Mike Brooks
Audio By Carbonatix
Do you feel that, North Texas? Not to jinx anything, but it feels a lot like fall out there, right? So, if the summer sun has been keeping you indoors even after it sets, now is the time to finally get out and enjoy the weather while we can. Kicking off the concert week with a little contemporary folk, Thursday night Swedish duo First Aid Kit play House of Blues and Bonnie “Prince” Billy entertains at the Texas Theatre. That night will also see the first of two Drake and 21 Savage shows at the AAC. On Friday, punk legends Jawbreaker take over the Design District with Joyce Manor and Grumpster, as Dwight Yoakam brings the party to Grand Prairie and Local Natives soft-rocks in Victory Park. Sylvan Esso closes out the weekend with some light dancing in Deep Ellum and Lana Del Rey sings away the mid-week blues Tuesday night in Fair Park. Now, pack a jacket and probably an umbrella, too, and get out there and try to catch a groove.
First Aid Kit
7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 14, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St. $39.50+ at livenation.com
Swedish folk duo and sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg came upon the sound of country folk after watching O Brother, Where Art Thou? The two girls were drawn in by the harmonies on Alison Krauss’s version of “Down in the River to Pray.” The two continued to draw inspiration from country- and folk-inspired musicians like Devendra Banhart and CocoRosie, rebelling against their parents who were into alternative rock. In 2008, the sisters attracted national attention after their cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” went viral on YouTube. For 15 years now, their band First Aid Kit has grown in popularity, touring internationally and climbing the charts in the U.S. and across Europe. The band released its fifth album, Palomino, last November, an album which shows more pop sensibility than First Aid Kit’s previous work. Phoenix singer-songwriter Courtney Marie Andrews will open the show.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy
7:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 14, Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. $30 at seetickets.us
Will Oldham had recorded music for years before adopting the handle Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Oldham has been vague about exactly where the name comes from, but he has always maintained that he just likes the ring of the three names, like English royalty or an outlaw from the Old West. A contemporary folk artist known for his blunt honesty and haunting melodies, Billy has maintained an avid underground following while drawing the attention of music icons like Johnny Cash, who covered his song “I See a Darkness” on his American Recordings album, American III: Solitary Man in 2000. Marianne Faithfull, Mark Kozelek and Deer Tick have also covered Billy’s work. Oldham has been prolific in his songwriting, rarely letting a year go by without a release under one moniker or another. Bonnie “Prince” Billy comes to town just one month after releasing his new album, Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You. Singer-songwriter Myriam Gendron opens the show.
Drake
8 p.m., Thursday – Friday, Sept. 14-15, American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave. $400+ at ticketmaster.com
Going into the weekend, Drake hosts a two-night residency at the ACC on his It’s All A Blur Tour. To those of us who remember Drake as Jimmy Brooks in the teen drama series Degrassi: The Next Generation, it really has been a blur. Actor Aubrey Drake Graham had released a few mixtapes when the show was still in production, but his big break came when Lil Wayne signed him to Young Money Entertainment as rapper, Drake, in 2009. Critics balked at Drake’s first EP on the label, So Far Gone, wondering if the actor could fully transition into the hip-hop world and be taken seriously. By the time he released Thank Me Later the next year, Drake’s emo take on hip-hop had won over the media and helped usher in a trend that has been with us to this day. Last November, Drake released the collaborative album, Her Loss, with rapper 21 Savage, who will be performing with Drake both nights.
Jawbreaker
6 p.m., Friday, Sept. 15, The Echo Lounge & Music Hall, 1323 N. Stemmons Fwy. $49.50+ at livenation.com
When it comes to influential punk bands from the ’90s, a lot of people would point to outfits like Green Day, Rancid or The Offspring, but none of those share quite the same influence as the East Bay California punk band Jawbreaker. While the first three where putting punk on the pop map, Jawbreaker broke away from the pack by amplifying the poetic side of hardcore. After opening shows for Nirvana in 1993 and releasing 24 Hour Revenge Therapy in 1994, the band signed with a major record label that polished the its sound for the band’s only major record release, Dear You, drawing major criticism from fans and leading to the band’s break-up. Reunion rumors circulated for decades as the band members pursued other projects, and in 2017, it finally happened at Riot Fest. The band went on a full reunion tour in 2019, and it’s coming back again this Friday, this time with support from Joyce Manor and Grumpster.
Local Natives
7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 15, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St. $35+ at livenation.com
Indie rockers Local Natives came together in Orange County, California, in 2005, when three high school friends – Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn and Taylor Rice – teamed up to start a band. The trio played together throughout their college years but didn’t start taking their music seriously until they graduated, picked up a bass player and a drummer and moved to a house in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. After moving, the band went straight to work on its first release, titled Gorilla Manor after the nickname of the band’s house where all the music was written. Released in 2010, Gorilla Manor was an immediate success in transatlantic indie music circles, earning a “Best New Music” rating from Pitchfork and a slew of positive reviews from U.K.-based magazines. Local Natives released its fourth album, Time Will Wait for No One, this summer, which shows the band’s growth as artists and individuals. Dark-pop band Chartreuse from Birmingham, England, opens.
Dwight Yoakam
8 p.m., Friday, Sept. 15, Texas Trust CU Theatre, 1001 Texas Trust Way, Grand Prairie. $39+ at axs.com
Well, it’ll be guitars, Cadillacs and hillbilly music when Dwight Yoakam takes the stage in Grand Prairie on Friday night. A Nashville outsider who made it big in the LA country scene, Yoakam has always played his own brand of country music – a signature mix of honky-tonk, rock and bluegrass – by his own rules. Yoakam hasn’t released a new album since his 2016 bluegrass effort, Swimming Pools, Movie Stars … taken from The Beverly Hillbillies theme song, but he has continued to tour every year for his fans and the love of the music. In 2018, Yoakam was asked to curate a show for SiriusXM, which led to the creation of his own music channel, The Bakersfield Beat, which plays California Country, country-rock and cowpunk. Yoakam will receive opening support from Oklahoma musician Cam Allen.
Arctic Monkeys
8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 16, Dickies Arena, 1911 Montgomery St., Fort Worth. $200+ at ticketmaster.com
When English rock band Arctic Monkeys hit the scene in 2006 with its debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, the band was characterized in the press as the second coming of The Beatles. Even today, they’re seen by many as the most important English band of the last generation. That isn’t a purely English sentiment either as the band has always drawn millions of American listeners. Their seventh album, The Car, released last October, became a top-10 album in England and America, not to mention the dozens of other countries where the album ascended the charts. And for all the hype, all the accolades and all the reasons you don’t want to give into them, Arctic Monkeys make solid English rock ‘n’ roll that never fails to satisfy and always rewards you for listening more closely. Irish post-punk band Fontaines D.C. will open.
Explosions in the Sky
8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 16, South Side Ballroom, 1135 Botham Jean Blvd. $45+ at ticketmaster.com
Austin post-rock band Explosions in the Sky prompted a lot of questions after announcing its The End Tour this summer. Was the beloved band breaking up after 25 years? As it turned out, no. The band is not breaking up, this is not its last tour and its upcoming album, End, will not be the band’s last. Instead, the band is more interested in exploring the idea of endings – the end of a relationship, death or just the end of a story. Coming out Sept. 15, the album follows the band’s 2021 soundtrack album for the PBS documentary Big Bend: The Wild Frontier of Texas, which captured all the beauty of the national park in sound. This Dallas date comes relatively early in the tour, which began last month in Portland and will extend into Europe through the fall and early winter. At South Side Ballroom, the band will have local support from Cumbia band Cayuga All-Stars.
Sylvan Esso
8 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 17, The Factory in Deep Ellum, 2713 Canton St. $35 at axs.com
North Carolina electro-pop duo Sylvan Esso will swing through the The Factory in Deep Ellum Sunday night hot off the release of its Live at Electric Lady EP. Sylvan Esso made quite the splash from the start of their career, reaching the No. 7 position on Billboard‘s independent album chart with their self-titled debut and its lead single, “Hey Mami,” proclaimed as the No. 1 song of 2014 by Paste magazine. Sylvan Esso has always eschewed the typical trappings of electronic music, choosing fragility over heavy beats and intricate melodies. Their songs are often an attempt to see the light through the darkness, which is fraught with difficulty. Still, there is something sweet and danceable in songs like “Ferris Wheel,” which feels less like a club anthem and more like a soundtrack for dancing alone in your socks on the kitchen floor. Techno artist GRRL will open.
Lana Del Rey
8 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 19, Dos Equis Pavilion, 1818 First Ave. $100+ at stubhub.com
Elizabeth Grant chose her stage name, Lana Del Rey, drawing inspiration from film icon Lana Turner and the Ford Del Rey sedan that was sold in Brazil in the 1980s, Lana Del Rey’s name, like her music, conveys both luxury and sleaze. Del Rey’s big break came in 2011 when her self-made videos for “Video Games” and “Blue Jeans” went viral on YouTube, earning the artist a record deal. Her career had a rocky start with a less-than-spectacular Saturday Night Live performance in 2012, but that didn’t stop the artist from racking up nominations and awards around the world. This past spring, Del Rey released her ninth studio album, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, an ambitious work that sees the artist dabbling in many genres with many collaborators. True to Del Rey’s form, the album has been called beautiful and unsettling. Alt-country singer Nikki Lane opens.
