Weekend Event Planner

These are the 14 best things to do in Dallas this Labor Day weekend

Sometimes Labor Day weekend across Dallas is slow on the event side, with people getting in one last summer vacation, but not this year. The long weekend includes five big concerts, an appearance by a famous wrestler, a concert featuring an Oscar-winning film, three new local theater productions, a swim party, two comedy events, and the closing of a long-running exhibition.

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

Thursday, August 31

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in concert
Country rock band Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has existed in a variety of forms since releasing their debut album in 1967. The two constants have been singers/instrumentalists Jeff Hanna and Jimmie Fadden, who have guided the group through 56 years of touring and albums, including 2022's Dirt Does Dylan, their first album in 13 years. They'll play at Longhorn Ballroom.

Yngwie Malmsteen & Glenn Hughes in concert
Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen and English musician Glenn Hughes have joined forces for a co-headlining tour, stopping at Majestic Theatre on Thursday. Malmsteen will perform the "greatest hits" of the band of the same name he's led since 1984, while Hughes, who spent time as the lead singer of Deep Purple, will play a set of classic Deep Purple songs celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Burn album.

Friday, September 1

Danzig in concert
Heavy metal band Danzig, led by lead singer Glenn Danzig, has been a unique presence on the rock scene for 35 years. Since the band is named after him, he's been the only connecting tissue over the years as the band has cycled through 19 other members. He'll celebrate the 35th anniversary of the band's debut album, Danzig I, by playing the album in its entirety at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving.

Majestic Theatre presents An Evening with Kevin Von Erich
Iconic wrestler Kevin Von Erich is having a moment. Von Erich, now 65, will be the subject of a new movie, Iron Claw, starring Zac Efron and set for release in late 2023. And he's going on his first public tour, titled Stories From the Top Rope, that will feature Von Erich sharing insight into his career, personal triumphs, and tragedies. He'll appear at Majestic Theatre.

Dallas Symphony Orchestra presents Amadeus Live in Concert
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra will present the multi-Academy Award-winning 1984 motion picture Amadeus on the big screen while Mozart’s most celebrated works are performed live in-sync by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Lawrence Loh. The concert will have three performances through Sunday at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

Lionel Richie in concert with Earth, Wind & Fire
Over the past 50 years, there are few more iconic singers than Lionel Richie. After coming to fame as lead singer of the Commodores, he went on to a massive solo career that made him the household name to this day. He'll be joined by special guest Earth, Wind & Fire, known for hits like "September" and "Let's Groove," as part of Sing A Song All Night Long tour, which will be at American Airlines Center.

The Classics Theatre Project presents The Seagull
The Classics Theatre Project will present a modern twist on the classic story of The Seagull. The play takes place on a secluded estate and follows a group of contemporary artists as they navigate unrequited love, artistic competition, and personal obsessions. Through the characters' humorous and heartfelt pursuit of love and recognition, as well as their struggle against narcissism and obsession, the play addresses the challenges of the digital age. The production runs through September 24 at Addison Conference and Theatre Centre.

Richardson Theatre Centre presents Misery
Misery follows successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon, who is rescued from a car crash by his “number one fan,” Annie Wilkes, and wakes up captive in her secluded home. While Paul is convalescing, Annie reads his latest book and becomes enraged when she discovers the author has killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain. Annie forces Paul to write a new Misery novel, and he quickly realizes Annie has no intention of letting him go anywhere. The production runs through September 17 at Richardson Theatre Centre.

Saturday, September 2

Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark presents Epic Waves Pool Party
Summer swimming season will come to an end with Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark's Epic Waves Pool Party. Visitors can enjoy the final days of Epic Waters' wave pool for the year, as well as live entertainment, activities, dance parties, and a live DJ. The event takes place through Monday.

Art Centre Theatre presents Medea
Foreign princess and sorceress Medea has murdered her own father to help Jason win the Golden Fleece and the kingdom of Thessaly. Medea is told that Jason will be marrying the Corinthian princess. The King of Corinth, anticipating her wrath, sends her into exile. She plans revenge against Jason and negotiates safe haven with the naïve King of Athens. There will be four performances through September 10 at Art Centre Theatre in Plano.

Karol G in concert
The biggest concert of the weekend will feature Colombian reggaeton singer Karol G, who has dominated the Billboard Latin charts since her 2017 debut album, aptly titled Unstoppable. Each of her four albums has been bigger than the last, culminating with her new album, Mañana Será Bonito, coming in at No. 1 on both the Latin and overall Billboard 200 charts. She'll perform at the Cotton Bowl, joined by Agudelo888.

Bill Maher in concert
For 30 years, Bill Maher has set the boundaries of where funny, political talk can go on American television. First on Politically Incorrect from 1993-2002, and for the last 20 years on HBO’s Real Time, Maher’s combination of unflinching honesty and big laughs have garnered him a plethora of Emmy nominations. He'll bring his outrageous style to Texas Trust CU Theatre in Grand Prairie.

Sunday, September 3

The Bald Brothers Tour featuring Tony Baker & KevOnStage
Comedians Tony Baker and KevOnStage, also known as The Bald Brothers, will perform at Majestic Theatre as part of their 2023 co-headlining tour. Baker has appeared on NBC's Last Comic Standing, Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand-Up Revolution, Comics Unleashed, and more comedy TV specials, while KevOnStage has appeared on the HBO Max series, A Black Lady Sketch Show, and was also the host of Will Smith’s Dad’s Just Don’t Understand.

Monday, September 4

Perot Museum of Nature and Science presents "The Science Behind Pixar" closing day
After almost 10 months, "The Science Behind Pixar" will come to a close at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Visitors can learn about the science and technology needed to create their favorite animated films and characters through hands-on activities, firsthand accounts from members of the studios’ production teams, and life-size recreations of Pixar characters.

Photo courtesy of Live Nation

Lionel Richie will play at American Airlines Center on September 1.

music concerts theater symphony celebrities kids families comedy event-planner

Movie Review

Faces of Death returns with modern twist on cult horror film

Photo courtesy of of IFC Films

Dacre Montgomery in Faces of Death.

True horror fans will likely be familiar with the 1978 cult film Faces of Death, which purported to be a documentary showing real-life killings in gory detail. It didn’t, of course, but that didn’t stop rumors from continuing to spread for decades. Now, almost 50 years and multiple sequels later, comes a new version of Faces of Death, an actual movie that pays homage to the original in interesting ways.

Margot (Barbie Ferreira) works at a YouTube-like company called Kino as a content moderator, flagging videos that violate the company’s policies. This means her job often involves seeing some truly despicable things from all manner of depraved people. One day, though, she comes across a video that seems a little too real, and after seeing more similar videos, she starts to believe they’re genuine murders.

Going against her company NDA, she starts to investigate the videos on her own, which puts her on the radar of Arthur (Dacre Montgomery), who is actually kidnapping people and killing them on camera through methods seen in the original Faces of Death film. It’s not long before Arthur tracks her down, with a plan to make her one of his next victims.

Written and directed by Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline) and co-written by Isa Mazzei, the film is not so much scary as it is creepy, with the occasional gross-out sequence. The idea of having someone emulate the killings in the cult film is a good idea, and pairing it with the modern-day attention economy - in which content creators go to increasing lengths for clicks - is a clever twist on a concept that other films have done.

The film as a whole is a commentary on how social media and video sharing sites have often decided to prioritize profits over the well-being of their users. Margot is shown allowing videos involving violence and sexual assault to stay on the site while nixing ones depicting how to use Narcan or demonstrating putting on a condom on a banana. Josh (Jermaine Fowler), Margot’s boss, is even explicit in the company mandate that outrageous videos drive views.

While Arthur has the makings of a good villain, there are few attempts to make him seem truly diabolical. His kidnappings often seem more spur-of-the-moment than calculated, and even though he has a well thought-out dungeon at home, the house’s location in the suburbs seems to make him vulnerable to easy discovery. Goldhaber and Mazzei leave more than a few unanswered questions along the way that take away from the intensity of the story.

Ferreira is yet another actor from Euphoria who’s capitalizing on her exposure from that show. She plays Margot’s increasing anxiety well, and when the action ratchets up in the final act, she meets the moment in a satisfying way. Montgomery returns to the vibe he had while playing the evil Billy on Stranger Things, and even though his character doesn’t fully live up to his potential, Montgomery sells his evil for all it’s worth.

The new Faces of Death may not be what some are expecting given the reputation of the previous films, but it’s a solid horror/thriller that uses the brand as a launching pad into something different. It doesn’t make much of a dent in the scare department, but it does give its violence and gore a degree of relevance in today’s often desensitized world.

---

Faces of Death is now playing in theaters.

movies film