The Longhorn Ballroom’s year-long celebration of its 75th anniversary — which will encompass a series of five concerts across the rest of 2025 — rolls on.
The kick-off event on March 2 (Texas Independence Day, natch) featured a slew of Lone Star talent, including Toadies, the Band of Heathens, the Polyphonic Spree and Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys.
A second concert will unfold on April 19, featuring St. Paul & the Broken Bones, alongside Fort Worth-based singer-songwriter Abraham Alexander, Houston-bred sextet The Suffers and the Longhorn Ballroom Players.
Now, a third Jubilee concert has been scheduled for May 31 at the Longhorn Ballroom, with yet another diverse line-up planned.
Drive-By Truckers will be the headliners, supported by Deer Tick, Thelma and the Sleaze and J. Isaiah Evans & the Boss Tweed.
As with the prior events, this Longhorn Jubilee will transpire inside and outside the ballroom itself, as the musicians perform on stage and the courtyard area just past the venue’s doors will play host to food trucks, local vendors and much more.
Tickets — general admission and premium options are available — for the May 31 Longhorn Jubilee are on sale March 28 via the Longhorn Ballroom’s website.
Bearing down on three decades in the business, southern alt-rock outfit Drive-By Truckers, co-founded by Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley in Athens, GA, released its 14th studio album, Welcome 2 Club XIII, in 2022.
Rhode Island-formed indie rock foursome Deer Tick is touring behind its most recent studio album, last year’s Contractual Obligations.
Thelma and the Sleaze — comprised of vocalist-guitarist Lauren “LG” Gilbert, keyboardist Amaia “Coochie Coochie” Aguirre, guitarist Liliana “Luscious” Jones and drummer Shaylee “Snowflake” Walsh — is a hard-charging, queer rock band from Nashville, and is out on the road in support of Ain’t Country, its latest LP, released in 2024.
Dallas singer-songwriter J. Isaiah Evans and the Boss Tweed, a high-octane fixture on local stages, dropped a trio of singles last year — “Let’s Rock” being the most recent — as the band works on its full-length debut.
“The Longhorn has a storied history of presenting legendary artists across a wide range of musical genres,” said venue owner and Kessler Presents head Edwin Cabaniss in a statement. “Part open house and part day party, the future jubilees will be more genre specific. We plan to celebrate our 75th anniversary at the Ballroom all year long, and we hope you’ll join us.”
Additionally, the long-planned amphitheater space on the grounds of the Longhorn Ballroom remains in development — Cabaniss refers to it as the “Longhorn Backyard” — but currently, there is no opening date scheduled.
Longhorn Jubilee featuring Drive-By Truckers, Deer Tick, Thelma & the Sleaze and J. Isaiah Evans & the Boss Tweed at Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas. 5 p.m. May 31. Tickets, on sale March 28, are $49-$89.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at preston@kxt.org or find him on Bluesky (@prestonjones.bsky.social).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.
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