The Last Dinner Party. Photo: Cal McIntyre
The year is barely three months old, but the North Texas concert calendar has gotten off to a pretty hot start — looking at you, Elvis Costello, Tool, and Olivia Rodrigo. That same calendar feels filled to bursting with blockbuster musical performances, as plenty of big names have made plans to pass through as 2024 rolls on.
Here are a few performances worthy of your attention and your hard-earned concert dollars.
March
Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks at AT&T Stadium (March 9)
It’s been a banner 2024 for Billy Joel thus far. The Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer released his first pop single in nearly 20 years, the elegiac “Turn the Lights Back On.” The 74-year-old singer-songwriter is winding down his Madison Square Garden residency this summer, while also hopscotching between sports stadiums, sharing bills with Sting, Rod Stewart and, as he’ll do in Arlington, Stevie Nicks. (This date was previously scheduled for April 8, 2023. Tickets for the prior date will be honored.)
The Last Dinner Party at the Studio at the Factory (March 22)
This British art rock quintet roared out of nowhere last year to become one of the buzziest acts in music. Touring behind its major label debut, Prelude to Ecstasy, which debuted at number one in the UK, the Last Dinner Party is set for what seems to be a breakout year, if a string of sold-out shows (including the Dallas gig) from coast to coast is any indication.
Madonna at American Airlines Center (March 24–25)
Don’t call it a victory lap — the Material Girl has embarked upon “The Celebration Tour,” a fond glance back at her four decades of chart-topping hits. The 65-year-old pop icon is performing multiple nights in several cities, including Dallas, and the tour is notable for being her first not tied to a new album. Set lists have indicated more than 30 hit songs being showcased each night, so fans should be satisfied. (These dates were previously scheduled for September 18-19, 2023. Tickets for the prior dates will be honored.)
More noteworthy March shows
March 6: KRS-One at Trees
March 7: Fall Out Boy and Jimmy Eat World at Dickies Arena
March 8: Dan + Shay at Dickies Arena; Guster at Granada Theater; Luke Bryan at Globe Life Field
March 8-18: New New Festival
March 9: The Kills at House of Blues; Bombay Bicycle Club at Granada Theater; Los Lonely Boys at The Echo Lounge & Music Hall; Post Malone at Globe Life Field
March 9-10: Carnival Dada at Club Dada
March 16: Madi Diaz at Kessler Theater; Southside Spillover at Tulips FTW; Old Crow Medicine Show at Longhorn Ballroom
March 18: Kevin Morby at Tulips FTW
March 20: Devendra Banhart at Deep Ellum Art Company
March 21: Deap Vally at Trees
March 22: Lilly Hiatt at Club Dada
March 23: Descendents at House of Blues; The Rocket Summer at Trees; Keyshia Cole at Dickies Arena; Mike Doughty at Deep Ellum Art Company
March 24: Juanes at Majestic Theatre; Laura Jane Grace at Tulips FTW; Busta Rhymes at South Side Ballroom
March 26: Jon Batiste at Winspear Opera House
March 26-27: The Dresden Dolls at Kessler Theater
March 29: Laetitia Sadier at Club Dada; The Polyphonic Spree at Longhorn Ballroom
March 30: Ministry at the Factory in Deep Ellum; Indigo de Souza at The Echo Lounge & Music Hall
April
Bob Dylan at the Music Hall at Fair Park (April 4)
The 82-year-old legend has been passing through town with a bit more frequency in the last decade. Two years have passed since he last played North Texas, and before that, you’d have to go back to 2008-9 to find another stretch when the singer-songwriter returned so soon. Dylan continues to tour behind his superb 2020 LP Rough and Rowdy Ways.
The Suffers at Tulips FTW (April 25)
The “Gulf coast soul” group The Suffers are pure dynamite, both on record and in concert. Led by dynamic vocalist Kam Franklin, the acclaimed, Houston-based sextet will make its Fort Worth debut with this performance. The setlist will undoubtedly pull from across the Suffers’ arresting catalog, including the band’s most recent LP, 2022’s It Starts with Love — although the band has alluded to work being underway on a fourth studio record, so maybe some works-in-progress will be showcased?
Rhiannon Giddens at Longhorn Ballroom (April 30)
If you’ve been spinning Beyonce’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” on repeat since it dropped, you’ve been absorbing the brilliant banjo playing of eclectic folk luminary Rhiannon Giddens, who guests on the track. The Grammy-winning Giddens will bring her idiosyncratic fusion of roots music and contemporary flourishes to North Texas — where a solo appearance from her is quite rare indeed — and highlight material from her most recent solo LP, You’re the One.
More noteworthy April shows
April 1: Neko Case at Granada Theater
April 4: Oliver Anthony at Billy Bob’s Texas; Katie Pruitt at Kessler Theater; Torres at Club Dada
April 5: Offset at South Side Ballroom; Butcher Brown at Tulips FTW
April 6: Steve Hackett at Majestic Theatre; Green River Ordinance at Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall; NOFX at Panther Island Pavilion; Oteil & Friends at Ferris Wheelers Backyard & BBQ; The Black Crowes at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory; The Secret Sisters at Kessler Theater
April 7: Ledisi at the Music Hall at Fair Park
April 8: Herbie Hancock at Winspear Opera House
April 10: Dave Mason’s Traffic Jam at Longhorn Ballroom
April 11: Bernadette Peters at Winspear Opera House; Rickie Lee Jones at Kessler Theater; 10,000 Maniacs at Longhorn Ballroom
April 12: Tim McGraw at Dickies Arena; Hooray for the Riff Raff at Tulips FTW; Sessanta: Primus, Puscifer and A Perfect Circle at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
April 13: Tyler Childers at Dickies Arena
April 16: Adam Ant at Majestic Theatre
April 17-18: Laufey at Winspear Opera House
April 20: Blue October at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory; JD Souther at Arlington Music Hall; Low Cut Connie at Kessler Theater
April 21: Jay Electronica at Trees
April 22: PinkPantheress at House of Blues
April 23: Sir Chloe at Club Dada
April 26: Jimmie Vaughan at Longhorn Ballroom
April 27: Chicano Batman at the Factory in Deep Ellum
April 28: Jose Gonzalez at Majestic Theatre; Hozier at Dos Equis Pavilion
May
Foo Fighters at Dos Equis Pavilion (May 1)
The Dave Grohl-led rock juggernaut rolls on into its third decade, and despite the tragic loss of drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2022, has shown no signs of slowing down. The Grammy-winning sextet, with Josh Freese taking over on drums, is hitting the road in support of its 11th studio album, But Here We Are, which finds the band contending with its raw emotions.
Bad Bunny at American Airlines Center (May 3–4)
Puerto Rican rapper and singer-songwriter Bad Bunny is back for his first North Texas shows since headlining AT&T Stadium in 2022. His two-night stand at American Airlines Center will be in support of his 2023 LP Nadie Sabe Lo Que Via a Pasar Manana [Nobody Knows What is Going to Happen Tomorrow], and anyone only casually familiar with the superstar’s catalog might want to sit this one out, as he told Variety last fall: “If you’re not a real fan, don’t come.”
The Decemberists at Majestic Theatre (May 14)
The Colin Meloy-led indie folk collective has been somewhat dormant over the last six years, but that indolence ended earlier this year, with the release of the single “Burial Ground,” the band’s first new music in over five years. On the heels of that release, the quintet announced a tour, which will bring the Decemberists to North Texas for the first time since 2018.
More noteworthy May shows
May 2: Neil Young & Crazy Horse at Dos Equis Pavilion; Kurt Vile & the Violators at Kessler Theater
May 3: Paul Cauthen at Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall; Helmet at the Echo Lounge & Music Hall
May 4: Joe Satriani at the Music Hall at Fair Park; Bruce Cockburn at Kessler Theater
May 5: Alejandro Escovedo at Kessler Theater
May 7: Cypress Hill at House of Blues
May 8: Echo & the Bunnymen at House of Blues; Gary Clark Jr. at Will Rogers Auditorium
May 9: Gary Clark Jr. at Majestic Theatre; Jake Shimbakuro at Kessler Theater; Waxahatchee at Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall
May 10: Slowdive at Longhorn Ballroom
May 11: Kenny Chesney at AT&T Stadium; Cody Jinks at Dos Equis Pavilion; Nicki Minaj at American Airlines Center
May 15: Phosphorescent at Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall; 21 Savage at Dos Equis Pavilion
May 16: Rhett Miller at Kessler Theater
May 17-19: Wildflower! Festival at Galatyn Park
May 18: Sean Paul at South Side Ballroom; Ludacris at Panther Island Pavilion
May 19: Mon Laferte at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory; Feid at Dickies Arena; Chris Isaak at Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall
May 23: Idles at South Side Ballroom; Iris DeMent at Kessler Theater
May 24: Taking Back Sunday at South Side Ballroom; Sarah Jarosz at Kessler Theater; Warpaint at Granada Theater; Gunna at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
May 25-26: TwoGether Land at Fair Park
May 25: Melanie Martinez at American Airlines Center
May 27: Taking Back Sunday at Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall
May 28: Two Door Cinema Club at South Side Ballroom
May 29: Thievery Corporation at House of Blues
May 30: Hootie & the Blowfish at Dos Equis Pavilion; Teezo Touchdown at House of Blues; T-Pain at South Side Ballroom
May 31: Thievery Corporation at Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall; Maggie Rogers at the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on X (@prestonjones). Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
