10 Best Concerts of the Week: Demi Lovato, Foals, Better Than Ezra and More

After several weeks of gigantic shows coming to North Texas, this week feels like a good chance to get out and see something new, whether you’re thinking locally or globally. Many of the touring acts on this week’s list have an international vibe, while the bands occupying the “and More” of this article’s title come from our own backyard. Even the week’s biggest act, pop singer-songwriter Demi Lovato, has a Dallas connection. The concert week kicks off with Indian-born rapper Abhi The Nomad in Deep Ellum on Thursday, followed by two nights of English indie band Foals in Fort Worth. Canadian band Alvvays plays Saturday night in Deep Ellum, and Filipino-British singer-songwriter beabadoobee has a Monday night show on Greenville Avenue. Locally, we’ve got the heavy hitters coming out all weekend with shows from Phantomelo, Brave Little Howl and Riverboat Gamblers around Deep Ellum, and Black Tie Dynasty in Denton. There’s also a band from Baton Rouge that you might have forgotten about coming to Victory Park on Saturday.

Abhi The Nomad
7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, Club Dada, 2720 Elm St. $20+ at prekindle.com

Born in Madras, India, and currently living in Austin, conscious rapper Abhi The Nomad has been mixing hip-hop and dance music for the better part of a decade. With three albums and four EPs in his catalog, Abhi The Nomad’s output has been nothing short of prolific in the short amount of time he’s been releasing music.The artist’s last album, Abhi vs The Universe, hit shelves and streaming services late last year, and Abhi The Nomad has spent his time this year releasing a steady flow of singles, averaging one song per month since April. His most recent song “Without You” finds the rapper contemplating what life would be like without his beloved, performed to a hazy backdrop of disco beats and backup singers. Now in the middle of his 20-date tour, Abhi The Nomad comes to Dallas with fellow rappers Charlie Curtis-Beard, Endgray and Norman Sann along for support.

Phantomelo
7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, Three Links, 2704 Elm St. $15 at seetickets.us

With one part rockabilly and two parts psychedelia, Phantomelo came out of the pandemic with two polished music videos and a live performance to match. Fronted by guitarist Will Rakkar, Phantomelo makes environmentally friendly indie rock with an aquatic sound that can flow and crash like a body of water. Phantomelo always comes packing its own stage lights, which create a dazzling effect when paired with the engaging guitar work and crafty lyrics. Making the live show more delightful is the stage banter between Rakkar and bass player Panda Cuenca; it’s a relationship clearly strengthened by virtue of being in a band and onstage together. Phantomelo released its new, Wavves-like rager “Shark Attack” over the summer, along with yet another fantastic video filmed at Bedford’s Metroplex Wrestling by Irving-based Coffee Pot Films. CHEW, JunkBunny and Naked In Public open the show Friday night.

Black Tie Dynasty
7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, Dan’s Silverleaf, 103 N. Industrial St., Denton. $10 at prekindle.com

Black Tie Dynasty drummer Eddie Thomas died much too young on Christmas Day 2020 from complications of COVID-19 amid his larger fight against cancer. The band had reunited in December 2019 after a decade-long hiatus, played a handful of shows before the pandemic and were planning to reschedule shows that had been subsequently postponed. Thomas’ diagnosis had brought the band back together, and after his death, they decided to keep going. Back in February, Black Tie Dynasty played a small show at Double Wide in Deep Ellum with Burning Hotels drummer Mike Ratliff taking over for Thomas, and the band played an official reunion show in Fort Worth over the summer. This Friday in Denton, Black Tie Dynasty plays at Dan’s Silverleaf to support a first new single since 2017, “Beginner.” Kansas City ambient noise rock band Merit Badge opens the show.

Foals
7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4-5, Tannahill’s Tavern and Music Hall, 122 E. Exchange Ste. 200., Fort Worth. $47+ at ticketmaster.com

Hailing from Oxford, England, indie rock band Foals has been wowing audiences with its mix of math rock, art rock and dance-punk since 2005. Drawing inspiration from a diverse array of musicians from Krautrock band Harmonia and art pop band Talking Heads, Foals has always been known to keep its music interesting. It’s considered one of England’s best live acts, and frontman Yannis Philippakis has been known to jump off balconies and crowd surf during the band’s performances. In fact, Philippakis’ insistence on doing so has gotten him into trouble with security guards in the past. The band released its seventh album, Life Is Yours, in June of this year. The album was met with mixed reviews that praised the musicianship while suggesting it might be a bit overwrought. Indie band Inner Wave and art punk band Gustaf warm up the crowd for two nights at Tannahill’s in Fort Worth.

Alvvays
7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, The Studio at The Factory, 2727 Canton St. $25+ at seatgeek.com

Canadian indie-pop band Alvvays formed a little over a decade ago in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Now based out of Toronto, the woman-led band began taking over college radio stations and indie charts since the release of its debut, self-titled album in 2014. That album and the band’s subsequent release, Antisocialites, took Alvvays around the world on an almost-nonstop tour schedule that lasted until 2018 – the same year the band played the penultimate Homegrown Fest in Dallas. After that tour, the band took some much-needed time off, making very little noise until midsummer of this year when it dropped its first new single in five years, “Pharmacist,” followed by the fall release of Blue Rev. Witty and beautiful, the album has been met with nearly universal acclaim. Chicago indie-pop band Slow Pulp opens the show.

Better Than Ezra
7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St. $29.50 at livenation.com

Somewhere in the U.S. right now, a radio station is playing one of the two big his by ’90s alt-rock band Better Than Ezra. The band’s breakthrough single “Good” from 1993’s Deluxe album, introduced the country to the Baton Rouge band that blended sincere emotion with crafty songwriting and catchy rhythms. In 1996, the band doubled down on dramatic intensity with “Desperately Wanting” from the album, Friction, Baby. For many, this is about where they lost track of the band, and with good reason. Elektra dropped Better Than Ezra after the group’s next album, and the band saw only moderate success with sporadic releases on the Adult Contemporary charts until 2014 when it pretty much stopped – save for a non-album single release here and a one-off show there. The band is on tour now with a new album in the works and a new song, “Mystify,” on the setlist, which has yet to be released.

Brave Little Howl
9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, Double Wide, 3510 Commerce St. $10 at prekindle.com

Formed in an apartment with Marc Atkinson and Billy Hale on two acoustic guitars in 2015, Brave Little Howl has grown a reputation for its live show, astounding local audiences with its comforting yet profound roots-inspired Americana. The band will release its second full-length effort, Neola Gold, on Friday with an album release show the following night at Double Wide with Tim Lightyear and Taylor Young Band. The band’s first release was 2016’s Make Your Heart Sweat EP, which was recorded in Nashville. The next album, Our Lives Aren’t Movies, was recorded at Redwood Studio in Denton and produced by Midlake’s Mckenzie Smith. In 2020, Brave Little Howl released a vinyl-only album, Live from Big Thicket, which perfectly captured the intimacy of the band’s acoustic show. The band has put out four singles in anticipation of the new album’s release, each one showing that perfect Brave Little Howl balance of indie-rock and country soul.

Demi Lovato
7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, 300 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Irving. $50+ at livenation.com

Dallas-raised pop singer-songwriter Demi Lovato released her latest album, Holy Fvck, at the end of the summer, surprising audiences with a total about-face on the pop music that had sustained her for the last decade. Lovato wanted to return to the rock sounds of her first two albums. While those two releases certainly found their audiences, Lovato didn’t start making a name for herself until 2011 when her album Unbroken sent the singer up the pop charts. Lovato’s history of mental health problems and substance abuse have been the subject of much media scrutiny, as have been her sexuality and gender identity. Given all of the turmoil Lovato has braved, it makes sense that she would come out with her darkest album to date. While the album is fundamentally pop at its core, Lovato brings in elements of metal, glam and punk to bring out the true depth of her emotions. Lovato’s opening act will be Los Angeles rock band Dead Sara.

Riverboat Gamblers
7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, Three Links, 2704 Elm St. $20 at seetickets.us

Founded in Denton in 1997, punk rock band Riverboat Gamblers relocated to Austin after seeing some success with its second album, 2003’s Something to Crow About. In its review of the album, Spin magazine likened the band’s sound to a cross between Minor Threat and The Hives, which certainly made sense when the group was rebelling against the sound of what was classified as “emo” in the early 2000s. The band released only a handful of songs between the release of its last full-length record, 2012’s The Wolf You Feed, and 2016’s Massive Fraud EP. Then there was silence. In 2020, something changed. The band released the Riverboat Gamblers Live With Orchestra EP, which saw them moving away from the hardcore anthems of Minor Threat and toward the melodic punk of Bad Religion, which is heard especially in their latest studio single, “Right Down the Line.” Riverboat Gamblers headline the Sunday night show after performances by Sloth Fist, American Shit Storm, The Wee-Beasties and The Nervebreakers.

beabadoobee
7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. $97+ at seatgeek.com

Filipino-British singer-songwriter beabadoobee had released a slew of EPs and singles starting in 2017 until the release of her groundbreaking debut album, Fake it Flowers, in 2020. Born Beatrice Kristi Laus in Iloilo City, Philippines, beabadoobee was drawn to creating music after hearing Kimya Dawson and the Juno soundtrack, learning to play violin before switching to guitar and putting out her first single, “Coffee,” online later that year. Since 2020, beabadoobee’s music has been met with much more acclaim in the U.K. than in the U.S. When the singer released her second album, Beatopia, earlier this year, English publications hailed the album as musically diverse and crowd-pleasing, while American publications criticized the singer’s lyrics as being more musical than meaningful – a criticism that one could easily place on any work from the grunge movement. Atlanta indie band Lowertown opens the sold-out show Monday night.