The 10 Best Concerts of the Week: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Posty Fest and More

It's another great lineup for your pre-Halloween week. Catch Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Ed Sheeran, the inaugural Posty Fest and more.




Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23 at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., 214-932-6501, $59.50

Nick Cave hasn’t been given the easiest set of circumstances in recent years. In 2015 his teenage son tragically died, which led to the mournful and critically acclaimed album, Skeleton Trees, released in 2016. And just this September, longtime Bad Seeds keyboardist Conway Savage died at age 58. But despite those recent losses (or maybe partly because of them), it should come as no surprise that Cave is hard at work on a new album. His wife announced the news on her blog just before the release of Distant Sky: Live in Copenhagen EP on Sep. 28. Recorded late last year, the EP is a taste of the thrilling, if not expectantly somber, energy Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are likely to bring to their set in Dallas. Spanning only four tracks, Distant Sky opens with a perfectly matched pair of songs in “Jubilee Street,” and “Distant Sky.” The tracks juxtapose the manic energy of dragging a 10-ton catastrophe uphill in the former song, before slowly falling into one of the most mournful tracks off Skeleton Tree, complete with an appearance by Danish singer, Else Torp. The times are tough for Nick Cave, but it’s seemingly only driven him to create and express himself even more. Distant Sky’s B-side is evidence enough, as Cave unfurls devilish screams through “From Her to Eternity” before belting out “The Mercy Seat” as a finale. Dallas is in for a bittersweet treat. Nicholas Bostick


Josh Groban
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24 at American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave., $49 and up at ticketmaster.com

Since bursting onto the scene in the early 2000s, Josh Groban's career has hit the stratosphere. As an adult-contemporary-oriented opera singer, his songs have hit the top of the Billboard charts and earned numerous Grammy nominations. Alongside Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, his voice — classified as both a baritone and a tenor — serves as the most recognizable in the neo-classical genre, one that admittedly doesn't draw from the deepest well of performers. By immersing himself in other entertainment mediums, Groban, however, has become one of pop culture's biggest stars. He pokes fun at himself on shows like "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" and "Parks and Recreation," brings down the house with Broadway roles and soon will be starring alongside Tony Danza as the co-lead on "The Good Cop," one of the most anticipated Netflix shows on the fall calendar. Catch his voice and his charming personality as he turns the cavernous AAC into an intimate night of pop and opera tunes served in the round. Jeff Strowe


Public Image Ltd.
8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24 at Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. Tickets start at $42 at prekindle.com

Of all the masterpiece rock records, Public Image Ltd.’s Metal Box sits somewhere not far from the top. Fronted by former Sex Pistols vocalist John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), the English outfit helped canonize the sound of post-punk through shrapnel-like guitars and shadowy, avant-garde inclinations. Goth, dub reggae and various experimental threads feed into their warped, fever-dream vision of rock’s future, betraying the genre’s perceived promise of freedom through rebellion in favor of actual stylistic freedom and the search for a truly new music. Ugly noises brush up against the gorgeous and the uplifting in PiL’s sound, which at its heart is all about contrast. Between, not just beauty and ugliness, but also hope and cynicism, rock convention and abstraction. Forty years may have passed since their landmark, but live on stage, PiL can still sound like the future. Jonathan Patrick


The B-52s
7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25 at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., $40-$99. houseofblues.com

The B-52s have not released a new album in 10 years, but for people who go see the band live, that's not a deal-breaker. The trinity of lead vocalists Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson (along with multi-instrumentalist Keith Strickland) remain a highly enjoyable group to watch. They've always brought energy and joy wherever they go. They had their hits in the late 1970s and early 1990s, and they've been able to ride them out to the present day. Lately they play one song from their last LP, Funplex, but the majority of what they play is from the albums that made them a household name. Whether it's "Rock Lobster" or "Love Shack," the lovable and arty pop rock is a nice early start to the Halloween party weekend ahead. Eric Grubbs


Ghostland Observatory
8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26 at House of Blues, 2200 N. Lamar St., $35 at livenation.com

"We ran out of steam, dude." This is how Ghostland Observatory vocalist/guitarist Aaron Behrens described the duo's eight-year hiatus in a recent interview. It's a pretty simple explanation and one that is perfectly understandable for folks who had spent the better part of the previous two decades touring relentlessly and releasing a steady helping of hyped-up electroclash albums. Last year, though, Behrens and his accomplice, Thomas Ross Turner, decided their self-imposed exile from the stage had run its course. They released a new album, the true-to-sound, See You Later, Simulator, and slowly began reacquainting themselves with the road. Now that they've again found their footing, head on over to House of Blues on Friday night and check out the spectacle. The laser machines should be in full force, with capes duly draped on shoulders. The eclectic whirl of the duo's unique sound collages should make for an exciting listen when enjoyed by fresh ears. Jeff Strowe


Lil Dicky
8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26 at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., $40-$89

Comedic rapper Lil Dicky got into the profession as a lark to get attention that would lead to a career in writing for movies and TV shows. But the Pennsylvania-bred rapper started to enjoy the lifestyle. He's only released one actual full-length album, but his tours the last four years have drawn in plenty of fans. Despite his small canon of solo material, he's featured on other tracks from artists like Mystikal and Ty Dolla $ign. Diamond Victoria


Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights
8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27 at The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis St., $24-$54

Dallas has given the world some pretty great music. From Tripping Daisy to Stevie Ray Vaughan to Leon Bridges. And part of that long list of famed Dallasites is Jonathan Tyler. The blues-playing darling and recipient of several Dallas Observer Music Awards, including Best Male Vocalist, Reader's Pick Best Local CD Release and Best Blues Act, released his latest album, Holy Smokes, in 2015. He and his band, the Northern Lights, are on tour this fall throughout the U.S. DV


Pale Waves
with Miya Folick and The Candescents, 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27 at Trees, 2709 Elm St., $18

Manchester-based Pale Waves makes shimmering dark pop, as is evident in its full-length debut from last month, My Mind Makes Noises. Inspired by The Cure, Cocteau Twins and Prince, it's hard to take your eyes off frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie – whose own aesthetic is not unlike Cure frontman Robert Smith. The cinematic synths and catchy pop hooks make this up-and-coming band one to look out for. DV



Ed Sheeran
7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27 at AT&T Stadium, 1 AT&T Way, Arlington, $39 and up at ticketmaster.com

Can you really call someone an everyman when they’re a musically gifted millionaire who gets sent homemade jam from Taylor Swift? If so then Ed Sheeran must be Joe Blow’s long lost cousin, considering how often the term “everybloke” is used to describe him. But aside from his Ron Weasley looks and vagabond upbringing, there’s not many aspects of Sheeran that could be called ordinary. He moved to London at 14 and spent two years crashing in parks and on couches. Grinding out gigs and catching eyes as he built up a fan base, the once bullied and stuttering boy from Halifax changed his stars and released a stream of massive hits like “Thinking Out Loud,” “Shape of You” and “Photograph.” Sheeran has become one of the best-selling artists of his generation, with more than 6 billion streams on Spotify last year. Sheeran isn’t an everyman. He’s a world-famous pop star who used to sleep outside and sometimes raps. What’s not to like? Nicholas Bostick


Posty Fest
Featuring Post Malone, Travis Scott, Tyler the Creator, Tierra Whack, Ski Mask the Slump God and more
2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27 at Dos Equis Pavilion, 3839 S. Fitzhugh Ave., $124 and up at livenation.com

Texas native Post Malone has chosen Dallas for his inaugural Posty Fest music festival — and the lineup is stacked AF. In addition to Post Malone himself, the bill includes the stadium-grade psych rap of Travis Scott, entrepreneurial hip-hop savant Tyler, the Creator, the avant-leaning Tierra Whack, and a team of trap’s freshest talents in Ski Mask the Slump Dog, Saint JHN, and Tyla Yaweh. Ever hustling, Post Malone’s influence on the modern rap game is undeniable. Every day, his beer-swilling, appropriation lifestyle feels less like an offense and more like a performance art shield masking some profound and tender center. Posty Fest isn’t just the next step in Post’s evolution as an artist and tastemaker, it’s a disorienting example of rap’s swiftly mutating future. It’s weird and warped, sure, but also a hell of a lot of fun. Jonathan Patrick