Weekend Event Planner

These are the 9 best things to do in Dallas this weekend

It's another big weekend for events in the Dallas area, with four big-name concerts, another Van Gogh-centric exhibition, two new local theater productions, a fair/rodeo that will whet your appetite for the State Fair next month, and best of all, a chance to celebrate local restaurants with your friends at CultureMap.

Below are the best ways to spend your precious free time this weekend.

Thursday, August 19

"Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience"
Not to be confused with "Immersive Van Gogh," a similar exhibition taking place in downtown Dallas, "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" allows visitors to fulfill the dream of stepping into a masterpiece painting. The 360-degree, immersive digital art experience illuminates and transforms a unique physical space into a fully immersive exhibit, where Van Gogh’s work takes over the walls via digital projections and VR experiences. The exhibition will run almost daily through November 28 at Globe Life Park in Arlington.

CultureMap Dallas-Fort Worth Tastemaker Awards
The CultureMap Tastemaker Awards is the annual celebration of the top talent in Dallas-Fort Worth's restaurant and bar communities, as selected by their peers. The mission of the event is to shine a spotlight on the people making the local restaurant scene special and honor their innovation, energy, and creativity. At the event, taking place at Fashion Industry Gallery and emceed by comedian CJ Starr, we will celebrate all of the nominees and unveil the winners, and guests will be able to sample bites and sip specialty drinks along the way.

Second Thought Theatre presents Libra Season
Second Thought Theatre will present the virtual production Libra Season, commissioned as part of their 2020 S.T.E.P. Program (Second Thought Emerging Playwrights). The play, which will be performed live each night and streamed from each actor’s own home, is about the employees of Libra Ltd., who are having a bad fall. After several stressful months of working from home, they now face a leaked memo with possible disastrous consequences. The production will run through September 4.

Friday, August 20

North Texas Fair & Rodeo
Just like the State Fair of Texas, the North Texas Fair & Rodeo returns after a year off due to the pandemic. The nine-day event, taking place through August 28 at North Texas Fairgrounds in Denton, offers activities for all ages, including live concerts, horse & livestock shows, contests, cook-offs, food, fun, games, and more. Music performers will include Midland, Flatland Cavalry, Terri Clark, Sawyer Brown, Randall King, and more.

Jelly Roll in concert
Rap and country music aren't usually two things that go well together, but Jason DeFord (aka Jelly Roll) has been carving his own unique path. The prolific artist has released 16 albums in just 10 years, including three in 2020 alone. His biggest success has come with his four Waylon & Willie albums, on which he's collaborated with Struggle Jennings, Waylon's step-grandson. He'll perform at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Uptown Players presents Fun Home
Uptown Players will present Fun Home, the 2015 Tony Award winner of Best Musical based on Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic memoir of the same name. After her father’s sudden death, Alison dives into her past and tells the story of her untraditional family dynamic, with her strict, temperamental father defining a large part of her childhood. The production, running at Kalita Humphreys Theater through August 29, is hailed as the first mainstream musical with a lesbian protagonist, and the musical explores themes of family, sexuality, and secrets.

Kesha in concert
Somehow, despite her scoring a No. 1 album with her 2010 debut, Animal, and notching multiple hits over the past decade, Kesha has never had a solo headlining concert in Dallas until now. It was supposed to happen last year, but, you know, pandemic. She'll perform at South Side Ballroom in support of her 2020 album, High Road, joined by special guest Betty Who.

Saturday, August 21

Chris Stapleton's All-American Roadshow
The third time's the charm when it comes to this all-star country music blowout event. Originally scheduled for last summer, it was postponed to November 2020 and then to this date because of the pandemic that just won't quit. The lineup is about as big as you can get, featuring headliner Chris Stapleton, Willie Nelson & Family, Jamey Johnson, and Yola. The concert takes place at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

Megadeth in concert with Lamb of God
For over 35 years, Megadeth has been one of the standard-bearers for the heavy metal genre. Their biggest success came in the early 1990s, when they had two top 5 albums in the Billboard 200, Countdown to Extinction and Youthanasia. Unlike some other metal bands, though, they've soldiered on into the 21st century, releasing a new album every few years, including the forthcoming The Sick, The Dying ... and the Dead. They'll play at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, joined by Lamb of God.

Kesha will perform at South Side Ballroom on August 20.

Photo courtesy of Kesha

Kesha will perform at South Side Ballroom on August 20.

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Movie Review

Charli XCX attempts to seize 'The Moment' in new mockumentary

Photo courtesy of A24

Charli XCX in The Moment.

There have been plenty of music documentaries and biopics that show how the life of a music star can be a trying one, with fans, record label executives, and hangers-on all wanting a piece of a certain singer or band. Charli XCX knows the pressures as well as anyone thanks to back-to-back hit albums, but instead of addressing her life with a self-aggrandizing promo film, she’s gone the unexpected route with the mockumentary, The Moment.

The singer plays a fictionalized version of herself who’s coming off of “Brat Summer,” a cultural phenomenon that followed the release of her 2024 album, Brat. In addition to a planned tour, she and her team are trying to come up with other ways to capitalize on the moment, ideas that sometimes include her input and sometimes don’t. The one that becomes the driving force of the story is a concert film that will be directed by the in-demand filmmaker Johannes (Alexander Skarsgård).

Even though Charli XCX had already planned out the visuals, props, and other elements of the tour with good friend Celeste (Hailey Gates), Johannes slowly but surely pushes his ideas to be used instead. As that part of her life starts to slip from her grasp, she starts to lose it in general, agreeing to endorse a Brat-themed credit card, taking an ill-advised spa trip to Ibiza, and more.

Written and directed by Aidan Zamiri (who’s directed two Charli XCX music videos) and co-written by Bertie Brandes, the film should in no way, shape, or form be interpreted as giving viewers an accurate idea of who the singer really is. Aside from the presence of well-known actors like Skarsgård and Rosanna Arquette and comedic actors like Kate Berlant and Jamie Demetriou, everything in the film is heightened sufficiently to understand it shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Still, it’s clear that fans of Charli XCX or those who participated in Brat Summer will be more invested in the film than others. Knowing that Rachel Sennott’s cameo likely stems from their friendship following Charli XCX doing the score for Sennott’s film, Bottoms, or that she enjoyed early fame from the inclusion of her song, “Boom Clap,” in “a movie about two kids with cancer,” as her character puts it, adds some depth to the film.

One of the funniest things about the film is the lack of a showcase of Charli XCX’s music. She doesn’t sing a single note in the entire film, and any songs of hers that are heard are incidental to the story. There is, however, a ton of oppressive flashing titles and frenetic imagery during the various transitions in the film. If you are even slightly affected by rapid lights and/or movement, it might be best to avoid the film entirely.

As George Clooney can attest from Jay Kelly, it’s more difficult to play a version of yourself than you might think, and Charli XCX deserves credit for playing into rumors of her “bitchiness” in this film. Upcoming roles in other films will prove whether she’s truly a good actress or not, but she has a presence that serves this movie well. Skarsgård, who seems to be having a moment of his own in the real world, is the clear winner for best supporting actor of the film, scoring in almost every scene he’s in.

The Moment may not be as effective a mockumentary as something like This is Spinal Tap, but it still has enough memorable moments to make it worth seeing for both fans and non-fans alike. If that’s not enough Charli XCX for you, she’s also created the soundtrack for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, which will be in theaters on February 13.

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The Moment opens wide in theaters on February 6.

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