• Ace Hood plays Clear Channel Metroplex Friday, Dec. 2.

Florida's Ace Hood comes to Little Rock for a show at Clear Channel Metroplex Friday, Dec. 2.

Doors open at 9 p.m. and tickets are available at Rock City Kicks for $15 and Ugly Mike's Records for $22.

The Philander Smith College Choir performs its holiday concert at the Kendall Center Atrium on campus at 7:30 p.m. The choir will also perform Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. Both concerts are free.

For some monstrous blues rock, check out The Sideshow Tragedy at White Water Tavern. The band plays with local country-punk-soul bruisers Jonathan Wilkins and The Reparations, 10 p.m.

All ye Ren Faire folke won't want to miss Ye Olde Madrigal Feaste, in which ye shall be regaled by candlelight with the festive songs of the UCA Chamber Singers, all whilst partaking of prime rib, chicken Florentine or a vegetable plate, if feasting on the beasts of the fielde doth offendeth thee. The revelry beginneth at 7 p.m. each night through Saturday and will set ye backe $40.

• Which will it be, The Street Dogs, left, or The Queers?

Why does this seem to happen so often? Two good, somewhat similar bands play different venues on the same night, and concertgoers are forced to make tough choices. Remember when Nashville Pussy and Honky played the same night a few months ago? Or Dead Confederate and Dead Meadow, both Nov. 4? This occurs more frequently than you'd think would happen in a small market like Little Rock.

Anyways, here we go again. While these headliners don't really sound that much alike, a Venn diagram of their fan bases would probably have a significant intersection. What would be the linchpin band here? I'm gonna say Social Distortion. At least these two shows are in different towns. That might make it easier for some folks to decide.

The Street Dogs are a Boston punk act featuring Mike McColgan — one of the founding members of The Dropkick Murphys — on vocals. The band treads similar territory as the Murphys and Flogging Molly. Think The Pogues plus The Clash times The Replacements divided by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. The band plays White Water Tavern at 9 p.m. and it's only $5. The opening band is Murder the Stout, a Celtic act out of Houston.

Pop-punk legends The Queers are playing Maxine's. The long-running New Hampshire act was one of the mainstays at Lookout Records in the 1990s (until everything seemed to fall apart at the label, with many of its top-selling acts — Screeching Weasel, Operation Ivy, Green Day, Avail, among others — rescinding the rights to their recordings and reissuing them on different labels, as The Queers did). Anyways, that's neither here nor there. The Queers have been at this pop-punk thing since the early '80s and it's cool that they're still going. The opening acts are Reno Divorce, Knock-Out and Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth. It starts at 8 p.m. and is $8 adv., $10 door.

• Charity Vance plays at The Promenade at Chenal Saturday.

Former American Idol contestant and Arkansas native Charity Vance plays at The Promenade at Chenal's annual holiday tree-lighting festivities, which include the concert, a preview of "The Nutcracker" by Ballet Arkansas, a fireworks display and more.

You can get a meeting with Santa Claus himself, a horse-drawn carriage ride ($5) and donate a toy to Toys for Tots.

• Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit play Revolution Saturday night.

JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT
9 p.m. Revolution. $12 adv., $14 d.o.s.

Ever since departing the Drive-By Truckers back in '07, singer, guitarist and songwriter Jason Isbell has wasted exactly no time in getting his solo career going. Since leaving the band, Isbell's notched three studio albums as well as a live one, and they've all been well received.

With his backing band The 400 Unit, Isbell's tunes still swing, but they've got more of a soulful country vibe in contrast to the Truckers' bruising, gritty sound. Isbell's latest, "Here We Rest," starts off with "Alabama Pines," a wistful ode to his homeland, and it ends with "Tour of Duty," a soldier's sigh-of-relief in the form of a homecoming song, replete with smartly drawn observations on all the comforts of home from someone who knows what it is to yearn for them from thousands of miles away.

In between, Isbell examines the lives of various weary and heartbroken souls doing their best to get by in a world that has changed and is changing faster all the time. That might sound like a downer, but the record is anything but.

Adam Faucett & The Tall Grass is a great choice for an opening act at this 18-and-older show.

• Eric Sommer plays Midtown Saturday night.

ERIC SOMMER
12:30 a.m. Midtown. $5.

Here's a performer that seems custom-made to be a perfect fit for the wee hours at Midtown. Eric Sommer's tunes range from rangy slide blues instrumentals to acoustic Kottke-like fingerpicking workouts to songs that recall those quiet, golden gems that Neil Young was absolutely nailing from 1968-1972 and has pretty much owned ever since.

Sommer cut his teeth playing in a power-pop trio at punk dives in Boston before focusing on a solo career that keeps him on the road for 250 or more shows a year. He's played Little Rock several times, so perhaps you caught one of his shows at White Water or Vino's. If not, here's your chance to catch an excellent guitar player and certified road warrior.

• The Schwag pays tribute to The Dead at Stickyz Saturday night.

FRIDAY 11/25

The Loony Bin has your laughs covered for the weekend, with Marc Rubben and Brad Tassel at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. (and at 7 p.m., 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Saturday). It's 18 and older and the cover is $10.

Got a Weakness For Blondes? White Water Tavern does, 9 p.m., $5.

Gino & Tightnoise headline at Cajun's Wharf, playing all the '60s and '70s soul and R&B hits you know and love, with local veteran singer/songwriter Richie Johnson playing happy hour, 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., $5 after 8:30.

If you're looking for a late night full of roots-y country that has a bite to it, look no further: Montgomery Trucking takes the stage at Midtown at half past midnight, $5.

The Afterthought has eclectic piano man Tim Anthony for a night of jazz, funk, soul and more, 9 p.m., $7.

Markham Street Grill and Pub has White Collar Criminals, 9 p.m., free.

SATURDAY 11/26

DJs Ewell, Rufio, Jason Crawley and Brandon Peck keep the hits spinning at Discovery Nightclub. Performers include Dominique, Whitney Paige and Taylor Madison Monroe, 9 p.m., $12.

The banjo-wielding troubadour and former Damn Bullet Joe Sundell is in town for a set at Pizza D'Action, 9:30 p.m., $3.

This should be a no-brainer for all you Deadheads. The Schwag, out of St. Louis, is one of the longest-running Grateful Dead tribute acts going. The band plays an 18-and-older show at Stickyz, 9 p.m., $8 over 21, $10 under 21.

• Frown Pow'r plays Maxine's Friday night with Bloodless Cooties and Ezra Lbs.

FROWN POW'R
8 p.m. Maxine's. $5 adv., $7 door.

Frown Pow'r got started bashing around in a garage down in Arkamadelphia before moving on over to rampage in the Capital City. The band cut "Don't Doubt It, Shout It!" for Thick Syrup Records, an album that will satisfy that burning question that many people (well, maybe just me) have been pondering: What might it sound like if the Sic Alps had been from Memphis?

That is to say, the band plays messy roots-psych-pop with enough WTF?-ness to keep your ears on their toes. At 2:40, "Keep the Bores at Bay" is a tasty little jangle-pop petit four that would work wonders on a mix tape sandwiched in between, say, The Byrds and The Soft Boys. Or Missing Foundation and Dagmar Krause. Who knows? Get crazy.

Also playing are Little Rock acts Bloodless Cooties and Ezra Lbs. The former is a long-running outfit that shoves all your fave garage rock classics through a blender made out of squealing feedback and broken glass, while the latter band traffics in rock that could loosely be described as Pavement-esque, with hints of Mascis-ian guitar loudness.

• Mulehead plays Stickyz Friday night with Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth.

MULEHEAD
9 p.m. Stickyz. $10.

You probably already know the story with Mulehead: 'long about the late '90s, Kevin Kerby, the poet-philosopher and chronicler of youthful languor, departs Ho-Hum, one of the best and best-loved bands to come out of Little Rock in the last 20 years.

Along with rock yeomen Dave Raymond, Brent LaBeau and Geoff Curran, Kerby starts Mulehead, which, with a bit of luck, a lot of talent and (probably) a not insignificant amount of JB Weld, proves to be another one of the best and best-loved bands to come out of Little Rock in the last 20 years.

Mulehead proceeds to cut several albums' worth of superb country rock 'n' roll as good as nearly any by its peers (and a damn sight better than most). Our heroes record their third album, "Finer Thing," and then break up just afterward. Then a few years later, they get back together and start playing the odd show here and there, which is excellent.

The opening act is the venerable Brother Andy & His Big Damn Mouth.