21 March 20 - 26, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Joy Oladokun 8 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 21, THE STUDIO AT THE BOMB FACTORY, 2727 CANTON ST. $25+ AT AXS. COM Arizona-born and Nashville-based singer-song- writer Joy Oladokun draws upon a mix of influ- ences — she’s spoken of growing up listening to classic country, Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill in equal measure — and charted an equally idio- syncratic path over the last nine years. Olado- kun, who uses she/they pronouns, released their fifth studio album, Observations from a Crowded Room, last year, and described its creation as difficult, but ultimately cathartic. “I was having just an emotionally hard time, and I knew that I needed to push myself and seek for the truth and for a version of this job that felt more sus- tainable than what I was doing maybe a year ago,” Oladokun told Forbes in November. “I defi- nitely was looking for hope and found it through the process of making it.” (Speaking of hope, Oladokun is donating a dollar from each ticket sold to the Ally Coalition’s ongoing work sup- porting homeless and at-risk LGBTQ youth.) Luke Tyler Shelton will open. PRESTON JONES Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue 8 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 21, MAJESTIC THEATRE, 1925 ELM ST. $40+ AT AXS.COM Mardi Gras may be a couple of weeks behind us, but there’s never a bad time to “laissez les bons temps rouler,” as the saying goes down N’awlins way. Just ask Trombone Shorty (born Troy An- drews), as dynamic an ambassador of the New Orleans sound and style as you’re likely to find these days. Backed by a quintet known as Or- leans Avenue, Trombone Shorty, whose irresist- ible sound smashes together funk, rock, hip-hop and jazz, has dazzled audiences around the world for more than two decades and across five studio albums, the most recent of which is 2022’s Lifted. His current tour — the second an- nual installment of “Shorty Gras” — is designed to transport the colorful, vivid and melodic feel of Mardi Gras to concert stages around the country. Tank and the Bangas will kick off the evening with an opening set. PJ MSSV 7 P.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 22, WILD DETECTIVES, 314 W. 8TH ST. $20+ AT EVENTBRITE.COM MSSV, or as it’s more fully known, Main Steam Stop Valve, is something of an indie supergroup, teeming with talent. Billing its sound as “ear- nest, motivational post-hardcore,” the trio com- prises drummer Stephen Hodges, bassist Mike Watt, and guitarist-frontman Mike Baggetta, is touring behind its third studio album, On and On, billed as “a high-concept love letter to ev- eryday life.” The acclaimed collective took a unique approach to this LP, recording these eight, Baggetta-written tracks in Long Beach, California after performing them every night of a 58-show American tour in 2023. Additionally, the vinyl version of On and On features six im- provised interludes, which were deconstructed and reconfigured by Baggetta, to create side- long continuous movements. Experience this ar- tistic headiness in one of the cozier musical settings in North Texas. With THC Trio and Trio Glossia + Gregg Prickett. PJ Violent Femmes 8 P.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 22, THE PAVILION AT TOYOTA MUSIC FACTORY, 300 W. LAS COLINAS BLVD. $54+ AT LIVENATION.COM After reuniting in 2013, following a four-year break from its initial 28-year run, the Milwaukee folk-punk foursome Violent Femmes has shown no signs of slowing down. The quartet is indulging in a now-hallowed tradition for Bands of a Certain Vintage for its current spring touring — there’s no opening act, and the evening will consist of not one but two classic albums played in full (in this case, Vio- lent Femmes’ self-titled 1983 LP and its follow- up, 1984’s Hallowed Ground — just to be a bit contrary, the band will play the sophomore al- bum first). Cue the swooning from the Gen X kids, who’ll doubtless gleefully hoist those $32 beers and $51 plastic wine carafes high as they shout along to “Blister in the Sun” and “Coun- try Death Song.” The time, it flies. PJ Johnnyswim 7 P.M. TUESDAY, MARCH 25, HOUSE OF BLUES, 2200 N. LAMAR. $53.50+ AT LIVENATION.COM Singer-songwriters Amanda and Abner Ramirez are known collectively as genre-blending duo Johnnyswim. The married, Nashville-formed and now Los Angeles-based pair have turned their lives into art — Johnnyswim’s fifth and lat- est studio album, When the War Is Over, teems with searingly intimate moments, from wres- tling with envy on “Frank Gehry” to grappling with mental health on “She Checks the Weather” and “Psilocybin.” (Of the latter, the pair said, in press materials, “We’ve learned how romantic it is to love someone through their transformation — no matter how one person changes, the other adapts, grows and embraces the new versions of themselves.”) The couple even tapped a Texan for some assistance on Over, as Grammy-nominated Houston rapper Tobe Nwigwe contributes his skills to the track “Dopamine.” The evening promises to be as ca- thartic as it is eclectic. PJ Rachel Deeb Joy Oladokun is touring behind their fifth studio album. | LET’S DO THIS | t Music Hand built not bougHt. Franklins TaTToo and supply TWo loCaTions: 469-904-2665 • 4910 Columbia ave, dallas, TX 75214 903-710-2028 • 17581 old Jacksonville hwy, flint tx 75762 proFessional TaTToo supply For pros only Call for your appointment or design commissions today! D TRENDING STORIES SCAN HERE TO READ Nip Slip Keeps the Bold Theater of Rock Alive in North Texas or visit dallasobserver.com to read our daily coverage of Dallas DARBY MURNANE SCAN HERE TO ENTER TO WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS
