10 Best Concerts of the Week: Willie Nelson, TLC, blink-182 and More

With the Fourth of July upon us and just a little bit of relief from the extreme heatwave in sight, get ready for a week of late-‘90s nostalgia as Matchbox Twenty, TLC and blink-182 all bring headlining shows to the area this week. The holiday celebration also brings a couple of free shows to your concert calendar with Bob Schneider setting up for a night of food and fun in Arlington and Cheap Trick appearing in Sherman. A couple of country legends mosey into town on Friday with a concert with Willie Nelson in Dallas and Tanya Tucker in Fort Worth. There are a couple of smaller shows to check out this week as well at Three Links and Billy Bob's Texas as we head into and out of the weekend. Your concert week kicks off, however, with a heavy dose of Canadian heartland rock when Bryan Adams plays Dickies Arena. Now get ready for the fireworks.
Bryan Adams
7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 29, Dickies Arena, 1911 Montgomery St., Fort Worth. $32+ at ticketmaster.com

Regardless of what you think of Canadian singer-songwriter and producer Bryan Adams, he is one of the best-selling music artists of all time: between 75 million and 100 million records and singles worldwide since his breakthrough in 1983. Now, 40 years later, Adams is touring in support of his 15th studio album, So Happy It Hurts. While he is largely known for his singing, the music for the album was composed and largely recorded by Adams himself, who played bass, electric guitar acoustic guitar, drums, organ, percussion and piano on most tracks. Adams began his current tour in January 2022 in Portugal, where the album reached the No. 1 position on the Portuguese Phonographic Association chart. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts support Adams for the North American leg of the tour through August before he takes his tour through Canada, South Africa and Eastern Europe.
Matchbox Twenty
7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 29, Dos Equis Pavilion, 1818 First Ave. $40.50+ at livenation.com

It was the fall of 1996 when most people first heard of Matchbox Twenty. The band's first single hit the airwaves, the first lines of which introduced the world to the thoughtful lyricism of singer-songwriter Rob Thomas: "It's sitting by the overcoat / The second shelf, the note she wrote / That I can't bring myself to throw away." "Long Day" came out on alternative radio at a time when grunge was moving out of style and nu metal hadn't yet taken its place. It was a time when rock was showing its softer side with artists like Goo Goo Dolls and Alanis Morissette singing songs with emotional depth rather than freely associated word puzzles to match an emotion. Matchbox Twenty's music may not get the crowd all fired up, but it has the power to heal. The band comes to town promoting its latest album, Where the Light Goes, which came out in May. Matt Nathanson opens.
Willie Nelson
4:35 p.m. Friday, June 30, Dos Equis Pavilion, 1818 First Ave. $35+ at livenation.com

Texas country legend Willie Nelson makes his annual summer appearance in North Texas early this year at the Outlaw Music Festival Friday evening after sets from Whiskey Myers, Flatland Cavalry and Particle Kid. At 90 years of age, Nelson has been writing and recording music for nearly 70 years. Nelson recorded his first singles, "The Storm Has Just Begun" and "When I've Sung My Last Hillbilly Song," while working for KBOP in Pleasanton, Texas, in 1955, but they weren't released until four years later after many stops and starts in the music business. Nelson spent the 1960s as more of a straight-laced country artist before he became associated with the outlaw country movement with Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash. Nelson will release his 74th solo album, Bluegrass, on Sept. 15, but you can already hear the album's recently released first single, "You Left Me a Long, Long Time Ago."
Supersuckers
7 p.m. Friday, June 30, Three Links, 2704 Elm St. $30 at seetickets.us

Arizona cowpunk band Supersuckers have been at it for three and a half decades now under the leadership of vocalist and bass player Eddie Spaghetti. Aside from Spaghetti, the band has never been able to hang onto other members for too long, developing over time from a punk band to a no-frills rock band. What has made Supersuckers endure since 1988 is a consistency in delivering songs that are fun to listen to and to sing along with. While Supersuckers have never had a radio hit or an album fly up the charts, the band knows how to keep an audience entertained. In 2020, the band released its 11th album, Play That Rock 'n' Roll, which is the kind of straight-faced call to action you'd expect from them after all these years. The band will have opening support from Throw Rag, a Salton Sea, California, surf punk outfit, and King Strange, the one-man band project of Michael Sinner of the Bridge City Sinners.
TLC
7 p.m. Friday, June 30, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. $29.50+ at livenation.com

A quick look at the Hot Summer Nights tour lineup might have you think you traveled back in time. With headliners TLC and Shaggy supported by En Vogue, the only name that doesn't quite fit the format is mid-aughts Jamaican singer Sean Kingston — but his dancehall tracks are a good pick to get the party going. TLC comes to town hot off the release of TLC Forever, the Lifetime channel's documentary chronicling the highs and lows of the group's incredible music career. The group released its only album without member Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes, TLC, in 2017, calling it their final album. TLC has continued to tour since the lead-up to that album's release, letting the late Lopes' voice be heard and image be seen in concert halls around the world. No matter how hard you try, it will be hard to not get emotional when you hear Lopes rap, "I seen a rainbow yesterday ... " The show in Irving will be one of the last shows on the tour to feature all four acts.
Tanya Tucker
10 p.m. Friday, June 30, Billy Bob's Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, Fort Worth. $21+ at axs.com

At the age of 13, Tanya Tucker released her first hit single, "Delta Dawn," after hearing Bette Midler perform the song written by Alex Harvey on The Tonight Show. Tucker's version became a top-10 hit on the country charts, but it was Helen Reddy who made the song a No. 1 pop hit the year after her first hit single, "I Am Woman." Tucker has since credited her decision to record that song as the reason why she is a country singer today and not a rodeo queen. One of the very few child performers to make a lasting impression on country music, Tucker outgrew her pop-country origins to become a part of the outlaw country movement in the late '70s, combining the elements of rock and country music as heard in her 1978 single "Texas (When I Die)." For all of her fame and contributions to country music, it wasn't until 2020 that Tucker won her first Grammy awards for "Best Country Song" and "Best Country Album" for "Bring My Flowers Now" and While I'm Livin'.
Bob Schneider
8:30 p.m. Sunday, July 2, Levitt Pavilion, 100 W. Abram St.. Arlington. Free.

Winner of 55 Austin Music Awards from 1992 to 2017, Bob Schneider has woven himself into the fabric of Texas music with a blend of pop, country, folk and rock. Schneider has played in an array of projects, ranging from funk band Joe Rockhead to rock band Ugly Americans, the latter of which opened for Dave Matthews Band on its 1997 tour. A prolific songwriter, Schneider has released either an album or an EP every year since 1998. He received his first radio play in 2001 with "Big Blue Sea" and scored in 2004 with "Come With Me Tonight." It was in 2009, however, that Schneider made it to No. 14 on Billboard's AAA Radio Chart with his sweet, talk-singing single "40 Dogs (Like Romeo & Juliet)." Schneider will perform a free concert in Arlington with open-lawn seating for blankets and chairs. Levitt Pavilion will also host the Harlem Eatz and East Coast Flavors food trucks that night.
Mike and The Moonpies
9 p.m. Sunday, July 2, Billy Bob's Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, Fort Worth. $18+ at axs.com

For over 15 years, Austin's neotraditional country band Mike and The Moonpies made an impression on every little town in Texas with the sounds of the "countrypolitan" music of the 1960s and '70s. In August 2021, the band released its eighth album, One To Grow On, which sent them on tour around the country, including a date for its debut performance at the Grand Ole Opry on Sept. 6, 2022. The band's previous album, Touch of You: The Lost Songs of Gary Stewart, was composed of the unreleased songs written or co-written by American honky-tonk singer-songwriter Gary Stewart, who had a string of minor hits throughout the 1970s. The band's first single from that album brought Stewart's "Smooth Shot of Whiskey" to life with the help of Mark Wystrach of the iconic Denton band Midland. Last year, when Mike and The Moonpies played Billy Bob's, it received a spot on the wall and the members' names and handprints in cement.
Cheap Trick
4 p.m. Monday, July 3, Pecan Grove Park West, 3200 Canyon Creek Drive, Sherman. Free.

If you're trying to get a little bit out of town for the Fourth, consider heading to Sherman’s 14th Annual Lights on the Lake at Pecan Grove West Park. This is a free and family-friendly event complete with food vendors and an area for children called Kids Alley. Attendees can also pack their own picnic. DJ Jackie VanZant will be kicking the party off until Cheap Trick takes the stage. Still performing with three-quarters of its classic lineup, Cheap Trick comes to Sherman two years after the release of its 20th studio album, In Another World. This will be the band's third appearance in North Texas in promotion of the album's release — a show that has yet to hit Dallas proper. While Cheap Trick might not exactly be on your concert radar, there are very few chances to see Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductees in a small-town show for free. The event will conclude with a fireworks display starting at around 9:30 p.m.
blink-182
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 5, American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave. $102+ at ticketmaster.com

The concert of the summer is finally happening. Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker will all be on a North Texas stage together for the first time since September 2011, when the band co-headlined the 10th Annual Honda Civic Tour at what was then called the Gexa Energy Pavilion with My Chemical Romance — in what turned out to be MCR's final Dallas date before its reunion tour came through last year. This time around, the iconic pop punk trio will be joined by Sacramento riot grrrl band Destroy Boys and breakthrough hardcore band Turnstile, which is still out there promoting its phenomenal 2021 release, Glow On. DeLonge rejoined the band last year after nearly a decade away pursuing other music projects and UFOs. Seriously. The band has released one new single with DeLonge, "EDGING," but have yet to announce any further plans beyond this world tour.