"Diversity" is the word of the week for Alamo City music fans.
We've got locally based practitioners of blues-rock, indie-rock and darkwave taking to San Antonio stages. And we've also got touring acts ranging from a Mexican R&B songstress to one of the heavyweights of the electro-industrial scene topping bills around the city.
Let's take a look.
Wednesday, April 5
A. Wright
Though his sound is based in blues rock, San Antonio-based guitarist A. Wright isn't afraid to stretch the boundaries, using a picking style that can evoke Spanish flamenco. Wright performs acoustically, though conjures up a larger sound than one might expect. Listeners can get a solid taste of his musical approach and soulful vocals on his recent single "Pancho's Guitar." $10-$45, 8 p.m., Sam's Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — Mike McMahan
Thursday, April 6
Girl Ultra
Mariana De Miguel was born and raised in Mexico City, and a love of Destiny's Child and Beyonce sparked her interest in R&B and eventually in Erykah Badu and D'Angelo. Girl Ultra emerged out of the ashes of a high school band to which she belonged. Girl Ultra's 2019 album Nuevos Aires garnered critical acclaim with its mesmerizing Mexican R&B sound, and it featured "DameLove," a collaboration with Cuco. The track is a bilingual back-and-forth that De Miguel she described in a National Public Radio interview as a "smoke and makeup song." $23, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary's St., papertigersatx.com. — Danny Cervantes
Skinny Puppy, Lead Into Gold
Formed in 1982 in Vancouver, Skinny Puppy is proof not everything from Canada is pleasant. By fusing jarring noise, eerie atmospherics and dance floor-ready beats, the pioneering industrial group has influenced a legion of acts including Front Line Assembly, Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. Bandleaders cEvin Key and Nivek Ogre have remained constant fixtures over Skinny Puppy's tumultuous history and are looking to give fans all the noise and disturbing stage spectacle they can handle on what's being billed as their farewell tour. $48.88 and up, 8 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary's St., (210) 812-4355, theaztectheatre.com. — DC
Friday, April 7
Spike Hellis, Semantix, LLORA, Night Ritualz, Zen Hander
LA's Spike Hellis is headlining a stacked and eclectic bill of industrial dance music. The group's minimal-but-danceable synthwave sounds are rounded out with a variety of vocal samples. Other high points of the night's lineup include Semantix, featuring Keaton Khonsair of Narrowhead, as well as San Antonio's darkwave-influenced Zen Hander. $18-$24, 8 p.m., Paper Tiger, 2410 N. St. Mary's St., papertigersatx.com. — MM
Saturday, April 8
Dying Fetus, Suicide Silence, Born of Osiris, Aborted, Sanguisugabogg
This stop on the aptly named Chaos & Carnage Tour will provide so much of those titular elements that it has to the decidedly un-rock 'n' roll start time of 4:30 p.m. Speaking of telltale monikers, headliner Dying Fetus' pretty much lays it on the line about what to expect from the band's sound: brutal death metal. The bill also includes other heavy hitters in that heaviest-hitting of rock subgenres, including co-headliner Suicide Silence, Born of Osiris, Aborted and the cryptically named Sanguisugabogg, which has been much hyped for its gurgling take on gore-obsessed extreme metal. $30-$35, 4:30 p.m., Vibes Underground, 1223 E. Houston St., (210) 255-3833, facebook.com/vibesunderground. — MM
Mary Maria, Cyan Drive, Street Lamp, Inoha
Gritty guitars, peppy drums and the introspective lyricism tie these San Antonio-based bands together with one big bow. However, each is influenced by a unique corner of the indie-rock canon. Math rock-inspired Mary Maria layer their lyrics over frenzied, complex riffs, while Cyan Drive aims at a laidback, dreamy soundscape. INOHA boasts polished, thematically driven tracks that each stand on their own. For its part, Street Lamp lays down a funky rendition of alternative rock. $10, 8:30 p.m., Hash Vegan Eats, 5007 S. Flores St., (210) 332-9244, hashveganeatery.com. — Dalia Gulca
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