Monday, February 24

Lunch and Learn
A recent study found that despite the many more ways we’ve found to connect digitally to our fellow humans, at least 20% of Americans report they experience lonely lives. If you’re an arts lover wanting to meet like-minded individuals to engage in elevated discussions, and you’re free on Mondays at lunchtime, head over to the Irving Arts Center for Lunch and Learn, where you can BYO lunch and discuss art. The series is also an informal educational program for adults, with peer presentations and guest speakers. It runs every Monday from noon to 1:30 p.m., until May 20 at 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving. Find more info at irvingartscenter.com. Eva Raggio

The Funky Knuckles
The jazz-funk-fusion band The Funky Knuckles have been killing it in North Texas for about the last seven years. The band's 2014 album Meta-Musica reached No. 1 on iTunes' jazz charts the day it was released. Two years later, The Funky Knuckles put out their 11-song, hard-not-to-dance-to, full-length New Birth. The band has been on the bill every Monday night at Three Links for some time now. The Funky Knuckles celebrated the release of their fourth album, Delicious, at the venue this year and recently won Best Jazz Act at the Dallas Observer Music Awards. The free show starts at 9:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St. Jacob Vaughn

Tuesday, February 25

Fat Tuesday March Through Deep Ellum
Every year for the last six, The Free Loaders’ raspy-voiced, growling bandleader, John Jay Myers, has led a marching band around the streets of Deep Ellum to celebrate Fat Tuesday. Wear your best beads, dance along with the band and watch as the confused but excited passersby join in the traveling fun, which ends at Cajun bar The Free Man. The march starts at 6 p.m. at 2626 Commerce St., and the free party continues until 2 a.m. Eva Raggio

Wednesday, February 26

The Great Divorce
While the title may suggest some intellectual comedy by Woody Allen, The Great Divorce is actually a fantastical play based on a story by C. S. Lewis. And Toto, they’re not in Narnia anymore; Lewis had a profound interest in theology, and it shows through the story of 22 characters (played by four actors) who are on a trip from hell to heaven. It runs from Feb. 25 through March 1, at the Eisemann Center, 2351 Performance Drive, Richardson. Wednesday’s show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $49-$69 at eisemanncenter.com. Eva Raggio

Thursday, February 27

Best of Fests
North Texas has a surprising number of film festivals, each of which serves as a kind of sample platter of short or feature-length films geared toward certain types of films or highlighting specific types of filmmakers. Now, what if you wanted a cinematic sample platter … of sample platters? That’s where this weekend’s Best of Fests comes in. It opens at 6:30 p.m. Thursday with a meet and greet with and performance by songwriter Luke Dick, who tells his story of an early childhood spent at the strip club where his mother worked, in the documentary Red Dog, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St. The documentary Fantastic Fungi at 7:30 p.m. Friday follows a patron red carpet and precedes the opening night party at the Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. Saturday and Sunday programming is all at the Alamo Drafthouse Cedars, 1005 S. Lamar St. Visit bestoffests.org for the full schedule and film guide and to buy tickets, $10 per screening or $5 each for students, or all access festival passes, $25 each or $20 for students. Jesse Hughey

Dust Bowl
Verdigris Ensemble weaves the sound of bluegrass music with video projection and choreographed movement into the Dust Bowl performance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Place is Hamon Hall in the Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St. The dust bowl drought, one of the worst environmental calamities of the 20th century, hit the Southern Plains region of the United States in 1931 and lasted about 10 years. The story onstage was collected from firsthand accounts, newspaper articles and diaries and makes one wonder: Could similar disasters occur today? Have we learned anything from our mistakes? Call for tickets ($29) at 214-880-0202. For more info: attpac.org. Reba Liner

LOAFERS
Three-time nominee for Best Punk Band in the Dallas Observer Music Awards and local favorite LOAFERS will be stopping by for a set at Eastbound and Down Icehouse on Thursday. The band's EP Bobby still hits as hard as it did when they released it in 2017. LOAFERS has put out several songs since then, starting in 2018 with "No Cowboys" and "Formaldehyde." Some of the band's latest material comes off of a two-song release with the tracks "So Hard" and "Square." The recordings are great, but they only give people a taste of what the band is all about. If you want to hear LOAFERS the right way, you have to hear them live. So, why not do that this Thursday? Do yourself a favor and make it to this show. You won't regret it. LOAFERS will share the bill with The Go Go Rillas for a free show at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, at Eastbound and Down Icehouse, 3826 Ross Ave. Jacob Vaughn

Destroyer with Eleanor Friedberger
Dan Bejar, aka Destroyer, is back out on the road in support of his 13th solo album, Have We Met. While his laconic baritone has remained gloriously consistent, the genre styles explored in each of his releases have been wildly disparate. He's channeled smooth jazz, skronky, downtown NYC-loft beats and ragged indie rock, as well as dabbled in pop and straightforward rock arrangements. The new material, liberally produced by John Collins, Bejar's sometime collaborator in The New Pornographers, comes across with a more precise, clinical sound. Synth beats, drum machines and a whole lot of ’80s-era sheen cover the songs, giving the whole affair a soundtrack-like quality that begs for inclusion in some of the retro-leaning programming choices populating the streaming services. Get there early and catch Eleanor Friedberger. An indie legend in her own right, the former Fiery Furnaces singer knows Dallas well and brings a four-album catalog worth of songs that are worthy of her own headlining gig. It starts at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, at Club Dada, 2720 Elm St. Tickets are $17-$20 at eventbrite.com. Jeff Strowe

Friday, February 28

Jeanne Robertson
No matter what she may tell folks, how Jeanne Robertson became a humorist and motivational speaker is pretty clear after reading her background. On one hand, she’s a former Miss North Carolina, and everyone knows pageant people know motivation … and sometimes do crazy things in evening gowns. On the other, she’s a former physical education teacher, and everyone knows that no matter what grade a student is in, the most embarrassing things that happened to them generally happened in P.E. There’s a lot of material to mine in both fields. Oh, and there’s her being over 6 feet tall. Consider that a bonus. The 75-year-old Grand Ole Opry regular takes over Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St., at 8 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $24.50-$39, but Robertson is a down-home hoot and those prices are a steal. Get them before they’re gone at tickets.attpac.org. Merritt Martin

Cocktail Hour: The Show
If you’ve ever sat at a bar and watched a bartender mix cocktails, you already understand that there’s a choreography to each drink: pour, mash, mix, strain, shake. Every concoction has a signature progression of steps and its own flourish. Ballets With a Twist’s Cocktail Hour: The Show brings this choreography to life, personifying happy hour standards like mai tais, gimlets, Manhattans,  boilermakers and more with their own lively and evocative routines. The cabaret-style collection of vignettes is the best kind of mixology, using aesthetic and artistic expression to invoke routine experiences where we raise glasses with friends or take a little “me time” on the rocks. Check out this unique ballet experience at the Eisemann Center, 2351 Performance Drive, Richardson, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28. Tickets are $33-$45 at eisemanncenter.com. Jennifer Davis-Lamm

Alejandro Escovedo
Alejandro Escovedo is a Latino punk-rock pioneer with four decades of music making under his belt. The San Antonio native comes from a wide family of musicians, including his father, who came to the U.S. from Mexico at age 12. Escovedo told NPR last year, "[My father] loved music, and he played guitar very punk rock — very crudely." Although his punk roots are planted firm, Escovedo does include variations of cowpunk, Chicano and alternative country in his music. Since the 1980s, he's lived and become a fixture in the Austin music scene. His latest album, 2018's The Crossing, has been described as a cinematic concept album about immigration and follows two men's journey to get to the U.S. It starts at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, at The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis St. Tickets are $26 at prekindle.com. Diamond Rodrigue

Marc Anthony
Charismatic and still in fine voice at age 51, Marc Anthony is the highest-selling male salsa vocalist in the genre's history. It's been a sneakily amazing and sturdy career for a man who many remember from his late-’90s heyday or decade-long marriage to Jennifer Lopez. Anthony still packs a punch, though, and he's been busy filling up arenas around the globe with dedicated fans who hang on his every word and match his hip-shaking action move for move. You won't want to miss Anthony as he passes through town on his present trek, titled the Opus Tour, at 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, at American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave. Tickets are $66.50-$186.50 at ticketmaster.com. Jeff Strowe

Saturday, February 29

Folding Chairs Comedy Troupe
This is a special year. It's not only a leap year, but leap day falls on a Saturday. How should you celebrate this meaningless, mathematical coincidence? The Dallas-based comedy troupe The Folding Chairs will present their newest sketch comedy show, Night of the Leaping Day, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at Texas Jam Rehearsal Studios in Plano. The show, directed by voice actor Eric Vale and Alese Watson-Johnson, will include original sketches about a modern gondolier, angry (but still horrible) mimes and one man's journey to redemption through his Roomba. The show will also offer live stand-up performances from some of DFW's best comedians and even a news segment, because you can never be too informed. Texas Jam Rehearsal Studios is located at 3420 K. Ave., No. 317 in Plano. Tickets are $15 at the door or $10 if you buy them online at foldingchairs.eventbrite.com. Danny Gallagher

Chris Tucker
Where does Chris Tucker get all the energy that he exerts onstage? Tucker can make crowds roar and laugh as hard as their bodies will allow. Witness this tornado of comedy for yourself when he performs his stand-up show at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29 at The Theatre at Grand Prairie, 1001 Performance Place. Tucker started his storied career as one of the standout performers in the 1990s on Russell Simmons' Def Comedy Jam. He burst into movies as Ice-T's fast-talking friend Smokey in Friday, leading to memorable roles like the flamboyant radio show host Ruby Rhod in The Fifth Element and Detective James Carter in the Rush Hour films alongside Jackie Chan. He returned to stand-up with his latest tour and his highly anticipated Netflix special. Tickets are $25-$129.75 and can be purchased at axs.com. Danny Gallagher

Pansy Division
Pansy Division formed in San Francisco in the early ’90s with the express intent of being an openly gay punk band. By forming the first all-gay punk band that any of its members had known, Pansy Division hoped to give a voice to other gay men who were just not that into pop divas and show tunes. Their bold yet humorous lyrics focused on LGBTQ+ issues and sex and relationships earned them the attention of Lookout! Records, which gave them a spot alongside Operation Ivy and Green Day. While Pansy Division were not the pioneers of the queercore movement, they were certainly the most commercially successful. The band's core members Jon Ginoli and Chris Freeman have consistently released albums every few years since their formation and have been the subject of the documentary Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division. Currently touring in support of their latest, digital-only Singles & Such compilation, Pansy Division will be playing in Dallas for the first time in 15 years. It starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St. Tickets are $12-$15 at eventbrite.com. David Fletcher
Eagles
The Eagles have soared during their decades-long career, winning Grammys and American Music Awards and putting out countless bangers. Through it all, the band has cemented itself into music history. And these Rock and Roll Hall of Famers are still kicking. The Eagles recently embarked on a 25-date tour fittingly titled "Hotel California," and it's bringing these legends to Dallas. You can expect to hear all the hits and more from the Eagles on Saturday at American Airlines Center. It starts at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at 2500 Victory Ave. TIckets are $129-$750 at ticketmaster.com. Jacob Vaughn

Christian! Teenage Runaway
“C!TR is back after a decade! This may be your only chance to see them again,” the event page announced. And the news that Denton’s post-punk glam trio Christian! Teenage Runaway would reunite for the first time sparked excitement among many nostalgic local music fans. “The last show C!TR played was in ’07,” Sashenka Lopez writes in the Observer. “A friend asked us to do it, and we spoke on a three-way conference call and agreed. We’ve been talking about doing it for years. No other shows planned.” After Lopez moved out of state in ’07, the remaining Runaways kept shredding and singing in bands Rival Gang, Divorce and Dirty Diamond. By the time Lopez returned to Denton a year later, she joined Orange Coax, Julie McKendrick was in Vulgar Fashion and Leanne Macomber joined Neon Indian (then moved to New York) — the latter two are DOMA award-winning acts. Now all three have current projects: McKendrick, MoMWoW; Lopez, BAKA; and Macomber, Young Ejecta. Also on the bill, Seattle’s dream-pop act Sundae Crush features Denton expats, and Austin’s post-punk act Wet Dip features a once-staple of Denton’s music scene Daniel Francis Doyle. One of Denton’s best, DJ Dreamlover69, drops bangers between sets. The free show starts at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, 411 E. Sycamore St., Denton. Daniel Rodrigue

Sunday, March 1

Stone Mecca
Throughout his career, multi-instrumentalist Stone Mecca has worked with the likes of Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Organized Noize. Last year, the musician told the Observer that his latest release, the funk-rock-soul EP, Alienman, is a throwback to the kind of music he wrote when he first started playing guitar. He said that with the album, he was trying to create music without hesitation or consideration of predetermined boundaries of his sound. If you haven't heard the latest of Stone Mecca, you'll want to be at his show. The free show starts at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at BrainDead Brewing, 2625 Main St. Jacob Vaughn
LockJohnson's Showcase
Every Sunday night, acts like Shaun Martin, Cure for Paranoia and many others hop onstage for an artist showcase that has rocked Louie Louie's Piano Bar for the last two years. Even Alessia Cara joined in this year. Presented by local musician and promoter Gino “LockJohnson” Iglehart, LockJohnson's Playground showcase has become a staple for many North Texans' Deep Ellum music experience. If you haven't already, stroll into Louie Louie's on a Sunday night. You'll like what you hear. It starts at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at Louie Louie's Piano Bar, 2605 Elm St. Tickets are $15 at the door. Jacob Vaughn