FRIDAY 12/6

TEXAS HIPPIE COALITION

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8:30 p.m. Revolution. $12 adv., $15 day of.

One gets the feeling that the dudes in Texas Hippie Coalition named the band that not so much on account of they’re all about peace, love and patchouli, but because the initials are THC. And while they might share thick clouds of dank with their pacifistical namesakes, don’t get to thinking that you’re in for some kinda sunshine and warm fuzzies and organic vegan armpit nugget loaf and herbal tea from Whole Foods. No, these dudes are more like a greasy tamale followed by a shot of habanero vodka chased with a swift kick to the crotch. They’ve got three albums out of what they’ve described as “red dirt metal.” But just in case that description doesn’t do it for you, I came up with a pretty simple formula that I think expresses the THC worldview succinctly: Pantera x ZZ Top / Alice in Chains + Toby Keith + Motorhead’s fashion sense = Texas Hippie Coalition. “Turn it Up” is a total strip-joint anthem about a preacher’s daughter who finds means of employment outside of the flock. Just try to listen to this track and not picture a gal named Stormy wearing clear heels and a smile, tossing her bleach-fried locks to and fro. Or try blasting “Pissed Off and Mad About It” without getting, well, pissed off and mad about it. This show is 18-and-older.

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FRIDAY 12/6

LIVING SACRIFICE

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7 p.m. Downtown Music Hall. $10.

Veteran thrashers Living Sacrifice, one of Arkansas’s longest-running metal bands, have, aside from a five-year hiatus last decade, spent years churning out increasingly complex math-y metalcore. It there’s another more widely critically respected Christian metal band, then I’ve never heard of them. This is a release show for “Ghost Thief,” the band’s eighth studio album. The title is “a reference to the personification of Death,” co-founder and guitarist/vocalist Bruce Fitzhugh recently told metal news site Blabbermouth. “Depending on the circumstance, death can be greeted as an enemy or a friend. We have a few songs that deal with the suddenness and finality of death. ‘Ghost Thief’ and ‘Sudden’ both are inspired by people who died suddenly and unexpectedly. Friends of ours or family members that we were close to.”

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Heavy subject matter indeed. It’s definitely worth noting that this will be one of a handful of the last shows ever at Downtown Music Hall. Owner Samantha Allen announced last month that the all-ages venue would be closing. It’s definitely a bummer for the metal, hip-hop and dance music communities, as Downtown Music was a vital hub for all of those scenes. But it looks like the venue will go out with a bang. Also performing at this show will be psych-metal overlords Rwake, hardcore maniacs God City Destroyers, Fayetteville prog-thrashers Terminus and Little Rock metalcore crew Descended from Wolves.

FRIDAY 12/6-SATURDAY 12/7

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‘SCROOGE! THE MUSICAL’

7:30 p.m. The Weekend Theater. $16-$20.

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The Weekend Theater continues to follow its mission of socially relevant theater even in the holiday season with a production of “Scrooge! The Musical.” Charles Dickens’ holiday classic “A Christmas Carol” is about as timeless and universally familiar as they come, but its message is probably something we could all use a reminder of every once in a while: There are things that are infinitely more important than the maniacal pursuit of the almighty buck. “This whole story was written because of Dickens’ concern about the way the poor were treated, based on his experiences as a child,” director Andy Hall said in a press release. “There really is a lot of meat under the fluff.” The Weekend Theater’s production runs through Dec. 22, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

FRIDAY 12/6-SUNDAY 12/8

HOLIDAY HANG OUT

8 p.m. White Water Tavern. $60 (full pass).

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As far as pure, unbridled, weekend-long rock ‘n’ roll bacchanalia goes, you’d be hard-pressed to top the annual Holiday Hang Out, organized by the good folks of Last Chance Records, Tree of Knowledge and White Water Tavern. This year they’ve got this thing busting at the seams with upwards of a baker’s dozen of some of the finest Americana performers around, an excellent mix of locals and out-of-towners that includes Bonnie Montgomery, Slobberbone, Glossary, Two Cow Garage, Red Collar, Mulehead, JKutchma, Kevin Kerby, John Moreland, John Paul Keith, Isaac Alexander, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Adam Faucett and Ben Nichols. All of those folks will perform over the course of three days at White Water (plus a special in-store performance at Arkansas Record & CD Exchange at 3 p.m. Saturday). There’ll be two nights of Jameson-and-PBR-fueled high-jinks followed by Breakfast, Books & Booze on Sunday, which will allow you intrepid partiers to land softly with the help of eggs, Bloody Marys and some fine literature, all accompanied by some acoustic tunes. You might should’ve already got your pass to this, but there could still be a few tickets available. Check LastChanceRecords.com to find out.

SATURDAY 12/7

JIMMY BUFFETT

8 p.m. Verizon Arena. $49-$159.

Apparently, you Arkansas (and surrounding area) Parrot Heads were rabid enough to warrant a second visit in as many years from Jimmy Buffett and The Coral Reefer Band. Now, last time this crew was in town, back in March of 2012, I went down to the NLR side of the river before the show to take in the epic, SEC-worthy tailgating. Just let me say this: These folks have got partying down to a science to a disconcerting extent. I saw all manner of ingenious inventions, most of which were designed with the sole purpose of expediting, intensifying or otherwise increasing the efficiency of the drinking of booze. Now, it might or might not be pretty cold outside, but odds are that it no matter the weather, it’s gonna be some good tailgating and a festive atmosphere all around Verizon Arena.

SATURDAY 12/7

BIG JINGLE JUBILEE HOLIDAY PARADE AND LIGHTING OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE

3 p.m. Broadway and Second Streets. Free.

One could be forgiven for feeling a bit of antipathy toward the holidays here in The Year of Our Lord Dollar 2013. It’s not easy to get into the spirit these days, what with all of the crass commercialism and conspicuous consumption and crony capitalism and whatnot. It just seems like we’ve lost sight of the whole meaning of the holidays. But maybe, just maybe, we could all put down the credit cards and avoid the mall (or Amazon.com) for one freaking day and just spend some time with our friends and loved ones and do something fun, like watching a Christmas parade and a tree lighting, and we could just focus on the simple good times with the people we care about and not think about all the Black Friday trampling fatalities and mindless consumerism that have defined the holidays these last few years. I don’t know, maybe that’s too old-fashioned. Anyways, the tree-lighting will take place at the State Capitol long about dark.

SATURDAY 12/7

‘BELEW CHRISTMAS’

UPDATE: This has been postponed to Saturday, Dec. 14

7:30 p.m. Wildwood Park. $20-$50.

This should be good times for fans of powerful singing and Christmas tunes: Beebe native and “The Voice” Top 10 finalist Cody Belew will be back in town for an evening of holiday favorites. Belew wrote on his Facebook that “Belew Christmas” promises to be “a magical show of all my favorite holiday songs (with a little ‘Cody’ twist thrown in).” What could that mean? I’m hoping for a searing rendition of The King’s classic “Blue Christmas” delivered in Cody’s trademark soaring vocal style, and maybe some amped-up takes on maybe “Winter Wonderland” and “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Whatever the setlist, I’m sure this won’t disappoint Belew’s home-state fans.

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