10 Best Concerts of the Week: Dead & Company, Bush, Gary P. Nunn and More

This Memorial Day weekend will be a quiet start to the summer concert season. While we await the stadium-filling shows in the coming months, this weekend allows for many trips down memory lane. Beginning Friday night, Dallas hosts Dead & Company's final stop in North Texas, and Irving hosts a night of '90s nostalgia with Bush and Our Lady Peace. Friday will also see an intimate show from Texas country legend Gary P. Nunn in Denton and Southern rock legends 38 Special in Fort Worth. On Saturday, Young Buck brings his underground hip-hop to the Dallas Design District and Reckless Kelly gives Fort Worth its all. Things start early on Sunday with an afternoon show from Dale Watson in Denton, and later, Helium Queens get spaced out in Fort Worth and the Hickoids headline a night of Texas cowpunk in Deep Ellum. Your concert week concludes on Monday, honoring fallen soldiers with a benefit concert at Opening Bell Coffee in the Cedars. We'll see you next week with some of the biggest concerts North Texas will see all year.
Dead & Company
7 p.m. Friday, May 26, Dos Equis Pavilion, 1818 First St. $70+ at livenation.com

What a long strange trip it's been for Dead & Company. The band came together in 2015 when John Mayer joined with Grateful Dead's original guitarist Bob Weir and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann as well as longtime collaborators bass player Oteil Burbridge and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti. Mayer had been guest-hosting The Late Late Show and invited Weir to play with him. At that point, Weir was putting together a band for some Grateful Dead 50-year anniversary shows. One thing led to another, and the band started touring every summer when they could. Now it's time to bid the Dead's reincarnation farewell on its final tour. The band hasn't announced exactly why it intends that this tour to be its last, but after 60 years of truckin', who can blame them? Plan on arriving early and staying late as the Dead are well-known for playing four-hour-long shows.
Bush
7:30 p.m. Friday, May 26, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. $29.50+ at livenation.com

There was a moment in time when Bush was probably the biggest band on the planet. It was the mid-'90s and the world of music was still in a kind of post-grunge haze. Hip-hop hadn't yet taken middle America by storm, and rock was still very much the dominant music genre. Bush released its debut album Sixteen Stone at the end of 1994, and the singles "Everything Zen," "Little Things," "Comedown" and "Glycerine" dominated the charts throughout 1995. The fifth single from that album, "Machinehead," was released in 1996, just in time to whet people's appetite for the band's second album, Razorblade Suitcase, which came out at the height of Bush's popularity — a height the band hasn't really seen since. Touring its ninth album, The Art of Survival, Bush plays Friday night in Irving with Canadian alt-rock band Our Lady Peace, whose single "Clumsy" is sure to be somewhere deep in your late-'90s subconscious.
Gary P. Nunn
8 p.m. Friday, May 26, Dan's Silverleaf, 103 N. Industrial St., Denton. $35+ at prekindle.com

Returning to Dan's Silverleaf stage in Denton this Friday is Texas country music legend Gary P. Nunn. One of the founding fathers of Austin’s progressive country or “cosmic cowboy” movement in the 1970s, Nunn spent the first part of his career playing piano for the Lost Gonzo band before launching his solo career in 1980. Recognized around the country music industry for his songwriting talent, Nunn has unquestionably changed the face of the genre. He hasn't released any new material for over a decade now, but in 2018, Nunn did put out a collection of his songs called Friends for Life, Vol. 1, which he recorded with other country music legends, including Bruce Robison and Dale Watson (who plays Dan's on Sunday). Nunn is the only act listed on the bill Friday night, but with a career as long and as legendary as Nunn's, who could they possibly get to play in support?
38 Special
10 p.m. Friday, May 26, Billy Bob's Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, Fort Worth. $20+ at axs.com

Everybody knows about Ronnie Van Zant and Lynyrd Skynyrd, but people all too often forget about the little band started by his little brother Donnie, 38 Special. Founded with singer and guitarist Don Barnes in 1974 when Lynyrd Skynyrd was at its peak of popularity, 38 Special would remain unnoticed by the mainstream music scene until 1981, when the band's fourth album, Wild-Eyed Southern Boys, spawned its first hit single, "Hold On Loosely." Donnie Van Zant and Barnes shared vocal duties on all of 38 Special's albums, but it's Barnes' voice we hear on the band's biggest single and its follow-up, "Caught Up In You." The band would produce many more top-40 singles, but none would match either the grandiosity or the staying power of those first two, which are both surely being played on a classic rock station somewhere this instant.
Young Buck
7 p.m. Saturday, May 27, The Echo Lounge & Music Hall, 1323 N. Stemmons Freeway. $25 at livenation.com

Nashville rapper Young Buck first made a name for himself in 1997 at the age of 16 when he joined Cash Money Records. Buck was featured on many albums at the peak of the record label's popularity, but he never released an album on the label. In 2002, Young Buck joined Cash Money expat Juvenile on the rapper's UTP Records, releasing his first album, Born to Be a Thug. The next year, Buck left UTP behind to replace Tony Yayo as a member of 50 Cent's hip-hop group, G-Unit, on G-Unit Records. Buck recorded his first studio albums with the label before founding G-Unit South in 2005. Two years later, after a dispute with 50 Cent, the label was renamed Ca$hville Records. Buck has been held back by legal disputes and beefs with other rappers, keeping him from releasing any new solo studio material for over a decade, but that hasn't stopped him from releasing at least one independent mixtape every year.
Reckless Kelly
10 p.m. Saturday, May 27, Billy Bob's Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, Fort Worth. $20+ at axs.com

Whether you think of them as roots rock, Texas country or Americana, Idaho-via-Austin band Reckless Kelly has been at it for over 25 years now, bringing a raw performance with refined musicianship. The band's 2020 dual-release American Jackpot and American Girls began as a small album project with band leader Willy Braun taking the helm as producer, and it expanded as the band laid down enough material for two solid albums — which are divided between the band's trademark storytelling and exploration of the human condition. A true road warrior band, Reckless Kelly is known for building a connection with its audience from the stage, and at Billy Bob's Texas, the band is sure to put on great show. Reckless Kelly has been promoting this particular show on its socials for some time, selling limited-edition posters on the band's online merch store.
Dale Watson
4 p.m. Sunday, May 28, Dan's Silverleaf, 103 N. Industrial St., Denton. $15+ at prekindle.com

At around the age of 14, Texas country singer Dale Watson became an emancipated minor. Going to high school in the daytime and playing Houston clubs and honky-tonks at night, Watson spent eight years with his brother Jim in The Classic Country Band before moving to Los Angeles on the advice of friend and fellow country singer Rosie Flores. Between his singles, EPs, full-length records and live albums, Watson has put out nearly 40 releases since 1989 — his most successful record being 2013's El Rancho Azul with its classic country throwback "I Lie When I Drink." Coining the term "Ameripolitan" to describe his authentic country sound, Watson plays music that goes hand-in-hand with the outlaw country of Merle Haggard, George Jones and Waylon Jennings. Watson plays an early show inside on Sunday with singer Kierston White playing the back patio
Helium Queens
7 p.m. Sunday, May 28, Tulips, 112 St. Louis Ave., Fort Worth. $10 at prekindle.com

Helium Queens is one of the most spectacular local acts out there right now, and this Sunday you have the chance to catch the band's incredible intergalactic live show in Fort Worth. Winner of the 2019 Dallas Observer Music Award for Best Live Act, the Helium Queens made a splash with its critically acclaimed live experience: Helium Queens: A Space Opera, in which the band performed a full theatrical production made possible with an 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. At Tulips this weekend, Helium Queens will have support from Space Poets (formerly known as Flow-State) and Polarimetry. They're both certain to make the entire evening feel out of this world.
Hickoids
7 p.m. Sunday, May 28, Three Links, 2704 Elm St. $15 at seetickets.us

Austin cowpunk legends Hickoids return to Dallas this weekend. Founded in the mid-1980s, the band took its name from co-founder Davy Jones' description of a homeless man wearing a beat-up cowboy hat whom he found dumpster-diving outside of Jones' apartment. The band has gone through its ups and downs over the last several decades, most recently losing Jones to cancer in 2015. Never to be stopped, Hickoids plays Three Links this weekend for a Dia De Los Corn Dawgs event. Hickoids will have local support from singer-songwriter Ginny Mac as well as Dallas punk icons The Mullens and Texas garage rock and powerpop legends The Krayolas. It's a mixed lineup at Deep Ellum's most respected live music club that is sure to make for an entertaining night out. With the holiday on Monday, there is no excuse to miss this show.
Memorial Day Benefit Concert
1 p.m. Monday, May 29, Opening Bell Coffee, 1409 Botham Jean Blvd. $10 at openingbellcoffee.com

On Memorial Day, Opening Bell Coffee in the Cedars will host a full afternoon of local songwriters honoring the men and women who have died while serving in the military. Benefiting the National Coalition for the Homeless Veterans, the show will present nine acts from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. The benefit is being held in honor of Lt. Col. Eric John Krüger, who died Nov. 2, 2006, in Baghdad, of injuries suffered when an IED detonated near his vehicle. His sister, Kristy Kruger, will be among the many acoustic acts set to take the stage at this family-friendly event to play a short set of songs. The afternoon will also see sets from singers and musicians Michael Koliba, Daniel Caniotta, Pritush Magarjan, Hilary Whitehead, KP Wade, Caleb Dean, Jennifer Waters, Jeff Story and the Dollar Store Generals. This is a great list of new an local talent, and it's all for an important cause.