Best Phoenix Concerts This Week: Kimbra, Dvsn, Thee Sacred Souls

March’s busy slate of concerts continues this week with gigs by art pop singer-songwriter Kimbra, Canadian R&B duo Dvsn, and Thee Sacred Souls. Living legend Jimmy Buffett and rock icons Styx are also due in town this week. Details about each of their gigs are below. Click here for more live music options in the Valley this week from Monday, March 6, to Sunday, March 9.

Kimbra

Monday, March 6
Crescent Ballroom, 308 North Second Avenue

If you only know Kimbra from her appearance on Gotye’s 2011 smash hit “Somebody That I Used to Know,” you’re missing out on her impressive body of work. The New Zealand-born singer and songwriter’s music is a mix of pop, R&B, jazz, and rock, which is topped off by her glowing vocals. She’s released four studio albums over the past two decades, including 2014’s critically adored The Golden Echo and 2018’s Primal Heart, won Billboard Music Awards, and even appeared on Sesame Street. Kimbra’s touring behind her latest release, A Reckoning, which features such singles as “Save Me” and “Foolish Thinking.” With Tei Shi, 8 p.m., $27-$127 via seetickets.us. Benjamin Leatherman

Jimmy Buffett

Thursday, March 9
Footprint Center, 201 East Jefferson Street

You can sum up Jimmy Buffett's concerts with one simple word: party. The music legend’s gigs are known for being a place where his legion of fans (a.k.a. “Parrot Heads”) can relax and enjoy a cold one together while singing along to “Margaritaville,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” “A Pirate Looks at Forty,” “Fins,” or other favorites from his repertoire. Beach balls will be bounced. Hawaiian shirts, leis, and straw hats will be worn. And a good time will be had by all. Such a scene will unfold inside Footprint Center in early March when Buffett brings the Coral Reefers Band to town in support of his most recent album, 2020’s Life on the Flip Side. Feel free to bring along your shark fins as you search for your lost shaker of salt. 8 p.m., $31-$170 via ticketmaster.com. Phoenix New Times

Dvsn

Thursday, March 9
The Van Buren, 401 West Van Buren Street

Their name is pronounced as “division” but don’t get it twisted: This Canadian R&B duo are a united front, musically. Dsvn’s vocalist Daniel Daley and resident producer Nineteen85 are signed to Drake’s OVO Sound label and have a knack for collaborations, popping up on tracks with Ty Dolla Sign, Jagged Edge, Mac Miller, Pimp C, and Wheelchair Jimmy himself. The Jagged Edge collab is particularly telling, as Daley’s vocal delivery is straight out of the “gettin’ freaky in the limousine” heyday of ’90s R&B — a time when groups wearing the shiniest clothing you’ve ever seen dramatically poured their hearts and libidos out over sleek and luxurious beats. Dvsn take that style down a harder, more jagged path. Daley’s voice is smooth and dexterous, cutting (many) ballads about getting caught cheating, while Nineteen85 lays down a soundscape of twitchy electronics and harder, trap-accented beats. It’s loverman R&B with a steely underbelly. 8 p.m., $32.50-$82.50 via livenation.com. Ashley Naftule

Styx

Thursday, March 9
Celebrity Theatre, 440 North 32nd Street

The key to any band’s longevity is the ability to maintain a core sound while changing to lure new generations of fans. The Rolling Stones are the quintessential example, having survived 50 years on gritty rock roll licks that receive fresh infusions of timely sound forms (from country to disco) to keep the band in popular focus. Other long-running bands find the challenge of remaining vital enough to avoid the county fair circuit a bit more daunting. After changing a few members over the years or taking a hiatus, the task can seem insurmountable. Styx has managed to stay relevant, though, despite those obstacles by updating its sound on new albums, but also by reworking and re-recording the classic hits that made them one of the biggest acts of the ’70s and ’80s. This is illustrated on their current tour, which features a mix of old favorites (including “Come Sail Away,” “Blue Collar Man,” and “Crystal Ball”) and new material from their upcoming album, Crash of the Crown, being performed. 7:30 p.m., $40-$125 via etix.com. Glenn BurnSilver

Thee Sacred Souls

Wednesday, March 8
The Van Buren, 401 West Van Buren Street

Some musicians feel out of time, like they’ve fallen through a crack in the space-time continuum and landed in the 2020s. The trio of players behind Thee Sacred Souls — vocalist Josh Lane, bassist Sal Samano, and drummer Alex Garcia — conjure up a sultry, velvet-soft style of R&B that would have sounded right at home on the mid-century pop charts next to golden age Stax and Motown jams. Lane has a falsetto with legs, his voice crooning over Samano and Garcia’s nimble rhythmic interplay like an even smoother Curtis Mayfield. On their self-titled 2022 album, Thee Sacred Souls kick out waterbed grooves, or the kind of plush music you can sink into. Produced by Daptone label co-founder Gabriel Roth, the record has all the sweetness and grit of classic 60’s soul with a little something extra: the trio injects bits of Chicano and Panama soul in their songs, adding a bit of Latin swing and international flavor to their vintage American soul stylings. Who needs a time machine when you can just press play on Thee Sacred Souls? With Jalen N'Gonda; 8 p.m., $75 via livenation.com. Ashley Naftule