22 September 11 - 17, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Where the Mainstream Misses, We Deliver Follow Us The Swell Season 8 P.M. FRIDAY, SEPT. 12, MAJESTIC THEATRE, 1925 ELM ST. $56+ AT AXS.COM The Swell Season has always felt a bit like a se- cret you can’t wait to share with your friends. The sensation is something of a paradox, given singer-songwriters Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová won an Oscar 18 years ago for their work in the charmingly lo-fi hit film Once, itself a lightly fictionalized version of their own per- sonal story: Busking boy meets talented girl; musical and affectionate sparks ensue, resulting in indelible folk-rock gems like “Falling Slowly” or “When Your Mind’s Made Up.” Celluloid infat- uation eventually gave way to the real thing, and although Hansard and Irglová’s romantic chem- istry eventually faded, their professional bond has endured. The pair will be in town supporting Forward, The Swell Season’s first studio album in 16 years. PRESTON JONES Nine Inch Nails 7:30 P.M. SATURDAY, SEPT. 13, DICKIES ARENA, 1919 MONTGOMERY ST., FORT WORTH. $185+ AT TICKETMASTER.COM If you traveled back in time three decades and told anyone watching the still-deeply unsettling clip for Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer” on MTV that, one day, Trent Reznor, the dark-haired man at the center of that nihilistic chart-topper, would be an Oscar-winning film composer and be- loved elder statesman of alt-rock, they might have asked after your sanity. While time has ever-so-slightly mellowed Reznor out (his ex- tensive collaboration with Atticus Ross, who of- ficially joined NIN in 2016, probably also helped), the band and its music remain thrillingly, unre- lentingly intense. With a justly deserved reputa- tion as one of the most galvanizing live acts out there, this trip through North Texas on the Peel It Back Tour will pull from across Reznor’s exten- sive catalog. Boys Noize will kick off the evening with an opening set. PJ Buena Vista Orchestra 8 P.M. SUNDAY, SEPT. 14, HOUSE OF BLUES, 2200 N. LAMAR. $39.50+ AT TICKETMASTER.COM Rather than seal its life-affirming sound in amber, the members of Buena Vista Orchestra, under the guidance of affable bandleader Jesus “Aguaje” Ramos, embrace a lively definition of “preserva- tion.” An offshoot of the acclaimed (and now de- funct) Buena Vista Social Club project, the Orchestra continues the prior group’s tradition of sharing Latin music with audiences around the world. Of last year’s stop at the Majestic Theatre, I noted “the showcase of Cuban music proudly performed with brio ... was utterly captivating in its beauty and power. The kind of night vibrating with the feeling of being alive: The slap of a bongo, flick of a piano key, or strike of a timbale resonating like the beat of your own heart.” I’d ex- pect no less this time around. PJ Father John Misty 8 P.M. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17, THE BOMB FACTORY, 2713 CANTON ST. $64+ AT AXS.COM Singer-songwriter Josh Tillman has evolved and expanded Father John Misty’s sonic sensibility over the last decade, breezily drifting between the poles of Harry Nilsson and Leonard Cohen, with the occasional detour in a crunchier, more alt-rock direction. Coursing beneath all six Father John Misty records — including last year’s ono- matopoetically titled Mahashmashana (a Sanskrit word meaning “great cremation ground”) — is his unshakably dry sensibility, a wry, weary sense of humor and point of view which can make even the loveliest melodies feel somewhat nihilistic. “There’s an actor in every one of us,” Tillman told writer Jonah Weiner in a 2024 interview. “The ac- tor is part of naked reality, and we don’t really know what that looks like. But maybe we have some kind of inkling that we are, in our truest form, an undifferentiated part of a non-localized consciousness.” With Cut Worms. PJ Lil Wayne 7 P.M. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17, DOS EQUIS PAVILION, 3839 S. FITZHUGH. $43+ AT TICKETMASTER.COM Weezy F. Baby is, however you’d like to slice it, an undisputable legend of hip-hop. Even if he didn’t have a mind-boggling fistful of hit sin- gles to his credit (“Lollipop,” “A Milli,” “Got Money” and the list could go on for days), the New Orleans native better known as Lil Wayne has served as an inspiration for a slew of next- gen talents, including Nicki Minaj, Flo Milli, Playboi Carti and countless others. This tour, ostensibly in support of his 14th studio album, Tha Carter VI, which dropped earlier this year, is also a moment for the MC to mark, as he de- scribes it, “20 years of Carter Classics.” Expect a high-octane, banger-packed set, as only the Grammy Award-winning superstar can deliver it. Or, as Wyclef Jean put it in a recent Rolling Stone story about Lil Wayne: “You got to think like how people study Bach and Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and Shakespeare — he’s going to be regarded as one of the greatest renaissance wordsmith composers of our gen- eration.” Tyga and Belly Gang Kushington will provide support. PJ Elijah Smith Lil Wayne will pull from across his influential catalog Wednesday in Fair Park. | LET’S DO THIS | t Music
