With this recent open-window weather comes the pitter-patter of the fall concert season, tugging at our sleeve and asking us to pleeeaaase hold it. There's plenty to teethe on in Dallas over the next three or four months, including bigger festivals like the still-coalescing Oak Cliff Music Festival and slow-moving warhorses like Bob Dylan. So here are 10 more shows we're looking forward to.
Adam Ant
September 21, Granada Theater
Ant canceled his show back in February, but lucky for us, he decided to reschedule. Here's hoping he'll play "Whip in My Valise," even though he has a new album coming out, tentatively titled Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter.
Fiona Apple
September 22, Winstar Casino, Thackerville, Oklahoma
When I caught Apple back in March at SXSW, it served as a bridge between decades. Apple's two albums from the late '90s — Tidal and When the Pawn... — thrust her into the spotlight, whether she was ready or not. Her speech from the 1997 MTV VMAs remains one of the most honest eviscerations of the celebrity culture she infiltrated, and the "Fiona Apple is crazy" memes (well, whatever they were called in 1997) unfortunately overshadowed two of the better albums of the late '90s, which, let's face it, was not the best time for music.
But that SXSW set pointed out that she's very aware of her emotional core, and the way people view her, which is what makes Apple's latest album, The Idler Wheel is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do, such a quiet revelation 15 years after Tidal. It's spare, with Apple playing piano while percussion and other odd instrumentation swirl around. Her voice — rougher and more impassioned this time around — propels the songs. She's still full of heartache, asking the existential questions about love and self, but now she imbues her songs with hindsight. On "Valentine," she sings, "I'll root for you," then repeats the "you" until you're not sure if her inflection is loving or accusatory. That's always been her genius. We don't get to know which.
It would have been nice to see Apple in a venue like the Majestic Theater, instead of having to truck it to Oklahoma, but getting to potentially gamble away your paycheck seems like a good counterpoint to this show.
Index Fest
October 5 and 6, Trees
GZA was recently added to this inaugural fest, brought to you by the eyes and ears at Spune, adding to an already buzz-heavy lineup that includes Grimes, Washed Out, Cold War Kids and Heartless Bastards, as well as locals Yells At Eels, Datahowler, Telegraph Canyon and the Angelus.
Dallas is becoming quite the fest city, but there is a limit to how much festing should be allowed. The announcement that Coachella is expanding to FIVE WEEKENDS next year is excessive to say the least. Suggestion: Build a Fest City in the desert where the fest happens year-round, and bands fight for headlining slots in a sort of Thunderdome. (Prediction: That will actually happen in five years.)
Bryan Street Tavern's Big Fucking Anniversary Show
October 6, Bryan Street Tavern
Yep, Bryan Street Tavern is turning six, and it's apparently a big fucking deal. Country-punk quartet Those Darlins, who were just here opening for the Old 97's, will be especially amorous in the intimate confines of BST's back room, as will Chicago's White Mystery, Tennessee's Royal Bangs and Turbo Fruits and Austin's Rayon Beach. Who knows who else might show up?
St. Vincent and David Byrne
October 7, McFarlin Auditorium
Love This Giant, the debut collaboration between Annie Clark and David Byrne, works on the level of generational synergy, Clark's guitar jabs and heavenly vocals intersecting with Byrne's funkier explorations, as heard on first single "Who." Their recent performance on Jimmy Fallon was a little shaky, but still, Giant's big ideas, propelled by an aggressive horn section, should be interesting to watch unfold longform.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
October 11, Granada Theater
This is one of those bands that you don't really think has an intense following, until you meet a superfan. This show came back from a few Observer music writers as one they were excited about, and though they've been playing the festival circuit recently, rumors have been circulating about new material. That would bring the Canadian instrumental group back from a decade-long recording hiatus.
New Order
October 12, Palladium Ballroom
Much has been said as to whether this is a "real" New Order show without founding member Peter Hook, but the New Order fan is a passionate and particular breed. In fact, one DC9 writer mentioned that he might actually consider murdering someone in order to get an interview.
Public Image Ltd.
November 1, Granada Theater
While nothing you'll see on stage at the Granada will compare to PiL's 1980 performance on American Bandstand, getting to see the legendary post-punk act, which John Lydon formed after the Sex Pistols imploded, is a pretty good consolation prize. 1979's Metal Box was the antithesis of the Pistols' snot-rock, a wobbly, tongue-in-cheek response to the caricature punk rock had become. Who's taking them to Snuffer's for cheese fries?
A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, Danny Brown
November 2, House of Blues
Remember when we told you about Scoremore a couple weeks ago? They're the force behind a stream of great hip-hop shows coming through town this fall, including this one. Schoolboy Q's ready for his close-up, it seems, landing this tour a mere two months after playing The Door. Headliner A$AP Rocky and Detroit's Danny Brown have their own fanatic contingents, so this show will no doubt be "turnt up."
Sharon Van Etten
November 3, Trees
Much like Fiona Apple's latest album, Sharon Van Etten's Tramp has that air of hindsight, maturity. It's also one of the best albums this year. Van Etten's finally let her voice drive the songs, and her songwriting chops have become more refined. She's evolved immensely since her debut Because I Was In Love, and her live set reflects that forward motion. Also, she has the voice of a goddamn angel.
