The 10 Best Concerts of the Week: Shania Twain, Harry Styles, Leon Bridges and More

Sometimes it's hard to say if farewell tours are just publicity stunts or if some of music's biggest icons long for the simple life only to realize that arenas filled with adoring fans paying lots of money aren't so bad. Either way, we're reaping the benefits as country music superstar Shania Twain stops in town this week after allegedly retiring three years ago. Also in tow this week are English pop star Harry Styles, post-punk band Chrome, Fort Worth native and soul star Leon Bridges, and more.


Harry Styles
With Kacey Musgraves, 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave., ticketmaster.com, $29.50 and up

At only 24 years old, Harry Styles has already accomplished a body of work that it takes others decades to achieve. As a member of One Direction, he's conquered the music world and is well on the way to doing so again with his outrageously successful solo career. He's a paparazzi fixture and fashion icon, and soon he'll be able to add television producer to his resume. A network sitcom loosely based on his humble beginnings spent sharing an apartment with a friend while becoming a pop star is in the works for this fall. In the meantime, Styles will perform for his legion of adoring fans at American Airlines Center on Tuesday night as part of his lengthy summer tour. East Texas’ Kacey Musgraves is the opening act. Based on the strength of her latest release, Golden Hour, and her local popularity, it seems likely that the venue will be packed early with a cheerfully excited crowd ready to sing along. Jeff Strowe


Shania Twain
7 p.m. Wednesday, June 6, American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave., ticketmaster.com, $37 and up

Five-time Grammy Award winner Shania Twain will forever be held up among the likes of other past queens of country music, such as Kitty Wells, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn and Reba McEntire. She’s sold more than 100 million records, making her the top-selling female country recording artist of all time and the best-selling female artist of all time in the U.S. in any genre. After a lengthy hiatus, Twain returned with her fifth studio album, Now, in September 2017. It was her first new album since since 2002’s Up!. Now also marked Twain’s first release since her 1993 debut album not produced by her ex-husband, Robert "Mutt" Lange. It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums, so for Twain and her fans, the Now Tour tour with Twain’s confident, new tracks must feel like a victory lap of sorts, especially after she “retired” because of complications caused by Lyme disease and dysphonia that limited her ability to speak and sing normally. Expect to hear Twain backed by a full band delivering a mix of mostly chart-topping hits and karaoke classics, as well as a handful of her new songs mixed in. Daniel Rodrigue


Chrome
With Silver Skull, 7 p.m. Thursday, June 7, Three Links, 2704 Elm St., $14 and up

For more than 40 years, San Francisco post-punk act Chrome has been a favorite among underground music nerds and cultish record collectors. The band’s proto-industrial, collage-like tracks find a thrilling middle between avant-garde art music and noisy rock of contemporaries like Pere Ubu and This Heat. On a Chrome record, you’re just as likely to encounter fragments of TV broadcasts and sci-fi sound effects as martial drumming and shrapnel-dusted guitar play. This is a big part of the experimental outfit's lasting appeal — it successfully marries traditional hooks with the heady inclinations of experimental music, including avant jazz, field recordings and garage psych. Think Naked Lunch-era William Burroughs going punk. Fans of the strange and the loud, do not miss this. Jonathan Patrick


Snarky Puppy
8 p.m. Friday, June 8, The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., ticketfly.com, $32

With Snarky Puppy, which won back-to-back Grammy Awards for best contemporary instrumental album in 2016 and 2017, it’s probably best to take the advice of The New York Times’ Nate Chinen on the Denton-bred group now based in New York: “Take them for what they are, rather than judge them for what they’re not.” Over the past decade, the love-them-or-hate-them, mostly vocals-free act has sharply divided critics, bloggers and record store clerks. Led by composer, producer and bassist Michael League, who formed the jazz-fusion act in 2003 while in the University of North Texas’ Jazz Studies program, Snarky Puppy hit its stride three years later after tapping into Dallas’ gospel and R&B scene, which remarkably upgraded the group’s sound and vibe, making it harder and harder to pigeonhole. The Pups won numerous Dallas Observer Music Awards for best jazz act before winning the outfit’s first Grammy Award in 2014 for best R&B performance for "Something" off Family Dinner — Volume 1. So if you’ve yet to witness the Grammy-winning act with serious local roots, catch it Friday at The Bomb Factory to help welcome League and company back to Deep Ellum. Daniel Rodrigue


Mark Knight
9 p.m. Friday, June 8, It'll Do, 4322 Elm St., 214-827-7236, $15-$25

United Kingdom DJ extraordinaire Mark Night will be hitting one of Dallas’ most overlooked clubs, and boy will the Brits be jealous, or at least glad they moved to the states. For more than 10 years, Knight has been a champion to the scene as one of the leaders of the UK’s largest independent music labels, Toolroom. This Grammy-nominated DJ/producer is one of Europe’s most respected beat masters, and having him live in Dallas is more than a treat. He found mainstream recognition with tracks such as “Man With the Red Face” and “Second Story,” the latter of which was dubbed an “essential new tune” by the BBC’s Pete Tong. Knight is a pillar of the modern hardcore EDM elite. Nicholas Bostick


Ray Lamontagne
With Neko Case, 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 8, Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., thepaviliontmf.com, $30-$79.50

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Ray Lamontagne produced and last month released his seventh studio album. Part of the Light is full of familiar Lamontagne tones of dreamlike Neo-folk but is punctuated by bluesy rock 'n' roll throughout. This summer, he's touring in support of the new tracks and has brought along special guest Neko Case, who also just released a new album, Hell-On. Diamond Victoria


Har Mar Superstar
8:30 p.m. Friday, June 8, The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis St., 214-272-8346 or thekessler.org, $18

One of singer-songwriter and actor Sean Tillmann's alter egos wears less clothing than the other two. Har Mar Superstar often gets his kicks by stripping down to his skivvies. But it's not all aesthetic antics; he cranks out some well-crafted R&B while doing so. Friday night's show at The Kessler Theater should be no different, except that the Superstar is touring this summer in the name of soul music legend Sam Cooke. Expect covers of some of the best love songs of the '60s, as well as original music inspired by Cooke from Har Mar Superstar and his band. DV


Robert Earl Keen
10:30 p.m. Friday, June 8, Billy Bob's, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, Fort Worth, 817-624-7117 or billybobstexas.com, $18 and up

Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Famer Robert Earl Keen is a bit of an anachronism in the modern era of music. His iconic brand of Americana was beloved long before the genre became a mass of alt-rock lyrics and banjo strings. Probably best known for his work with artists like George Strait, Lyle Lovett and The Highwaymen, Keen, a Houston native, has spent nearly half of his life as one of the Lone Star State’s best musical ambassadors. He hit his stride in the mainstream country music scene during his tours with fellow singer-songwriters Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. Some of Keen’s biggest classics, such as “The Road Goes on Forever” and “Feeling Good Again,” have stood the test of time, but Keen’s probably best known for his annual Christmas tours. Sounding like the nasally farmer cousin Dylan never knew about, Keen paints pictures with his vocals, and he’s still at it more than 30 years later. NB


Leon Bridges
7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 9, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, livenation.com, $25 and up

Only a few years ago, Leon Bridges was washing dishes when he wasn't playing music on the side. Now he's at the point in his career where, on his second record, he can headline a venue like The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory. The man has a voice that can travel well through a big place, so it is a good fit. He'll play the songs that made him a bonafide star, but as he supports the new Good Thing LP, expect that material to get more attention. Who knows? Maybe later that evening, he'll be in Deep Ellum busking for fun. Eric Grubbs


Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
With Styx and Tesla, 7 p.m. Sunday, June 10, Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., thepaviliontmf.com, $25 and up