WEDNESDAY 11/28
Fans of swampy, sludgy Southern metal would be advised not to skip Black Tusk, playing Downtown Music Hall with Iron Tongue, Crankbait and Red Devil Lies, 8 p.m., $10. This month's installment of Science After Dark is billed "Food Fusion — Twisting Food with Science," 21-and-older, with cash bar available, Museum of Discovery, 6 p.m., $5.
THURSDAY 11/29
If you holiday season's just not complete without catching Handel's "Messiah," then check out this rendition, from The Arkansas Choral Society, The University Vesper Choir from University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, First Pentecostal Church, 7:30 p.m., $10-$15. White Water Tavern has a KABF 88.3 Benefit Show, with heavy tunes from Mothwind, Calcabrina and Mainland Divide, 10 p.m., $5. The UALR Trojans take on Troy, with the women's teams facing off at 5:15 p.m. and the men's at 7:30 p.m., Jack Stephens Center, UALR, $5-$38.
FRIDAY 11/30
Veteran Memphis pop-punkers Pezz play White Water Tavern with The See, whose members have hinted that the band might play new songs, 9:30 p.m. Post-hardcore fans, Downtown Music Hall has you covered, with Horizons, Lions Lions, City Lights, Carousel Kings, As Tall As Giants and Saints And Marauders, 7 p.m., $10 adv., $12 door. Set the Controls: The Pink Floyd Experience recreates the sights and sounds of the Floyd at an all-ages show at Revolution, 9 p.m., $10 adv., $12 day of. The Fourth Annual Creative Expressions Art Exhibition and Sale showcases works from artists who have been diagnosed with mental illness and have participated in the Creative Expressions art group. The exhibit includes live music, refreshments and more, Arkansas State Hospital, 5 p.m., free. The Clinton Presidential Center hosts the largest traveling portion of the AIDS Memorial Quilt for World AIDS Day, including quilts for Keith Haring, Freddie Mercury, Rock Hudson, Arthur Ashe and more. The names of people who died of AIDS will be read for 24 hours beginning at 5 p.m.
SATURDAY 12/1
White Water Tavern hosts a record release show for the oddball psych-pop trio Winston Family Orchestra. Opening the show are lo-fi charmers The Sea Nanners, 10 p.m., $5. The Fifth Annual Celebration of Lights includes a tree-lighting, visit from Santa, Make-a-Wish donation drive, prizes, light show and more, The Promenade at Chenal, noon. The Big Jingle Jubilee and Capitol Lighting 2012 Parade begins at Broadway and Second streets at 2 p.m. and continues to the State Capitol for a lighting ceremony and fireworks after dark.