10 Best Concerts of the Week: Steve Earle, Paramore, Sparks and ...

With the extreme heatwave giving way to just regularly scheduled summer heat, North Texas seems just a bit more inviting for a night out. Save for Paramore's appearance at Dickies Arena, the shows this week are much smaller than they have been lately, offering a great chance to get up close and personal with the musicians who make your favorite music. And it all starts off with a celebrity sighting when Billy Bob Thornton leads his band, The Boxmasters, for a show in Fort Worth. Country singer Steve Earle plays shows in Dallas and Fort Worth this weekend, Vanilla Ice headlines the I Love the 90s tour and Amanda Shires pays tribute to Bobbie Nelson with Asleep at the Wheel. You can also get local with metal band Speedealer or avant-pop band Lorelei K. On Sunday, Bleeding Through revisits its breakthrough album on Greenville Avenue, and on Wednesday the very old band, Sparks, plays Oak Cliff, and the very new band, Tear Dungeon, plays in Denton. It's enough to make your head spin, so let this list set you straight.

Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters
8 p.m. Thursday, July 6, Tannahill's Tavern and Music Hall, 122 E. Exchange, Ste. 200, Fort Worth. $28.75+ at ticketmaster.com

Academy Award-winning filmmaker and actor Billy Bob Thornton founded The Boxmasters in 2007 along with Grammy Award-winning producer J.D. Andrew as a way to live out his actual life ambition — being a musician. Since then, the country rock band influenced by ZZ Top and Creedence Clearwater Revival has recorded over a dozen albums, including the most recent release, '69, in May. Credited as "W.R. Thornton" in the band's liner notes (though still touring as Billy Bob), the actor performs two roles in the band: drummer and one of its vocalists, although on tour he serves as the frontman. Thornton may not be known for his songwriting, but it's clear that his talents extend beyond the big screen. The band's Fort Worth date will kick off the last week of the Boxmasters' U.S. tour before it heads across the Atlantic for a European tour with Bubbles & The Shitrockers.

Steve Earle
7 p.m. Friday, July 7, The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis St. $48+ at prekindle.com
7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 8, Tannahill's Tavern and Music Hall, 122 E. Exchange, Ste. 200, Fort Worth. $47+ at ticketmaster.com

There's something just so inherently Texan about Steve Earle's music that has less to do with where the singer was raised and more to do with how his music sounds. Earle was always a rebel. Whether it's leaving home at age 16 to track down Townes Van Zandt or recording with Irish folk-punk band The Pogues ("Johnny Come Lately"), Earle has always done country music exactly the way he wants without apology or fear of the consequences. Have you ever tried to sing along to a Steve Earle song? His cadence can be so unnatural that other artists have a hard time fitting all those words into a single line the way Earle does. Somehow, he just makes it work. Earle's Alone Again Solo & Acoustic tour makes two stops in North Texas this week. No opening act has been announced for his Fort Worth show, but Anders Parker will warm up the crowd for his Friday night show in Oak Cliff.

I Love The 90s Tour
7:30 p.m. Friday, July 7, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. $29.50+ at livenation.comSummertime is here, which means it's time for another round of the I Love The 90s Tour. The tour brings together some serious '90s hip-hop and R&B nostalgia with performances by Rob Base, All-4-One, 2 Live Crew, Tone Loc and, as headliner, Dallas' own Vanilla Ice. You may remember Rob Base from his time with DJ E-Z Rock and the hip-hop duo's crossover pop hit "It Takes Two." All-4-One is probably best known for its R&B cover of John Michael Montgomery's "I Swear," but it had other hits with "So Much in Love" and "I Can Love You Like That." Rapper Tone Loc had two very similar-sounding hits with "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina," and rap group 2 Live Crew might be most remembered from the 1990 obscenity trial around its album As Nasty as They Wanna Be, particularly the single "Me So Horny." And say what you will about Vanilla Ice, but you, too, will be dancing and smiling when he performs "Ice Ice Baby."

Paramore
6 p.m. Saturday, July 8, Dickies Arena, 1911 Montgomery St., Fort Worth. $155+ In one of the most anticipated concerts of the year, Paramore returns to North Texas for the first time since 2018 in support of its February release, This Is Why. Met with universal acclaim from critics, the album marks the band's return to a more guitar-driven sound since the band's foray into synth-pop on 2017's After Laughter. The band's most mature release to date, This Is Why, has more in common with Yeah Yeah Yeahs than it does with Paramore's earlier work. In 2018, the band announced that it would no longer be playing its hit song "Misery Business" due to the perceived sexism of a line in the song's second verse: "Once a whore, you’re nothing more, I’m sorry, that will never change." Due to its fans' overwhelming disappointment, the song is back on the setlist. Los Angeles' teenage, all-girl, pop-punk band The Linda Lindas opens the show, followed by a set from English indie-rock band Foals.

Amanda Shires
6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 8, Longhorn Ballroom, 216 Corinth St. $28+ at prekindle.comThough you may know Amanda Shires as the woman who stood by Jason Isbell throughout his struggles with addiction or as a member of Isbell's backing band The 400 Unit, Amanda Shires was proving her gifts as a songwriter long before she met Isbell, when Isbell was still recording with Drive-By Truckers. Shires credits Dallas' AllGood Cafe owner Mike Snider with giving her a space to develop as an artist in the her early years. Since then, Shires has gone on to record with country music supergroup The Highwomen alongside Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Arlington's Maren Morris. As a treat to North Texas, Shires' performance will celebrate the life and music of pianist and singer Bobbie Nelson. She will be joined by Asleep At the Wheel to perform selections from the forthcoming album, Loving You — a collaborative project Shires and Nelson recorded prior to Nelson’s death.

Lorelei K
7 p.m. Saturday, July 8, The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis St. $22 at prekindle.com

Fronted by artist and songwriter Dahlia Knowles, Lorelei K is a Dallas-based dreampop band that combines the sounds of post-punk, shoegaze with influences from alt-pop influences. The result is a complex, emotional world of ethereal and glamorous music. In January, Lorelei K released the first single of of its new album, Gucci Doom, “Lying Love,” which showcases the group's surrealist sensibilities surrounding singer Dahlia Knowles' love letter lyrics. Knowles has always been known for composing songs from long, free-verse poems, transforming her words into prophetic hymns and dynamic pop rock anthems. Dramatic and dreamy, the track served the introduction to a new era in the band's music. This Saturday in Oak Cliff, Lorelei K will be celebrating the much anticipated release of Gucci Doom on Dallas' Idol Records. The show will have opening support from mystic dream-rocker Claire Morales.

Speedealer
7 p.m. Saturday, July 8, Three Links, 2704 Elm St. $15 at seetickets.usOnce known as REO Speedealer before receiving a cease-and-desist order from the classic rock band with a similar name, Speedealer was the toast of the Dallas metal and hardcore scene throughout the '90s, landing tours with Zeke, Fu Manchu, Neurosis and Gwar. Speedealer opened for countless other bands that came through the area in those days, serving as the warm-up for Motörhead, Morbid Angel and many more. The band faded from the public eye in the early 2000s but came roaring back in 2019 with a new album, Blue Days, Black Nights. Speedealer has continued to play regular shows since then (excluding, of course, the pandemic years), and according to the band's socials, it is currently hard at work banging out new material for an upcoming EP. The band will have opening support from local swamp-rockers Bull By The Horn and rock band Long Black Car.

Bleeding Through
6 p.m. Sunday, July 9, Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. $10+ at prekindle.comTwenty years ago, Orange County melodic death metal band Bleeding Through entered the Billboard charts for the first time with its third studio album, This Is Love, This Is Murderous. The band had been formed about four years earlier and released two albums that were well-received, although not widely so. By the beginning of 2004, Bleeding Through was heralded by Revolver magazine as the "future of metal" and Spin as an "artist to watch." Borrowing audio samples from The Boondock Saints and seeing heavy rotation on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball, Bleeding Through took the world by storm, albeit briefly. The band released a live recorded version of the album in 2004 and a deluxe, extended edition in 2005 before releasing what was its most successful album, The Truth, in 2006. Two decades later, Bleeding Through celebrates its classic album on Greenville Avenue with opening sets from Unearth, Light The Fire and Threnody.

Sparks
7 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. $161+ at stubhub.com

Founded in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles by brothers Ron and Russell Mael in 1966, art rock band Sparks was a rejection of the '60s folk music that had taken over the mainstream. The brothers sought to create interesting music that kept the audience guessing what could possibly be next. For over 50 years, the band has been known for its eccentric performances and even more eccentric lyrics. During their performances, the brothers serve as foils to each other — Russell plays the role of flamboyant frontman with his wide-ranging vocals and stage presence, while his older brother Ron sits and scowls from his keyboard wearing a suit and tie. The band is currently touring in support of its 25th album, The Girl Is Crying in Her Latte. Tickets are sold out, but you can still find some from verified resellers. No opening act has been announced.

Tear Dungeon
7 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, Rubber Gloves, 411 E. Sycamore St., Denton. $15 at the doorThe side project of A Giant Dog guitarist Andrew Cashen, Tear Dungeon is a stoner punk band from Austin that will be making its very first appearance in North Texas after making quite a name for itself in its hometown. While the band's socials show history going back to 2014, it looks as though it's been active over the past year or so. Even in that short time, however, the band has become known for putting on incredibly engaging shows, dressed in latex masks and covered in blood. In April, the bad put out a first full-length album, Carl, followed a week later by its first EP, Glory Hole. Fans of A Giant Dog will certainly enjoy its guitarist's other band, but Tear Dungeon has a more hardcore approach to the punk genre than its artsier counterpart. The band will bring with them Austin's The Pinky Rings, a five-piece, all-woman punk band, and will have local support from symphonic brass punk collective The Wee-Beasties.