A jam-packed weekend of music awaits. Let us help you start planning your schedule

As the weather warms the music scene continues to heat up, and Friday this week is especially jam-packed.

THURSDAY, May 16: The Smack Dabs take stage at the Spire Center in Plymouth

Roadrunner in Allston hosts Whale Jam, a special concert benefit for the preservation of right whales, with a unique lineup of famous musicians; Marc Roberge from the band O.A.R., Jonathan Russell from The Head & Heart, The Back Seat Lovers' Joshua Harmon, The Revivalists' David Shaw and more. The charming rootsy sounds of The Smack Dabs at the Spire Center in Plymouth. Blues princess Shemekia Copeland sure to light up the Narrows Center in Fall River. The fiddle/guitar duo known as Golden Shoals performs at Club Passim in Harvard Square. Boston-bred alt-rockers Jukebox the Ghost open a three-night stand at The Sinclair in Cambridge.  The jazz sextet Unisphere gets down at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston. "New Normal" singer/songwriter Cooper Alan takes over The Paradise Rock Club in Boston. Guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel is at Cary Hall in Lexington. The Lords of Acid, with Praga Khan rock Brighton Music Hall.

FRIDAY, May 17: Booty Vortex takes over Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke

Acoustic blues master Chris Smither headlines the Narrows Center in Fall River, with old pal Peter Mulvey opening. Neil Young and Crazy Horse blast off at The Xfinity Center (Great Woods) in Mansfield. TV comics Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood are at Plymouth's Memorial Hall. Disco mavens Booty Vortex get Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke moving and groovin'. Boston blues stars Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers hit The C Note in Hull. Comedian Nick Griffin has the Spire Center in Plymouth in stitches. Heartbreaker – an all-female Led Zeppelin tribute – shakes up The District Center for the Arts in Taunton. Blues-rock titan Anders Osborne heats up City Winery in Boston. Buck Meek of the band Big Thief, with Jolie Holland, rock the Crystal Ballroom in Somerville.  The Fallout Shelter in Norwood offers folk-rock songwriter Amelia White and her band, with Norwell's Les Sampou opening. Boston rocker Magen Tracy at The Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. Hermanos Gutierrez – Ecuadorian music via Switzerland – at Royale in Boston. Swedish metal band Soen at Brighton Music Hall. Saxman Mike Flanagan and his quintet debut at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston. Exquisite pop and R&B vocalist Madeleine Peyroux is at The Wilbur Theater in Boston. The pop septet Wild Child raises heck at The Paradise Rock Club in Boston. Rapper Fivio Foreign holds forth at The House of Blues in Boston. More local options:  the alt-folk sounds of Glenn Echo at the Old Colony YMCA in Stoughton; acoustic blues with Mark T. Small at The Church Hill Coffeehouse in Norwell; and Quincy folk-rocker Suzanne McNeil is all over the South Shore, tonight at Stevie G's in Rockland, Saturday at Donahue's in Holbrook, and Sunday at The Pour Yard in Quincy.

SATURDAY, May 18:  Tribute bands take the stage in multiple venues

The acclaimed tribute to Aerosmith, led by Hingham's Neil Byrnes, Draw the Line rocks out at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke. The Spire Center in Plymouth has The Linda Ronstadt Experience, a tribute to that pop music icon, and it features American Idol alumna Tristan McIntosh. Blüfish tops a night of yacht rock at The C Note in Hull. The String Cheese Incident jams at MGM Music Hall in Boston.  The Avett Brothers are in concert at The Stage at Suffolk Downs in Revere. Gold Dust Refugee is a neat concept; a band celebrating the music of Fleetwood Mac and Tom Petty, at The District Center for the Arts in Taunton.  The Montreal blues septet called Durham City Poets heats up The Fallout Shelter in Norwood. The down-home sounds of the Soggy Po' Boys at The Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. Chris Smither and Peter Mulvey move on to City Winery in Boston. The jazz-inflected folk of Canadian Kaia Kater at Club Passim in Cambridge. Noted songsmith and raconteur Vance Gilbert is at Mansfield's Rose Garden Coffeehouse. The funky jazz of Marion Meadows gets Scullers Jazz Club in Boston groovin,' Orgy and three other bands bring metal fire to Brighton Music Hall. Roadrunner offers James Arthur, the rock and pop star first known as the winner of TV's The X Factor (2012). The Michele Rockwell Band gets down at Tolson's Tap and Tavern in Pembroke.

SUNDAY, May 19:  The C Note in Hull hosts benefit for The Anchor of Hull

Sunday starts early with the Shady Roosters at the Spire Center in Plymouth at 2 p.m.; also at 2 p.m. The C Note in Hull hosts a multi-act, no-alcohol benefit for The Anchor of Hull with Brendan Ryan, Ed Sorrentino's Jazz Quartet and more; 4-8 p.m. Players in Rockland has the blues jam hosted by the Michele Rockwell Band.  Sunday night, Chris & Meredith Thompson harmonize at Club Passim in Cambridge; while the German techno band Electric Callboy hits MGM Music Hall in Boston; Deko raps at Brighton Music Hall; and The Wilbur Theater in Boston welcomes Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, one of the best products of the "great swing scare of 1995" – that's right, they're celebrating 30 years of swinging.

Coming attractions

MONDAY: 90's rockers Echo & the Bunnymen are sure to get the House of Blues in Boston hopping.

TUESDAY:  Songsmith Amos Lee headlines MGM Music Hall in Boston.

WEDNESDAY: The female folk group Della Mae opens two nights at Club Passim in Cambridge. Bodysnatcher is at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston and we don't mean Mike McCallum (shout out to boxing fans), but instead the Florida metalcore group.

BOSTON CALLING: The three-day Boston Calling Festival opens May 24 at the Harvard Athletic Fields, with Ed Sheeran topping Friday's bill; country's Tyler Childers the putative top of Saturday's bill, although we know Scituate's Ward Hayden & the Outliers is the best band on that lineup; and Sunday's finale features The Killers and blues guitar prodigy Christone Kingfish Ingram.

MAY 24:  Psychic medium Patty Griffin visits the Spire Center in Plymouth; while New Orleans sounds envelop the Narrows Center in Fall River with Sonny Landreth and The Iguanas.

MAY 25: If you find tickets for the Stones at Gillette too pricey, check out The Blushing Brides' peerless Rolling Stones' tribute at The District Center for the Arts in Taunton.

MAY 29: It seems an odd venue for a punk rock revue, but Big Night Live in Boston hosts The Damned and The Dictators.

MAY 30: Mick Jagger and your favorite octogenarian rockers turn up at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, and even Bob Kraft will be rockin'.

THE TENT CIRCUIT:  The South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset doesn't open until June 18 when The Turtles' Happy Together Tour returns, but the Cape Cod Melody Tent gets an early jump, with country star Brantley Gilbert with a show on June 2, and Holliston's gift to country music, Jo Dee Messina, on June 9.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: As the weather heats up, so do the musical options