Mike Brooks
Audio By Carbonatix
Lend your voice at singer-songwriter night at Fort Worth Live, catch Willie Nelson at Billy Bob’s Texas, or celebrate 20 years with Thrice at House of Blues this week. That’s not all. Keep reading for more concerts happening this week.
Singer-Songwriter Night with Josh Fleming
7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12 at Fort Worth Live, 306 N. Houston St., 817-945-8890 or fortworthlive.live, free
Joshua Fleming, vocalist and guitarist for local cowpunk sextet Vandoliers, recently began hosting a recurring gig to welcome new songwriters at Fort Worth Live. By sharing his knowledge of the music biz, Fleming hopes to help young musicians find their foothold in the industry. During this “songwriter’s night,” as he calls it, Fleming plays his music and considers it a great chance to try out new material for the audience. He also wants the Monday night sets to be a way for young songwriters to hone their craft and network with local veteran musicians for potential collaborations. If you’re looking to catch a first glimpse at some of the area’s best up-and-coming singer-songwriters, this weekly gig is the place to be. Diamond Victoria
of Montreal
7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13 at Trees, 2709 Elm Street, 214-741-1122, $17-20 at treesdallas.com
Kevin Barnes paints with a palate of dense emotions to make songs that tend to befuddle as much as they bewitch. Over 22 years Barnes has made a name for himself by constantly revising and re-imagining his heady brand of vintage psychedelic pop. The latest release from his band, of Montreal, White Is Relic/Irrealis Mood, takes inspiration from ’80s-era extended dance remixes, seemingly in that a few of the album’s six tracks feel like they stay around a little longer than they stay interesting. Though despite the few overly long stretches of melody (some seemingly far less danceable than others), there’s still a lot to enjoy. “Plateau Phase/No Careerism No Corruption” is a surreal mélange of monotonous new-wave, playing futurism against spirituality amid synthesized bass-drops and a reggae-ish chorus. Another standout on the latest album, “Paranoiac Intervals/Body Dysmorphia,” starts out strong as a track about religion and personal control before dying out some around the five-minute mark, and then continuing on for three minutes. But it might be fair to say one shouldn’t look toward of Montreal for same-y sounding dance tracks or EDM-coated indie pop. Barnes can come off as self-indulgently obtuse at times, but the moments when his uniqueness shines the brightest are enough to warrant stumbling after him in the dark. Nicholas Bostick
Thrice
6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13 at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., 214-978-2583, $23-$39.50
Post hardcore band Thrice is on tour across the U.S. celebrating 20 years together. Newly signed to Epitaph Records, the California band released its 10th studio album, Palms, including the latest single “Only Us.” When Thrice first came onto the scene in 1998, they were known for their fast-paced rhythms and heavily distorted guitar riffs, before incorporating a more experimental and electronic approach in later albums like 2005’s Vheissu. DV
Travis Scott
With Sheck Wes, Gunna and Trippie Redd. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15 at American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave., $29 and up at ticketmaster.com
Haloed in narcotic fumes, luxury-trap beats and endless guest features, Travis Scott’s latest statement, Astroworld, is an immense and stylistically varied testament to the lasting power of pop rap. Like much of Scott’s offerings, the music is heavy on style and light on original ideas, more about exploring moods, repping communities and emulating chemical highs than pushing boundaries. Thankfully, with a little help from friend and label signee Sheck Wes, Scott’s Astroworld concerts will have next-gen vigor to spare. A wiry matchstick of kinetic energy and raw talent, Wes isn’t so much dialed into the zeitgeist as he’s helping define it. His clarity of vision and mountainous self-confidence distill rap into pure immediacy, producing singles that skate right down nerve endings directly into the bloodstream. Gunna and Trippie Redd add more young blood to the mix. Jonathan Patrick
Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening
8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15 at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., $41.50-$71.50
Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening will be touring across North America once again this fall. The new 21-city journey kicks off Nov. 8 and appears locally on Nov. 15 at The Bomb Factory. These shows are a pretty close replication of what you would have seen back in Led Zep’s early ’70s heyday. Jeff Strowe
Iceage
With the Black Lips. 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16 at The Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., $20 at prekindle.com
Danish quartet Iceage have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Formed back in 2008 when the lads were mere teenagers, they’ve since morphed into a ferocious band with a swagger and intensity befitting elders like PJ Harvey, Nick Cave and The Stooges. They also project effortless cool with a devil-may-care dress code, a loutish air of sullen indifference and the chiseled cheekbones of European models. They may funnel their songs – killer cuts like the driving “The Day The Music Dies” and the glam rock-infused “Plead The Fifth” – through chilled detachment, but they look mighty stylish doing so. Building off the buzz of their latest release, Beyondless, Iceage is back out on the road with another band that has surely served as an influence, Atlanta’s notorious Black Lips. The bands recently released a split 7-inch single and both will undoubtedly leave their respective marks on the assembled audience gathered around The Granada ready to rock. Jeff Strowe
MÁ½a
With John Rose, 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16 at Canton Hall, 2727 Canton St., $20 at ticketfly.com
MÁ½a Marie Harrison might be best known in the pop world for her early hits, including “It’s All About Me” and “Case of the Ex” as well as her collaborative appearances on “Lady Marmalade” and “Ghetto Superstar.” But she’s never stayed away too long from touring and recording. Her latest, T.K.O. (The Knock Out), came out this spring, and her fall tour is all about the LP. It’s R&B with a modern touch of pop and hip-hop, which is where she has been during her 20-plus-year career. Her music will travel well in a room like Canton Hall. The grooves and vibrations should make for a good night off the walls and off the floor. Eric Grubbs
Willie Nelson and Friends
10:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16 at Billy Bob’s, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, Fort Worth, $24.50 and up at billybobs.com
Willie Nelson is one of the most recognizable country music artists of all time – but he’s by no means the most conventional country and western recording artist. While openly campaigning for Beto O’Rourke, Nelson spent a good part of the last few months pissing off plenty of conservative fans who seemingly had no idea just how liberal the cannabis-smoking Texas native has historically proven himself to be – after all, he’s supported Democratic candidates going back to Jimmy Carter’s administration. But, politics aside, one thing many Texas music fans can agree upon is one of the most iconic Texan places to catch Nelson play, other than perhaps Luckenbach, Texas, is Billy Bob’s Texas. Billy Bob’s is the most quintessentially Texas honky tonk one can catch Nelson and Friends. His two-night gig this week includes promo codes with each ticket for a free copy of his upcoming album. Daniel Rodrigue
Junior Brown
8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16 at The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis St., 214-272-8346, $22
Junior Brown was a man ahead of his time, brandishing an instrument more wild than his own voice is deep and rich. He made a name for himself in Austin in the ’90s, where he traveled from Cottonwood, Arizona, with his outlaw-tinged country and his double necked guitar and lap steel (a “guit-steel”). His unusual voice and instrumentation have found success on TV – a few years ago he was featured on AMC’s Better Call Saul – and now with a new tour and an 11th album in the works, tentatively titled Deep in the Heart of Me, this American iconoclast is prepared to become more widely known. Tracks like “Hang up and Drive,” “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead” and “Broke Down South of Dallas” are worth the price of admission on their own. Nicholas Bostick
Ben Rector
8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17 at Toyota Music Factory, $20
When Ben Rector was nothing but a college freshman, he was unknowingly laying the groundwork for a career path that traditionally eschews the necessity of diplomas and degrees. In that first year at the University of Arkansas, Rector won the top prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for a song called “Conversation” off his debut EP. His first two albums were released before graduation amidst local fanfare and general uncertainty on Rector’s part. In an interview with Arkansas’ alumni association, the singer-songwriter from Oklahoma says he never expected his music career to take off as quickly as it did. And yet by the start of this decade, Rector was transitioning into a star. His third album, Into the Morning, set off a string of hits after its 2011 release, including tracks like “Brand New,” which was notably featured on everything from Hawaii Five-O to The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Rector’s soothing brand of emotional folk pop has garnered him an ever-growing fan base over the years, and it’s likely he’ll find even more in Dallas. Nicholas Bostick
