The Young Dubliners book The Hall for a Monday night in February

The Santa Monica Celtic-rock band, which has been at it since 1988, plays Little Rock's 9th Street room on Monday, Feb 22, 2027.

A Monday in late February is usually the dead middle of the concert year. The Young Dubliners just took one anyway.

The Celtic-rock band added Monday, Feb. 22, 2027 at The Hall, the Little Rock room at 721 W. 9th St., and the date went on the venue's calendar last week. Tickets are on sale now through AXS, The Hall's ticketing partner. The Hall holds about 1,300, so there's plenty of room for a crowd that's already decided Monday is a night out.

If the name puts you in an Irish pub, you're not far off, but the address is Southern California. The Young Dubliners formed in Santa Monica in 1988 and have been playing Irish-American, guitar-driven Celtic rock ever since. Singer and rhythm guitarist Keith Roberts is the one constant through every lineup change. This is a band built on loud reels, singalong choruses and a rock rhythm section, not a seated folk recital.

They've also been doing it a long time. The band's own site has a new-album pledge drive running. We don't know yet whether that record will be out by February, so treat this as a chance to hear a lot of catalog, with maybe a song or two that's still on the way.

Thirty-plus years of Celtic rock, from Santa Monica to West 9th Street on a Monday in February.

Why The Hall? It's a mid-size, standing-room-friendly room, and that's where a band like this sounds best: big enough for real volume, small enough that the chorus comes back from the floor. A Celtic-rock show is mostly about the crowd singing along, and a room this size makes it easy.

The Little Rock date comes after a fall that kept the band mostly on the West Coast, with October shows at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley and other California stops. February in Arkansas is a different kind of tour.

A few practical notes. Show time and age policy aren't settled yet in what we've seen: the venue's listing and its AXS page don't fully agree, so check The Hall's calendar before you plan around a start time or bring anyone under 21. The band's site is the place to watch for new music before the show.

It's four months away, which is exactly when to buy tickets for a Monday show you'll be glad you went to. Mark it now, and save your voice.

Sources: Upcoming Calendar — Little Rock Hall (littlerockhall.com); The Hall — Little Rock — AXS (axs.com); The Young Dubliners — tickets — AXS (axs.com); The Young Dubliners artist page — AXS (axs.com); The Young Dubliners — official site (youngdubliners.com); Young Dubliners — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)