10 Best Concerts of the Week: Lizzo, Maren Morris, Misfits and More

Earlier this week, we let you know the best bets for Halloween weekend. But if you have music in mind and you're looking to expand your concert calendar this week, we've scared up a few more events that should do the trick. Chris Stapelton's All-American Roadshow kicks the concert week off in Fort Worth. On Friday, music lovers can take their pick of concerts in Dallas, Irving and Denton. Gogol Bordello brings gypsy punk to Greenville Avenue, while Pearl Earl comes home to Denton, Maren Morris comes close to home in Irving and Lizzo brings her Special tour to Victory Park. Saturday is filled with just as much excitement with Frankie and the Witch Fingers in Fort Worth, Superorganism and The Legendary Pink Dots playing a few doors away from one another in Deep Ellum and, of course, the original Misfits taking over Fair Park with Alice Cooper and The Distillers. Godspeed You! Black Emperor closes things out on Halloween night at the infamous Texas Theatre.
Chris Stapleton
6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, Dickies Arena, 1911 Montgomery St., Fort Worth. $140+ at ticketmaster.com

Since the release of his breakthrough 2015 album Traveller, Chris Stapleton has been the new leader of doing country music the old way. Stapleton’s fourth album, Starting Over, was met with near-universal acclaim for its heartfelt songwriting when it was released in November 2020. The singer's All-American Roadshow has been making its way around the country and back again for several years now, whether Stapleton has released a new record or not. Even if you've seen the road show before, with a rotating cast of opening acts, the tour is always fresh. Thursday’s Fort Worth date will include opening acts such as blues-rock singer and Denton fangirl Elle King, whose new album, Come Get Your Wife, is due out next year, as well as up-and-coming country singer-songwriter Morgan Wade.
Gogol Bordello
7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. $35 at prekindle.com

For over 20 years, Gogol Bordello has been a gypsy punk cabaret act that is as fun to see live as it is to hear. Ukraine-born frontman Eugene Hütz has led the eight-piece international collective through eight breathless albums that defy listeners not to get up and dance to the sounds of accordions, violins, all kinds of percussion and the singer's trademark voice. The band's latest album, SOLIDARITINE, has all of the humorous trappings of Gogol Bordello's work, but as one may guess from the Ukrainian flag flying on the album's cover, the band is also working toward something greater. Whether decrying fascists in righteous anger or calling for more love and empathy between humans, Gogol Bordello never lose sight of music's unique ability to heal. New Jersey xylophone-themed punk band Crazy & The Brains are set to kick the night off right.
Lizzo
7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave. $65+ at ticketmaster.com

In 2019, it seemed like Houston singer/rapper Lizzo was an overnight success. She had her first commercially successful hit that year with the release of the single "Juice." Television appearances followed, then gold and platinum albums, and at that point Lizzo was absolutely everywhere. However, Lizzo's success was far from the overnight whirlwind it appeared to be these last few years. After studying classical music concentrating on flute at the University of Houston, Lizzo moved to Minneapolis in 2011 and started a short-lived electro-pop soul group and later an R&B/rap trio before pursuing a solo career. And while Lizzo's pre-Cuz I Love You certainly garnered accolades from the underground, the mainstream simply wasn't listening. In 2017, Lizzo played Club Dada in Deep Ellum. In 2018 and 2019, she played South Side Ballroom. Now, Lizzo is playing on the arena stage she has always deserved.
Maren Morris
7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. $35+ at livenation.com

Last we heard (at least musically) from Arlington’s Maren Morris, the singer had won big at the 2020 CMA Awards, winning Album of the Year for Girl and Song of the Year for her song “Girl.” On top of that, Morris was recognized as the Female Vocalist of the Year. For that album, Morris had teamed up with Adele producer Greg Kurstin to really amplify the album's theatrics and bring out her voice. After such a winning collaboration, Morris decided not to mess with success, so she teamed up again with Kurstin for her follow-up, Humble Quest, which was released back in March. The new album was met favorably by critics who praised the singer's handling of subjects like grief and new motherhood with a country-pop elegance. Ruston Kelly, Kacey Musgraves' ex-husband and Star-Crossed lover, provides opening support.
Pearl Earl
8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, Dan's Silverleaf, 103 Industrial St. $10 at prekindle.com

Equal parts prog rock, glam rock and psych rock, Pearl Earl opens Halloween weekend at Dan's Silverleaf this Friday with Psychic Love Child and Dome Dwellers. The show finds the band coming together after another year of side projects that kept them occupied — guitarist Ariel Hartley released her first EP Dream Crusher with solo project Earl Hartley and Thrift Star at the end of last year, drummer Bailey K. Chapman has continued working with Los Angeles punk band Egg Drop Soup, and Stefani Lazcano and Chelsey Danielle put together their side project No Good Babies. With everything else going on, it is surprising to see that Pearl Earl just released its first single, "Evil Does It," from an EP due out Nov. 11 on New York-based Green Witch Recordings. 
Misfits
6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, Dos Equis Pavilion, 1818 First St. $49.50+ at livenation.com

The night North Texas punks of all ages have been waiting for is finally here. For the first time since 1983, the original Misfits — the "Jerry Only, Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein and Glenn Danzig" original Misfits — will be coming together for a one-off show in Fair Park to teach everyone the true meaning of Halloween. Showing respect to the founders of horror-themed rock, Alice Cooper will perform an opening set along with one of the many, many bands Misfits inspired, The Distillers. To say that Misfits was an influential band would an understatement on par with saying that The Beatles was an influential band. It's hard to find anyone in the world of punk, metal, goth or really any kind of dark music that wasn't in some way touched by Misfits' work from 1977 to 1983. In just 50-something songs, each two-or-so minutes, Misfits changed the landscape of all music. Now, it's Dallas' turn to pay its respects; after all, "Texas is the reason ... "
Frankie and the Witch Fingers
7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, Lola's, 2000 W. Berry St., Fort Worth $15 at prekindle.com

Los Angeles-based heavy psych band Frankie and the Witch Fingers have been hypnotizing audiences around the country for almost a decade now. After forming in Bloomington, Indiana, the band headed west to hone its garage-rock sound in an environment more fitting to its gritty and glamorous sound. After a few years on Permanent Records, the band moved over to Brooklyn’s Greenway Records, which specializes in heavy psych recordings. The band is also working with The Reverberation Appreciation Society, which puts on the annual LEVITATION festival in Austin. Like many heavy psych bands, Frankie and the Witch Fingers is prolific in its output, releasing six albums and countless singles since 2015. The band released its new, hard-driving song "Electricide" as a digital single just last Friday, along with the smoldering B-side "Chalice."  Austin dream-psych band DAIISTAR opens the show.
Superorganism
7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, Club Dada, 2720 Elm St. $20 at prekindle.com

Back in 2018, the eight-piece London-based electronic-pop collective Superorganism was on tour and considering a move to Dallas. Former synth player Mark "Emily" Turner had asked if the image of "lots of dudes in 10-gallon hats, driving giant trucks and eating Mexican food" was an annoying stereotype before insisting that such an image "sounds really awesome.'' Sadly, the band did not, in fact, move to Texas, and now Turner isn't even in the band. Now a five-piece collective, Superorganism released its sophomore album, World Wide Pop, this past summer to mixed reviews. While some praised the group's copy-and-paste approach to pop music, finding a perfect balance of chaos and structure, others thought it was a complete mess. For a group whose members come from South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. and who initially met online, this kind of pop maximalism seems fitting and futuristic. New Jersey experimental indie-pop band Blood Cultures will warm up the crowd Saturday night.
The Legendary Pink Dots
8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29. Three Links, 2704 Elm St. $22 at prekindle.com

The Legendary Pink Dots turned 40 in August 2020, and the experimental art-psych-post-punk rockers with a cult-like following have already kicked off the Museum of Happiness tour. After more than 40 studio albums in over 40 years (not counting live albums, singles, EPs and collaborations), the band has definitely earned your attention. And this tour comes on the heels of the release of The 13th Step — which came out after the album for which this tour is named. The group is now truly legendary for its prolific output, rotating cast of musicians and record labels as well as its genre-defying sound. The Legendary Pink Dots formed in London in 1980 before moving to Amsterdam in ’84 with Edward Ka-Spel and Phil Knight at the core. While singer-songwriter Ka-Spel’s vocals have always been front and center, he sounds cooler and more confident with age. Whether a Dots track starts with electronic bleep-bloops, a tape recording, guitar or keys, when the distinctive vocals of singer-songwriter Ka-Spel kick in, his vocal tone, enunciation and theatrical delivery become instantly recognizable.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31, Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. $34 at prekindle.com

Legendary post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor plays a Halloween show at the landmark Texas Theatre. From 1997 to 2002, the band released a string of albums of instrumental chamber rock compositions brimming with intense emotion, alienation and defiance. The band's live performances often  feature multiple 16mm projectors showing looped reels with the same distinct imagery found in the band's enigmatic album art. In its 25-year existence, the band has had only two official photos, has answered only a handful of questions with written interviews, has never had a website or any social media accounts and has never made a music video. This is truly a band that lets its work speak for itself — dark, brooding and beautiful. Minimalist folktronica artist Marisa Anderson will be supporting the band that night with her haunting and elegant approach to guitar music. It'll be a night without lyrics, but with music this evocative, who needs them?