Hope your Thanksgiving was full of all sorts of delicious. Burn it off by dancing at one of these concerts, and check out our comprehensive concert calendar for more options.
Singularity - Friday, November 28 - Club Red in Mesa
The Valley of the Sun is home to killer heavy metal talent, and when an excellent act releases a solid album, it should be recognized. Singularity falls into that category. This band is all about merging the intricacy of symphonic black metal with the brutality of death metal -- quite a wicked combination. Since coming together in 2010, Singularity has opened up for such bands as Behemoth and Born of Osiris, even throughout some turbulence with lineup changes. Nowadays, the four members are dedicated to crafting the ideal balance between all instrumental elements, from extensive guitar solos to sludgy riffs, to machine-gun firing double bass and ominous keyboards. Oh, and how can one forget the cranking, uncompromising, corrosive vocals. The band's release show for its debut concept album is on what should be called Black Metal Friday alongside other local heavyweights Atoll and Death Awaits. Singularity will play the entire album from start to finish, and this is one album you won't want to miss hearing performed in concert. LAUREN WISE
Meat Puppets - Friday, November 28 - Crescent Ballroom
Among the handful of American post-punk bands that helped shape Generation-X alternative rock, locally grown heroes Meat Puppets mingled hardcore punk, desert psychedelia and honky-tonk to arrive at a most unique formula. Kirkwood brothers Curt and Cris have been through hell and back since their seminal early-'80s SST albums, but have stabilized since Cris' 2007 return, fleshed out by Curt's guitarist son Elmo and Shandon Sahm (son of late Tex-Mex legend Doug) on drums. Last year the rejuvenated Puppets released Rat Farm, their most intoxicating music since 1994's gold-certified Too High to Die. CHRIS GREY
Murs - Friday, November 28 - Club Red
Throughout his career, Murs has proved equally capable of grim street-level reality and heady consciousness -- without resorting to the often preachy elements of "conscious hip-hop." Often, he'll rhapsodize about the banal, like hanging on the porch with homies smoking weed, and like a chameleon, he'll adapt to any situation. He partially credits a nomadic childhood that never found him in the same place for more than a few years at a time. "You have to [adapt] when you're always the new kid," he says. CHRIS PARKER
Clandestino! - Saturday, November 29 - Crescent Ballroom
"A monthly exploration into Latin rhythms across genres" reads the subtitle of Clandestino!, a highly rumored and now-realized Latin night at Crescent Ballroom. Does Phoenix have a "Latin alternative" audience big enough to sustain a monthly party at downtown's most relevant music venue? El Nico, curator and mastermind behind Clandestino!, says Phoenix is ready for it. And if you were among the thousands of attendees at this month's Dias de la Crescent, you witnessed the fever this town currently has for traditional Latin sounds -- Tucson's Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta were the true heroes of the packed festival. For a city in which 40 percent of the population identifies as Hispanic and/or Latino (via the U.S. Census Bureau), a night like Clandestino! is long overdue. The launch of the monthly party will bring two cumbia acts to the Valley: Tucson's up-and-coming Chicha Dust (which touches elbows with cumbia's greatest despite its status as newcomers), and San Diego tropical dubsters Cumbia Machine. Also on the bill is the presentation of La Tropa Clandestina, a collective of local DJs who have percolated tropical music into the music scene of Phoenix for many years. Let the tropical enchantment begin. CARLOS REYES
Trans-Siberian Orechstra - Sunday, November 30 - Gila River Arena
Christmastime is brutal. Hearing stories about sacrificial babies. Making nice to family who ask why you wear so much black. Watching Jimmy Stewart contemplate suicide. That shit is hard core.
Most folks turn to carols to get them through this cold, dark time. Me, I turn to Savatage, the '80s-era metal band who got killed by Christmas. Well, Christmas didn't exactly kill them, but it did something worse: it turned them into the greedy, two-headed monster known as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra is a blasphemy against the gods of metal, an abominable spectacle of faux megachurch power rock with a full orchestra, dramatic recitations and enough laser lights to scorch your retinas. It exists as two separate entities, one of which travels the east side of the country and one of which travels the west, both spreading peace on earth, Christmas cheer, and botched histories of Beethoven. It's about as metal as "Jingle Bells." LINDA LESEMAN Find any show in Metro Phoenix via our extensive online concert calendar.
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