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Chris Stapleton performing at Dallas' Starplex Pavilion in 2017.

Chris Stapleton's All-American Roadshow Brought Country's A-list to Globe Life Field

By Preston Jones

Aug 22, 2021

This past week in North Texas, the biggest bang for your musical buck could be found Saturday night at Arlington’s Globe Life Field: Chris Stapleton’s All-American Roadshow.

Steve Earle (fourth from left) and his band The Dukes delivered a sentimental set on Tuesday night at the Kessler.

Despite His Grief, the Show Went on With Steve Earle's Dallas Concert

By Preston Jones

Aug 18, 2021

Sentimentality is simply not Steve Earle’s stock-in-trade.

Alanis Morissette and Garbage Took Millennials Back to Simpler Times in Dallas

By Eva Raggio

Aug 14, 2021

The internet loves to divide us, sometimes in ways that have nothing to do with politics.

Billie Joe Armstrong and his bandmates Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool of Green Day delivered a show in Arlington worthy of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Nearly 40,000 Fans Partied Like It Was 2019 for Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer

By Chelsey Norris

Jul 26, 2021

Dallas was the first stop for the rescheduled Hella Mega tour led by three of emo’s legendary acts, Green Day, Fall Out Boy and Weezer, all in one show at the Rangers’ swanky new home base, Globe Life Field. Despite the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in North Texas, the virus...

The Bastards of Soul's album Spinnin' earned them critical success, and the yearlong pandemic barely made a dent in their trajectory.

The Bastards of Soul Were Back on Track With a Packed Fort Worth Show

By Mike Brooks

Jul 12, 2021

A year ago, the Bastards of Soul were a new band on a classic trajectory for success.

Harry Connick Jr. brought the jazz but forgot the soul Sunday night.

Harry Connick Jr. Was Too Comfortable at the Winspear Stage on Sunday

By Preston Jones

Mar 9, 2020

To hear Harry Connick Jr. tell it, he’s spent much of the last year rescuing Cole Porter from obscurity. “Most people not only don’t know much about him, but don’t know who he was,” Connick Jr. explained not long into his 110-minute performance before a near-capacity audience at Winspear Opera...

The Eagles played Hotel California in its entirety at the American Airlines Center, and we're still not entirely sure what the song is about.

The Eagles Reckoned With Their Legacy on Saturday Night in Dallas

By Preston Jones

Mar 2, 2020

What does it mean to reckon with your legacy? Does confronting a creative achievement — even if it’s the product of decades past, when you were someone else entirely — constitute a form of capitulation, a shrugging acceptance that you’ve peaked and are merely coasting on the fumes of previous...

What do Badu's party and a Samuel Beckett play have in common? There's some waiting going on.

Erykah Badu Celebrated Her Birthday with 4,300 of Her Closest Friends

By Mike Brooks

Feb 24, 2020

This past Saturday night, Erykah Badu was scheduled to perform as part of her annual birthday celebration. And the legendary singer is usually so legendarily late, that she made a post on social media the day of the show warning those who expected a late entrance that she wouldn't be...

We missed greatness, Dallas, when we skipped Lovebomb Go-Go's show at Three Links.

Dear Dallas: A Great Band Came to Town, You Missed It and They Felt It

By David Fletcher

Feb 20, 2020

Dallas, we have a problem. Portland’s genre-smashing, horn-driven intergalactic glam performance band Lovebomb Go-Go landed at Three Links in Deep Ellum on Wednesday in the middle of a cold, wet February night to give us a nova blast of sound before heading east to New Orleans. You weren’t there. About...

Yola's show will not be forgotten by those in attendance.

Yola Was Simply Flawless at The Kessler on Sunday Night

By Preston Jones

Feb 10, 2020

It took all of 40 seconds. The woman born Yolanda Quartey, standing before a sold-out Kessler Theater Sunday night, resplendent in her afro, clad in a black gown and performing under her musical moniker Yola, glided smoothly into the chorus of her song “Lonely the Night.” As she did, the...

Even cowboys get the blues. Miranda Lambert's hometown show felt personal.

Miranda Lambert’s Dallas Show Was a Satisfying Overview of Her Remarkable Career

By Preston Jones

Feb 10, 2020

“I’m so happy to be home right now, I can’t even stand it!” Miranda Lambert shouted on Saturday night. Whether in a Stockyards honky-tonk, an Arlington football stadium or a Dallas amphitheater, there is always an intense emotional undercurrent to her hometown shows. It’s no mystery as to why: Lambert...

Celine Dion made us forget that the world might be crumbling.

Celine Dion’s Monday Night Show at AAC Gives Us a Break From All That’s Wrong in the World

By Preston Jones

Feb 4, 2020

From all outward appearances, Celine Dion is unmarred by time. Her eyes — beaming at the near-capacity audience from one of several enormous video screens — sparkle as ever. Her wide, white smile beams munificently at all who gaze upon it. Her muscular arms gesticulate freely, piercing the air to...

Dwight Yoakam, pictured here at the 8th Annual ACM Honors, channeled the ghosts of Nashville on Friday night in Dallas.

Dwight Yoakam’s Friday Night Show at Bomb Factory Reinforced His Devotion to Country Music

By Preston Jones

Jan 27, 2020

The most dangerous thing that can happen to an art form is for it to be treated gently — relevance calcified into reverence. There is no doubting Dwight Yoakam’s devotion to country music — his was a poignant presence in documentarian Ken Burns’ sprawling 2019 assessment of the genre —...

Tool Overstayed Their Welcome at American Airlines Center on Wednesday Night

By Garrett Gravley

Jan 23, 2020

Over the span of a three-decade career, progressive metal juggernaut Tool has, from a commercial and artistic standpoint, become the envy of almost every contender in the genre. In a 13-year stretch, Tool belted out four entries in a timeless discography that serve as metal benchmarks: Undertow, Ænima, Lateralus and...

Eric Burton and Black Pumas play Dallas' Canton Hall.

Black Pumas Bring the Fun to the First of 3 Sold-Out Dallas Shows

By Preston Jones

Jan 10, 2020

Late in the evening, long after a packed Canton Hall had lost itself in a blissful fog of sinuous grooves, searing guitar licks and soulful vocals, Black Pumas’ Eric Burton made a confession. “I’m embarrassed by how much fun we’re having,” the gimme cap-clad singer told the adoring, sold-out crowd...

Bayleigh Cheek's new single "Release Me" will be available Jan. 10.

Bayleigh Cheek Is Starting 2020 Right with New Single ‘Release Me’

By Jacob Vaughn

Jan 7, 2020

Since 2015, local musician Bayleigh Cheek has hopped from one North Texas venue to another with her candy apple-red Gretch electric guitar to accompany her haunting vocals. For a while, she would stand alone onstage with her long hair draped down her shoulders, suited up in a bohemian-styled outfit, mesmerizing...

Lizzo's twerk fest reminded us that we, too, can be that bitch.

The 10 Best North Texas Concerts in 2019

By Dallas Observer Staff

Jan 3, 2020

In North Texas, a prime central touring spot, we get our abundant share of big-name visitors. This past year was no exception, with stops by Donald Trump and Beto O'Rourke (on the same day), and by icons like Sir Paul McCartney, Cher and Billy Joel. Some stood out for their...

Cher Proved She Has Nothing to Prove on Thursday Night in Dallas

By Preston Jones

Dec 20, 2019

You may ask yourself: What does Cher have left to prove? The answer, of course, is nothing. With an Emmy, an Oscar, a Grammy, a three-year Las Vegas residency, 100 million records sold around the world and an enduring status as an icon for the LGBTQ community to her credit,...

Megan Thee Stallion (seen here at the Power 105.1's Powerhouse 2019 presented by AT&T at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey) made the whole crowd twerk this past Friday at The Bomb Factory.

On Thursday, Megan Thee Stallion Took a Final Exam. On Friday, She Sold Out Bomb Factory.

By Garrett Gravley

Dec 16, 2019

On Dec. 12, Megan Thee Stallion was given a Powerhouse Award at the 2019 Billboard Women in Music event at Los Angeles’s Hollywood Palladium. As Billboard reports, she arrived late because she had a final exam due. The next day, she flew to Dallas to headline the sold-out My Mixtapez...

Kwinton Gray joined his siblings and Cure for Paranoia onstage.

What You Missed at the DOMA Showcase

By Dallas Observer Staff

Dec 10, 2019

The Dallas Observer Music Awards showcase took place this Saturday night in Deep Ellum and even though we nominated the acts, they exceeded even our own expectations. Over 40 nominated bands played in various locations. The streets were already exciting. Present were the usual weekend crowds, but members of the...

Concert Reviews

Lil Baby and Lil Durk Cemented Their Star Power in Dallas

Pop-Punk Lived to See Another Day Thanks to New Found Glory

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