10 Best Concerts of the Week: Master P, Drowning Pool, Doja Cat and More

Once the big meal is over and all the leftovers are wrapped and packed away or sent home with anyone who wants them, make the most of this long holiday weekend by getting out there and seeing some shows. It's a great time for some early 2000s nostalgia as the crew from No Limit Records takes over the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie Friday night and Drowning Pool headlines Trees' annual Toys for Tots charity event. With not a whole lot of touring action happening through the weekend, it's a great time to check out some local acts from the country, punk, metal and noise scenes. The touring acts come roaring back after the weekend with L.A. Witch, Citizen and Lagwagon all making headline appearances. KISS-FM's Jingle Ball brings in the week's biggest headliners, Doja Cat and Lil Nas X, who collectively received 13 Grammy nominations this past week.
No Limit Reunion Tour
8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 26, at Texas Trust CU Theatre, 1001 Texas Trust Way, $52+ at axs.com

How long has it been since someone made you say "Ugh?" If you said summer of 1998, then that would probably be pretty accurate because that is when No Limit Records began its short-lived domination of the rap world. No Limit's glory days didn't last long. The last album to chart from the label was the 504 Boyz's 2000 release Goodfellas. By 2003, the label had gone bankrupt. The label has since been reorganized but has yet to match the success it had at the end of the '90s. Now, 20-something years later, the stars of No Limit Records are coming together for a reunion show Friday night at the Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie. The label's head honcho Master P will be there as well as Silkk the Shocker, Mia X, Fiend, Mercedes, Mr. Serv-On and Mystikal. Also on the ticket is former No Limit Records rival, Cash Money Records artist Juvenile.
Off With Their Heads
8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 26, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St., $18 at seetickets.us

After rescheduling this show twice previously, the third time will be the charm when punk-rock band Off With Their Heads takes the Three Links stage Friday night with Slingshot Dakota. Way back in October 2019, the show was first postponed after an incident in which the Off With Their Heads tour van was involved in an accident. That show was postponed to mid-March 2020 — right when all the venues had to close due to the pandemic. Now, 25 months, two weeks and a new acoustic album later, Off With Their Heads is ready to bring what we have been missing out on for so long. The band's brand of punk rock is heavy with singer/guitarist Ryan Young's thunderous baritone seeming to always be on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown. In addition to indie-pop band Slingshot Dakota, power-pop band Supercrush has been added as a second opener.
Trees' 13th Annual Toys for Tots Concert
7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27, at Trees, 2709 Elm St., $9.71 at axs.com

Since 1947, the Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots program has distributed over 600 million toys to almost 300 million children, and for the last 13 of those years, Deep Ellum club Trees has hosted an annual toy drive in coordination with 97.1 The Eagle, offering discounted tickets to see great bands so long as concertgoers bring a new and unwrapped toy to donate to the charity. This year, Dallas metal stalwarts Drowning Pool headline the event with four local opening acts: Irving metalcore band What's Left of Me, Fort Worth heavy metal band Kill for Mother, Dallas alt-metal band Lowside and experimental hardcore band Breathe Atomic. This is a great way to kick off the holiday season with a spirit of giving. The charity show is one that each band is passionate about playing, and they are sure to bring it for the fans who show up in support.
Strays
5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 28, at Rubber Gloves, 411 E. Sycamore St., $5 at the door

Formed in Denton in 2016 with a proclivity to heavy, sinister music, Strays wasted no time in putting out their first release, Smoker, in January 2017. The single-track album demo is a sprawling doom metal monster-piece with all the charm of a traffic jam at rush hour during a thunderstorm. The band's following Ritual EP was released the following spring. The four-track song cycle included samples from old horror movies and occult films that broadened the band's soundscape as they moved toward a heavy psych sound. In 2019, the band released its first full-length album on Denton's Triptych Records. TIME / DEATH / VOID / DREAM. A ghostly and apocalyptic album set to the tune of World War III, Strays' debut album relies on heavy bass riffs, thudding drums, a ruthless guitar and sparse, haunting vocals. Strays early show at Rubber Gloves Sunday afternoon will have support from heavy local bands Revan, Final Broadcast and Audio Rivals.
John Falvo & His Daggers
8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 28, at Charlie's Star Lounge, 4319 Main St., Free

Having just released their first, self-titled EP earlier this month, John Falvo & His Daggers are ready to throw a release party. This Sunday at Charlie's Star Lounge on the outskirts of Deep Ellum will host the free event EP Release Party with noise-punk band Thyroids set to open the show. John Falvo & His Daggers are a tough band to describe. While their country-rockabilly sound coupled with their dark lyrics might make one tempted to call the band psychobilly, that label doesn't really work without the fast beats borrowed from punk-rock. Instead, John Falvo & His Daggers might be better described as a classic country band that specializes in murder ballads. Listen closely. The upbeat, surfy music and unassuming voice of singer John Falvo belie the violent, tongue-in-cheek content of the lyrics. If you're looking to show visiting relatives what the Dallas music scene has to offer, this free two-piece lineup is a great place to start.
Calculated Chaos
8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 28, at Three Links, 2704 Elm St., $10 at seetickets.us

Sunday night, Three Links gives music lovers the opportunity to burn off some major Thanksgiving calories with a three-band lineup of the greatest and latest local punk bands. With the dueling vocals of guitarist Arnold Santos and bass player John Grefer together with gritty, street punk energy, Calculated Chaos may be one of the most exciting punk rock bands currently working its way through the house and club show circuit. After two years of playing together, the band released its first full-length album earlier this year. The album is 11 tracks of pure, unstoppable energy with the longest song tapping out at just over two minutes. Calculated Choas will have support from another local band known for their dueling vocalists who walk the line between punk and metal, Corkscrew Nosedive. The middle set will be played by the brand new punk band Crucial Times, fronted by former Blot Out and Hard Detox singer Zach Abrego with Corkscrew Nosedive's Hunter Gwin on bass and Phorids drummer Travis Brown.
L.A. Witch
7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30, at Andy's Bar, 112 N. Locust St., $14 at prekindle.com

L.A. Witch is an all-female garage-rock trio that has been tearing it up across the country for about a decade now. The band built its reputation on singles and live shows, building a fanbase for seven years before releasing their first full-length, self-titled album. A band that is all thrill and no frill, L.A. Witch draws inspiration from their Los Angeles forebears X as well as heavy metal bands like Black Sabbath to create a sound that is boozy, bluesy, lo-fi and just a little bit psychedelic. The band plays Tuesday night at Andy's Bar in Denton after wrapping up a tour with The Black Angels on the West Coast on their way to start a tour with All Them Witches on the East Coast. The weeknight show will have local support from Denton female-fronted punk bands Mutha-Falcon and Hen and the Cocks. Tuesday night rock shows  at small clubs don't usually get a lot of love, but this one doesn't ask for your attention — it demands it.
Citizen
6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1, at Club Dada, 2720 Elm St., $20 at prekindle.com

A three-piece post-hardcore band from Ohio, Citizen first formed in 2009 out of the ashes of bands from the Toledo metal scene. Over the course of the band's 12-year, four-album history, Citizen has experimented with a variety of dark and brooding sounds, shifting from metalcore to emo to pop-punk all on the same album. On the band's March release Life in Your Glass World, Citizen once again tries something new on for size, this time incorporating sounds of new wave music into the overall emo vibe. The effect gives Citizen's new work more of an uplifting payoff as opposed to the band's previous work, which, while cathartic, often left the listener wallowing in their own anger and/or sadness. The new record may still be bleak, but this time, there is at least a little hope. Citizen's Wednesday night show at Club Dada will have opening support from Drug Church, Glitterer and Floating Room.
106.1 KISS FM's Jingle Ball
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30, at Dickies Arena, 1911 Montgomery St., $45 at ticketmaster.com

Every year, Dallas pop station KISS-FM gets the holiday season going with a solid lineup of the greatest and latest names in pop music. This year's lineup features pop giants Doja Cat and Lil Nas X along with up-and-comers The Kid Laroi, AJR, Tate McRae, Bazzi and Dixie D'Amelio. Doja Cat has had quite the year, from releasing her third album Planet Her to guest-starring as Lil Dickey's love interest on a few episodes of the FX comedy Dave. This week, the singer was nominated for eight Grammy Awards including "Album of the Year." Doja Cat released a song with her co-headliner Lil Nas X, "Scoop" from his long-awaited debut album Montero. Lil Nas X has also had quite the year, becoming a lightning rod for controversy when the supposedly devil-worshipping video for "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" came out while he simultaneously became a hero for the LGBTQ+ and mental health awareness communities. This year the Jingle Ball takes place in Fort Worth at the Dickies Arena.
Lagwagon
8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1, at Amplified Live, 10261 Technology Blvd. E., $26 at seetickets.us

Fat Wreck Chords recording artist Lagwagon will perform their 1997 release Double Plaidinum front to back Wednesday night at Amplified Live. The album was recorded between 1996 and '97 just after the band's original drummer and guitarist left the group after seven years, three albums, an EP and a split single. It was their only album to feature Ken Stringfellow on guitar before he went off to become, among other things, R.E.M.'s touring and session guitarist. Double Plaidinum marked a melodic shift for Lagwagon, whose work up to that point had more of a hard-driving edge. It would be that pop-punk sound that Lagwagon would carry into their next release Let's Talk About Feelings and their Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 soundtrack single "May 16." Red City Radio from Oklahoma City and Noogy from Dallas are all set to open the show.