If you stay in too much this week, you're going to miss some badass shows. Like most Mondays, The Funky Knuckles will be taking over Three Links. Then, at Eastbound and Down Icehouse, LOAFERS will share a bill with The Go Go Rillas. But if you're in Deep Ellum that night, you can swing by Club Dada for sets by Destroyer and Eleanor Friedberger. Latino punk-rock pioneer Alejandro Escovedo will take the stage at The Kessler Theater on Friday around the same time Marc Anthony will be making his stop at American Airlines Center. You can also catch Christian! Teenage Runaway, the Eagles and more this week, all in North Texas.
The Funky Knuckles
9:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St., free
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. Jacob Vaughn
LOAFERS
7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, at Eastbound and Down Icehouse, 3826 Ross Ave., free
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. Jacob Vaughn
Destroyer with Eleanor Friedberger
8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, at Club Dada, 2720 Elm St., $17-$20 at eventbrite.com
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 covers 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. Jeff Strowe
Alejandro Escovedo
7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, at The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis St., $26 at prekindle.com
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. Diamond Rodrigue
Marc Anthony
9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, at American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave., $66.50-$186.50 at ticketmaster.com
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. Jeff Strowe
Christian! Teenage Runaway
8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, 411 E. Sycamore St., Denton, free
“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 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. Daniel Rodrigue
Pansy Division
7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St., $12-$15 at eventbrite.com
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. David Fletcher
Eagles
8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29, at American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave., $129-$750 at ticketmaster.com
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. Jacob Vaughn
Stone Mecca
4 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at BrainDead Brewing, 2625 Main St., free
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 Sunday. Jacob Vaughn
LockJohnson's Showcase
7 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at Louie Louie's Piano Bar, 2605 Elm St., $15 at door
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. Jacob Vaughn