Best Summer Concerts

The 12 best concerts to see in Dallas-Fort Worth in summer 2016

The Dallas area is always a hot spot for summer concert tours, and this year is no exception, with well over 20 major acts making their way to one venue or another between June 1 and August 31. We narrowed it down to the 12 best.

If your favorite didn't make the list, check out our full calendar to see when each and every band is coming to town.

Kenny Chesney (June 4)
Concerts at AT&T Stadium are always an event, and the summer gets kicked off right when Kenny Chesney pays Jerry World a visit once again. This time around, he's bringing along a high-powered supporting lineup that includes Miranda Lambert, Jake Owen, and Old Dominion. Fans will get a preview of Chesney's forthcoming album, Some Town Somewhere, scheduled to be released on July 8.

Selena Gomez (June 18)
It's been an eventful 10 years for Grand Prairie's own Selena Gomez, as she's gone from being a Disney ingenue to paramour of Justin Bieber to a musical powerhouse in her own right. An innocent no more — just check out the cover of her latest album, Revival — she'll come back home to play at American Airlines Center, with help from opening act Bahari.

The Monkees (June 28)
Hey, hey, they're the Monkees, and they're coming to Dallas. Baby boomers have especially fond memories of the fake Beatles-wannabe TV band that eventually became a real band. Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork are carrying on the tradition of the Monkees with this 50th anniversary concert at Winspear Opera House that will feature music and clips from their Emmy Award-winning series.

The Art of Rap Festival (July 16)
People who consider themselves fans of rap/hip-hop owe it to themselves to go to the Art of Rap Festival at Gexa Energy Pavilion. The impressive lineup includes Ice-T, Public Enemy, Naughty by Nature, Mobb Deep, Grandmaster Melle Mel & Scorpio, EPMD, the Sugarhill Gang, and Kurtis Blow.

Drake / Future (July 21)
If you're thinking Future was just here, you're right: The up-and-coming rapper was the headliner at the JMBLYA Festival in May. Now he's back, and heading to the American Airlines Center, where he'll take a supporting role to Drake, whose latest album, Views, has once again set the pop culture world on fire thanks to songs like "Hotline Bling" and Drake's meme-ability.

Steven Tyler (August 1)
We're used to seeing Steven Tyler rock out as the lead singer of Aerosmith, but it will be a slightly different Tyler on display at the Music Hall at Fair Park for this special concert. Backed by his Nashville-based band, Loving Mary, he will get up-close-and-personal like never before, as he shares his real-life heartaches, trials, and tribulations, from his piano upbringing to worldwide fame and life with Aerosmith.

Guns N' Roses (August 3)
You've got to hand it to Guns N' Roses: For their appropriately-titled Not in This Lifetime tour, the reunited lineup of Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan could have gone to moderately sized venues to play a relatively intimate show. But that's not they're style; they're going big with a full-blown stadium tour, including this stop at AT&T Stadium. Let's hope the concert lives up to the hype.

Dixie Chicks (August 5)
It's been 10 years since the Dixie Chicks were last heard from in any meaningful way, as the three band members — Natalie Maines, Emily Robison, and Marty Maguire — decided to focus on their families and side music projects. It's unclear if this tour, which will come to Gexa Energy Pavilion, is a type of comeback or one final fling with their fans, but we'll take it either way.

Culture Club (August 5)
Speaking of bands who haven't been heard from in a while, Boy George and Culture Club released their last album 17 years ago. But everything old is new again, and the band has put aside any differences for a worldwide tour in support of their forthcoming new album, Tribes. Fans will be able to hear their new and classic songs at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie.

Gwen Stefani (August 13)
There have been few musicians more adaptable than Gwen Stefani over the past 20 years. She has seamlessly gone back and forth between her original group, No Doubt, and her solo career, and now she's gained a whole new fan base as a coach on The Voice. Her latest album, This is What the Truth Feels Like, famously details her love for boyfriend Blake Shelton, so expect there to be a romantic vibe at this concert at Gexa Energy Pavilion, which also features opening act Eve.

Snoop Dogg / Wiz Khalifa (August 19)
A friendly word of caution for anyone attending this concert at Gexa Energy Pavilion: Even though it's illegal in Texas, expect to smell your fair share of weed at this open-air concert. What else would you expect from a tour titled The High Road, featuring two of the most weed-friendly rappers out there? Heck, even the tour poster features them flanked by a massive marijuana plant. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Coldplay (August 27)
The summer concert season will end just as it began, with a huge concert at AT&T Stadium. This one comes courtesy of Coldplay, who will be making their first trip to Texas in over four years, in support of the 2015 album, A Head Full of Dreams. They'll also have to entertain a football stadium full of fans, but if their performance at Super Bowl 50 is any indication, Coldplay is more than up to the task.

The Dixie Chicks will play at Gexa Energy Pavilion on August 5.

Photo by Nadine Ljewere

The Dixie Chicks will play at Gexa Energy Pavilion on August 5.

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Movie Review

Bob Odenkirk is back as the everyman-turned-hero in new movie 'Normal'

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Bob Odenkirk in Normal.

Screenwriter Derek Kolstad, who wrote the first three John Wick movies, has essentially had a blank check to do what he wants in the movie landscape since 2014. In recent years that has meant writing the action series Nobody for Bob Odenkirk, who has turned from a comedian into an unlikely action star in his sixties. Kolstad and Odenkirk are teaming up again in Normal.

A film that tries to evoke Fargo in multiple ways, Normal finds Ulysses Richardson (Odenkirk) serving as a temporary sheriff for the small town of Normal, Minnesota after the previous sheriff died. Knowing he’s just a steward until a new sheriff is elected, Ulysses takes a live-and-let-live approach to the job, letting the deputies (Ryan Allen and Billy MacLellan) do the grunt work and trying to stay out of everyone’s way, including Mayor Kibner (Henry Winkler).

A bank robbery attempt by two non-citizens upsets his best-laid plans in more ways than he can imagine. Not only is he forced to confront a crime not often seen in a town like Normal, but the robbery uncovers secrets that turn the film into an all-out bloodbath. Soon, almost everyone in town becomes involved in what comes to resemble a war, along with — you guessed it — Yakuza henchmen from Japan.

Directed by Ben Wheatley and written by Kolstad, the film is a slight twist on the everyman-turned-hero character Odenkirk played in the two Nobody films. While Ulysses is in law enforcement, he prefers to use words instead of weapons, and it’s only when he’s pushed to the brink that he crosses that line. Naturally, his skills are beyond what anyone would expect of him, allowing him to match up well with people half his age.

The film is not a comedy in the traditional sense, but instead aims for laughs by catching the audience off-guard with its ultraviolence. Some characters are dispatched in shockingly unexpected ways, with one of the only natural reactions to the jarring nature of their deaths being laughter. That’s not necessarily the case for other killings, which range from blasé to sadistic, and the only reason they count as entertainment is because the filmmakers have primed the audience to accept them as such.

After a relatively solid setup, where Wheatley and Kolstad seem to take their time getting to know the main characters, the second half of the film is pure action that dispenses with good storytelling. Like many action movies, there are double crosses, surprise revelations, and more, but the filmmakers don’t seem to care about making sense of any character arcs. All they care about is delivering mayhem, and they succeed on that front.

Odenkirk has perfected the mild-yet-intimidating nature of his action characters, and it is satisfying to see him get the better of those who have done him wrong. He doesn’t run or jump like fellow 63-year-old Tom Cruise, but — with the help of fast-paced editing — he still makes for a credible action hero. The only other actors of any note in the film are Winkler, who’s a nice presence with his sardonic personality, and Lena Headey, whose small role doesn't match up with her experience.

You have to have a certain mindset to enjoy a film like Normal, but if you can abide its over-the-top bloodiness, it’s a serviceable action film. Few would have expected Odenkirk to take on these kinds of roles at this late stage of his career, but he’s making the most of his opportunities.

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Normal opens in theaters on April 17.

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