10 Best Concerts of the Week: 90s Rewind, The Front Bottoms, Modest Mouse and More

As we enter into the cold season, this is a great weekend for North Texans to discover some local talent and rediscover old favorites. The week kicks off with the imprecisely named Trinity of Terror tour, which hosts four incredible alt-metal bands in Dallas. The same night, another four-act lineup in Fort Worth is certain to bring you back to the '90s. If you're in the Christmas spirit that night, you might want to head up to Denton for the Christmas tree lighting on the Square, then step across the street to see who's playing. Saturday is almost all local with Helium Queens playing a free show in Denton, three killer bands in Dallas and the homecoming of two more acts — Sarah Jaffe in Fort Worth and Luna Luna in Deep Ellum. That night will also see a punk band D.R.I.'s return to North Texas. Next week, emo-folk rockers The Front Bottoms play Fort Worth, and the concert week closes out in the Cedars with an indie favorite playing an indie classic. It may not be a big week for live music, but it could still be the best week for you.
Trinity of Terror
5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, South Side Ballroom, 1135 Botham Jean Blvd. $55+ at ticketmaster.com

The Trinity of Terror tour brings together three of the hottest bands in the world of alternative metal and metalcore. Atreyu, although not included in the advertised trinity is the longest running band in the lineup, currently touring in support of its 2021 release, Baptize. Ice Nine Kills is the second oldest with its origins going back to 2000. The band was recently honored with a spot on Metallica's 2023 tour, which will swing through North Texas next fall. Scranton, PA's Motionless In White formed in 2004 and released the industrial metal album Scoring the End of the World over the summer. Finally, the lineup's youngest band and arguably its most popular, Black Veil Brides, formed in 2006 as something of a hair metal throwback, but it has come into its own as more of a gothic metal act with last year's, The Phantom Tomorrow.
90s Rewind
7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, Tannahill's Tavern and Music Hall, 122 E. Exchange, Ste. 200, Fort Worth. $27+ at ticketmaster.com

True to the "everything '90s is cool" nostalgia of the moment, Fort Worth's newest venue, Tannahill's, will be hosting the most tubular event this Friday night, with appearances from Tone Loc, Tag Team, C+C Music Factory and Digital Underground. So let's remind ourselves who these people are, starting off with Digital Underground who gave us the ultimate comedy rap dance from the new jack swing era, "The Humpty Dance." You may not recognize the name C+C Music Factory, but you would absolutely recognize the group's 1990 classic "Gonna Make You Sweat" from its opening lyric, "Everybody dance now!" Naturally, a lot of people will recognize Tag Team's megahit "Whoomp (There it Is)," but it's worth keeping in mind that Tag Team was the first Southern rap group to have a hit single. Then there is Tone Loc, who gave us "Wild Thing" and, of course, "Funky Cold Medina" from 1989's Lōc-ed After Dark.
Brave Combo
8 p.m. Friday, Dec 2, Andy's Bar, 122 N. Locust St. Denton. $17.50 at prekindle.com

As far as local legends go, they don't get much bigger than Brave Combo, who return to their old stomping grounds Friday night at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios in Denton. In their 40-year history, the alt-polka band has been billed alongside all kinds of different bands from the worlds of punk, rock, folk and jazz. Legend has it that, in the band's humble beginnings, it was so hard for them to find bills on which to play, that they ended up playing a lot of punk shows including one with iconic punk band Black Flag. Those days are over as the band has amassed a cult following that is ready to polka down hard. This Friday, the band performs after the tree lighting ceremony on the Denton square just across the street from the the city's historical Courthouse on the Square.
Sarah Jaffe
7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, Lola's, 2000 W. Berry St., Fort Worth. $20 at prekindle.com

Never one to be defined by any genre, Sarah Jaffe's musical career has touched on indie-folk, electro-pop, hip-hop and really just anything else she wants to do. Created in the grief of heartbreak, Jaffe's latest album SMUT, released back in October of 2019, displayed the songwriter's talent for mixing spatial ambient sounds with uplifting melodies and lyrics as she searched for a way to have fun again. Now a New York City resident, Jaffe began her career in Denton, becoming a favorite in North Texas in 2008 when she racked up three Dallas Observer Music Awards before rising as a national star throughout the '10s. Jaffe has also scored original music to the award-winning independent film Never Goin’ Back and co-wrote and sang on a Grammy-winning track for Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 album, "Bad Guy." Jaffe returns home Saturday night for a show in Fort Worth. No warm-up act has yet been announced.
Luna Luna
7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, Ruins, 2653 Commerce St. $20 at squadup.com

Since 2017, Luna Luna has been producing deep, emotional bedroom complete with throwback grooves and dreamy vocals. A four-piece bilingual Latinx band, Luna Luna is made complete by lead vocalist and co-producer Kavvi, keyboardist Danny Bonilla, drummer Kaylin Martínez and Ryan Gordon on bass. The band members fuse lyrics of English and Spanish in in songs that are both soothing and catchy. The band has continued to grow Dallas buzz well over the last five years with plays on KXT, and more recently expanded its state-wide reach after relocating to Austin in the past year. The band returns home this weekend for a sold-out show at Ruins.
D.R.I.
7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, Trees, 2709 Elm St. $17 at axs.com

Crossover thrash legends Dirty Rotten Imbeciles, or D.R.I., came crashing out of Houston in 1982. The band's mixture of hardcore punk with thrash metal would set the model for bands like Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion of Conformity and the Cro-Mags. Though the band released its last official full-length album in 1995 and has sporadically released EPs in 2001 and 2016, D.R.I. has continued to tour the world extensively despite a hiatus from 2006 to 2010 in which guitarist Spike Cassidy was diagnosed, treated and recovered from colon cancer. While rumors of another full-length album have been floating around for the last couple of years, no new material has actually surfaced. Regardless, D.R.I. built a reputation for its live shows, making studio recordings far less important. D.R.I.'s openers at Trees will be San Antonio metal band Metalriser and Dallas' Thumb War.
Innumerable Forms
8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, Double Wide, 3510 Commerce St. $12 at prekindle.com

Boston death metal band Innumerable Forms has been cranking out the heaviness since 2013. Headed by founder Justin DeTore, a veteran of the Boston hardcore/power violence scene, the band's September release Philosophical Collapse marks the band's most triumphant work: An opus built on the death metal sounds of the early '90s, namely Finnish death metal and UK doom metal. The band has built a cult following over the years with its live shows despite its rather small repertoire of material. The band comes to town with a host of local metal acts in support including Austin's Death File Red, Fort Worth's Burning and Denton death metal band Kombat.
Helium Queens
9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, Harvest House, 331 E. Hickory St., Denton. Free

Helium Queens is one of the most spectacular local acts out there right now, and this Saturday, you have the chance to catch the band's incredible intergalactic live show for free at Harvest House in Denton. Winner of the 2019 Dallas Observer Music Award for Best Live Act, the Helium Queens made a splash last year with its critically acclaimed live experience: Helium Queens: A Space Opera in which the band performed a full theatrical production made possible with the Arts Activate grant from the Dallas Office of Arts and Culture. Whether for a full opera or a pop-up live performance, Helium Queens brings an immersive, engaging intergalactic experience complete with neon-colored costumes.
The Front Bottoms
7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, Tannahill's Tavern and Music Hall, 122 E. Exchange Ste. 200, Fort Worth. $32+ at ticketmaster.com

The Front Bottoms will be rolling into Fort Worth Tuesday night. Kicking off their careers as a New Jersey folk-punk band, The Front Bottoms are known for their dense, confessional lyrics and intricate guitar work. While the band's lineup has shifted over the years to include keyboards, brass and other instruments, the band is traditionally a two-piece, guitar and drum setup that, like Local H before them, can make those two instruments sound too big for a stadium. The band has been associated with genre terms like "indie" and "emo," but their sound today is much more in line with garage rock, relying on heavier and faster guitars on songs like "Voodoo Magic." However, The Front Bottoms can still slow things down and get emotional as they did on the band's most recent single "Lover Boy." The band is currently touring with singer-songwriter Sydney Sprague.
Modest Mouse
7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, South Side Ballroom, 1135 Botham Jean Blvd. $45+ at ticketmaster.com

Back in September, indie-rock giants Modest Mouse announced they would be going on a 25th anniversary tour in honor of their breakthrough 1997 album The Lonesome Crowded West. For the tour, the band's members will consist of singer Isaac Brock and drummer Jeremiah Green, who were on the 1997 recording, and they will be joined by Russell Higbee — who played bass on the band's most recent album, The Golden Casket in 2021 — and an additional guitarist with Simon O’Connor. For the anniversary tour, the band has released a picture disc pressing of the iconic album that has been available at all the anniversary shows, including this one Wednesday night in the Cedars. The show will see the band performing The Lonesome Crowded West in its entirety before a second encore set of songs from across the band's catalog. After looking at past shows from this tour on setlist.fm, that second set of songs could be absolutely anything. Portland indietronica band Mattress is scheduled to open.