The 10 Best Concerts of the Week: Snoop Dogg, Angel Olsen, Mondo Drag and More

There are many shows to choose from this week, but here are a few to get the ball rolling if you're not sure where to start. Singer-songwriter Angel Olsen will hit the stage for a magical night at Granada Theater on Friday. Also performing that night at House of Blues is the toe-tapping, fist-pumping punk rock act Sleater-Kinney. But if you're over in Fort Worth this Friday, you'll want to catch the Americana-Southern rock band Trees Marie and the Heavy Hearts at the Flying Saucer. On Saturday night you can get a small dose of local Denton legends Ten Hands, in a smaller, three-piece iteration of the band called 60 Digits, at AllGood Cafe. At Armoury D.E. the same night, Oakland's Mondo Drag will take the stage with local support from Smokey Mirror and Wooden Earth. But if you want to go to either of those Saturday shows, you might have to miss Snoop Dogg's performance at Dos Equis Pavilion. The choice is yours.


Jason Bucklin Trio
9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5, at The Balcony Club, 1825 Abrams Road, free

When Jason Bucklin isn’t teaching guitar and bass lessons, like he’s done for most of his life, he’s usually onstage with his jazz trio at The Balcony Club. In teaching guitar and bass over the years, including master classes at the University of North Texas, Bucklin has grown an appreciation and passion for all kinds of music. But jazz was his first love. Bucklin used to play with Café Noir, the Dallas-based sextet, but every Tuesday, at least from now until sometime in December, Bucklin hits The Balcony Club stage with his trio for a night of jazz. And, it’s free. Go see the Jason Bucklin Trio while you still can. Jacob Vaughn

Angel Olsen
8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave., $28.50 at prekindle.com

Released last month to universally positive reviews, Angel Olsen's latest album, All Mirrors, has ratcheted her already ascending stardom into another echelon. With lush string arrangements and a muscular production (courtesy of local favorite John Congleton) supporting nearly each track's esoteric laments and observations, Olsen's songwriting sounds grander but actually deals in more obfuscated topics than many of the biting confessionals that dotted the landscapes of her earlier releases. However, in interviews she has referred to this one as her "angry record," so maybe the characters inhabiting these sketches are more autobiographical than realized. Regardless of their characterization, these new songs (as they have already been done on a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon) should sound fully cinematic and mesmerizing in a live setting. Jeff Strowe

Sleater-Kinney
8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., $37.55-$47.55 at livenation.com

Veterans of the riot grrrl movement of the early 1990s, Sleater-Kinney's music is more relevant to issues of sexuality, politics and female empowerment today than ever. Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker now make up the band as a duo, after the recent departure of longtime drummer Janet Weiss — whose last album with the band was this year's The Center Won't Hold, produced by fellow female powerhouse and Oak Cliff native St. Vincent. Sleater-Kinney plays toe-tapping and fist-pumping punk rock sweetened with catchy hooks and stirred with Tucker's raw and attention-grabbing vocals. With influences like Sonic Youth and Bikini Kill, the band's sound has been compared with other female artists like Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Patti Smith. Catch the band play Dallas for the first time as a duo in support of The Center Won't Hold at House of Blues with opener Joseph Keckler. Diamond Rodrigue

Trees Marie and the Heavy Hearts
8:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, at Flying Saucer Fort Worth, 111 E. 3rd St., free

Trees Marie fronts the Americana-Southern rock band Trees Marie and the Heavy Hearts. Ever since she was a teenager, Marie has been playing music, recording songs and performing in Deep Ellum. In 2016, Marie formed her band with local musicians Josh Vaughn on guitar, James Jones on drums and Wes Jett on bass. The band plays pretty frequently in DFW and can usually be seen at places like Adair's Saloon, Armoury D.E. and The Foundry. This Friday the band will be in Fort Worth at the Flying Saucer. Jacob Vaughn

60 Digits
8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at AllGood Cafe, 2934 Main St., free

60 Digits, a condensed iteration of the Denton funk-rock heavy-hitter Ten Hands, will take the stage at AllGood Cafe this Saturday. Ten Hands celebrated the 30th anniversary of the iconic live album THE BIG ONE IS COMING at the beginning of the year. Over the decades, the band has always been about making people move and have fun while also being a little intellectual. Frontman Paul Slavens, aka The Spontaneous Song Generator, is as much an actor as he is a musician. This energy, coupled with the rest of the band's, helps bring every one of the group's shows to life. At AllGood Cafe, band members Steve Brand and Gary Muller will join Slavens as 60 Digits. If you haven't seen Ten Hands in concert yet, this show is a good place to start. Jacob Vaughn

Mondo Drag
8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at Armoury D.E., 2714 Elm St., free

It was Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016, when King Camel Productions' Jeffrey Brown held his first-ever Locked & Loaded event at the Armoury in Deep Ellum. Almost every Saturday since, the Armoury has hosted a lineup of three or four live bands for the weekly event. This Saturday's show will be the last of the long-running series, which has given a stage to up-and-coming local and touring bands. "I am going to be taking a break from regular shows for a while unless it's something I can't pass up," Brown says. "I'll still be doing my special shows and events, but that's about it for the future." Though we will have to wait to see what 2018's DOMA-winning talent buyer has in store for us next, this show featuring three heavy psychedelic bands, Oakland's Mondo Drag with local support from Smokey Mirror and Wooden Earth, promises to be a proper send-off. The Locked & Loaded series will surely be missed for all it has done to build up the local music scene. It's nice to see it go out in a blaze of glory. David Fletcher

Snoop Dogg
7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at Dos Equis Pavilion, 3839 S. Fitzhugh Ave., $25-$130 at livenation.com

From his online sports and culture commentary to his brilliant performance in provocateur Harmony Korine’s recent film The Beach Bum, Snoop Dogg never ceases to remain relevant. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of his indisputable masterpiece, Doggystyle, this year, Snoop Dogg will perform with Master P, Goodie Mob, Slim Thug and many more. Twenty-five years on and Snoop’s iconic delivery — smooth as velvet, languid as a dream — is as enthralling as ever, still scanning as something genuinely radical and peerless. Above lyricism, mood and even presence, Snoop’s insouciant vibrancy, the way he ambles through each bar, remains his greatest feature, each syllable and distinct emphasis a hook to itself. Rap will never find another stylist quite like Snoop Dogg. Love live the king. Jonathan Patrick

Maná
8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, at American Airlines Center, $30 at ticketmaster.com

Often regarded as one of the most successful Latin American bands of all time, Mexican pop-rock group Maná kicked off its Rayando El Sol Tour in Laredo on Aug. 31. The tour, named after the band’s 1989 hit single, has them making several stops in Texas, Arizona and California. Earlier this year, the historically politically outspoken band told CNN they hope their 22-city tour will help bring joy to communities affected by the mass shooting in El Paso and the recent ICE raids that led to arrests of hundreds of immigrants. The band also told CNN that if people want to change the current culture, they need to head to the polls in 2020. Maná is coming back to American Airlines Center to play its second Dallas show on the last leg of the Rayando El Sol Tour. Jacob Vaughn

Metalachi with Kill Em All, The Tools
8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, Trees Dallas, 2709 Elm St.

It wouldn’t take much to argue that Dallas has always appreciated its Mexican influences about as much as a healthy dose of heavy metal music. And the best of both of these worlds can be found in the self-styled “greatest heavy metal band to ever live,” the one and only, Metalachi. Guaranteed to transform any “OMG” to an “Ay Dios Mio!” and shrill laughs into Grito Mexicanos, Metalachi is at bottom a cover band, more like to burst forth with a rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “Raining Blood” than “Volver Volver.” Frontman Vega De La Rockha comes off like the glorious love child of Alejandro Fernández and Dee Snider, rocking leopard-print pants and a top hat Sombrero, while belting out Guns N' Roses like a young Eje Rosa. Joining this unique cultural melting pot will be fellow DFW cover acts Kill Em All and The Tools to serve an appetizer to the destruction that Metalachi is known to wrought. Nicholas Bostick

Revelers Hall Band
2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, at Revelers Hall, 412 N. Bishop Ave., free

Every Saturday and Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m., the Revelers Hall Band makes a not-so-subtle stop at their home venue. The six-piece brass band packs a punch that is near impossible to stand still against. The band embodies what Revelers Hall co-owner Jason Roberts and music director Kevin Butler want to get out of all the performers at the venue. It's acoustic, and they play real pianos and upright basses, instead of electric. Even if the power goes out, the Revelers Hall Band will keep the show going. The band can also be heard accompanying other acts booked at the venue throughout the week. Jacob Vaughn