10 Best Concerts of the Week: Tyler Childers, Agent Orange, Ween and More

This is a big week, North Texas. It's not that any one particular act coming to town this week is, like, a huge, stadium sell-out artist, but the quality of shows this week has not been seen in these parts for a while. To tell the complete truth, there are many amazing shows this week that didn't make this list. Check out this week's Concert Calendar to see what we mean. This group of 10, though, represents the cream of this week's crop, with bands coming from a range of musical genres. This week there are acts that define genres, acts that defy genres, acts that push genres forward and acts that have left their old genres behind. This is a concert week made for people who love everything the musical experience has to offer. There's just one little catch in all of this poetic waxing — half of these shows take place on Tuesday. Thankfully, there's not a whole lot of genre overlap on Tuesday to make that a problem for most.
Everclear
7 p.m. Thursday, April 20, Box Garden at Legacy Hall, 7800 Windrose Ave., Plano. $22+ at prekindle.com

Alt-rock band Everclear hasn't had a hit in years. Sure, "The Man Who Broke His Own Heart" from 2015's  Black Is the New Black was a minor hit on mainstream rock stations, but even that feat hadn't been matched by the band since 2003. Here's the thing, though: That same 2015 album with the minor hit reached the 11th spot on Billboard's Independent Albums chart. Though Everclear may just be that band you kind of remember and always see popping up on '90s nostalgia shows — like the one this Thursday with longstanding Houston industrial rock band The Hunger in Plano — Everclear's independent success only proves that the band remains as entertaining and engaged with its fans as it has ever been. Last November, the band released its first new song since 2015, a reflection on the year 2022, "The Year of the Tiger." It may not have been a hit either, but it certainly hits you in the heart.
Tyler Childers
6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20, Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. $205+ at livenation.com

Kentucky singer-songwriter Tyler Childers has always drawn inspiration from his home state. A neotraditional country artist drawing heavily on the folk and bluegrass traditions of his home state, Childers had a slow come-up from the time he started performing in 2010 until his breakthrough release, Purgatory, in 2017. During that time, Childers worked odd jobs to support himself and his music until a chance meeting with country artist Sturgill Simpson changed the course of his career. Simpson would produce Purgatory and its 2019 follow-up Country Squire, which included the Grammy-nominated song "All Your'n." During the press circuit for his 2020 release, Long Violent History, Childers revealed that he had struggled with drugs and alcohol for the better part of 11 years. The Send in the Hounds Tour with John R. Miller and Wayne Graham swings through Irving for a sold-out show. Verified resale tickets are still available.
Emmylou Harris
6:30 p.m. Saturday–Sunday, April 22–23, Longhorn Ballroom, 216 Corinth St. $75+ at prekindle.com

For both nights this weekend, the newly reopened Longhorn Ballroom will host An Evening with Emmylou Harris. With a career spanning over five decades, Harris has been a ubiquitous figure in Americana music since long before that genre label even existed. As such, her work is respected in the worlds of country, rock and folk, and she has worked with artists from all corners of those genres since the very beginning of her career. Harris hasn't released a studio album since her 2015 collaborative album with Rodney Crowell, but in 2018, she was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award alongside the likes of Neil Diamond, Queen and Tina Turner. Honestly, that seems like a small award for all that she has given to the history of modern American music. Tickets for Harris' first night in Dallas are sold out, but there are still tickets available for the second night.
The New Pornographers
7 p.m. Sunday, April 23, The Studio at the Factory, 2727 Canton St. $32.50 at axs.com

Canadian indie-rock band The New Pornographers began as something of a regional supergroup, with members coming together from multiple different projects. Now, with the exception of Neko Case, who has had much success as a solo artist, the band has become something greater than the sum of its parts. The band released its ninth album, Continue as a Guest, at the end of March and kicked off its supporting tour April 19. Released four years after its predecessor, the new album shows some expansion in the group's musical repertoire, adding angular and abrasive elements to its pristine power-pop sound. The album includes tracks that didn't quite fit on past albums, like the opener "Really Really Light," which was co-written by former member and current Destroyer frontman Dan Bejar. New York indie rock band Wild Pink will be there to warm up the crowd.
Agent Orange
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, Tulips, 112 St. Louis Blvd., Fort Worth. $18+ at prekindle.com

One of the first bands to mix surf rock and punk rock together for a breakneck mix of speed and adrenaline, Agent Orange first got together in Placentia, California, in 1979. Its most widely recognized and first single, "Bloodstains," came out a year later on a self-released 7-inch EP, and the song has since appeared on countless punk compilations (including the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 soundtrack) as the quintessential model of surf punk. As far as album production goes, Agent Orange hasn't done much of that since the band's last official album, Virtually Indestructible, came out in 1996. While there have been a couple of one-off singles, some re-recordings and re-releases, Agent Orange has stayed relevant by keeping up a consistent touring schedule, packing venues and kicking out those jams. Agent Orange will have SoCal punk princess Suzi Moon on deck as well as local noise rockers Thyroids in Fort Worth.
Crumb
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. $27.50 at prekindle.com

Boston-born and Brooklyn-based indie-rock outfit Crumb may be the most understated band on our list this week. With fewer than 30 songs to its name and much less than a decade of performance history, Crumb has managed to produce some of the most intriguing and engaging bedroom pop out there right now. On April 12, the band released its first single in two years, "Crushxd." The single contains all the trappings of Crumb's previous work — the haunting and melodic vocals of singer Lila Ramani, the elegant drumming of Jonathan Gilad and the subtle synthesizers of Bri Aronow, which always feel like they're on the brink of an explosion. It's a song that is ostensibly about accidentally running over an old turtle, but the delivery of the lyrics make it clear that there is something much more epic taking shape in whatever Crumb has in store for fans this year. Los Angeles post-punk band Automatic opens the show.
Twiztid
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, Trees, 2709 Elm St. $26 at axs.com

Detroit's longstanding underground hip-hop duo Twiztid first came to our attention as a clone of its hometown forebear, Insane Clown Posse. It has been nearly a decade since Twiztid left ICP's Psychopathic Records to form its own Majik Ninja Entertainment, which has seen its roster grow with over a dozen artists over the years. Since venturing out on its own, Twiztid has pumped out a staggering number of albums, EPs and mixtapes, all while working on side projects and promoting other artists in its incredibly niche genre of horrorcore. One look at the show's lineup tells you everything you need to know about the group's dedication to its community of fans and artists. The Certified Psychos Tour comes to town with a veritable circus car of demented hip-hop acts. Aside from Twiztid, the show brings to the stage Anybody Killa, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Cody Manson, Andrew W. Boss, Intrinzik & McNastee, DJ Ronnie Blaze, It's Class, SICNoiZe DNiCE and Chxxmpa.
VV
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St. $45+ at livenation.com

Finnish singer Ville Valo, formerly of the gothic rock band HIM, released his solo debut, Neon Noir, under the moniker VV. Though not a complete departure from the sounds that made HIM popular, the album displays a broader take on the gothic rock genre, one that embraces elements of folk, pop and classic rock 'n' roll. To put it another way, it's an album that welcomes new fans without alienating HIM fans. Produced by Valo's longtime HIM collaborator, Tim Palmer, the album was released to massive acclaim in the singer's home country, continuing the string of high-charting albums HIM had on the charts in Finland. The Neon Noir Tour also brings to town Icelandic post-punk band Kælan Mikla. The all-woman trio, whose band name means "lady of the cold," has had a presence in Iceland for the last decade. The band sings in Icelandic with lyrics drawn from folklore and fairytales.
Ween
7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, South Side Ballroom, 1135 Botham Jean Blvd. $49.50+ at ticketmaster.com

After a five-year hiatus, Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known by their stage names, Gene and Dean Ween, reunited with drummer Claude Coleman Jr., bassist Dave Dreiwitz and keyboardist Glenn McClelland in 2016. The classic lineup that recorded Ween's art rock masterpiece, The Mollusk, got together for a couple of Colorado shows, which led to a smattering of shows here and there, including a career-spanning set at the Bomb Factory on Halloween in 2017. This year, the band is embarking on its first extended tour since that reunion. That tour starts this summer, but before then, Ween will be going out on a short run of dates in Texas and Louisiana to flex its touring muscles a bit before the extended tour. With Dallas being the starting point, it's tough to say exactly what we might be in for from a band that has dabbled in every conceivable genre, but it's sure to be strangely satisfying.
Mastodon
7 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. $54+ at livenation.com

The latest album from Atlanta's preeminent heavy metal band, Mastodon, Hushed and Grim, came out in 2021, so the band isn't touring in support of any new material. It's just out to give folks a good show with a solid lineup of artists. Mastodon is teaming up with French heavy metal band Gojira and New Jersey deathcore band Lorna Shore for The Mega-Monsters Tour. The six-month long tour is planned to travel across the U.S. this spring, continue on into Europe this summer and return for a second American leg in the fall. The tour's Dallas date comes just after one week since the tour kicked off on April 18 in Portland, so everyone is sure to be fresh for the Wednesday night concert in Irving. Mastodon has built up its fanbase over all these years on a solid foundation of thunderous metal played with the precision of progressive rock. It is a band that is as dedicated to its craft as it is to its loyal fans.