10 Best Concerts of the Week: Judas Priest, Surfbort, SRSQ and More

After two years in pandemic hell, North Texas finally gets to experience the aftermath of SXSW once again. Let's face it, the Austin music and media megafest may sound like a lot of fun, but for anyone who has actually had to suffer the crowds, the confusion and all that infuriating Austin traffic, it's pretty clear that what goes down in Austin mid-March every year is for business executives who want to feel like they're in touch with underground music. Any real music fan in North Texas knows that our fair region is the best place to actually experience the actual music that SXSW claims to be about but just isn't anymore. Not only do all these bands come through our parts, but they are also playing with many of our beloved local bands that the big brains at SXSW see fit to ignore. There are also a few legendary acts coming through this week, but you'll have to read on to find out more.
Judas Priest
7:30 p.m. Friday, March 18, at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., $35+ at livenation.com

Formed in 1969, Judas Priest changed the look of heavy metal music when they dropped the hippie look metal bands like Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer still held on to and opted for black leather and studs. The band also helped steer the sound of heavy metal from slow, ominous blues-rock to fast-paced, hard-driving rock. Countless metal bands have not only developed that style but have also adopted band names inspired by Judas Priest albums and songs: "Steeler," "Exciter," "Sinner" and "Tyrant," to name just a few. Fans hoping to see Judas Priest on its actual 50th anniversary were disappointed in 2020 when the legendary heavy metal band had to postpone its tour twice thanks to the pandemic. Now celebrating 52 heavy metal years, Judas Priest rips into The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory Friday night with opening support from an equally influential progressive metal band, Queensrÿche.
Southside Spillover Fest
3 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at Tulips, 112 St. Louis Ave., $15 at prekindle.com

If you have yet to make it out to Fort Worth to see what this venue is all about, this is just the weekend to do that. With so many bands traveling to and from SXSW, Tulips booked a solid lineup of national and local acts to fill out this single-day festival. The event is also a kind of celebration for a venue that opened its doors in the midst of a global pandemic and managed to keep its doors open despite all the regulations, postponements and cancellations. A spacious venue with the motto, "Welcome Home," Tulips prides itself on making concertgoers feel like a VIP with its long bar and big outdoor patio area with plenty of seating. Kicking things off with a couple of woman-fronted punk acts, Tulips welcomes indie-surf band KALI, electro-pop act Claud, pop-rock band LAUNDRY DAY and indie-rock duo Boyish followed by a headline set from Scottish indie-rock band We Were Promised Jetpacks.
Clownvis
7 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at Lola's Trailer Park, 2736 W. Sixth St., $15 at prekindle.com

Every once in a while, a concert comes along that is just too weird to ignore. Mixing music, magic, comedy, clowning and Elvis impersonations, Clownvis made himself known for the first time over a decade ago with an immediately X'ed audition for America's Got Talent. As the music started, the performer took the platform pulled a long line of tied-together handkerchiefs from his mouth and began singing "Old McDonald" in an Elvis voice when Piers Morgan slammed on the X button. Before he could get to the end of the first "e-i-e-i-o," Howie Mandel and Sharon Osbourne followed suit. Morgan called it the worst act he had ever seen. The next year, LA Weekly called his performance at the Hollywood Improv "better than the real Elvis." Known for his quick wit, incredibly catchy songs, and genuine showmanship, Clownvis has certainly earned the title “The King of Clowns."
Dream Theater
7 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at The Factory in Deep Ellum, 2713 Canton St., $35+ axs.com

There is perhaps no single band more highly respected in the world of progressive metal than Boston's Dream Theater. Along with Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, Dream Theater is one of the "big three" progressive metal acts that helped shape and popularize the sound. While Fates Warning stayed more on the metal side of things and Queensrÿche went more toward glam, Dream Theater has remained interested in keeping its sound more experimental and diverse throughout these last four decades. Known for its sprawling and mesmerizing live shows, Dream Theater makes its way through The Factory in Deep Ellum on Saturday night supporting its 15th studio album, 2021's A View from the Top of the World — the first album to be recorded in the band's very own recording studio, DTHQ. Progressive Fusion band Arch Echo will provide the opening support.
Ours
7 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St., $30 at seetickets.us

Celebrating the 20-year anniversary of its Stev Lillywhite-produced album Distorted Lullabies, New Jersey art-rock band Ours plays Three Links in Deep Ellum Saturday night with special guests Drake Vai, Black Bird White Sky and James Hall Trio. Led by multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and producer Jimmy
Gnecco, Ours redefined the sound of the NYC and New Jersey alt-rock scene, making darker and moodier music than others in the same scene. Ours caught the attention of many major record labels around the turn of the century before DreamWorks Records ultimately won the band in a bidding war. Last year the band released its self-titled sixth studio album and set out on a nationwide tour earlier this month. Dallas will be one of only seven shows on that in which the band will play Distorted Lullabies in its entirety and one of only two in the South.
Gully Boys
7 p.m. Sunday, March 20, at Andy's Bar, 122 N. Locust St., $12 at prekindle.com

Minneapolis-based, all-woman, alt-rock band Gully Boys were all set to play Twilite Lounge in Deep Ellum on March 16, 2020, with fellow Minneapolis band The Bad Man. That was right when the world was first starting to shut down, and that show never happened. Two years later, almost to the day, Gully Boys make a triumphant return to North Texas with an incredible lineup at Andy's Bar in Denton. City Pages named the three-piece Gully Boys Minnesota's "Best New Band" back in 2019. The band draws inspiration from everything that was great about '90s girl-grunge with a new indie spin, pairing well with Chastity Belt, Tacocat and Hop Along. We have it on good authority that this is a band that is known to fill rooms up in the Twin Cities for its raucous, energetic sets, and with local acts Upsetting and Record Setter opening, this one in North Texas is likely to fill up, too.
Surfbort
7 p.m. Sunday, March 20, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St., $16 at etix.com

Taking its name from a bathtub-based sex act referenced in Beyoncé's "Drunk in Love," Brooklyn punk rock band Surfbort came crashing into the music scene in 2015. Fronted by the eccentric and wild Dani Miller, Surfbort has become notorious for its eye-grabbing stage show. Beyond her outlandish style, missing upper lateral incisors and uncovered, unshaven body hair, Miller has a voice filled with raw passion in the tradition of Courtney Love and The Distillers' Brody Dalle, and just like Love and Dalle before her, Miller is backed by an amazing band. Composed of New York City scene veterans, the rest of Surfbort creates visceral punk rock played with reckless abandon with song lengths averaging at about two minutes. Surfbort headlines one of the three Not So Fun Wknd shows taking place this weekend in Deep Ellum alongside Austin punk band Pussy Gilette and L.A. punk bands Smirk and Niis.
SRSQ
8 p.m. Sunday, March 20, at The Nines, 2911 Main St., $10+ at eventbrite.com

Dallas electronic artist SRSQ (pronounced seer-skew) is the solo project of Them Are Us Too co-founder Kennedy Ashlyn, which she created in response to losing her collaborator Cash Askew in the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland in 2016. Signed to the New York- and L.A.-based label Dais Records, SRSQ combines poetic lyrics with a multi-octave vocal range and moody songcraft. Dubbing her sound "griefwave," SRSQ released her deeply emotional debut album, Unreality, in 2019 and received widespread acclaim both for the album and her incredible live show. Entering 2022, SRSQ plays its first shows of the year as a full-band experience, making its way through a short run of Texas dates that culminates in Dallas Sunday night. SRSQ headlines the performance at The Nines in Deep Ellum after sets by North Texas post-punk acts Llora, Clear Acid and Nicole Marxen.
Buddy Guy
7 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., $39.50 at livenation.com

Do you want to know what Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Beck have in common? Aside from being staples on any classic rock station, each one of those guitar gods cites Buddy Guy as a critical influence on their style and songwriting. Known for playing the Chicago-style blues developed with his former bandleader Muddy Waters, Guy developed his signature sound by adding in elements inspired by his home state Louisiana, creating a sound that ranges from blues to free jazz to soul. Guy released his 18th solo album in 2018, his 34th album overall including his collaborative albums with Junior Wells, Memphis Slim and his younger brother Phil Guy. The 85-year-old bluesman may have grown old in years, but his sound remains as timeless as ever. Canadian rock and blues singer-songwriter Colin James opens for the blues legend Tuesday night.
Modern English
7 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, at Amplified Live, 10261 Technology Blvd. E., $25+ at seetickets.us

With fears of nuclear war once again looming in the background, this may be the best time to revisit everyone's favorite song about making love to the sound of an atomic bomb drop, "I Melt With You" by British new wave band Modern English. Often derided as a so-called one-hit wonder, Modern English released albums consistently through the '80s and mid-'90s despite breaking up twice and having contractual issues with its record label. Singer Robbie Grey toured as Modern English with a completely different lineup throughout the 2000s before getting most of the original band back together before its 2016 release Take Me to the Trees. That is the lineup you will see Tuesday night performing Modern English's classic 1982 album After The Snow live in its entirety Tuesday night at  Amplified Live after a set by DJ Crash from KNON NOW's new Wednesday night show, 80's New Wave.