The 10 Best Concerts of the Week: Pixies, Lil Wayne, Fortress Fest and More

Big names in music are stepping into spotlights in Dallas this week. Among them are bands celebrating anniversaries, such as Stabbing Westward, and their most succesful albums, such as Coheed and Cambria. But we also get the chance to see plenty of up-and-coming musicians as well as visual and performance...

By Diamond Rodrigue

April 24, 2017

The Pixies play Bomb Factory Saturday. Travis Shinn

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Big names in music are stepping into spotlights in Dallas this week. Among them are bands celebrating anniversaries, such as Stabbing Westward, and their most succesful albums, such as Coheed and Cambria. But we also get the chance to see plenty of up-and-coming musicians as well as visual and performance artists at this year's Fortress Fest. And this week also brings Lil Wayne's rescheduled show at South Side Ballroom.

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
with Chamillionaire, Lloyd Banks, Z-Ro and Slim Thug, 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., 214-932-6501 or thebombfactory.com, $45-$250

Hip-hop quintet Bone Thugs-n-Harmony set the future in motion with their '93 debut, Faces of Death. On the strength of that album, Eazy-E of N.W.A. signed the group from Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruthless Records. He was taken with their innovative style, which diverged from mainstream hip-hop in favor of intricate harmonies and a delivery and cadence inspired by jazz. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's tribute to the late Eazy-E, "Tha Crossroads," won them a Grammy in '97 and they've sold over 25 million records to date. Infighting in the early 2010s led to the departure of several members, but since 2014 Bone Thugs-n-Harmony have been whole again and hitting the road. Tuesday their tour bus pulls up to the Bomb Factory, and it sounds like they've packed all their hits. Caroline North

The Wailers
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, Granada Theater, 3514 Greenville Ave., 214-824-9933 or granadatheater.com, $35.75-$50

The legend of Bob Marley lives on through the relentless touring schedule of the Wailers. Just to be clear, though, these aren’t the original Wailers. However, a few of them played with Marley after his most iconic releases and after original members of the band left. These Wailers are also renowned for their live shows and deliver fantastic renditions of classic hits from the Marley catalog. Their own Grammy-nominated works bear Latin and jazz influences. Mikel Galicia

Coheed and Cambria
7 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., 214-978-2583 or houseofblues.com, Sold Out

As part of their 12-year anniversary tour, Coheed and Cambria are revisiting their best album to date — Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. More than a mouthful, it's an album that represents the band's transition from a melodic hardcore rock to something a little more hard-hitting. But after the album was released, the band almost fell apart and the tour didn't quite do the album justice. This time around, they've got sold out venues along their U.S. trek, including Wednesday's show at House of Blues. Diamond Victoria

PJ Harvey
8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27, The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., 214-932-6501 or thebombfactory.com, $59.50

PJ Harvey's live appearances around these parts are few and far between. Discounting a canceled 2004 gig at the old Gypsy Tea Room, the last time the English chanteuse appeared in Dallas was as the opening act for U2 in 2001. Thursday night will find her anchoring The Bomb Factory in support of The Hope Six Demolition Project, released last year. Tunes like "The Community of Hope" and "The Wheel" are appropriate anthems for uncertain times. So venture down to Deep Ellum and catch this musical tour-de-force before another decade passes. Jeff Strowe

Lil Wayne
8 p.m. Friday, April 28, South Side Ballroom, 1135 S. Lamar St., 214-421-2021 or southsideballroomdallas.com, $55

It’s hard to remember just how radical and exhilarating Lil Wayne’s music seemed only 10 years ago. In the early 2000s, a full grown Wayne dropped into the game like a meteor, an extraterrestrial destined to reformulate a genre already infamous for its embrace of strange new worlds. Fast forward to today and Wayne can still slither through a stack of bars like a well oiled eel; he can still fold words and mold phrases into impossibly complex knots, and then unwind them with euphoric, full-sprint ease. Lil Wayne’s reach is now so thoroughly diffused into hip-hop that it’s easy to forget it wasn’t always this way. He may no longer be “the best rapper alive,” but he’s still arguably one of the most important. Jonathan Patrick

Paul van Dyk
With Vini Vici, Alex Morph and Heatbeat, 8 p.m. Friday, April 28, South Side Music Hall, 1135 S. Lamar St., $35

Paul Van Dyk may not have a bunch of top 10 hit singles, but he’s got shelves of awards that are proof of his importance to the world of electronic music. Van Dyk grew up sneaking contraband tapes into his East German hometown, gained acclaim in 2003 with Reflections and went on to win a Grammy five years later for his work on The Dark Knight soundtrack. He nearly died last year after suffering a traumatic brain and spine injury at a festival in the Netherlands but, miraculously, it hasn’t slowed his career. He’s since released collaborations with Chris Bekker and Alex Morph, and a new single, “Touched By Heaven.” Morph, along with Israeli DJ duo Vini Vici and Argentinian trance/electro house group Heatbeat, join him for a Saturday show at South Side Ballroom. Nicholas Bostick

Stabbing Westward
8 p.m. Friday, April 28, Trees, 2709 Elm St., 214-741-1122 or treesdallas.com, $18

When you're from rural Illinois and take style cues from Robert Smith, you can expect to be misunderstood. In 1986, industrial rock band Stabbing Westward felt a swift move to the Windy City was in order for this very reason. It took until 1994 for the band to make a mark, but the wait was worth it when Ungod was released. Stabbing Westward enjoyed success throughout the '90s, but in 2002 went on indefinite hiatus. In 2016 they reunited for their 30th anniversary and are continuing to play throughout 2017. DV

Pixies
8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., 214-932-6501 or thebombfactory.com, $39.50

Bassist/vocalist Kim Deal has been out of the Pixies for a few years now, but their legacy can pack large venues. For this sold-out show at the Bomb Factory, Charles Thompson (Black Francis) and his bandmates will go light on the new material and play plenty of tunes from their canon, like "Debaser," "Wave of Mutilation" and "Planet of Sound.” Their sound has held up for more than three decades and has inspired artists like Radiohead and Nirvana. Eric Grubbs

Fortress Fest
With Run the Jewels, S U R V I V E, Purity Ring and more, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30, at The Modern Art Museum, 3200 Darnell St., 817-738-9215 or fortressfestival.com, $65+

The North Texas music festival scene may be saturated, but no other festival has promised “a cultural experience that will include multiple creative disciplines” like the inaugural Fortress Festival has. Holding court in the heart of Fort Worth’s Cultural District, with stages set up on the grounds of the Will Rogers Memorial Center and the reflecting pond at the Modern Museum of Fort Worth, the festival is certainly one of a kind. Headliners Run The Jewel and Purity Ring top a bill loaded with internationally recognized acts such as Flying Lotus, Slowdive and Peter Hook & The Light. Some of the brightest local acts in the region round out the bill, including Blue, The Misfit, Sam Lao, Quaker City Night Hawks, Bobby Sessions and Cure For Paranoia. Between acts, Fortress Festivals offers attendees an opportunity to stroll the Kimbell and Amon Carter museums. Mikel Galicia

Joe Walsh
7 p.m. Sunday, April 30, WinStar Casino, 777 Casino Ave., 800-622-6317 or winstarworldcasino.com, $65-$125

Joe Walsh has done it all, lending his substantial guitar prowess to the James Gang, the Eagles and even Ringo Starr. He's also one of the greatest session players to step into a recording studio. The singer-songwriter has hits of his own, including "Rocky Mountain Way" and "Life's Been Good." If you missed him Saturday when he played American Airlines Center with Tom Petty, now's your chance to catch a legend. DV

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