Vampire Weekend/Beach House at Palladium Ballroom
Vampire Weekend already has passed through the Metroplex once this year (playing to a sold-out House of Blues in March), so what makes this show a can't-miss is the other big band on the bill, which also played Dallas earlier in 2010: Beach House, itself having a pretty great year. Both acts are touring behind fresh material -- Contra and Teen Dream, respectively -- and each is riding a considerable amount of blog buzz. Call it a hipster-approved twofer. With the Very Best.
Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses at House of Blues
Before the film Crazy Heart exploded into the national consciousness and won a whole mess of awards (including something called an Oscar), relatively few folks even knew who singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham was. The former roughneck turned troubadour has one of the most expressive voices in modern music -- a wonderful, liquor-drenched croak -- and thanks to that burst of fame earlier in the year, there's a lot more attention focused on his latest album, Junky Star (overseen by his Crazy Heart collaborator, T Bone Burnett). With Scott Copeland.