10 Best Concerts of the Week: Rhiannon Giddens, Chicano Batman, Foo Fighters and More

CORRECTION, April 25: The original version of this story had an incorrect date for the Rhiannon Giddens show at Longhorn Ballroom. The correct date is Tuesday, April 30.

It's hard to think of another concert week in recent history that is quite as mixed as this one. As the free Thin Line Fest rages on all weekend in Denton, Houston's Gulf Coast Soul band The Suffers gets things rolling in Fort Worth on Thursday. Saturday will be one of those days when everyone will have somewhere to go. Emo icon Anthony Green plays a solo show on one side of Deep Ellum while Latin-funk band Chicano Batman plays around the corner at The Factory. On the opposite side of Deep Ellum, hardcore bands METZ and Gouge Away will blow the roof off Sons of Hermann Hall. Say Anything takes pop-punk kids down memory lane in Victory Park, and Rhiannon Giddens gets to the roots of music at the Longhorn. Irish singer-songwriter Hozier brings his craft to Fair Park on Sunday, Steel Pulse brings real roots reggae to Greenville Avenue on Tuesday, and Foo Fighters close out week on Wednesday.
Thin Line Fest
Wednesday, April 23 – Sunday, April 28, Downtown Denton. Free with registration at thinline.us

Denton's annual Thin Line Fest kicked off Wednesday night and goes on all weekend long with photo galleries, film festivals, educational seminars and, of course, music. With dozens of musical acts performing across the many stages and venues surrounding downtown Denton Square, it would be impossible to give a complete preview here. Thursday night will see performances from FIT and Lorelei K as well as a headlining performance from post-punk legend Lydia Lunch at Rubber Gloves, while even more bands play at Andy's Bar and Dan's Silverleaf. Friday night the clubs fill again with rock shows at Rubber Gloves and Andy's, country and folk at Dan's Silverleaf and psych-rock at Harvest House. On Saturday, music performances will start in the afternoon on the courthouse lawn and Beer Alley (between Bearded Monk and Denton County Brewing Company). On Sunday, the music closes at Dan's with Raised Right Men paying homage to Willie Nelson with a tribute set.
The Suffers
7 p.m., Thursday, April 25, Tulips, 112 St. Louis Ave., Fort Worth. $20+ at seetickets.us

Houston's soul, funk and R&B group The Suffers has always defined its sound as "Gulf Coast Soul." That's because the band draws musical inspiration from all the cultural communities that can be found on the Gulf Coast — whether Cajun, African American, Mexican or Caribbean music, it all finds a place in The Suffers' melting pot. The music is energetic and fun, so a name like "The Suffers" is something of a misnomer. Singer Kam Franklin has explained that the name comes from her interpretation of an old Jamaican film called The Rockers in which the musicians suffer the treatment of major labels, working long hours with no real reward or attention. Last year, the band contributed their cover of "My Maria" to Texas Wild, an album produced to raise money for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. The band plays Fort Worth this Saturday after performances from Midnight Thirty and Jess Garland.
Anthony Green
6 p.m., Saturday, April 27, RBC Deep Ellum, 2617 Commerce St. $35 at etix.com

Singer Anthony Green is best known for his work with post-hardcore bands Circa Survive and Saosin as well as his contributions to supergroups The Sound of Animals Fighting and L.S. Dunes. Along with all of his band work, Green maintains a busy solo career, which will bring him to Deep Ellum this weekend. To call him a prolific artist would be an understatement. This year alone brings the release of Green's solo album Doom. Spun. Volume One and L.S. Dune's How Dare You in addition to his vocal contributions to "Slow Down" on Night Verses new album. In 2022, he released five albums with five different acts. All that to say that Green has quite the catalog of songs to draw from and absolutely anything might come up on one of his set lists. He does covers too. Green will have opening support from alternative folk artist Kayleigh Goldsworthy and singer-songwriter PRENTISS.

Chicano Batman
7 p.m., April 27, The Factory in Deep Ellum, 2713 Canton St. $35 at axs.com

Los Angeles psych-soul four-piece Chicano Batman formed in 2008 and slowly became a fan favorite on NPR's Alt.Latino for its fusion of Tropicália and funk music. It wasn't until 2015, though, that the band started receiving any attention or acclaim beyond the late-night, syndicated radio show. That was when Jack White asked the band to open for him on his Lazaretto Tour. The same year, the band made its first appearances on the festival circuit, which became its most important platform for reaching larger audiences for the next several years. In March, the band released its fifth album, Notebook Fantasy. On the new album, the band sounds like it is more confident in the genre-defying music that it has been creating for over 15 years now. It is spacier, more cinematic and made to be heard live. Colombian-Canadian singer-songwriter Lido Pimienta opens.
METZ
7 p.m., Saturday, April 27, Sons of Hermann Hall, 3414 Elm St. $20 at etix.com

At its core, Canadian band METZ is a punk rock band, but in practice, the band's noisy soundscapes and post-punk aesthetic push the confines of the punk rock label to their limits. Since its beginnings in 2007, METZ has pushed that boundary further with every release. Earlier this month, METZ released its fifth studio album, Up on Gravity Hill, a taut, 35-minute album that is both aggressive and bleak. Embracing its role as innovators in the punk rock genre, METZ invited fellow trailblazers Gouge Away to open on this tour. Gouge Away recently released their third studio album, Deep Sage, their first in about six years, which shows the band fully embracing the Pixies sound that inspired their name, combining the loud trappings of the hardcore genre with the quiet noise of alt-rock. Hardcore music is unquestionably undergoing a renaissance. The next time either of these bands comes to town, they won't be playing for $20.
Say Anything
7 p.m., Saturday, April 27, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St. $78+ at livenation.com

Can you believe it has been 20 years since Say Anything released ...Is A Real Boy? Well, get ready for the 20th anniversary tour leading up to the release of Say Anything's next record, ...Is Committed, dropping digitally on May 24. To say that the band has grown up these last 20 years would be an understatement. In the months leading up to the release of the band's last album, Oliver Appropriate, a sequel to ...Is A Real Boy, singer Max Bemis penned a letter to fans explaining how the narrator of ...Is A Real Boy was a character that had become confused with Bemis himself. In Oliver Appropriate, that character struggles with his own identity and sexuality, mirroring Bemis' personal journey. Oliver Appropriate was intended to be the last Say Anything album, but in 2022, the band reunited. This tour with AJJ and Greet Death will be a celebration of the band's past and its future.
Hozier
7:30 p.m., Sunday, April 28, Dos Equis Pavilion, 1818 First Ave. $97+ at stubhub.com

Irish singer-songwriter Hozier was playing open mic nights around Dublin when he wrote his 2013 breakout single, "Take Me To Church." He recorded a rough demo of the song, which earned him a spot on a small record label that released his first EP. The song was an instant success and made Hozier an in-demand performer around the world. Hozier has maintained his status by taking the craft of songwriting very seriously, ruminating over lines and rewriting phrases until the words accurately convey the specific feeling intended. This makes for a fairly slow songwriting process, which is why in the past 10 years, Hozier has released only two follow-up albums to his debut.The most recent, Unreal Unearth, came out last fall. The latest is a concept album drawing on images from Dante's Inferno. Each song carries deep meaning  — which Hozier dissects in a "Behind the Song" series on his YouTube Channel. Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Russell opens the show.
Steel Pulse
7 p.m., Tuesday, April 30, Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. $32.50+ at prekindle.com

For many people, reggae music begins and ends with Bob Marley's Legend compilation. And while jamming out and not worrying about a thing is definitely one aspect of reggae music, this kind of one-dimensional view of the genre really negates the profound political nature of reggae music — and it's something even bigger than getting up and standing up for your rights. Steel Pulse is decidedly not about jamming. Since its beginnings playing punk clubs in England, this Rastafarian group has amplified the political message found in reggae. Both Island and Elektra Records signed Steel Pulse, hoping to turn them into a more mainstream reggae band, and both were met with albums decrying racist institutions and warmongering governments. The group's membership has changed over the years, but original singer and guitarist David Hinds and keyboardist Selwyn Brown still front the band. Maui music collective Chala will be there to warm up the crowd.
Rhiannon Giddens
6:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 30, Longhorn Ballroom, 216 Corinth St. $37+ at prekindle.com

Founding member of the North Carolina old-time country music string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, singer, fiddler, and banjo player Rhiannon Giddens has spent her music career raising awareness about the role Black Americans played in the creation of blues and country music. Recently, Giddens contributed banjo and viola to "Texas Hold 'Em" on Beyoncé's similar project, Cowboy Carter. Giddens has released three solo albums since Carolina Chocolate Drops went on hiatus as well as two collaborative albums with Italian jazz musician Francesco Turrisi. Giddens' first album of solely original compositions, last fall's You're the One, is a celebration of her musical influences in which the artist looks to bring out all the joy and the fun. Fellow North Carolinian singer-songwriter Charly Lowry opens the show.

Foo Fighters
7 p.m., Wednesday, May 1, Dos Equis Pavilion, 1818 First Ave. $79+ at livenation.com

For a band that has gotten as big as the Foo Fighters have, it behooves us to take a moment to consider its rather humble beginnings. Now, to say that a band that rose from the ashes of Nirvana has humble beginnings might seem a stretch, but consider that the music on Foo Fighters' first album was played entirely by frontman Dave Grohl, who only chose a full band name like Foo Fighters to hide his identity and make it seem like it was a full band. After the music started getting some traction, Grohl revealed his place in the album's production and had to put a band together. To do that, he turned to bassist Nate Mendel and drummer William Goldsmith of emo legends Sunny Day Real Estate and guitarist Pat Smear of punk band The Germs. Goldsmith was later replaced with Taylor Hawkins, who died in 2022. The band's 11th studio album, But Here We Are, is dedicated to him and to Grohl's mother, Virginia, who died a few months after Hawkins. The Everything or Nothing at All Tour will have support from English alternative rock duo Nova Twins.