Dallas is stuck between summer tour season and fall festival season, but there are still plenty of worthy concerts this week. Guitar ripper Joe Satriani plays out in Grand Prairie, former members of Royal Trux play Dada and Untapped Dallas brings together good music and better beer.
Joe Satriani
Friday, September 6, at Verizon Theater at Grand Prairie
Known primarily for his guitar histrionics, Joe Satriani is nevertheless more than just lightning-fast fingers bouncing off a fretboard. Besides creating his ornate solo material, Satriani has played with everyone from Mick Jagger to Deep Purple. His recent stint with Sammy Hagar in Chickenfoot is but the latest move in a career that spans more than four decades. Of his solo stuff, 1987's Surfing with the Alien is certainly the best-known, but the recently issued Unstoppable Momentum has received some of the best reviews Satriani has ever had. Momentum finds the guitarist playing in a variety of styles, thereby challenging himself like he rarely has in the past. By ditching his comfort zone, Satriani seems to have escaped the tedium that has inflicted some of his solo and group work. Darryl Smyers
Paste Untapped Fest Dallas
Saturday, September 7, at The Gilley's Complex
Local booking entity Spune and Paste Magazine have teamed up to conquer the South using music and beer. Their multi-city Untapped Festival has its second Dallas edition this weekend, and it features a vastly improved lineup from last year's alt-dad festivities. Acts like Blackalicious, Freelance Whales and Leagues cancel out the mehness that is Delta Spirit. The real highlight of the music lineup is New York dream poppers Cults, the band responsible for the song of all summers "Go Outside," which has popped up on video games, commercials and weirdly enough a trailer for Despicable Me 2. Of course, if we're being truly honest, the real highlight of Untapped is the 60-plus breweries and 200-plus craft beers that attendees will eagerly chug down between sets. Beer and indie rock: It's a match made in delicious, boozy, loud heaven. Jaime-Paul Falcon
Rebirth Brass Band
Saturday, September 7, at Granada Theater
Horns blare in perfect tone, umbrellas speckled throughout the crowd bob up and down, and second-line two-steppers move around you in perfect time. You may not be in New Orleans, but Rebirth Brass Band's live show is the closest Dallas can get. In their four decades, Rebirth Brass Band have become a defining force in New Orleans jazz. Whether they're blowing out their long-standing Tuesday night residency at uptown NOLA's The Maple Leaf, on the set of HBO's critically acclaimed post-Katrina drama Treme, or being greeted at Japanese airports Beatlemania-style, Rebirth bring the Big Easy everywhere they go. This is not just live music, this is a singular cultural experience. Local multi-genre jam-session favorites The Effinays will start the night off at the Granada. Wear your Sunday best and your dancing shoes — this is going to be one hell of an end-of-summer party. Vanessa Quilantan
Black Bananas
Sunday, September 8, at Dada
Jennifer Herrema has held many roles, most notably in the infamous noise-rock outfit Royal Trux. Her new band recently changed its name from RTX to Black Bananas in order to avoid confusion, and the former Calvin Klein model and her rotating cast of bandmates are touring in anticipation of their forthcoming LP release, Electric Brick Wall. They're bringing their scuzzy brew of disco, blues and experimental glam rock to Dada. Druggy chaos, art-damaged melodies and an insatiable desire to push the envelope have always been mainstays of Herrema's bands, making them wonderfully unpredictable in a live setting. So whether it's a disastrous crash and burn or a glorious triumph, Sunday's Black Bananas show is sure to be a strangely entertaining success. Jonathan Patrick
