The 10 Best Concerts in Dallas This Week: Garth Brooks, Mickey Avalon and More

Something important happened last night that had everyone in Dallas crowded around their TVs. Was it the Miss America pageant, maybe? Hmm. Probably nothing to do with sports, right? Well, either way, you'll probably be hard-pressed to find anyone at home the rest of the week given the ridiculous concert lineup hitting town. Sitting front and center will be Garth Brooks, who returns to play in Dallas for the first time in 18 years — and will do so playing seven, count 'em seven, shows at American Airlines Center starting Thursday. There are plenty more, too, from Godspeed You! Black Emperor to Titus Andronicus to Mickey Avalon. The 10 best shows this week:
Nothing More
With Turbowolf, Separations and the Color Morale, 8 p.m. Monday, September 14, Trees, 2709 Elm St., 214-741-1122 or treesdallas.com, $15
Part alternative, part prog-metal, Nothing More presents a gripping genre crossover that combines the edgy crooning of Trapt with the instrumental prowess of Shinedown or Periphery. You can simultaneously sing along while you air guitar through solos, which truly is the best of both worlds. By separating the low-end with a treble-leaning vocalist, lead singer Jonny Hawkins' voice pierces even further, to an almost chilling degree. Matt Wood
Diet Cig
With Prism Cloud, 9 p.m. Tuesday, Double Wide, 3510 Commerce St., double-wide.com, $10
Diet Cig, out of New Paltz, New York, have only put out about seven tracks. But despite this limited window into the band, they've already been cited as a "Band to Watch" by Stereogum and covered by Pitchfork. Self-described as "slop pop," they're a bit grungy, a bit garage and seem just on the verge of a breakthrough. They're exactly the kind of act that could make waves with a debut album, so make it out to this show and you can say you saw them before they were big. MW
Mick Jenkins
With Stwo, Myth Sizer and J Stock, 8 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, at Trees, 2709 Elm St., 214-741-1122 or treesdallas.com, $19.50-$25
One of Chi-Town’s finest will be gracing Dallas with his visceral, aqueous transmissions this Wednesday. To those tuned into the latest and greatest boundary-pushing hip-hop, 24-year-old Mick Jenkins is no stranger. For everyone else, well, all you need to know is that Jenkins is a lyrical madman, pitting his carefully thought-out rhymes against technical, experimental beats. Officially making his debut with The Mickstape in 2012, Jenkins has been on his grind, dropping regular mixtapes and collaborating with other Windy City up-and-comers Chance the Rapper and Joey Badas$$, and even scoring an opening slot for hip-hop legends Method Man and Redman. Jenkins has also seemed to be on a socially conscious bender for the better part of his 20s, and he’s at it again. Just last month, Jenkins released Wave[s], a brilliant testament to a young artist expanding his musical knowledge that covers cerebral topics such as inner city violence, racial issues and even vegetarianism. Now, Jenkins has set his sights on the legendary stage at Trees. Along with French producer Stwo, he will demand your attention and the evening’s sure to not disappoint. Molly Mollotova
Garth Brooks
7:30 p.m. Thursday, September 17, at American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave., 214-222-3687 or americanairlinescenter.com, $74.98
After a career hiatus, Garth Brooks is officially in the middle of his epic comeback. Whether or not Chris Gaines’ alter-ego will be able to produce any music that even touches the greatness of his 1990s contributions to the pop-country landscape remains to be seen, but you should still make it to at least one of the seven dates that Brooks will be playing in Dallas, if only to say that you did. If reports are to be believed, Brooks is pulling out all the stops on his resurrection tour, complete with epic pyrotechnics and swooping displays of his “for the people” aesthetic. Whatever you think about Garth Brooks or his impact on country music, everyone can still get down on “Friends in Low Places,” and you might even have a little soft spot for “The Dance,” the first song you slow-danced to in middle school. Break out those obnoxiously printed western shirts and get prepared to party ­— Garth hasn’t been to Dallas in a long, long time, but the last time he was here, he filmed a TV special and broke a world record, which he promptly smashed with this five-night, seven-show stand, which kicks off Thursday and continues through the following Tuesday. Amy McCarthy
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
With Xylouris White, 8 p.m. Thursday, September 17, at Trees, 2709 Elm St., 214-741-1122 or treesdallas.com, $27
The end is nigh — or at least that’s what the combined weight of haunting projections, the aural illusion of hundreds of guitars and onslaught of dissonant violin known as Godspeed You! Black Emperor conveys. Sway in your state of cathartic hypnosis as everything around you crumbles into a pile of ash. The smell of something acid-burned arrests your nostrils. “Is that … flesh?” you ask the person next to you, with the best grin your dry, lipless skull can manage, and then, “Got a light?” GY!BE is sweeping the States in promotion of its new 40-minute, four-song LP, Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress. The show was originally scheduled to take place at The Bomb Factory, but has since been moved to Trees, which will do nothing to dampen the high-decibel assault. Bring earplugs if you can’t handle tinnitus. Anita Riot
Titus Andronicus
With Spider Bags and Baked, 8 p.m. Friday, September 18, at Trees, 2709 Elm St., 214-741-1122 or treesdallas.com, $13
Titus Andronicus are crackling with enough electricity to be dangerous to the touch. In late July, the band released a 93-minute, almost-30-song rock opera in five acts. The Most Lamentable Tragedy is their first release for Merge Records, and it’s a real lightning storm. The album includes brilliant covers of the Pogues and Daniel Johnston, and apparently there’s a film accompaniment out there somewhere. This is our music critic-y way of saying you’d be a fool to miss their stop at Trees on Friday. The show is part of their TMLT Around the World tour, and if their arena-rock video for “Fatal Flaw” is any indication, it’ll be one hell of a time. Scratchy, fun and loud Spider Bags will be along for the all-ages show.  Nick Rallo
Cash Cash
With Tritonal, 8 p.m. Friday, September 18, at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., 214-932-6507 or thebombfactory.com, $25-$30
During a chance encounter at Vans Warped Tour, I had the opportunity to catch a Cash Cash show in progress. Every third person in the crowd wore neon-colored fuzzy bracelets or headbands sporting references I was too old to recognize. They're probably most relatable to some act like 3OH!3, mixing angst-ridden middle school diary prose with incessantly upbeat electro-pop. If anything, it seems like a dangerous gateway into the world of EDM, so stay woke. MW
Wavves
With Twin Peaks and Swimmers, 7 p.m. Saturday, September 19, at The Prophet Bar, 2513 Main St., 214-742-3667 or theprophetbar.com, $18-$20
This year Nathan Williams and crew released their sixth studio album, No Life For Me, in which the band seem to return to the fuzzy roots of their earlier stuff. In case you weren’t paying attention (or just don’t remember), Wavves were the favorite lo-fi garage pop group of every bed-headed hipster in the late-2000s. The band’s signature groove drenches songs in fuzzy reverb, high-pitched ooo-waa’s and a washed up, “whatever” lyrical vibe. The group have come a long way since their meager beginnings in the picturesque suburbs of Southern California, where the American middle-class party lifestyle inspired Williams to write the group’s 2008 self-titled debut. From there, the band exploded onto the scene with seemingly constant feedback from the indie music blogosphere, accompanied by some mildly entertaining relationship drama between Williams and Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino, which is now but a distant memory. The band’s 2013 album Afraid of Heights scored them a couple of Billboard hits, despite some negative reviews claiming it sounded too much like Blink 182. Pablo Arauz
Lydia
With Seaheaven, Turnovers and the Technicolors, 8 p.m. Saturday, September 19, 2709 Elm St., 214-741-1122 or treesdallas.com, $16
Lydia are a rock-centric three-piece that got most of their attention from the Vans Warped Tour, of all places. But since then, they've taken time to rework and twist their sound as well as replace a significant number of band members. The new tinge in their sound taps into artists like Ra Ra Riot and Feist, and they even put out an acoustic-focused album in the last year. The change of pace is refreshing and welcomed, even (maybe especially) if it means leaving your "emo phase" in the dust. MW
Mickey Avalon
With Dirt Nasty and Whyte Noyze, 7 p.m. Sunday, September 20, at Trees, 2709 Elm St., 214-741-1122 or treesdallas.com, $21
According to Mickey Avalon, he slept with your girlfriend, and your sister likes him as much as he likes warm Coors Light. (A lot.) This glam rock-inspired Hollywood rapper walks a fine line between satire and pure apathy. His music is a stream of consciousness revolving around sex, drugs and wild nights — that’s about it. Don’t think for a second that Avalon’s shows shy away from the debauchery mentioned in his music, either. Girls, girls, girls is their theme. Avalon’s longtime friend and former group-mate Dirt Nasty, aka actor Simon Rex — who performs his own version of rambunctious, off-the-wall, sometimes-comedic rap tunes — joins him on tour, solidifying that Trees is in for one wild night. Mikel Galicia