10 Best Concerts of the Week: The Cure, $NOT, Helloween and More

It's Mother's Day Weekend, so there are plenty of reasons to have a concert date with your mom. Maybe she's a hip mom who is down with new artists like $NOT, or maybe a cool mom who got into indie bands like Cursive in the '90s before indie was, like, a thing. Maybe she was into Violent Femmes in the '80s. Maybe she's a metal mom who knows her music history and is getting fired up for the Helloween show. Or maybe your mom is the more mellow music lover looking to get wined up on a little Pure Prairie League. Your mom could have a dark little spot in her heart for a big band like The Cure; she may want to dance the night away with a little band like Okey Dokey. She could be ready to rock out with Ugly Kid Joe or step into the future with Coheed and Cambria. If she's got soul and a little of that new jack swing, Boyz II Men will be in town on Mother's Day to dedicate "A Song for Mama" to your mom specifically. The point is that music is made to be shared, and this week is a great time to share it with your mom.
$NOT
7 p.m. Thursday, May 11, South Side Ballroom, 1135 Botham Jean Blvd. $39.50+ at ticketmaster.com

Florida rapper $NOT began his career in 2016, emerging from the expansive digital playground of SoundCloud in 2018 with his breakout single "GOSHA." Drawing equal inspiration from alternative rappers  Tyler, the Creator and Memphis hip-hop collective Three 6 Mafia, $NOT's sound finds the balance between the lethargy of mumble rap and the aggression of gangsta rap. Shortly after one of his non-album singles, "Billy Boy," appeared in the pilot episode of Euphoria, $NOT signed with 300 Entertainment, which has released his last two albums. $NOT's most recent album, Ethereal, peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard 200 thanks to features from A$AP Rocky, Trippie Redd and one of $NOT's heroes, Juicy J from Three 6 Mafia. $NOT comes to town with a crew of rappers — Night Lovell, Eem Triplin, DC the Don and Micro — on the Get Busy Or Die North American Tour 2023.
Ugly Kid Joe
6:45 p.m. Friday, May 12, The Echo Lounge & Music Hall, 1323 N. Stemmons Freeway, $30+ at livenation.com

When Ugly Kid Joe burst into the mainstream in 1992, the death knell for hair metal was already ringing. While Nirvana had destabilized the sometimes regrettable sub-genre with a bold new sound that would be dubbed "grunge," it was Ugly Kid Joe who would put hair metal in the grave for good through parody and sarcasm. Even the band's name is a takedown of glam metal band Pretty Boy Floyd, and its first single, "Everything About You," was a complete sendup of the worn out trend of power ballads from so-called metal bands. On the strength of that song and an unexpected cover of Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle," Ugly Kid Joe's debut album, America's Least Wanted, would find its way into the hands of millions. Thirty years later, Ugly Kid Joe is touring its sixth album, Rad Wings of Destiny, with support from Atlanta hard rockers Pistols At Dawn and Chris Jericho-led heavy metal band Fozzy.
Pure Prairie League
7 p.m. Friday, May 12, Arlington Music Hall, 224 N. Center St. $24+ at eventbrite.com

Pure Prairie League may not be a name you immediately recognize, and the song title, "Amie," might not jump out at you either. However, if you were to hear the lines, "Amie, whatchu wanna do? I think I could stay with you," that would likely prompt you to complete the lyrics. The band from southern Ohio got together in the mid-'60s, playing mostly cover songs while developing a sound that would help define the sound of the country rock genre. While Eagles would ultimately be seen as the pinnacle of country rock, it was Pure Prairie League's prominent use of the pedal steel guitar that would give its music a peaceful, easy feeling that didn't need to be spelled out in words. Today, Pure Prairie League is on tour celebrating 50 years of its breakthrough album Bustin' Out, and although the lineup features many new faces, original pedal steel guitar player John David Call is still on board, maintaining the band's signature sound.
Okey Dokey
9 p.m. Friday, May 12, Sundown at Granada, 3520 Greenville Ave. $15 at prekindle.com

Indie-pop duo Okey Dokey is on a mission. On its bandcamp page, the duo states it "is no longer a band. Indeed, what was once the Nashville duo of Johny Fisher and Aaron Martin has decided to do what no other band has ever done and grown into something bigger … a community" set "to spread the word to anywho [sic] who will listen." To put it another way, Okey Dokey is a band that thrives in a performance environment. Its music swings with a sound that hearkens back to '50s doo wop and rhythm & blues brought into the present day with modern technology, welcoming audiences to get up and dance. The band will be back in August at Club Dada in support of singer-songwriter Zella Day, who is featured on its latest single "Spiderwebs." But this weekend, Okey Dokey headlines an intimate show on Greenville Avenue with opening support from fellow Nashville indie-pop band Jive Talk.
Helloween
6 p.m. Saturday, May 13, The Factory in Deep Ellum, 2713 Canton St. $66+ at stubhub.com

German power metal band Helloween began in 1984 as something of a local supergroup, bringing together members of Hamburg bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. These days, the band is known as one of Europe's most important metal bands. Not only is Helloween's debut album, Walls of Jericho, highly regarded in speed metal communities, it is widely accepted that the band's second album, Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I, is the single most influential power metal album of all time. So, what is power metal? It's big. Like, Helloween's seven members (including two vocalists) big. It's loud — three guitars loud. It's fast. It's epic, lore-driven lyrics and dramatic performances. It's really just a sight to behold. And though the show is understandably sold out, tickets for the United Forces Tour with Swedish power metal band Hammerfall can still be acquired on StubHub and other online resellers.
The Cure
7 p.m. Saturday, May 13, Dos Equis Pavilion, 1818 First Ave. $31.80+ at livenation.com

From huge bands like Interpol to local bands like Sub-Sahara, it is difficult to find a band whose sad songs have escaped the reach of The Cure's massive influence. Formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex, The Cure emerged in a post-punk music scene that was looking to redefine itself. Though the band's first album fit in with the new wave of synth-driven music, when singer Robert Smith met bassist, keyboardist and occasional guitarist Simon Gallup in 1980, The Cure's sound went dark, joining the legacy built by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division and Bauhaus in gothic rock. Seventeen Seconds from 1980, 1981's Faith and 1982's Pornography were enough to cement The Cure's legacy and influence on the genre, but the hits just kept coming throughout the '80s and '90s. The band comes to town ahead of its highly anticipated new album, Songs of a Lost World, which has yet to be given a release date. Scottish post-punk band The Twilight Sad will be there to warm up the crowd.
Cursive
7 p.m. Saturday, May 13, The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis St. $24 at prekindle.com

All the way back in the year 2000, a little band from Omaha, Nebraska, released its third album, Domestica,  on a little hometown label called Saddle Creek. It was the second album the band had released on the label and the 31st album the label released. The 32nd album on the same label would be Bright Eyes' Fevers and Mirrors, and between the two albums, the little label from Omaha would transform into the indie label to shop by in the early 2000s. Domestica put Cursive on the map as a post-hardcore, indie rock opera based loosely on singer Tim Kasher's failed relationship and subsequent divorce. Considered an emo classic to this day, Domestica is getting the 20th-anniversary tour treatment when Cursive comes to Oak Cliff this Saturday to play the album in its entirety with the same lineup that recorded it (with the addition of cello and keyboards). Fellow Omaha indie band and Saddle Creek labelmate Neva Dinova opens the show.
Boyz II Men
7 p.m. Sunday, May 14, Texas Trust CU Theatre, 1001 Texas Trust Way, Grand Prairie. $39+ at axs.com

Returning to North Texas for the third edition of their annual Celebration for Mom, Boyz II Men play Sunday at Texas Trust CU Theatre with Tamia and Kenny Lattimore. What could be better on Mother's Day than seeing the group that gave us the Babyface-produced single "A Song for Mama"? That was the last Top 10 single Boyz II Men had before they faded out of the bright light that had shined on the group throughout the '90s. Boyz II Men was central to the rise of new jack swing, which hit airwaves and eardrums with a drum-heavy sound with multi-layered sampled backdrops in the summer of 1991. From then until 1998, with mega-hit singles like "Motownphilly," "End of the Road," "I'll Make Love to You," and "Water Runs Dry," Boyz II Men could do no wrong. After their label Motown Records was bought by Universal Music Group, Boyz II Men was never quite able to regain that hit-making magic but they remain every bit as soulful to this day.
Coheed and Cambria
7 p.m. Monday, May 15, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St. $62.68+ at livenation.com

Many bands from emo's radio age were mostly just flavors of the week with no real staying power, but Coheed and Cambria was like the Rush of its time. Like its forebears, Coheed and Cambria spun epic tales, supported by even more epic instrumentals and fronted by the incredible falsetto of singer Claudio Sanchez. Best known for their seven-album sequence that told the story of The Armory Wars — an incredibly complex sci-fi story that expanded upon Sanchez's series of comic books of the same name —Coheed and Cambria had their biggest successes with the second and third albums, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 and Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV. The band released one album in 2015 that had nothing to do with The Armory Wars, but they're back at it with a new series continuing the storyline: 2018's Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures and last year's Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind. Deafheaven opens.
Violent Femmes
7 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St. $74+ at livenation.com

So-called "alternative music" was in its infancy in 1983. While the true definition of "alternative music" has always been the subject of debate, the best answer is that it's "alternative" to the mainstream. And, in 1983, there wasn't anything more alternative to the mainstream than a whiny-voiced singer with sarcastic lyrics quavering over punk music played with acoustic instruments. The Violent Femmes' self-titled first album was so alternative that it took years for anyone to notice. It was released by Slash Records on vinyl and cassette in 1983, but it wasn't until the CD version was released in 1987 that the album started receiving any substantial radio play. The hit single "Blister in the Sun" helped propel the little album's sales to platinum status. Forty years later, Violent Femmes come to Victory Park to play the classic album from cover to cover after an opening set from Boston singer-songwriter Jesse Ahern.