers get married (10 a.m. Saturday). It’s the annual Texas Scottish Festival & Highland Games this weekend. It’s rain or shine at 3101 FM 51 in Decatur from 5 to 11:30 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets range from $13 to $19 ($5 for kids 6-12, $8 teens 13-17) per day, but packages are available in a variety of options. Visit texasscots.com for a schedule with event details, including heavy athletics (athletic attire is recommended for participants), live music and classes. Merritt Martin


Check off just about every taboo you can think of on Friday at the Margo Jones Theatre, 1121 First Ave., when Naked Girls Reading spotlights all manner of illicit acts in Legalize It. Starting at 8 p.m., performers including Courtney Crave, Honey Hula-La, Kitty Martini, Kimber Fox and Dahlia Derringer will disrobe, deliberate and read passages about heady issues like drug legalization, the consumption of alcohol and other forbidden indulgences. It’s a ribald exercise in intellectual engagement — eye candy with substance—for the 21-and-up crowd. Spend your evening with a bevvy of brainy, birthday-suited ladies for $15 general admission seating or $25 for VIP treatment. Buy tickets at ngrdallas.com. Jennifer Davis-Lamm


Saturday

Want to watch some authentic flamenco dancing or enjoy some Greek cuisine? The McKinney International Festival on Saturday has you covered. This first gathering of multicultural food, art and entertainment in McKinney's Finch Park is a day packed with activities and experiences from almost every corner of the globe. You can watch live dance performances and a demonstration of Spanish flamenco, German folk dancing and Brazilian martial arts. Food from around the world joins the local fare on McKinney's downtown square. The festival runs from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Finch Park, located at 301 W. Standifer St. It's free to attend. Visit mckinneyinternationalfestival.com. Danny Gallagher


Saturday night should be a bumping night of soulfully energetic tunes as two of the pop world's brightest lights take the stage. Colombian-born Kali Uchis has mastered the art of genre-blending as her recent album, Isolation, takes more left turns than an Amazon delivery truck navigating downtown Dallas. Befitting an artist who started out by looping samples in her bedroom, Uchis' songs dabble in vintage R&B, smoke-tinged jazzy beats, indie rock and hip-hop without becoming overly indebted to the sources. It's a creative blend that landed her album on many 2018 year-end, best-of lists. English singer-songwriter Jorja Smith follows in a similar vein, albeit a bit more hushed and restrained. Like a whimsical house-music-influenced version of Alicia Keys, her hit album, Lost & Found, is a thoughtfully eclectic collection of life observations that sounds universal enough to be recognized, yet personal enough to reveal insights into her own personal occurrences and happenings. 7 p.m. Saturday at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 316 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving, $39.50-$79.50. Jeff Strowe


For decades, artist Sheila Hicks has demanded viewers' undivided attention through her monumental, striking and boldly colorful textile sculptures. For her latest installation at the Nasher Sculpture Center, she continues a recent streak of work outdoors (as she did in Paris and New York) by weaving her sculptures along the Nasher’s gardens seams, depicting the relationships between man-made structures and nature and exploring themes of latency, form and anti-form. The opening is on Saturday and the exhibit runs until Aug. 18 at 2001 Flora St. Adult tickets are $10, with various discounts available at nashersculpturecenter.org. Eva Raggio


Now that craft brewers have seemingly exhausted the possibilities of bitterness with IPAs that use hops in every way possible — wet, dry, pelletized, oil-extracted, freebased — the current extreme flavor frontier is sourness. Martin House Brewing Co. is among the local breweries coming up with new ways to make your lips pucker and will have 30 sours on tap at its third annual Sour Fest. Among the special offerings will be Blackbeard, a 10-percent ABV rum barrel-aged version of the blackberry sour, Blackbird, with vanilla. Others include Best Maid Pickle Beer, Peach Cobbler Sour, the sweet coconut and mango sour Teen Wolf and the tart green apple sour Golly Rancher. If reading those descriptions isn’t making you dry heave, the fest is 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the brewery, 220 S. Sylvania Ave., Suite 209, Fort Worth. General entry is available at the door for $15, which includes four 8-ounce pours. Extra beer cards will be available for $10 apiece. VIP tickets were $20 each and entitled holders to noon entry and a special snifter glass, but those are sold out. Jesse Hughey


Sunday

Arguably the least popular and performed of Beethoven’s large scale works, his Symphony No. 4 is typically lumped in with the master’s first and second symphonies, stylistically nimble pieces marked by rich melodicism and relatively brighter substance. Compared with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, Eroica, widely considered the greatest symphony of all time, the fourth’s silhouette seems surprisingly harmonious, accessible, almost simple. Upon closer inspection, however, the work reveals subtle complexity and clever dissonances. See, for example, the first movement’s shy opening moments, which devolve into prickly stabs before giving way to a blossom of brilliant, swirling color. Just like his third, fifth and ninth symphonies, Beethoven's fourth is populated with mischievous sleights of hand that only give themselves away upon close, repeated listens. Or, that is, after one superbly executed live performance. Fingers crossed for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, then. Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto and Edward Elgar’s In the South and Sursum Corda complete the program. Karina Canellakis conducts. There are four performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 4: at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday May 9-11, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 12. All performances happen at The Meyerson, 2301 Flora St. Tickets start at just $19. More info a mydso.com. Jonathan Patrick


Bonnie Bishop's hit "The Best Songs Come From Broken Hearts" has been well-received, so much so that it's included on the soundtrack of the TV series Nashville. When Bishop took a break from years on the road to attend graduate school, the creative writing major met award-winning producer Dave Cobb. Once he heard her demos, he knew her voice was meant to sing soul music. Her last full studio album, 2016's Ain't Who I Was, couldn't have a better title. While her roots remain planted in country rock, Bishop's newer sound is likely to be her best yet. Bishop's show Sunday evening is the perfect Mother's Day treat for the special lady in your life. 6 p.m. Sunday at Fort Worth Live, 306 N. Houston St., $12. Diamond Rodrigue


Bring Mom and your running shoes and be ready to start your massive Mother's Day celebration with a nosh and a little exercise at the JCC Bagel Run. (Yeah, it's Mother's Day, in case you've forgotten, you little serpent's tooth.) The Aaron Family Jewish Community Center has been offering the run for 33 years now, so it's become a Mother's Day tradition. Runners get bagels and schmears, moms get flowers. There will be a 1-mile kids run and a 5k and 10k for everyone else. Registration starts a 7:15 a.m. at the JCC, 7900 Northaven Road. Day-of registration is $15 for the kids, $35 for the 5k and $40 for the 10k, with discounts for early registration available through May 11 at jccdallas.org. Patrick Williams


Monday

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, author and scientist Jared Diamond will talk about his recent book, Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis, at First United Methodist Church, 1928 Ross Ave. Apropos, we're sure, of absolutely nothing happening in America today, Diamond will examine whether the United States is still a nation that endures crises or is facing future decline. Hear him at 7:30 p.m. Monday. General admission is $40, with assorted discounts available. Find them at dma.org. Patrick Williams


Tuesday

Dallas Summer Musicals continues to bring Dallas the best of Broadway productions, and in this case, its 13th-longest-running show. Based on Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly and from the creators of Les Misérables, Miss Saigon tells the tragic tale of love between a young Vietnamese woman and an American soldier. The production features a massive cast, endless spectacle and hits like “The Heat is On in Saigon.” It runs May 14-26 at the Music Hall at Fair Park, 909 1st Ave. Tuesday's opening performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, $25 and up, are available at fairparkboxoffice.com. Eva Raggio


Wednesday

May is a good time to get all your outdoor activities out of the way before summer comes to scorch us all. But we love our state despite the weather, mostly for giving us the Dallas Cowboys, who will be putting down their footballs and stepping into the batter’s box for charity for the 8th annual Reliant Home Run Derby. Along with players, the Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco will be hosting Coach Jason Garrett, everyone’s favorite cheerleaders and Rowdy the mascot. Admission is free, but ticket quantity is limited to eight per transaction. Gates open at 6 p.m. at 7300 RoughRiders Trail, Frisco. For more information visit groupmatics.events. Eva Raggio