10 Best Concerts of the Week: Bruce Springsteen, Big Thief, Kaash Paige and More

There are some big names coming to town this week, and they’re long names too: Death Cab for Cutie, Bass Drum of Death, Los Lonely Boys, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. This is the kind of week North Texans have been looking forward to for months, as the big-name acts emerge from hibernation following a long winter break. That’s not to say that there’s nothing local to check out — in fact, one of the most fun concert dates on our list this week is local; the most expensive ticket on our list is local; and the most romantic concert on our list is local … ish. Any of the upcoming concerts would make for a great date night this Valentine’s Week, but if you don’t want to break the bank with Springsteen tickets, The Kessler has got something way more intimate planned than an arena rock show. Whatever it is you do this week, do something you love with someone you love.
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave. $67+ at ticketmaster.com

For the first time since 2016, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band will return to Dallas. The tour launched on Feb. 1 in Florida before coming to Texas and making the American Airlines Center its first stop. Longtime Springsteen fans know of the band’s history of lengthy performances, with its longest U.S. performance clocking in at four hours and four minutes on Sept. 7, 2016, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. From the looks of it, The Boss is set to do more of the same when the band gets to Victory Park. In 2020, Springsteen & the E Street Band released their new album, Letter to You, which is the first album the band recorded together live since Born in the USA in 1984. They were unable to tour in support of the album due to the pandemic, but it captures all of that live spirit  for which the band has been known for 50 years. Since the last tour, Springsteen spent time working on his solo efforts and doing two runs of his Springsteen on Broadway residency, but now the band is back together and ready to “Prove it All Night.”
Los Lonely Boys
7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall, 122 E. Exchange Ave., No. 200, Fort Worth. $42+ at ticketmaster.com

There’s just something about Los Lonely Boys music that makes you happy. With a sound that seamlessly joins together rock ‘n’ roll, blues, soul, country, and Tejano music, the trio of brothers from San Angelo made their first impression on the national music scene with the inescapable single “Heaven.” With blood harmony in vocals and instrumentation, Los Lonely Boys have a way of pleasing even the pickiest of audiences. The band is currently on its first headlining tour since 2019, when bass player Jojo Garza announced that he was leaving the group. Exactly one pandemic later, Garza had changed his mind, and the band opened for The Who on select dates in 2022, Dallas being one of them. The band hasn’t released any music since its 2016 cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Born on the Bayou,” but they are sure to have something in the works Friday night in Fort Worth.
MDC
7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, Three Links, 2704 Elm St. $20 at seetickets.us

Whether you know them by Millions of Dead Cops, Millions of Damned Christians, Multi-Death Corporations or just MDC, the legendary punk band from Austin returns to Deep Ellum Friday night. While punk was still in its infancy, MDC was one of the three pioneering hardcore bands in Austin along with The Dicks and Big Boys. Singer Dave Dictor, the only consistent member over four decades, is known for writing lyrics that don’t mince words and a voice that states these words without the need to scream them. MDC is one of those bands that releases music all the time on many platforms, but it notably did a split record with Dallas band Noogy called Bye, Bye Donny in 2021. MDC has always been about community voice and community power, so in turn, they will have opening support from three local bands: punk band Casual Relapse, thrash band Electric Vengeance and hardcore band Death Pact.
Valloween 2023
6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, Andy’s Bar, 122 N. Locust St., Denton. $10 at prekindle.com

If you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary this Valentine’s Day weekend, Andy’s Bar will be hosting quite the little masquerade. Recognizing that Halloween is too much fun to have just once a year, the event organizers of Valloween 2023 invite local music fans to get in costume for a night of live music complete with a photo booth. The bands will be in costume as well, performing one-off tribute sets to six beloved acts. R&B artist Zeke Forever will be performing as Lady Gaga, Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique will play the songs of Carseat Headrest, Future Nest will do what they can with Ween, one-off band The Botelier will channel emo revival band The Hotelier, heavy psych band Breathing Rainbow brings The Flaming Lips to life and Sherman indie-pop band Cosmic Frownies play The Smashing Pumpkins. It may not be the biggest names, but it is sure to be the best time.
Death Cab for Cutie
6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, The Factory in Deep Ellum, 2713 Canton St. $40+ at axs.com

Death Cab for Cutie was never supposed to be around this long. Taking the name from a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band song performed in The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour movie, Death Cab for Cutie was really just a solo project for singer-songwriter Ben Gibbard. In 1998, the project had expanded, bringing in guitarist Chris Walla, bassist Nick Harmer and a drummer whose name would change three times before completing the classic Death Cab lineup with drummer Jason McGerr. It was that lineup that created the classic albums Transatlanticism, Plans, Narrow Stairs and Codes and Keys before Walla left the group and the band’s sound shifted. Left as a three-piece for 2015’s Kintsugi, Death Cab’s sound became far more sparse, but it expanded in 2018 when Dave Depper and Zac Rae were brought in on guitar and keyboard. The band’s latest, Asphalt Meadow, shows Death Cab returning to its old sound without repeating it. Los Angeles indie rock band Momma opens the show.
Bass Drum of Death
7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St. $20 at livenation.com

In 2008, John Barrett was just a guy on the streets of Oxford, Mississippi, playing a guitar and a bass drum dubbed the “Bass Drum of Death.” The band’s first album was released on the Oxford-based record label Fat Possum Records, but by that point, Barrett and the bandmates he assembled to fill out his live show had grown tired of the lackluster local music scene and moved to New York City. While the band has performed as a three-piece since Barrett’s early busking days, Barrett plays all the instruments on its first four albums. Across those four albums, the band’s sound was gritty, with raw production and wild, unyielding energy. Something happened during the pandemic, however. After years of living in the city, Barrett and company moved back to Oxford, re-signed with Fat Possum, recruited The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney as producer and recorded its latest album, Say I Won’t, as a full band.
Big Thief
7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12, The Studio at the Factory, 2727 Canton St. $32 at axs.com

Singer-songwriter Buck Meek from Wimberley, Texas, will have his hands full Sunday night opening the show for Big Thief. That is because Buck Meek is the backing vocalist and guitarist for the critically acclaimed band whose 2022 release, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, can be found near the top of just about every “best albums” list worth mentioning. The band also received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. All but one of the album’s tracks were written by lead singer and guitar player Adrianne Lenker, but the one that was co-written with Meek, “Certainty,” received an additional nomination for Best Alternative Music Performance. (The band ultimately lost both Grammys to Wet Leg.) The album has also climbed the album sales charts in the U.K. and in Europe. Not bad for a little indie rock band from the Midwest, right?
Thomas Csorba
7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14, The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis St. $20+ at prekindle.com

Thomas Csorba (pronounced “chore-buh”) is a young country singer from Waco who made quite the impression on North Texas crowds opening for absolutely anybody and everybody who would take him on as bigger country acts came through our neck of the woods. Csorba is known for his soft and witty style of country that is wholesome enough to please the whole family, but edgy enough to get them all talking afterwards. Csorba’s self-titled debut album came out in 2020, followed by his From the Jordan EP the following year. Last August, the singer released his latest single “If I Give My Soul,” which has a sound that hearkens back through Texas history all the way to Buddy Holly. On Valentine’s Day, Thomas Csorba and Friends will plan an evening of country’s greatest love songs from George Strait, Dolly Parton and more.
Kaash Paige
7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St. $104+ at livenation.com

A singer and songwriter from Dallas, D’Kyla Paige Woolen started recording as Kaash Paige when she was attending Timberview High School in Arlington. Paige’s first single to gain national attention was her 2018 single “Love Songs,” which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 charts. The song also helped her land a deal with Def Jam Recordings, which released Paige’s first EP and next two albums. S2ML (Soundtrack 2 My Life) is the singer’s second studio album and was released last November. Paige’s Dallas date was originally scheduled for Feb. 1, but that date will now conclude the Me vs. Myself Tour, which has taken Paige around the country. On Jan. 20, Paige released her newest single “Unusual Pt. 2” with Gary, Indiana-based R&B artist Amari Noelle. Noelle will be joining Paige in support of her show at House of Blues.
White Reaper
7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15, Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. $23 at prekindle.com

The Kentucky garage punk band White Reaper released its first two albums in 2015 and 2017 following a string of early EPs. Those albums — in fact, all of the band’s early work — were blistering, lo-fi masterpieces set to the speed of sneer. In 2019, the  band signed with major label Elektra Records, and its sound completely changed. The band’s major label debut, You Deserve Love, showed the group’s softer side with songs like “Might Be Right” climbing the Billboard charts and introducing new audiences to a glammed-up sound that was largely unrecognizable to longtime White Reaper fans. The band comes to town on the heels of its new album, Asking for a Ride, which was released at the end of January. White Reaper might still be on Elektra, but the new album sounds like it is getting back to the basics. Dallas-founded grunge throwback band Narrow Head and Lars Ulrich’s sons’ band Taipei Houston open the show.