Weekend Event Planner

These are the 10 best things to do in Fort Worth this weekend

This weekend will be a busy one for Billy Bob's Texas, as it will host concerts on four straight nights. Other choices include two comedians, screenings of a fun new movie, a symphony concert, a major star in concert, a Fort Worth singer coming home, and an anniversary celebration for a local theater.

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

Thursday, June 20

Improv Arlington presents LaVar Walker
LaVar Walker is a comedian and writer who broke out in 2012 after winning a national comedy competition. He has toured the country with the with the Shaquille O'Neal All Star Comedy Jam, and has also appeared on Uptown Comic, The Mo'Nique Show, and BET's ComicView. He'll perform six times through Sunday at Improv Arlington.

Paul Wall in concert
Houston rapper Paul Wall hit it big almost 20 years ago with his second album, 2005's The People's Champ, which went to No. 1 on the Rap, R&B, and Billboard 200 charts. After a few more well-received albums, he hasn't made it back on the charts, but he maintains a great reputation in his home state. He's gone on to release 14 albums in his career, most recently The Great Wall in 2023. He'll perform at Billy Bob's Texas.

Friday, June 21

Magnolia at the Modern: Thelma
When 93-year-old Thelma Post (June Squibb) gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her. The film will have seven screenings through Sunday at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra presents Night of Strings at the Garden: Baroque Chamber
Bassoon, oboe, and harpsichord join the strings for a Baroque chamber orchestra, part of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra's Night of Strings at the Garden series. This concert features two concerto grossi, where the melody passes between a small group of FWSO soloists as they play in an intricate dialogue with the larger group. Selections include Karl Jenkin’s Palladio and Bach’s Suite No. 1 and “Air” from Suite No. 3. The concert takes place at Fort Worth Botanic Garden.

Midland in concert
The country band Midland surprisingly didn't come out of the same-named city, but rather Dripping Springs, just outside of Austin. Named instead after the Dwight Yoakam song "Fair to Midland," the group has made a big mark on country music, hitting No. 2 with its debut album, On the Rocks, and No. 1 with their 2019 album, Let It Roll. They also love playing multiple nights at Billy Bob's Texas, doing that trick multiple times in recent years, and they'll do so again, playing there on Friday and Saturday.

Saturday, June 22

Melanie Martinez in concert
You could consider singer Melanie Martinez a product of reality music television, since she competed on The Voice in 2012, but she "only" made the top six. The actual winner of that season, Cassadee Pope, has had a decent career, but Martinez has had a spectacular one so far, with each of her three albums landing higher than the last on the Billboard 200, culminating with 2023's Portals at No. 2. Fans at this concert at Dickies Arena will see the evolution of Martinez’s alter ego, “Cry Baby,” performed live, as she'll run through hits from all three of her albums.

Rob Baird in concert
Country singer Rob Baird was born in Tennessee, but Fort Worth can claim him as well since he earned his degree at TCU, and also recorded his first album, 2010's Blue Eyed Angels, in the city. He's slowly made inroads in the industry, with his following three albums inching higher on the Billboard Country charts. He has now released five albums in his career, most recently Anthems in 2022. He'll play at Tulips FTW.

Jubilee Theatre presents 44th Birthday Celebration featuring Fingerprints
Jubilee Theatre's 44th Birthday Bash will feature live music, announcements, and exclusive offers. This special event marks another year of groundbreaking performances at the Jubilee Theatre and sets the stage for Season 44.

Sunday, June 23

Hyena's presents Ellen Skrmetti
Comedian Ellen Skrmetti is a Southern sensation who is best known for her viral sketches like “If The Queen Died In the South” and her series, Hey Jesus It’s Me. She'll release her first book, Hey Jesus, It’s Me, in Fall 2024. She'll perform for one night only at Hyena's.

Monte Montgomery in concert
Guitarist Monte Montgomery is a local legend in Austin, having won the award for "Best Acoustic Guitar Player" at the Austin Chronicle's Austin Music Awards seven years in a row. The blues/rock musician has released 11 albums in his career, most recently 2019's A Call to Arms. He'll finish out a busy weekend at Billy Bob's Texas with this concert.

Photo courtesy of Midland

Midland will play at Billy Bob's Texas on June 21 and 22.

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Movie Review

Oscar-worthy film A Complete Unknown digs deeply into Bob Dylan

Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown.

Music biopics never seem to go out of style, although they’re rarely very good because most of them tend to tell the same story. A musician/band gets discovered, rises to popularity, experiences trouble at their peak due to (insert sex/drugs/alcohol/ego), and either finds a measure of redemption once they’ve been sufficiently humbled or dies due to their lack of control.

Paradoxically, what few music biopics fail to do is properly showcase the music that made the person popular in the first place, a mistake that A Complete Unknown doesn’t repeat, becoming a smashing success in the process. The film follows Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) over a roughly four-year period from when he first arrived in New York City in 1961 to his then-revolutionary electric set at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

Dylan seeks out well-known folk singers Pete Seeger (Edward Norton) and an ailing Woody Guthrie (Scoot McNairy) when he first arrives, with Seeger taking him under his wing. Dylan starts to establish himself in the local club scene with his unique songwriting voice, meeting fellow singer Joan Baez (Monica Barbaro), with whom he starts an on-and-off relationship. As his popularity grows, his reaction is antithetical to what’s expected, as he rarely engages with fans and focuses on his next song(s) instead of the ones for which he became known.

Directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line) and written by Mangold and Jay Cocks, the film may not be much of a revelation for Dylan superfans, but for casual fans or those who know nothing about him, it is one of the most effective music biopics in recent memory, if not ever. Not only does Mangold track the musical evolution of Dylan, but he gives the full context of the people who influenced him most, including Guthrie, Seeger, Baez, and more.

The film is not a musical in the traditional sense, but the amount of music in it makes it the next best thing. Rarely does more than a few minutes go by before someone is singing, either on stage, for someone close to them, or as part of the songwriting process. Whether you’re a folk music fan or not, the way the genre is showcased in the film will make you believe in its power and why it was so popular at that particular point in time.

Dylan is famous for his enigmatic personality, and Mangold does a great job of maintaining that elusiveness while still exploring what drove Dylan early in his career. His relationships with Baez and the fictional Sylvie Russo (Elle Fanning) give him some dimension, but why he continually went back-and-forth between them (or why they put up with him) is only lightly explored. The film keeps most of the drama focused on the music, and it’s this decision that makes it as compelling as it is.

Chalamet has been “The Next Big Thing” since his Oscar nomination for Call Me By Your Name, but the combination of the Duneseries, Wonka, and now this has firmly established him as the star he is. His Dylan impersonation (including singing) is subtle-yet-clear, and he has the cool factor that makes him completely believable in the role. The supporting cast is also off-the-charts good, with Norton and Barbaro making the best cases for awards notice.

While 2024 has had its fair share of great movies, A Complete Unknown - in this critic’s opinion - should now be the favorite to win Best Picture at next year’s Oscars. It bucks the trend of mediocre music biopics by giving moviegoers the transporting feeling of what it was like to experience Dylan’s meteoric rise, and why his early songs remain so indelible.

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A Complete Unknown opens in theaters on December 25.

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