Friday, Dec. 14 — Every Time I Die, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based “mathcore” metal band, released its sixth studio album, “Ex Lives,” on Epitaph Records earlier this year and it quickly became the band’s most commercially successful album to date, even hitting the Billboard Charts. On Tuesday, the band brings its progressive form of metal to an all-ages show at The Loft.

Wednesday, Jan. 23 — Castle, a San Francisco-based doom metal band, released its second thrash-inspired studio album, “Blacklands,” on Prosthetic Records late last year. Fronted by Elizabeth Blackwell, the trio stands tall in a genre full of female-fronted bands.

Thursday, March 7 — Sword swallowers, fire eaters, acrobats and music. Just a typical night for The Lil’ Darlins Vaudeville Troupe, which performs Sunday night at The Loft in Lansing.