Give Niall Horan a Slow Hand, Live Your American Life With Ira Glass, Enjoy Asian Film and Food Fests, Celebrate the Anniversaries of The Church and Oak Highlands Brewery or Stay With Sam Smith.
After several days in a row in the triple digits, you might find yourself not wanting to go out this weekend. It’s just so hot out there. And, yes, that might be part of it, but it might be that you’re just having a hard time thinking about going out. Researchers at Harvard have found that during heat waves, people perform worse on cognitive tests.
While we can’t make it colder, we can take all the thinking out of it by providing a list of every viable thing to do this weekend. Take solace in the fact that many of these events are also air conditioned. — Cory Graves
Friday
Niall Horan, Maren Morris at Dos Equis Pavilion
Much like his old 1D bandmate Harry Styles (who brought Kacey Musgraves out with him on tour), Niall Horan’s tapped a North Texas expat that moved to Nashville, became a huge country star, won Grammy awards and started dominating the pop crossover world to open his shows. It worked for one, so we don’t see why it won’t work for these two as well. — CG
Sam Smith at American Airlines Center
Not one to back down, the Brit star is standing his ground and bringing his The Thrill of It All tour to the AAC. Like the last few British pop stars through town, he’s got a Nashville-based, country-rooted, pop crossover act opening in Cam. — CG
Lake Street Dive at The Bomb Factory
The classically-trained jazz musicians will dabble in ’60s-style rock, soul and R&B. Released earlier this year, the Minneapolis quintet’s eight studio album peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard chart. The Rad Trads open. — CG
Terror Vault Fest
In the interest of not making it any easier for the fire marshal to shut this shit down, we’re not going to tell you where this DIY fest is happening or what bands are playing. But I believe in you. I’m certain you can find it. — CG
Bazzi at House of Blues
The former Vine star booked this run of club shows a few months ago, before his “Mine” single went double Platinum and his star shot through the roof. Now, the level of musician that plays main support at Lollapalooza, he easily could be playing much bigger rooms. He certainly will next time through town, anyway. — CG
Angelo De Augustine at Regal Room
The whispery singer released his new batch of delicate, lo-fi guitar ballads via Sufjan Stevens’ Asthmatic Kitty label. Many Rooms also performs. — CG
Neurosis, Converge at Canton Hall
The ‘90s hardcore acts are touring together once again. Converge — who really love taking mid-song selfies with fans to the point that you should totally try it and make sure your buddy films it and then go ahead and send it to us for posting – just released a surprise EP last month. Then they head off to Europe in a few weeks. Birds In Row (who are on Converge frontman J Bannon’s Deathwish Inc) opens. — CG
Koe Wetzel at Billy Bob’s
The frathouse favorite red dirt singer is fast rising to the top of that scene. Seriously, the quickness of his rise has been compared to that of Josh Abbott’s a decade ago. There’s a Taco Bell or two to drunkenly hit between Billy Bob’s and TCU, too. — CG
Asian Film Festival of Dallas at Angelika Film Center
Now in its 17th year, AFFD has grown to become the South’s largest showcase of Asian cinema. It’ll host multiple screenings a night through July 26, including tonight’s lot of Half Widow (India), Gachi Boshi (Japan), The Last Verse (Taiwan), Respeto (Philippines) and Believer (South Korea). Hit the link above for the full rundown. — CG
Ink Masters Tattoo Show at Richardson Civic Center
Don’t expect to see Dave Navarro on site, as this traveling tattoo expo was actually established a few years before that popular Spike TV show. But there’ll be over 100 top notch artists on hand, a few of which probably did appear however briefly on television. It runs all weekend. — CG
Hand Drawn Records Showcase at Main At South Side
The local label and vinyl pressing plant hosts Friday and Saturday night shows featuring some of the homegrown talent it has worked with of late, including Royal Sons, Cut Throat Finches, Shadows of Jets and Sideshow Tragedy. — CG
Beach Fossils at the Box Garden at Legacy Hall (Free)
It’s been eight years since the world first discovered the music of Dustin Payseur. Back then, his lo-fi, mostly solo Beach Fossils project was one of a dozen or so acts to emerge at right around the same time with beach-themed names (see also: Beach House, Dirty Beaches, Wavves, Best Coast, Surfer Blood, etc.). Now that the dust — or grains of sand, as it were — have settled on that trend, Beach Fossils remains one of the few bands from that era not making garage rock or overly reverby punk. The constantly evolving project plays for free out Plano way. — CG
Liquid Sky at Inwood Theatre
The 1982 arthouse flick that spawned the electroclash scene returns to theaters as a midnight movie, screening both Friday and Saturday nights this weekend. — CG
Free Week at Granada Theater (Free)
Granada Theater celebrates its annual free week with — get this! — a week of free shows. It continues tonight with sets by The Roomsounds, Dead Flowers and Silas Nello. There’s no catch — you just show up and you’re in, barring the show isn’t at capacity. You can, however, pay for a $5 ticket in advance, which will not only guarantee admission, but net you a “free” beer for your trouble. — CG
Now, Now at Dada
The indie duo made its nut half a decade ago, touring with bands like fun. and riding off the success of 2012’s well-received Threads. After a six-year drought, the band’s diehards have whipped back to a fever pitch for this year’s Saved LP. Among those? Dave Bazan, who recently covered one of those Threads tracks. Wens opens. — CG
The Fallen: Remembering the Greats at Trees
Tribute acts Nearvana (Nirvana), Go Ask Alice (Alice in Chains), Unglued (STP) and The Chris Cornell Experience will pay respects to their favorite fallen frontmen of the ‘90s. — CG
Sugarland at Verizon Theatre
After five years of doing solo projects, Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles are back together. And don’t worry about things changing too much during the layoff, their big comeback single is called “Still the Same.” Frankie Ballard and Lindsay Ell open. — CG
Shaan Love at Majestic Theatre
Shaan, aka the Magician of Melody, aka the Golden Voice of India is here not only to sing his songs, but to raise awareness for the opiod epidemic. Indian reality TV contestant Arpita Mukherjee opens. — CG
Slaughter at Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill
The hard-rocking, ’90s glam metal act are ready to stay up all night. Blackout and Redline Drive open. — CG
Cinewilde Presents: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at Texas Theatre
The theatre’s monthly LGBTQ film series returns with its annual screening of 1994’s Priscilla, about a band of drag queens traversing the desert to perform. In a move of life imitating art, a fourth annual amateur drag show will raise money for folks living with AIDS in Dallas. — CG
Chris Distefano at Addison Improv
The Guy Code/Girl Code star is in town doing stand-up sets all weekend long. — CG
Saturday
Three-Year Anniversary at Oak Highlands Brewery
Starting at noon, the Derelict brewery will celebrate three years in business with food by LUCK and tappings of rare and one-off beers. A VIP ticket ensures you a better chance at the limited supply brews and comes with a stainless tumbler. You can also just show up and pay for beers by the glass. — CG
Free Week at Granada Theater (Free)
The theater’s annual run of free shows winds down with this bill, featuring Bright Light Social Hour, Natural Anthem and Acid Carousel. Once again, it’s free, you just show up and you’re in. — CG
Vinyl Ranch at Mama Tried
Houston’s poppin’ old school honky-tonk party hits the road and helps spread the love to Ellum’s new country-friendly party venue. — CG
Bric’s Birthday Party at Canton Hall
The Bric of Bric’s Block Party notoriety is throwing himself a little last-minute birthday party this Saturday, with a lineup that includes Curren$y, Larry June, Fendi P and more. — CG
Doug Burr at The Wild Detectives
The longtime Denton music fixture brings his solid brand of folk to the Oak Cliff coffee shop/cultural hub. Dallas’ Garett Owen, whose tunes get plenty of spins of KXT, will do the same. — CG
Seven Things I Have Learned: An Evening with Ira Glass at Winspear Opera House
On this week’s episode, This American Life host Ira Glass recreates the sound of his show on stage with a mix of live stories and recorded material. — CG
Bronco at Verizon Theatre
Norteno legends, grupo Bronco, celebrate 30 years of wearing gaudy suits and playing their updated brand of traditional Mexican music. — CG
Hand Drawn Records Showcase at Main At South Side
The biggest draw of Hand Drawn’s weekend of showcases comes Saturday night when Panic Volcanic vocalist Ansley releases her debut solo record. Beatty, Vodeo and Meach Pango also perform. — CG
Anthony Green at Trees
The Saosin and Circa Survive frontman is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of his solo debut, 2008’s Avalon, which he’ll be playing in full. Good Old War and Found Wild, two of the few emo bands Green doesn’t sing for, open. — CG
Zeds Dead at The Bomb Factory
The Canadian duo of DC and Hooks — who combine to make up the Pulp Fiction-referencing EDM outfit Zeds Dead, won’t disappoint with its mostly dubstep heavy set tonight. ZOMBOY, Buku, GG Magree, Ducky, Golf Clap and DNMO will all be there, too. — Mikel Galicia
Tracy Byrd at Billy Bob’s
Have yourself some fun, but obey the law. If you drink at this ’90s country star’s show don’t drive, do the watermelon crawl. — CG
A Fistful of Dollars at Texas Theatre
The initial installment of Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy finds Clint Eastwood starring as his timeless Man With No Name character for the first time. Here, the classic spaghetti western has been given a 4K restoration. — CG
NTXCosplay Meet N Greet at The Magic Time Machine
Before heading over to the North Texas Comic Book Show, stop off at this cosplay meet-up/contest. It’s a fitting locale, too, given that the watiers at this Addison spot dress in cosplay all year round. — CG
North Texas Comic Book Show at Irving Convention Center
This semi-annual comic con is a bit more low key than some of the other cons in town, but that just means you can get more intimate with artists and dealers. There’ll still be a convention center full of cosplayers to mingle with in any case. — CG
“Inauguration” at Mighty Fine Arts
The new works of New York artist Anna Simone Minzer mixes phrases from Trump’s inauguration speech with texts from online horror fiction writers to “explore our threat filled domains with the logic of dreams.” It opens Saturday with an artist reception, and runs through September 2. — CG
6-Pack Trail, Bike Cruise & Craft Beer Tour at LUCK (Sold Out)
This 9-and-a-half mile bike ride makes boozy stops at L.U.C.K., Cidercade, Noble Rey, Pegasus City Brewery, Peticolas, Community and Texas Ale Project. This one’s sold out, but keep an eye out for another coming next month. — CG
Christmas in July in Bishop Arts District
Get your triple-digit ho ho ho on with some hot-as-balls “ice skating,” summer snowstorms, a visit from Santa and all kinds of winter wonderland gimmicks to help one forget about how goddamn hot it is rn. — CG
Sunday
The Church 24th Anniversary
If you only had two words to explain The Church to a newbie bound for the Lizard Lounge, you might say “Goth Night.” And that might suffice for some people. In any case, on any given Sunday night, while many of us are immersed in our stories on the TV, a few hundred greater Dallasites are preparing to head to that small corner of outer Deep Ellum that shares a zip code with Uptown. At the very end of the short, orphaned block of Swiss Avenue lies their destination, a painted-lack building with a neon lizard on an exterior wall and an interior that looks an awful lot like it might’ve been a strip club once, long ago. The Lizard Lounge’s club-within-a-club has been running every Sunday since 1994, marking its 24th anniversary this weekend. — Allan Hayslip
Michael McDonald at Verizon Theatre
Last year, the king of blue-eyed soul himself, ex-Doobie Brother/Steely Dan backup singer Michael McDonald recently released his first new LP in 17 years. Now he’s in GP supporting it. You better believe I mo be there. — CG
Aqua: Borgeous at Sisu Day Club
The Florida DJ has landed major successes in EDM categories and now he’s bringing the beats to uptown. — Obed Manuel
Shawn Mendes at American Airlines Center
This Canadian heart-throb first caught the eyes and ears of many through his six-second covers on Vine. Now he hits town as a bona fide super star – and he’s still only 19. — Pauline Esguerra
Manwolves, The Slaps at Three Links
In lieu of albums, underage Chicago area hip-hop outfit Manwolves releases nothing but single after single. It’s a strategy that’s been paying off, as a few of those suckers have over a million plays on Spotify. The six-piece brings its easygoing live band to town for this one. — CG
Summer Asian Night Market at The Bomb Factory
A lucky 13 Asian food vendors under one roof, with a DJ whose name is also lucky – Lucky Lou, that is. — CG
Animals in the Attic at The Prophet Bar
The Sacramento trio brings its half-asleep brand of surf to Prophet. Paper Saints and Chance Trash open. — CG
East Side Taco Ride at The Lot
This seven-mile ride meets at The Lot at 11:30 a.m. and heads over to Las Huastecas #2 for $1 tacos. — CG