Concerts

Getting to know more about Banks (the performance artist formerly known as Jillian Rose Banks) might not seem too easy on the surface, especially during a 15-minute phone interview.  Maybe the 31-year-old, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter, whose brand of electronic dance music has been arbitrarily labeled Goth-pop, wants her keep-you-guessing image…

If you haven’t cleared your schedule for Saturday night yet, you might want to go ahead and do that. Charley Crockett, Oliver Tree and Snarky Puppy are all coming to town to play that night, so you’ll be pretty busy. But if you have to stay in Saturday night, you’ve…

You may not have heard of Cassandra’s Curse, but the Dallas band has been playing in the margins of the Dallas music scene for over 12 years now. “We started in July 2007,” says singer and guitarist Charan Bhamidi (aka Charan SpidaFingaz). “We released what they called a ‘cross-over prog’…

To stand or not to stand? That is the question folks often find themselves pondering when attending a show at a theater or other seated venues. At a recent event, my concert partner and I found ourselves sitting in the back balcony section where normally folks would remain seated for…

Before the curtains parted to a wall of darkness and fog, the crowd had reached that decibel often associated with Beatlemania and Bieber concerts. This audience spanned a wide range of ages, genders and time spent in the performer’s fan club, but everyone — boy, girl, young, old and at…

During the Dixie Chicks’ commercial peak, they were the target of intense acrimony and ostracism after lead vocalist Natalie Maines made critical remarks of President George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq. As such, the jingoistic boy’s club that was the ’00s country music industry blackballed them and kept their…

For those of you still without YouTube access, Babymetal is an act from Japan that overlays a teenage J-pop girl band on top of a heavy metal base. If everything in life has its opposite, then this is about as divergent as it gets. Both the group and the performance…

Picture a dark, quiet street. Neighbors loiter here and there in the sleepy neighborhood as you stroll toward the house in  the middle of a Garland block with a blood-red porch light and a glow emanating from the windows. Enter the dim crimson and ebony coven to find all manner…

During a short break from Bad Religion’s hectic tour schedule, bass player Jay Bentley is using his free time to do some normal dad stuff like making his daughter’s lunch, sending her off to school and drinking “like a hundred cups of coffee, bouncing off the walls and not doing…

As far as rock star entrances go, it was unorthodox. On Monday night at the American Airlines Center, Phil Collins entered leaning heavily on a cane. His feet shuffling steadily forward, the 68-year-old Collins made a beeline for a swivel chair. The affectionate roars from the sold-out room greeting the…

For a Swedish triple-threat pop sensation ready to rule the world, Zara Larsson sounds more like the all-American girl next door while chatting on the phone. She’s funny, self-deprecating even, apologetic when betrayed by her cellphone connection, opinionated, eager to answer any question thrown at her, even just after hitting the…

After his February announcement that he will be retiring from touring due in part to his inclusion body myositis diagnosis, Peter Frampton made one last stop in DFW on Sunday night at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory. Kicking off the night was Led Zeppelin Evening, who ran through Zeppelin’s…

It’s been over a decade since avant-pop juggernaut Stereolab toured in the States, and anticipation of their return was apparent in the mere hours it took them to sell out the Granada Theater. Those lucky enough to grab a ticket to Saturday night’s show were privy to why the band…

Celebrating their 45th anniversary as a band, Squeeze brought their Songbook tour to The Bomb Factory Thursday night with the foundational punk band X as their opening act. Once heralded by Rolling Stone as the heirs to the throne left vacant by The Beatles’ John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the…

When an editor gives one of their writers the task of covering a concert fronted by a celebrity who isn’t known for their musical talents, it’s either because they know that it will suck and the writer can turn such torture into something hilarious or the writer did something wrong…

The time to plan ahead into 2020 is officially upon us when it comes to concert season. Venue calendars continue to fill up several months before the calendar officially flips. This week, we’ve got announcements from Grammy winners, local and revered songsmiths, and sharp up-and-comers on the docket. Read ahead…

Houston-based soul and R&B outfit The Suffers had some abysmal luck following a set at this year’s Homegrown Fest. As we reported back in April, the eight-piece band lost about $33,000 worth of equipment when thieves took off with the band’s detached trailer, which stood in the parking lot at…

Let’s go back in time for just a moment. Word War II is over. We all have tons of extra money because America is in the midst of an economic boom. We like Ike. Elvis, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly and The Everly Brothers are filling the airwaves with a new…

His songs have been performed more than 100 million times worldwide. His LP and single sales number more than 90 million. He’s sold 10 million albums worldwide, and got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Canadian one, too.  With more than 500 songs to his credit,…

There is only one certified diamond-selling dance hall reggae artist, and he will be performing at the Toyota Music Factory in Irving on Saturday. His name is Shaggy. Yes, the artist who wrote “It Wasn’t Me,” the got-caught-cheating-red-handed record that sat in that No. 1 Billboard spot for three weeks and…