Kansas City concerts: Bob Weir, Ryan Hurd, Allen Stone, Young Dolph, Deborah Brown

The atmosphere during Roddy Ricch’s appearance at the Uptown Theater in February was as giddy as a bounce house at a birthday party for a 10-year-old. More than 2,000 excitable rap fans packed the venue to hear the rap prodigy. Young Dolph’s concert will incite a similar form of teen hysteria as admirers of the Memphis artist rap along to streetwise lyrics like “smuggling narcotics was my calling” on hits including “Major.” With Key Glock. 816-753-8665. Tickets are $35-$45 through uptowntheater.com.

Deborah Brown is Kansas City’s most accomplished jazz vocalist. Her international reputation and frequent globetrotting provide her access to jazz’s inner circles. While reading the 2018 biography “Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon,” Brown was struck by her many connections to the late jazz giant. She’s celebrating her affinity with Gordon at two area concerts. A band led by St. Louis drummer Montez Coleman will feature appropriately brash solos from Tennessee-based saxophonist Greg Tardy. Friday: 913-469-4445. Tickets are $35 through jccc.edu/carlsen-center-presents. Saturday: 785-843-2787. Tickets are $25 through lawrenceartscenter.org.

Ryan Hurd croons, “You want a record with some reverb, backbeat and low light,” on “To a T.” As with the rest of the material he’s released as a solo country artist, the sultry song of seduction achieved only moderate chart success. Yet Nashville insiders consider Hurd an unqualified winner. Not only is he married to country star Maren Morris, Hurd is an elite songwriter. He helped compose hits for Florida Georgia Line, Blake Shelton and Lady Antebellum. With Adam Doleac and Joey Hyde. 816-283-9900. Tickets are $10-$20 through arvestbanktheatre.com.

Galactic didn’t become one of the most successful party bands in New Orleans by replicating the sounds of the past. While firmly rooted in classic jazz, soul and funk, members of Galactic including accomplished drummer Stanton Moore have displayed an eagerness to embrace trends since the collective’s inception more than 25 years ago. Featuring new lead vocalist Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, Galactic’s latest single, “Float Up,” is designed to be played alongside contemporary pop and R&B hits. 816-483-1456. Tickets are $28-$38.50 through knuckleheadskc.com.

Bob Weir was the youngest member of the core lineup of the Grateful Dead. At 72, Weir retains the boyish enthusiasm that made him the spark plug of the profoundly influential jam band. The guitarist and vocalist is touring in a trio format. Don Was, the music industry raconteur who’s the current president of Blue Note Records, is Weir’s bassist. Weir’s longtime collaborator Jay Lane plays drums on the trio’s fresh readings of Dead classics like “Jack Straw,” “Ripple” and “Friend of the Devil.” 816-283-9900. Tickets are $39.50-$99.50 through arvestbanktheatre.com.

Before bands such as Soccer Mommy and Snail Mail became darlings of the indie-rock community, Julia Steiner created similar sounds in comparative anonymity as the leader of the Chicago band Ratboys. Steiner’s macabre sense of humor might impede her popularity. She titled a song about the delayed burial of her family’s cat “Elvis in the Freezer.” Ratboys’ excellent new album, “Printer’s Devil,” possesses all the sadness but little of the defeatism of Steiner’s more heralded contemporaries. With Stary and Employer. 816-442-8179. Tickets are $10 through theriotroom.com.

“Someday We’ll Linger in the Sun,” the wondrous song Gaelynn Lea performed in her winning entry of the 2016 edition of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, grows more ethereal each passing year. She possesses an uncommon knack for combining ancient sounds with progressive forms of folk music. The unequivocal talent of the Minnesota vocalist, fiddler and songwriter makes her congenital disability a secondary part of Lea’s narrative. Even so, she uses her newfound celebrity to advocate for arts education and disability rights. With Betse & Clarke. 816-753-5207. Tickets are $10 through therecordbar.com.

Justin Timberlake may not know it, but he’s no longer the world’s best blue-eyed soul singer. Allen Stone doesn’t have Timberlake’s matinee idol looks nor was he provided a head start through membership in a successful boy band, but his glorious voice has gradually made Stone a star. The Washington native delivers love songs like “Consider Me” and “Unaware” with a passionate gracefulness worthy of comparison to Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson and Luther Vandross. With Samm Henshaw. 816-205-8560. Tickets are $25 through thetrumankc.com.

This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Kansas City concerts: Bob Weir, Ryan Hurd, Allen Stone, Young Dolph, Deborah Brown."