The 10 Best Concerts in Dallas This Week: Spillover Fest, Deftones & More

With last week centered around hip-hop shows, this week is absolutely stacked with rock from every subgenre. You've got the classics with Robert Plant, and his spiritual descendants with Wolfmother. Their garage and punk grandchildren will be lining the bill at Spillover, while Killswitch Engage and Deftones are the weird cousins. And if you're heading to see ol' blues rock legends ZZ Top at Winstar, make sure you're sharply dressed. (We hear they go crazy over that sort of thing.)

Wolfmother
With Deep Valley, 8 p.m. Monday, March 14, at Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., 214-824-9933 or granadatheater.com, $30
Andrew Stockdale bleeds every version of ’70s rock. Ever since the band's formation, Wolfmother's lead singer and songwriter has been relentlessly pumping out jams with the fury that only an Australian could possess. Heavy, chugging riffs gallop through their songs alongside Stockdale’s borderline-falsetto vocals, howling for battle. It’s the kind of music that’ll have you pulling 100 mph on the highway, shirtless, with no idea how you got there. When Wolfmother leans toward the psychedelic side, those Brian May guitar tones will leave you hopelessly nostalgic for a time when fringe and flowers were just alright, man. But what’ll really catch you off guard is when Stockdale hits you with the slower songs. Whether it’s “Pretty Peggy” off new album Victorious or the classic “Vagabond,” Stockdale proves himself to be more than just some fuzz rock titan. His wistful, almost sleepy singing is hypnotizing and sincere, and it’s amplified by the contrast to Wolfmother’s other songs. If you listen closely, Stockdale just might tell you everything about living free. Matt Wood

Miike Snow
8 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., 214-824-9933 or granadatheater.com, Sold out
Whether you know it or not, you like Miike Snow. Made up of producer/wizards Pontus Winnberg, Andrew Wyatt and Kristian Karlsson, Miike Snow has been behind some of the best remixes of our generation. They've also had a hand in some of your favorite pop anthems from the likes of Bruno Mars, Madonna and Britney Spears. But these dudes are more than extra sprinkles on top of your pop-flavored sundae; they make bad ass music in their own right. Case in point: 2009's electro-synthnpop masterpieceMiike Snow, which featured "Animal," one of the decade's most popular dance tracks. We're a long way from 2009, though, and the time in between has been filled with all sorts of musical projects for the Miike Snow members. Namely, their 2012 album Happy to You, the Swedish "suppergruppen" Amason (featuring Winnberg), Bloodshy & Avant (featuring Karlsson and Winnberg) and co-founding INGRID, a Stockholm-based artist collective and label. Miike Snow is back in the U.S., though, and ready to dance. As of March 4, they have added a third album, iii, to their discography, which we were able to get a taste of towards the end of last year with the track "Genghis Khan." Analog synthesizers, a golden-nosed super-villain and choreographed dance moves? STFD. Clearly Dallas fans are excited, because this bad boyat Granada Theater is sold out. Molly Mollotova

Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters
8 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., 214-932-6507 or thebombfactory.com, $45
For those of you still holding your breath for a Led Zeppelin reunion, please exhale. Robert Plant, who has long been opposed to any type of Zeppelin reunion tour, is stopping by The Bomb Factory with his group, the Sensational Space Shifters, and not the mighty band he made his name with in the halcyon days of the 1970s. Plant and Co. are venturing out on a small 11-date tour while working on the follow-up to 2014's Lullaby …and the Ceaseless Roar. Fans shouldn’t expect the set to be a Zeppelin cover show, so save yourself the trouble of shouting “Stairway!” at them in between songs. Opening for Plant and the Space Shifters are influential ‘60s garage/punk rockers the Sonics, who are touring in support of their 2015 comeback release This is the Sonics. Last year they played their first-ever show in Dallas, but they'll back again to play Three Links in May. Caroline Basile

Pentagram
8 p.m. Thursday, March 17, at Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill, 10261 Technology Boulevard E., $20-40
It's weird to think that "doom metal" had its roots as far back as 1971. Pentagram was making heavy, spooky riffs when metal as a genre was in its infancy, not to mention that naming your band "Pentagram" is just about as doom metal as it gets. Vocalist Bobby Liebling's higher-pitched vocals sit somewhere in the Ozzy Osborne range of metal singing, with his thin delivery adding an extra sinister level to their massive songs. I mean Jesus, if there's a riff heavier than "Forever My Queen," it hasn't been written yet. MW

Killswitch Engage
7 p.m. Friday, March 18, at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., $30-45
Face it: Killswitch Engage is an act that really throws out the rulebook on how to do a "mettttttttt-alllllllll" show. Expect All That Remains frontman Phil Labonte to do a decent job filling in for original singer Howard Jones, and be prepared to hear guitarist/court jester Adam Dutkiewicz offer up plenty of great one-liners that mock metal machismo. He might even wear something like a cape and short shorts. But aside from that, the band has a great catalog filled with meaty riffs, complex drumming and anthemic, harmonious choruses. Yes, thankfully, there are still bands out there that can pull this off without sounding like emo mush. Eric Grubbs

ZZ Top
9 p.m. Friday, March 18, at Winstar, 777 Casino Ave., $45-85
Known as much for an abundance of facial hair as for the music, Houston's ultimate blues-rock masters' astounding career hasn't slowed down much over 45 years. ZZ Top has never lost the ability to combine a hip-shaking groove and some of the most tonally unique and technically awing blues riffs around. Recently, Gibbons was exposed to a new generation of music lovers after being featured in the HBO series Sonic Highways, which was directed by Dave Grohl. The generally sterile Global Event Center isn't a venue worth getting excited about, but if there's a band to give it some attitude, it's these kings of Texas boogie. Kristin Lockhart

Spillover
Friday to Sunday, March 18 to 20, in Deep Ellum
In its ninth year, Parade of Flesh's annual post-SXSW party has expanded into a three-day event that's taking over three of Deep Ellum's best venues: Trees, Three Links and Club Dada. It's about time this highlight of the Dallas music year got a bit bigger, as John Iskander has been bringing in the best bands your cool friend has heard of for what seems like forever, and it's felt like he's had an overabundance of acts for at least the last five years or so. A smaller, curated bill has always been Spillover’s hallmark, but making it a multi-day event seems like the logical next step as now event attendees can purchase one ticket and venue hop over three packed nights. Highlights include Oakland's Shannon & the Clams, British shoegazers Yuck, New York's ANAMAGUCHI and the best band with the worst name, Diarrhea Planet, plus local favorites True Widow and Sealion. Not bad for $45; you spend that on brunch most Sundays, so you maybe this time you can skip the mimosas. Jaime-Paul Falcon

Third Eye Blind
With Saints of Valory, Vandoliers, Jessie Frye and Kirk Thurmond and the Millennials, 12 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at Energy Square Parking Lot, 4849 Greenville Ave, $15-25
Every year the Dallas Observer throws a big-ass party on St. Patrick's Day, setting up shop with bands and booze at Energy Square on the corner of Greenville Avenue and University Boulevard, right where the parade finishes off.  If Abbott made for a change of pace, then get ready to flip the script this year because for 2016's "Bud Light Presents the Dallas Observer St. Patrick's Day Concert" we're bringing Third Eye Blind to Dallas. Admit it: The minute you read the words "Third Eye Blind," you immediately got the melody to "Semi-Charmed Life" stuck in your head. You're welcome, because it'll be there for days now. Jeff Gage

Coheed and Cambria
With Glassjaw, 8 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at South Side Ballroom, 1135 S. Lamar St., 972-343-2444 or southsideballroomdallas.com, $31.50
This prog-rock four piece is currently on tour for their latest, and long awaited, album, The Color Before the Sun. This album came a whopping 10 years after their third studio album in 2005, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. With titles as long as lead singer and guitarists Claudio Sanchez’s beautiful hair (which has its own Facebook page), Coheed and Cambria haven’t been through Texas since 2012 when they toured with the U.K. metal legends in Iron Maiden. Their current tour takes them through the U.S. with a brief stop in Australia and then heading back home (for them) to New York at the end of May. Given the infrequency of the band playing in Dallas, it may well be another four years before they come back. This may be a now or never type situation for any remaining Coheed and Cambria fans out there. Sara Button

Deftones
With Cult Leader 8 p.m. Sunday, March 20 at South Side Ballroom, 1135 South Lamar St., 972-343-2444 or southsideballroomdallas.com, $39.50
Before these veteran alt-metal rockers embark on a full national tour that starts in May in support of their soon-to-be released album Gore, Deftones will embark on a mini Texas tour throughout March. Fans in the Lone Stare State will be among the first to hear the band’s newest material in four years. “Prayers/Triangles,” the band’s lead single from their eighth album, features a broad spectrum of styles, including soft melodies, screaming vocals, heavy riffs and delicate bridges. That dichotomy in the band’s music is what “makes us who we are – it’s sort of our DNA,” lead singer Chino Moreno told Beats 1 radio host Zane Lowe about the band. That signature ideology has contributed to 22 years of mainstream success since their debut album in 1994, and the band’s upcoming album will continue to build upon that method with even more creative left turns than before. This Dallas stop will be a great opportunity to see the band’s latest evolution. Mikel Galicia