English singer songwriter Bryan Ferry brings his seductive crooning to Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie Saturday night.
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Outward Bound Mixtape
10 p.m. Monday, March 13, RBC, 2617 Commerce St., 469-487-6149 or rbcdeepellum.com, Free
We actually look forward to Mondays now, thanks to the work of Stefan Gonzalez. The lineup he curates on that day every week at RBC is one of the best places in the city to discover new music. Outward Bound Mixtape began a few years ago at Crown and Harp on Lower Greenville before it moved to Deep Ellum, but in its new home it offers the same opportunity for local and touring acts to try out something new in front of an enthusiastic and open-minded crowd of regulars, whether that means a first show, brand new songs or a sound that defies genre labels. If you ask the act du jour in Dallas noise, punk, goth or free jazz where they played some of their first shows, you’ll likely be told Outward Bound, so attend Mondays and stay ahead of the curve. Caroline North
Minus the Bear
With Beach Slang and Bayonne, 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. or granadatheater.com, $29
Minus the Bear just released their first record in five years, VOIDS. The band has seen a couple of member replacements, but maybe that's what has kept their sound fresh after a 16-year career. The grungy indie rock quartet has seen a lot of positive reviews since the new album's release March 3. Perhaps all that time spent away from the studio was worth it. Minus the Bear play Granada Theater on Tuesday, with openers Beach Slang and Bayonne. Diamond Victoria
NSFWknd: Har Mar Superstar
With Frankie Rose, the Paranoyds and the Velveteins, 7 p.m. Friday, March 17, Dada, 2720 Elm St. or dadadallas.com, $15
For the past 15 years, the eccentric musician Sean Tillmann has gyrated his nearly nude naughty bits to the delightful sounds of expertly crafted R&B as his alter ego, Har Mar Superstar. The rotund Lothario takes his music seriously however, crafting poppy synth beats that pair well against his crisp vocals. His latest album under the Har Mar banner, Best Summer Ever, came out in April and covers a cavalcade of stylistic time periods as a satirical take on a compilation album spanning from the '50s to the '80s. Tracks like the disco inspired “It Was Only Dancing (Sex),” give the album a feeling reminiscent of the Dan Band, and the Glenn Danzig-styled vocals of “Famous Last Words” show off Tillmann’s ability to replicate a wide swath of musical styles. So while the aesthetically closed-minded may find his live act to be a little intense, new comers will quickly learn that Tillman's antics take a back seat to the clear craftsmanship present in his work. Tonight he takes the stage at Dada as part of NSFWknd. Nicholas Bostick
Willie Nelson
9 p.m. Friday, March 17, WinStar Casino, 777 Casino Ave., winstarworldcasino.com, $75-$115
Legends don’t come much bigger than Willie Nelson. As an actor, musician and activist, Nelson has had an incalculable footprint on both popular culture and the arts. His pioneering image of an outsider rethinking country music’s tradition and forms — welcoming the influences of jazz, rock and liberal politics — has changed the course of country music quite literally forever, helping to usher in a new wave of progressive singer-songwriters who are much more willing to experiment with genre boundaries (Sturgill Simpson being one example). Fortunately, every time Nelson swings through Dallas, he brings a little extra enthusiasm with him. Texas is his home after all — he was born here, he recorded his best effort, Red Headed Stranger, right here in Dallas, and he also experienced his first arrest for marijuana in our city (sorry, Willie). Let’s not kid ourselves, as Nelson creeps past 83 years of age, the window for finally seeing the man, myth and legend in the flesh is slowly shrinking. Jonathan Patrick
8 p.m. Saturday, March 18, South Side Ballroom, 1135 S. Lamar St., 800-745-3000 or southsideballroomdallas.com, $49.50
In an age when Drake, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole dominate hip-hop and are heralded as the stars of the genre, artists like Big Sean have been forced to play in the shadows and carve out successful rap careers on their own terms and at a slower pace. But that’s what made it so sweet when Big Sean stole the limelight on tracks with those would-be contemporaries as he did on “All Me,” “Control” and “Mercy,” to name a few. Since those tracks, Big Sean has become a mainstay in the mainstream and his last two albums, 2015’s Dark Sky Paradise and 2017’s I Decided have charted at No. 1 on Billboard. Since his fifth album release, Big Sean’s career is only continuing to grow. This headlining tour hitting the South Side Ballroom is the biggest of the Detroit rapper’s career and shows he’s on an upward trajectory, with no ceiling in sight. Mikel Galicia
NSFWknd: The Drums
With No Joy, Jay Som and Tim Darcy, 7 p.m. Saturday, March 18, Trees, 2709 Elm St., treesdallas.com, $22
NSFWknd, formerly Spillover Fest, is presenting seven lineups this weekend across three of Dallas' best venues — Trees, Dada and Three Links. The fest celebrates all kinds of great music and gives those of us who'd rather ditch the drive to Austin for South by Southwest a chance to get our festival fix. Arguably the best show of the seven is Saturday's at Trees featuring eccentric indie pop outfit the Drums, who just announced a new album, Abysmal Thoughts, slated to release in June. DV
Bryan Ferry
8 p.m. Saturday, March 18, Verizon Theatre, 1001 Performance Place, Grand Prairie, 972-854-5050 or verizontheatre.com, $46.75-$105.75
Bryan Ferry is an art pop and glam giant. His voice is a velvety, fluttery thing, at once androgynous and also classical-croon — a syrupy mix of David Bowie, David Sylvian and Scott Walker. Ferry’s greatest feat, though, has been his singular grasp of some unique space that echoes early 20th century songwriting while it simultaneously reaches for something distinctly, cleverly modern. An acute attention to style, subtle theatricality and loyalty to traditional forms have made Ferry an enduring force in both rock and pop for going on 45 years now. The former frontman of seminal art rock act Roxy Music, Ferry has twisted and turned over the last four decades, etching out a solo legacy that’s as restless and curious as his infamously memorable vocals. Jonathan Patrick
The Commodores
8 p.m. Saturday, March 18, WinStar Casino, 777 Casino Ave., winstarworldcasino.com, $25-$55
There is no more powerful pause in the history of music than the infinite space between the words "brick" and "house" in the Commodores' classic funk song. Walter Orange winds up, saying "She's a brick ..." and then the universe pauses. A water droplet of time falls from the faucet of space-time. You wonder, "What does this mean? She's a brick? That's rude," and begin to doubt the merits of the song. But then you're pulled back from the void with "HOWSSEEEE" and you realize that everything will be alright. You realize that the Commodores might know a thing or two about funk, and might even be goddamn geniuses. Matt Wood
Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo
7 p.m. Sunday, March 19, Majestic Theatre, 1925 Elm St., 214-670-3687 or dallasculture.org, $58-$128
After releasing her first new track in more than 10 years, Pat Benatar returned to the music world with Shine, a rallying cry penned for the Jan. 21 Women’s March on Washington. The trailblazing rock icon, along with her husband and longtime musical collaborator Neil Giraldo, is taking her show on the road under the banner: Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo: An Intimate Acoustic Evening. After canceling her last Dallas show, originally scheduled during Benatar’s 2016 We Live for Love Tour, this acoustic concert will be a decent consolation prize for fans who missed out on seeing the four-time Grammy Award-winner last year. Giraldo has been working alongside Benatar since writing “We Live for Love” for her platinum-certified debut album In the Heat of the Night. The duo have shared stages and song writing credits on hundreds of songs and albums since their marriage in 1982. Now, more than 35 years later, Benatar and Giraldo will coat the Majestic in a warm wash of acoustic guitars and a defiant voice that still influences musicians across the globe. Nicholas Bostick
SOHN
8:30 p.m. Sunday, March 19, Trees, 2709 Elm St., treesdallas.com, $17
English singer songwriter and record producer Sohn released his latest album, Rennen, in January. The Vienna-based Sohn originally released music through his solo project, Trouble Over Tokyo, but found greater success after reinventing himself through his new moniker. He fuses R&B with electric indie rock which creates something a little unusual and fresh. DV
