10 Best Concerts of the Week: Post Malone, Thomas Rhett, Jimmy Eat World and More

This week’s list offers up a couple of bonus shows with some hometown heroes scheduling two stops in North Texas. The week kicks of with Thomas Rhett bringing his updated take on traditional country to the AAC. Friday night offers up several options for those looking to get out. Killer Mike brings his new sound with The Midnight Revival to Victory Park, Black Joe Lewis takes modern blues to Fort Worth and stoner metal band Weedeater smokes Denton out. Friday will also see the first of two North Texas shows from Rhett Miller and Grady Spencer. On Saturday, Parliament Funkadelic plays what could be its last show in North Texas, Austin’s TC Superstar turns Andy’s Bar in Denton into a performance space and Clint Black returns to Fort Worth. Saturday will also see the start of Post Malone’s two-night residency in Fair Park. The concert week closes with a bit of nostalgia when Jimmy Eat World takes us back to the beginning of emo’s radio days. That is a whole lot of music in not a lot of days. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Thomas Rhett
7:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 3, American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave. $29.50+ at ticketmaster.com

The son of country singer Rhett Akins, Thomas Rhett grew up surrounded by the biggest stars in country music. At the age of 20, he dropped out of college to join them. Rhett first made waves as a songwriter, penning “I Ain’t Ready To Quit” on Jason Aldean’s 2010 album My Kinda Party – a song that praises small-town activities like outrunning the cops with Southern Comfort on your lips (try that in a big city, Jason). Rhett also wrote songs for Lee Brice and Florida Georgia Line before striking out on his own singing career in 2012. For most of his singing career, Rhett has played pop country, but in 2021, under the influence of modern country outlaw Eric Church, Rhett returned to his father’s way of playing traditional country music on Country Again: Side A. The follow-up to that album will be released this year, but before that Rhett’s Home Team Tour ’23 comes to town with special guests Cole Swindell and Nate Smith.

Killer Mike and The Midnight Revival
7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 4, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St. $35+ at livenation.com

For the last decade or so, Atlanta rapper Killer Mike has been best known for his work with Brooklyn underground rapper El-P in the duo Run the Jewels, but before that, he was a highly sought rapper for nearly 20 years, appearing on Outkast’s “Snappin’ & Trappin'” from Stankonia in 2000 – among many others. This year, Killer Mike decided to return to his solo work for his most artistic effort to date, Michael. The album offers listeners a more personal look at the outspoken rapper, whose lyrics have always been tinged with activism and social justice. The new album also sees Killer Mike working with new sounds, including a full band and choir. To that end, Killer Mike is touring with a band and choir named The Midnight Revival, which the rapper debuted last spring at SXSW. Killer Mike’s High & Holy Tour will have opening support from Trackstar the DJ.

Black Joe Lewis
7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 4, Tulips, 112 St. Louis Ave., Fort Worth. $20+ at prekindle.com

Blues, funk and soul band Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears first gained national attention in 2009 when Esquire magazine named it one of “10 Bands Set to Break Out at 2009’s SXSW Festival” (Janelle Monáe was also one of those 10). Back then, Esquire noted the band’s heartfelt grit in composing throwbacks that could stand up to anyone from Muddy Waters to the MC5. Though Lewis and his Honeybears did not share the same trajectory as Monáe after the 2009 SXSW appearance, the band has slowly built a solid fanbase in the blues world. Their 2017 release Backlash earned them a No. 3 debut spot on Billboard‘s blues chart. When COVID-19 canceled Lewis’ tour schedule, the artist did what any true bluesman would and went back to work laying concrete. Lewis and company will play after sets from Austin’s Nik Parr & The Selfless Lovers and Fort Worth’s Cut Throat Finches.

Weedeater
7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 4, Rubber Gloves, 411 E. Sycamore St., Denton. $15 at prekindle.com

Hailing from the shoals of Cape Fear in North Carolina, stoner and sludge metal band Weedeater plays Denton Friday night with a little help from local bands Wooden Earth and Sheesh. Weedeater hasn’t released any new material since 2015, but that hasn’t stopped their bong-rattling tour across the world. There is a certain austerity that many stoner metal bands have, using wicked, mystical imagery, as Sleep and Electric Wizard do, or creating hellscapes like High on Fire – really strange stuff for bands who play a bunch of songs about smoking weed. While Weedeater uses a lot of that same wicked imagery, it’s conveyed with tongue firmly and obviously planted in cheek, whether by poking at Metallica a bit with an album called …And Justice for Y’all or giving a ridiculous name to the scary dragon on the cover of, Jason … The Dragon. It’s nice to see a stoner metal band lighten up about lighting up.

Rhett Miller
7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 4, Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. $35+ at prekindle.com
7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5, Dan’s Silverleaf, 103 N. Industrial St., Denton. $30 at prekindle.com

Rhett Miller, frontman for North Texas alt-country institution Old 97’s, has always been a prolific songwriter. Aside from writing enough songs with his primary band to fill 12 albums over the course of 30 years, he has also spent plenty of time writing and recording his own material – eight albums’ worth. Miller’s solo career predates the Old 97’s, beginning in 1989 when he released his first album while still in high school. The Old 97’s was just one of several bands Miller played with between his graduation and 1993. He didn’t release another album until 2002, but since then, all but one of those solo albums has had the name of a different identity: The Instigator, The Dreamer, The Traveler and most recently, The Misfit, which was released last September. This weekend, Miller will be playing two solo shows in North Texas with Grady Spencer.

Parliament Funkadelic
6:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. $29.50+ at livenation.com

For over 50 years, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic have set the standard for psychedelic funk. Clinton entered the music world in the 1950s, heading a doo-wop group called The Parliaments, but after meeting Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone and Frank Zappa, his musical trajectory changed and music as we know it has never been the same. Parliament Funkadelic never held back in its creative exploration, rotating through a cast of literally hundreds of musicians in its quest to find the perfect groove. Clinton has kept a strict “no set list” rule for many years, keeping the band’s live performances fresh for every stop. The band has teased that the Just For the Funk of It! Tour with Dumpstaphunk, George Porter and Fishbone will be its final tour, but what does finality really mean to a band that has gone out of its way to defy space and time for decades?

TC Superstar
7 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5, Andy’s Bar, 122 N. Locust St., Denton. $15 at prekindle.com

Austin collaborative performance group TC Superstar has a bedroom pop sound with allusions to new wave and disco, but it is much more than a band. Fronted by producer Connor McCampbell, TC Superstar also brings high-energy choreography by dancers LB Flett, Emily DiFranco, Francis Rodriguez and Yuriko Roby. From its very beginnings, TC Superstar has been all about output. The band formed in 2017 and released its first album, Masc, later in the year. In 2019, the band released a sprawling concept album, R&D, which explored the nuances of relationships through the lens of characters Ricky and Dana. During the pandemic lockdowns when all of us were probably watching a little too much television, TC Superstar created its newest album, As Seen on TV, which takes a sharp look at television consumption. TC Superstar will joined by Elnuh from San Antonio and local acts Skimp and Darling Farm.

Post Malone
8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 5-6, Dos Equis Pavilion, 1818 First Ave. $93+ at livenation.com

Making a two-night stay for the hometown crowd, Grapevine High School alum and Tarrant County College dropout Post Malone takes over Fair Park all weekend long on his If Y’all Weren’t Here, I’d Be Crying Tour. Malone’s fifth album, the guitar-driven Austin, hit shelves and streaming services last week to warm reviews. Malone grew up and began his musical endeavors in DFW, but it wasn’t until the rapper moved to LA and formed the group BLCKVRD that he began to gain traction as a rapper. Still, Posty has kept his hometown close to his heart whether by wearing his beloved Dallas Cowboys jersey for the world to see, donating his signature Crocs to his old high school or setting a second date when the first show sells out. Going for the mellowest of vibes on this tour, Malone has asked indie dream pop band Beach Fossils to open the shows.

Clint Black
10 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 5, Billy Bob’s Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, Fort Worth. $20+ at axs.com

Raised in Katy, Texas, Clint Black began drawing crowds as a teenager when he and his brothers would sing at their parents’ Saturday afternoon barbecues. Black eventually dropped out of high school to play with his brothers. That decision eventually paid off, but Black struggled for years, working various blue collar jobs while developing his skills as a singer and guitarist. When Black met songwriter Hayden Nicholas in 1987, the two began a songwriting partnership that has lasted 35 years. Black hasn’t released any new material since 2020, but he has appeared as a featured artist on songs by Buddy Jewell and Cody Jinks. Black’s concert Saturday night was rescheduled from June 17, when he needed to undergo a procedure on his back. Fort Worth country act Hazard County will welcome the crowd from the Honky Tonk Stage starting at 8 p.m. before Black takes the Main Stage at 10 p.m.

Jimmy Eat World
7 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 9, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. $30+ at livenation.com

At the turn of the century, Southwest Emo band Jimmy Eat World took a risk. After seven years and three albums of playing the record label game and seeing only a minor payoff, the band decided to record its next album without any label backing, instead supporting itself with touring and sales from a collection of singles on indie label Big Wheel Recreation. When those funds ran out, the band members all took regular jobs, gambling on the strength of its effort. The gamble paid off when the band finished Bleed American in 2001. The album took off with the release of its second single, “The Middle,” which received significant airplay in its day and can still be heard regularly on the radio today. Jimmy Eat World is currently on a co-headlining tour with Atlanta indie rock band Manchester Orchestra. Middle Kids, an indie rock band from Sydney, Australia, opens the show.