Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

Def Leppard is one of four big '80s bands playing at Globe Life Field in Arlington on August 22.

Def Leppard Facebook

No matter what kind of music you like, this weekend around Dallas is guaranteed to offer something for you. It features nine separate concerts, several of them with huge stars, with genres including rap, rock, country, jazz, and more. If you prefer something more low-key, two new local theater productions are starting their runs, and a big-name comedian is making a rare appearance.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events.

Thursday, August 18

Kevin Gates in concert
Rapper Kevin Gates is a rising star in the hip hop genre. After years of self-releasing mixtapes, the Louisiana native finally started getting some nationwide attention in 2012, leading to a record deal with Atlantic Records. It was a wise investment, as each of his first three albums have reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200 charts. Gates will play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving in support of his new album, Khaza.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Madeleine Peyroux
Jazz singer-songwriter Madeleine Peyroux has had a compelling journey in the music industry. Eight albums and 22 years since her debut, Dreamland, Peyroux continues to challenge the confines of jazz, venturing into the fertile fields of contemporary music with unfading curiosity. She'll play a special one-night-only concert at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Friday, August 19

Echo & The Bunnymen in concert
The English band Echo & The Bunnymen may have a funny name, but they've had a long and interesting history. Debuting in 1980, they did well in the UK and developed a cult following in the United States. The departure of lead singer Ian McCulloch and death of drummer Pete de Freitas led to their breakup, but they reformed in 1996 and have gone on to release seven more albums. They'll play at House of Blues Dallas as part of their 40th anniversary tour.

The Lumineers in concert
Folk rock group the Lumineers came to prominence in 2012 on the heels of the success of Mumford & Sons, gaining tons of fans with songs like "Ho Hey." They've released three more albums since their debut, including the recently-released Brightside, all of which reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200. They'll play at American Airlines Center with support from opening act James Bay.

Jason Aldean in concert
You can't get any bigger than Jason Aldean in country music. He had six straight albums reach No. 1 on the Billboard Country charts, and either No. 1 or No. 2 on the Billboard 200 charts, throughout the 2010s. He's also a three-time winner of Entertainer of the Year at the ACM Awards, and he was given the ACM Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award at the 2019 ACM Awards. He'll play at Dos Equis Pavilion in support of his new album, Georgia.

Improv Arlington presents Rob Schneider
Rob Schneider is an accomplished actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. A stand-up comic and veteran of the award-winning NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, Schneider has gone on to a successful career in films and television, and continues to hone his stand-up comedy craft. Schneider’s first Netflix comedy special, Asian Momma, Mexican Kids, premiered in 2020. He'll perform five times through Sunday at Improv Arlington.

Theatre Arlington presents Biloxi Blues
Theatre Arlington presents Biloxi Blues, the second in Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Neil Simon’s trilogy. When we meet Eugene Jerome, he is coping with adolescence in 1930s Brooklyn. He goes on to become a young army recruit during WWII, going through basic training and learning about life and love along with some harsher lessons, while stationed at boot camp in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1943. The production runs through September 4.

Uptown Players presents The Little Dog Laughed
The Uptown Players 2022 season will close with Douglas Carter Beane’s 2006 heartfelt drama, The Little Dog Laughed. Mitchell, an up-and-coming actor, and Diane, his agent/producer, pretend to be a couple to avoid negative press about Mitchell’s homosexuality. The plan works until Mitchell falls for Alex, a young male prostitute, who changes Mitchell’s views about relationships and convinces him to love, much to the dismay of Diane, who tries desperately to avoid a scandal. The production runs through August 28 at Kalita Humphreys Theater.

Saturday, August 20

Whataburger Fest featuring Flatland Cavalry
Whataburger Fest will feature headlining performances from country music bands Flatland Cavalry, American Aquarium, and William Beckman. Fans can also attend a non-ticketed pre-party at the Texas Lottery Plaza Stage, featuring Aaron Copeland, and a post-event show featuring Alex Aguilar. The main concert takes place at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Odesza in concert
It is a true rarity for any act to play two nights in a row at Dos Equis Pavilion, but electronic duo Odesza is breaking that particular mold. The group made up of Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight has been at the top of the Billboard Dance charts since 2014, and their last two albums, including the new The Last Goodbye, have also gone high on the Billboard 200 charts. They'll perform on both Saturday and Sunday.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents An Evening with Lucia Micarelli
Best known for her collaborations with Josh Groban, Chris Botti, and classic rock band Jethro Tull, and for her role as Annie Talarico in the critically acclaimed HBO series Treme, Lucia Micarelli will present a performance that will flip from the likes of bluegrass to Led Zeppelin to Ravel to Tom Waits. She'll put on a one-night-only concert at Meyerson Symphony Center.

Monday, August 22

Mötley Crüe in concert with Def Leppard, Poison, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Okay, technically Monday is no longer the weekend, especially since it's not even a holiday, but when you have a concert with as many big bands as this one, you have to include it. Hair metal was a dominant force in the 1980s thanks to bands like Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, and Poison, and the fact that they're all still playing is a minor miracle. Throw in Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and you have a festival-style event that's guaranteed to rock hard. They'll all play at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

The Lumineers will play at American Airlines Center on August 19.

Photo by Danny Clinch

The Lumineers will play at American Airlines Center on August 19.

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Coffee News

Black Sheep Coffee from the U.K. comes to U.S. with debut in Dallas

Black Sheep Coffee

Black Sheep Coffee, coming from the U.K.

A coffee shop from the U.K. with celebrity ties is opening its first U.S. location in Dallas. Called Black Sheep Coffee, it's a growing chain based in London with a renegade stance: to champion the robusta coffee bean, one overlooked by most coffee snobs.

Black Sheep was founded in London in 2013 by friends Gabriel Shohet and Eirik Holth, who loved coffee and wanted to start their own business. They've built it into a chain with 60-plus locations including cafés and take-out shops across England, Scotland, Wales, France, and the Philippines.

The Dallas shop will open at 6240 E. Mockingbird Ln., in a shopping center in the Lakewood neighborhood. Shohet says it'll open in late spring.

Dallas came onto their radar after they formed a partnership for the U.S. expansion with Kristaps Porzingis, a professional basketball player who was playing for the Dallas Mavericks. He's since been traded to the Washington Wizards, but Shohet says Dallas still seemed like the perfect place to launch.

"I love Texas, it's a great state and a lot of people are moving there," Shohet says. "There's so much growth and Dallas has a good vibe. Kristaps became a good friend and ended up investing. He moved to Washington but we'd gotten this great location on Mockingbird and we're building a local team."

They'll make Dallas their headquarters, with a plan to open another half dozen locations, plus franchise opportunities as well (email franchising@leavetheherdbehind.com).

One of the non-coffee drinks at Black Sheep Coffee is a peanut-butter hot chocolate.Black Sheep Coffee

Shohet and Holth built the company brick by brick, starting out doing pop-ups before moving into brick-and-mortar locations. Their goal is to break the wall between specialty coffee and the mass market.

"We've always been about the coffee," he says. "We source the beans from plantations in southern India, Papua New Guinea, Brazil. We get the best beans in the world: specialty-grade, shade-grown, and hand-picked."

"But our premise was also, How can we bring great quality coffee to the mass market, by providing the best coffee but not making people feel like they're disturbing the coffee sacks?" he says. "Our baristas know their coffee, but if you just want to get your drink quickly and want caramel syrup, then go for it. We make it inclusive."

Their most radical act is their use exclusively of the robusta bean, whose stronger, less delicate flavor profile has seen it relegated to uses such as instant coffee and pre-ground cans, while arabica has been the bean favored by the discerning coffee crowd. But some roasters have begun to reject the narrative that robusta is inferior to arabica.

"We're the only coffee company in the world to focus 100 percent on specialty robusta," he says. "Everybody is always touting arabica, but if you can find a great robusta that’s not commercial grade, you have a cool product."

Robusta has twice the amount of caffeine, and he says the growers they work with are more enviro-friendly, requiring less water with more cherries per bush.

"Robusta is thicker and richer, and has an amazing crema when you brew it as espresso," he says. "It's also less acidic, so it's easier to digest on an empty stomach and has more body. It might have less flavor notes than arabica, but that extra body punches through the milk. Robusta is a great bean for drinks made with milk. It's unfair that it has a bad reputation."

Their championing of a bean that others forsake goes with their entire ethos. They also eschew plastic.

"When everybody’s doing something, we do something different," he says. "That’s what our slogan is about: 'Leave the herd behind.'"

In addition to coffee, their shops have exotic lattes, smoothies, and a signature peanut-butter hot chocolate. They do a small selection of food including bagels, "toasties," and Norwegian waffles, a signature.

"But we don't want to be a restaurant — we'll offer the pastries and items that go with coffee, but we just want to focus on making the best coffee."

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Weekend Event Planner

These are the 12 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

The Lumineers will play at American Airlines Center on August 19.

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Coffee News

Black Sheep Coffee from the U.K. comes to U.S. with debut in Dallas

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