When Awful Men Make Beautiful Things, What’s a Fan To Do?

We asked three of our regular contributors, Taylor Frantum, Preston Jones and Jacob Vaughn, to tackle a tough question: Should we still listen to the music of the late Michael Jackson, R. Kelly or Ryan Adams, three hugely popular artists in the news over allegations they were sexual predators who…

Neko Case Is a Warm, Tight Hug

Bliss is scarce these days. The relentless drumbeat of grim news, wretched behavior and ugly attitudes can make moments of unadulterated pleasure feel even more intense than they might otherwise. How else to explain exiting the Granada Theater into Dallas’ frigid dampness early Sunday morning, yet feeling as if you…

Elton John Gave Dallas a Mesmerizing Send-Off

Lately, it seems as if nothing ever really ends in this era of endless pop-culture reboots, reimaginings and reconfigurings. Therefore, the notion of a definitive conclusion carries more weight these days than it might otherwise. That air of finality permeated Elton John’s Friday night performance at American Airlines Center, the…

Observer‘s Picks for the 10 Best Concerts of the Year

What is there to say about Taylor Swift that hasn’t been said before? She’s the princess of pop, the queen of open letters to streaming services, the goddess of breakup and beef songs. There’s nothing she can’t or won’t do at this point. But even with all she’s accomplished, it…

Florence + The Machine Gave Us a 2018 Concert Miracle Saturday Night

In an age of such concentrated, oppressive isolation — faces affixed to screens, individuals locked in cozy, self-selecting bubbles of comforting affirmation — it can be a remarkable, galvanizing thing to be reminded of the humanity of the person standing right next to you. Such weighty realizations might have been…

k.d. lang put Sunday Night’s Audience Into Hypnosis

The eternally wry k.d. lang wasted little time dispensing with the allure of nostalgia Sunday night. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are here celebrating the 25th anniversary of Ingenue, which means two things,” the Canadian singer-songwriter informed those gathered inside Southern Methodist University’s McFarlin Auditorium. “First of all, we’re a bunch…

Ben Folds Makes Plea For Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

“Rock this bitch!” Those three words, hurtling out of the darkness, momentarily put the bespectacled, bearded Ben Folds back on his heels. The 52-year-old singer-songwriter was standing on stage, inside a sold-out Bass Performance Hall, with the 60-member Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra arrayed behind him. As conductor Edwin Outwater looked…

The 10 Best Concerts of 2018 — So Far

Dallas has seen plenty of good shows this year. Whether it was St. Vincent destroying The Bomb Factory with her guitar and vocals or Tony Bennett showing us age doesn’t matter, we were treated to an array of talent. Here are the 10 best we’ve seen so far in 2018,…

Sam Smith Gives His AAC Audience an Emotional Bear Hug

As the sold-out crowd filed into the American Airlines Center on Friday, there were the weighty quotations displayed on screens flanking the angular stage, which stretched out into the middle of the floor. Settling into your seat, you could ponder this, from poet Rupi Kaur: “What is stronger than the…

Like a Fine Wine, Beck Gets Better with Age

Time preoccupied Beck at every turn Friday night. Whether it was the eclectic setlist slipping easily between moods, albums and moments in his career, or the singer-songwriter’s repeated remembrances of past North Texas appearances, the weight of years seemed omnipresent. Perhaps that’s merely a strong inference from someone who has…

Niall Horan Celebrates Fans, Berates Cellphones at Southside Ballroom Show

You could sense the anticipation before setting foot in the venue. The closed lots were packed full of cars as fans anxiously scanned side streets for any available spaces. The frantic young people clutched phones and portable chargers. Niall Horan’s sold-out Flicker Sessions tour stop Friday night at the South Side Ballroom…