Keane at House of Blues
Keane, at least in America, is something of a paradox. Although the British pop-rock band is a nonentity on the radio, and you'd be hard-pressed to find it appearing on TV, the quartet regularly tours the States and, more often than not, sells out nearly every venue almost instantly. That sort of under-the-radar loyalty can be traced to albums like Keane's latest, Strangeland, which teems with glossy anthems built around choruses that sound magnificent when sung aloud by a packed room. The lesson? Never underestimate the power of a dynamite melody. With Youngblood Hawke.
8 p.m. Friday. House of Blues, Dallas. Sold out.
Calexico at Granada Theater
Although Tucson alt-country foursome Calexico recorded Algiers, its seventh full-length album, in the Louisiana town of the same name, the Joey Burns-led outfit didn't sacrifice any of its finely detailed "desert noir" sound. If anything, the Southern environs deepened and darkened the shadows suffusing tunes like album opener Epic, the gorgeous shuffle of Fortune Teller or the stunning title track. In other words, you can take the band out of the wind-blown sands of Arizona, but you can't take the wind-blown sands of Arizona out of the band. Expect a wide-ranging evening of eclectic sounds, delivered by consummate pros. With Bahamas.
9 p.m. Tuesday. Granada Theater, Dallas. $22-$35.
