No musician could have scripted this chill-out concert more appropriately. Just like a would-be episode of MTV’s Unplugged, Scotland’s Fran Healy & Andy Dunlop (of Travis fame) played an all acoustic set of their most celebrated songs and rare gems Wednesday night before an intimate crowd at the Granada Theater in Dallas. For most of the evening, their tunes were played in chronological order, complemented by very funny and sometimes charming anecdotes with an entertaining slide show.

Healy entered the stage solo to start the night, sporting a generic solid t-shirt and denim jeans, and offered some self-deprecating humor about his childhood. He must have felt the warm welcome as he played tunes in front of a hanging sign that read "Glasgow Times Presents." The Scot then played a dreamy ballad, Twenty that was dedicated to his teenage roots and miscellaneous childhood follies. It's hard not to be amused by this very humorous stanza, “it’s hard to accept the role you're given … when sitting there staring at the ceiling … when you're thirteen.”

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The Irish foursome delivered an awe-inspiring performance in front of a packed house at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Monday night, featuring a powerhouse set list of new, old and classic rock covers. U2 dazzled their fans with an array of vibrant multicolored (LED) and spinning LCD lights during several of their top tunes, including ones from Achtung Baby, Joshua Tree and the new No Line On The Horizon (NLOTH).

The Dubliners began their spectacular set list with the soulful rock ballad, Breath (from NLOTH), featuring the quintessential crooning from Bono. As with many of the band’s new tunes, this track is more emotionally impactful while delivered live as opposed to their studio album version.

The dance pop track Get On Your Boots was transformed into dynamite rock n’ roll track filled with battering-ram style percussion from Larry Mullen Jr., fierce guitar grooves from The Edge and thunderous drums by Adam Clayton.

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In front of a near capacity crowd of rowdy, proud and loud fandom, Kings of Leon (KOL) stormed through their discography Wednesday night, but their efforts were thwarted by an imperfect sound quality at the American Airlines Center. Despite national recognition for the Center’s impeccable acoustics, some of the artist’s most celebrated tunes were marred by poor technical direction by Center officials. The band’s few remarkable performances of the night came from their latest album, 2009’s Only By Night.

The Nashville foursome began their eclectic set with their slow-space jam, Closer, featuring computer-generated, sci-fi electronically driven beats and seductive crooning vocals by Guitarist/Lead Caleb Followill. But most of their instrumental effects were hampered by dismal acoustics arrangement and a poor speaker system at the Center. Much of Followill’s scintillating ballad was muffled with static and feedback distortion.

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Depeche Mode returned to Dallas at the Superpages.com Center to rock n’ rave through new material and provide a few new takes on some vintage classics. Earlier this summer, DM received a major setback when band leader Dave Gahan canceled several European shows to have a malignant tumor removed. Fortunately, Gahan and Co.’s performance provides solid evidence that Depeche Mode has returned to form without missing a beat.

The foursome entered the stage to play the trip-hop new track, In Chains (from the new album Sounds of the Universe), featuring a controversial graphics screen of a wise old man and what appeared to be a black refugee child. By the end of the song, the two had morphed into one another. Despite fans’ unfamiliarity with the new tune, many concertgoers were lively and actively dancing from their seats.

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