The most dangerous thing that can happen to an art form is for it to be treated gently — relevance calcified into reverence. There is no doubting Dwight Yoakam’s devotion to country music — his was a poignant presence in documentarian Ken Burns’ sprawling 2019 assessment of the genre —…

Late in the evening, long after a packed Canton Hall had lost itself in a blissful fog of sinuous grooves, searing guitar licks and soulful vocals, Black Pumas’ Eric Burton made a confession. “I’m embarrassed by how much fun we’re having,” the gimme cap-clad singer told the adoring, sold-out crowd…

You may ask yourself: What does Cher have left to prove? The answer, of course, is nothing. With an Emmy, an Oscar, a Grammy, a three-year Las Vegas residency, 100 million records sold around the world and an enduring status as an icon for the LGBTQ community to her credit,…

Time seemed more slippery than usual this past Friday night at the Majestic Theatre. Standing before a near-capacity audience, Rufus Wainwright, clad in a Western shirt, black jeans and glittering ruby slippers, sang in his ageless voice — rich, resonant and riveting — of youthful hedonism and domestic pleasures, collapsing…

Dan Auerbach, an electric guitar slung around his neck, stood just to the side of center stage. “Let’s go back to Akron right now, down in the basement, and play some basement music,” he said to the howling audience arrayed before him, glowing phones and overpriced plastic cups of beer…

Ray LaMontagne did a lot with a little Sunday night at the Music Hall at Fair Park, before an attentive, largely respectful room full of fans (itself a miracle; more on that momentarily). His Just Passing Through tour is a stripped-down affair. Apart from a guitar tech’s fleeting appearances to…

Ask anyone who’s ever attended an Erykah Badu concert and, inevitably, the same topic comes up: “Why does she have to start so late?” It’s a fair question: In the handful of times I’ve seen the Dallas native perform, exactly one concert has begun even remotely close to its scheduled…

Suddenly, it was silent. The thrumming bass, swirling synths, ticking drums and Robyn’s muscular soprano were stilled. In the harsh half-light of Irving’s Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, its cavernous interior reconfigured into an intimate theater, a couple thousand voices rose up as one: “I’m in the corner/Watching you kiss…

If anyone filed into Globe Life Park Saturday night expecting a sentimental farewell, Billy Joel was prepared to deliver — to a point. “I just wanted to let you know I don’t have anything new for you — it’s the same old shit,” the 70-year-old singer-songwriter informed us all up…

As far as rock star entrances go, it was unorthodox. On Monday night at the American Airlines Center, Phil Collins entered leaning heavily on a cane. His feet shuffling steadily forward, the 68-year-old Collins made a beeline for a swivel chair. The affectionate roars from the sold-out room greeting the…

Saturday night at the Statler Ballroom, as The Mavericks launched into “Summertime (When I’m With You),” the floor began to move beneath the crowd’s feet. That it felt as though the entire room was dancing — a couple of thousand fans pressed together in a room often on the verge…

Late in the evening, John Mayer leveled with us. He described to the comfortably full American Airlines Center an unhurried dinner with a companion whose presence soothes and everything feels so relaxed and easy that, before you know it, dessert has arrived: “That’s what this feels like,” the 41-year-old singer-songwriter…

There was no finer example of Vampire Weekend’s ability to walk a tightrope mood between pensive and propulsive than during its performance of hit single “This Life” on Sunday night. Before a near-capacity Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, stricken with soporific summer heat, frontman Ezra Koenig and his bandmates sang…

Pop music has long made heartbreak hummable, but making it a feeling worth savoring? That’s a bit tougher to pull off. Yet Carly Rae Jepsen did just that Thursday night throughout her 90-minute headlining set at the House of Blues. In her first Dallas-area appearance in three years, the 33-year-old…

There is a song named “River” on Patty Griffin’s latest, self-titled album, which I’d played countless times since its March release. But it wasn’t until Saturday night, when the 55-year-old singer-songwriter, making her first Dallas appearance in a little over a year, stood before a sold-out Granada Theater, that I…

Pluck any line at random from a Jason Isbell song, and more likely than not, you’ve got yourself a bit of poetry. Same goes for the singer-songwriter Josh Tillman, who performs under the moniker Father John Misty — his lyrics tend to linger, suffusing the body with a slow burn…

The word “therapy” is defined as the “medical treatment of impairment, injury, disease, or disorder.” Of those four, it would seem injury — primarily of a reputational sort — was being most thoroughly addressed Saturday night at Dos Equis Pavilion, as Hootie and the Blowfish brought its Group Therapy tour…

To step inside the American Airlines Center Tuesday night was to enter a hall of mirrors. On stage, white-hot pop superstar Ariana Grande cooed, belted, sashayed, dipped, twirled and reclined her way through a briskly paced 90-minute set. Off stage, from the arena floor to the rafters, a sold-out room…