17 September 18 - 24, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Laufey 7:30 P.M. THURSDAY, SEPT. 18, DICKIES ARENA, 1919 MONTGOMERY ST., FORT WORTH. $121+ AT TICKETMASTER.COM Icelandic singer-songwriter and producer Laufey has fast become one of pop music’s more visible talents, cultivating a rabidly passionate fan base on the strength of her sensitive, sophisticated fu- sion of jazz and pop. Classically trained, Laufey initially broke out via the tried-and-true 21st cen- tury method of competing in televised talent competitions (Iceland’s Got Talent and the Ice- landic version of The Voice, respectively) before earning her degree from Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music and dropping her ac- claimed debut, Everything I Know About Love, in the same year. Now she’s back with her third al- bum, A Matter of Time, which sees her elevated to arena headliner status in less than five years. Suki Waterhouse will kick off the evening with an opening set. PRESTON JONES Tate McRae 7:30 P.M. THURSDAY, SEPT. 18, AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER, 2500 VICTORY AVE. $140+ AT TICKETMASTER.COM Speaking of the televised talent contest to pop stardom pipeline, singer-songwriter Tate McRae first turned heads on So You Think You Can Dance, before pivoting to major labels and earn- ing an enormous hit in 2020 with her emotive single “You Broke Me First.” Five years and three studio albums later, the 22-year-old McRae is ready for her next step into the vast venues she’s headlining, as she told her friend, Iris Apatow, for a recent Interview magazine conversation: “The biggest thing will be elevating the show to make it feel as big as the place that I’m in. Because last year I was going from 1,000-cap venues to ven- ues with 18,000 people, so our show was in this weird spot of ... we have to try and fit this into any venue and make sure we have everyone’s at- tention.” Zara Larsson will open. PJ Lake Street Dive 8 P.M. FRIDAY, SEPT. 19, TEXAS TRUST CU THEATRE, 1001 PERFORMANCE PLACE, GRAND PRAIRIE. $59+ AT AXS.COM For more than two decades, the Boston-formed quintet Lake Street Dive has built up a fanbase on the strength of its irresistible blend of soulful pop and folk-tinged jazz, all filtered through the powerhouse vocals of Rachael Price. As capable of bringing a tear to your eye as it is a swivel to your hips, Lake Street Dive has developed a rep- utation as a peerless live act, and is on the road in support of its most recent studio effort, 2024’s Good Together, which earned the band a Grammy nomination for best traditional pop vo- cal album. “The set is just a lot more fun and it expresses the band’s personality in a visual way unlike anything we’ve been able to do before,” Price told the Orange County Register earlier this year. “We’re just excited to play around with the show and the way it’s all going to come to- gether.” With The Dip. PJ Old 97’s 10 P.M. FRIDAY, SEPT. 19, BILLY BOB’S TEXAS, 2520 RODEO PLAZA, FORT WORTH. $20+ AT AXS.COM The beloved band of brothers known as the Old 97’s will ride into the Fort Worth Stockyards in a particularly celebratory mood. The quartet is fresh from being honored with lifetime achieve- ment awards at the Americana Honors & Awards at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. “I started this job at 16 years old,” singer-song- writer and front man Rhett Miller told Variety on the event’s red carpet. “Back then, the Dallas press called me a pretty boy teen folkie, and now, I guess I’m like an elder statesman teen folkie or something.” (Over the years, Miller has singled out the Observer for first bestowing that sobriquet, but damned if I can find where in the archives.) Regardless, the fellas’ penchant for rowdy, country-stained rock, drawing from across their catalog (including last year’s Ameri- can Primitive) will be the engine of a sure-to-be- memorable evening. PJ Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co. 8 P.M. SATURDAY, SEPT. 20, RUBBER GLOVES REHEARSAL STUDIOS, 411 E. SYCAMORE, DENTON. $31+ AT PREKINDLE.COM Magnolia & Johnson Electric Co. is, in many ways, the completion of some long-unfinished business. The six-member collective — Will Johnson, Mike Brenner, Jason Evans Groth, Mi- chael Kapinus, Mark Rice and Pete Schreiner — first reconnected earlier this year to record studio versions of both Johnson and the late Ja- son Molina’s songs. (Johnson and Molina cut a collaborative album in 2009, a tour for which was canceled due to Molina’s struggles with al- coholism.) To commemorate the newly re- freshed material, the band is mounting a brief Texas run — itself a tribute to a similar tour rout- ing in Texas 20 years ago — and releasing a 7-inch record this month. The presence of Mo- lina, who died in 2013, will doubtless be felt in this hometown-ish gig for Johnson, who dropped a superb solo album, Diamond City, in the spring. PJ | LET’S DO THIS | t Music Lake Street Dive blends genres to create its own irresistible sound Shervin Lainez
