*Tickets for FALL OUT BOY, who will be at The Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport on Friday, May 5, will be going on sale Saturday morning at 10 am. All seats are $30, and the show will have a general admission floor.

Opening sets will be performed by The All-American Rejects, Hawthorne Heights and From First To Last.

Contact TicketMaster vendors or LiveNation.com for tickets.

*An open mic session will be taking place this weekend at The Last Drop Coffee Shop in Monroe. Newtown musician Jim Allen will be helping to keep things moving late Sunday afternoon between 5 and 7:30 pm.

All are welcome, and there will be a keyboard and amplifier on hand.

The coffee shop is at the intersection of routes 25 and 59, in the same shopping area as Blockbuster’s; it can be reached by calling 445-9797.

*Whether you’re looking for a music fix or a dose of up-close reality TV, Toad’s Place can help you out.

Pack up the family, gather up all the expletives you can muster, pull out your parachute pants and head to New Haven, where BOBBY BROWN (a/k/a Mr Whitney Houston) will be performing on Thursday, January 19. Tickets for the Toad’s Place show are $20 in advance, and doors will open at 7:30 pm. I wouldn’t expect on of reality TV’s biggest divas to be on the stage any time soon after that, but you can at least enter the building at that time…. and start waiting to hear Brown perform “My Prerogative,” among other hits (and misses).

Tickets are available through eTix.com, Strawberries, and the box office at Toad’s Place, 300 York Street.

The show is open to all ages.

For another $25, anyone who wants to can buy their way into a “Special After-Show Party with Bobby Brown,” offering autographs and photo ops with the performer.

*HAT CITY BLUES BAND dropped off a new schedule this week, and the band has plenty of work coming up.

The guys will be at The Georgetown Saloon on January 28, The Lodge in Southbury on February 18, Redding Roadhouse on February 25, The Spot in Bethel on March 11, 59 Bank Street in New Milford on March 18, back at The Spot on April 15, and back at 59 Bank Street on April 22.

*A final reminder that the JOHN CAFFERTY & THE BEAVER BROWN BAND show originally scheduled for this weekend — on Saturday, January 14 — has been rescheduled for Saturday, August 5, at the band’s request. Anyone who may have already purchased tickets for this show should contact the playhouse for info on whether you can hold on to your original tickets and use them in August or if you need to exchange them for tickets with the new date printed on them; call 203-438-5795 or visit www.RidgefieldPlayhouse.org.

*SOL DOG, who I haven’t seen in too long, is back on the road next weekend. Ron, Rev, Mark and Curtiss will be at The Avenue Café in Black Rock on Friday, January 20. I’ll probably miss that show too, but one of these days I’ll get out to see one of the best original rock bands around. In the meantime be sure to buy each of the guys a shot and say Hi for me.

 Until next week I’ll be seeing you... on the road.

Questions and comments should be sent to Shannon Hicks c/o The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown CT 06470, or shannon@thebee.com, or call the office at 426-3141. Shows listed at club locations are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

UPCOMING SHOWS

JANUARY 13 — B.B. King at The Warner Theatre, Torrington; The Derek Trucks Band at The Ridgefield Playhouse, Grace Potter opening; Darik & The Funbags at Toad’s Place, New Haven; Full Blown Chaos at The Webster Underground, Hartford; The Neville Brothers at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, Uncasville;

January 14 — Badfish at Toad’s Place, Fistful of Steel and Dookie opening (all ages); Mickey Thomas at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den;

January 15 — John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den.

January 19 — Bobby Brown at Toad’s Place (all ages);

January 20 — Kid Rock at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville; The Nerds at Toad’s Place, Megahertz opening; Sol Dog at The Avenue Café, Black Rock;

January 21 — Johnny Winter at Toad’s Place, Cobalt Rhythm Kings and Bobby T. opening; The Click Five at The Webster Theater, Hartford; Cameo at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den.

January 22 — The Nelsons at Mohegan Sun’s Cabaret (matinee performance);

January 27 — Less Than Jake at The Webster Theatre, A Wilhelm Scream, Rock & Roll Soldiers and Damone opening (all ages); Rascal Flatts at Mohegan Sun Arena, Keith Anderson opening (also January 28); The Nelsons at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den (also January 28)

January 28 — Blue Oyster Cult at The Ridgefield Playhouse; Rascal Flatts at Mohegan Sun Arena, Keith Anderson opening (also January 27); The Nelsons at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den (also Jan 27); Hat City Blues Band at The Georgetown Saloon.