*The ZZ TOP show at Mohegan Sun Casino on January 28 is sold out. However, if you want to see the band bad enough, there are tickets still available for this weekend’s show — the band is at Hartford Civic Center tonight (January 21) with LYNYRD SKYNYRD. Of course, if you’re really any kind of fan of either of those bands you already knew that… This was just a reminder for you procrastinators out there.

* Tickets are still available for the BEN HARPER & THE INNOCENT CRIMINALS show at the Palace Theatre in New Haven later this month. The band headlines the College Street theatre on Monday, January 31. Tickets for the show, which is part of the tour to support Harper’s latest release, Burn To Shine, are all $21.

*KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD will return to Connecticut this season. The young guitar protégé has a show scheduled on Tuesday, March 14, at Toad’s Place. Tickets are available for $20 in advance, or $22.50 the night of the show. Showtime is set for 8:30, and there is no opener as of now.

*The INDIGO GIRLS are also returning, this time to Jorgensen Auditorium at UConn Storrs. The girls will be performing a concert on Thursday, February 17. As is tradition with most college-based shows, tickets for this concert are going to be made available to UConn students first, with the remainders available to the public two days later. The public will have a chance at tickets beginning Friday, January 28.

In addition to the 8 pm concert in Storrs, Amy Ray and Emily Saliers will be at a question-and-answer program at 3 pm that afternoon. Admission is $10 for that.

*KORN is expected to be playing March 28 at Hartford Civic Center, although tickets have not yet been put on sale nor is the date on the official calendar at the civic center’s Web site. Hang in there, though. The date seems solid, and tickets are already being sold for the band’s March 30 show at Worcester Centrum. STAIND will be opening.

*Tickets are available for MACY GRAY’s first appearance in the state. The singer, who was on “Saturday Night Live” just last weekend, will be at The Webster Theatre in Hartford on February 13.

Speaking of The Webster, another just-added show is a February 5 appearance by a group calling itself BLUE FLOYD. The band has members from THE ALLMAN BROTHERS, THE DICKEY BETTS BAND, GOV’T MULE and THE BLACK CROWES.

*THE NERDS will celebrate their fifth anniversary with a concert at Tuxedo Junction in Danbury on March 3. Special guest will be The Notions.

 

 

Until next week, I’ll be seeing you... on the road, hoping to hear some closer-to-home tour dates for Mother Melissa.

Questions and comments should be sent to Shannon Hicks, c/o Bee Publishing Co., 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown 06470, or shannon@thebee.com. Include a phone number for confirmation, please. If you don’t have a stamp or a piece of paper or a writing utensil that works, give me a call! The phone number at the office is 426-3141. Shows listed on the calendar at club locations are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

 

UPCOMING CONCERTS

JANUARY 21 — Peter Obre at The Inn at Newtown; Big Orange Cone at Tuxedo Junction; Shakedown at Toad’s Place (all ages), Smoke the Prophet and Pepper Jive opening;

January 22 — Peat Moss & The Fertilizers at Tuxedo Junction; Lucinda at Bank Street Coffee House, New Milford;

January 23 — Jimmie’s Chicken Shack at The Webster Theatre, Joydrop and Sumack opening (all ages);

January 27 — Cowboy Mouth at Toad’s Place (all ages), The Uninvited and Paul Sanchez opening;

January 28 — Peter Obre at The Inn at Newtown; The Nerds at Tuxedo Junction; Simple Jim at Toad’s Place, Paradise Vendors and Jive Bone opening; Indigo Girls at UConn’s Jorgensen Auditorium, Storrs;

January 29 — Sol Dog at Jimmie’s Seaside, Stratford; Sans Cherubs and Hash Clyde at Laszlo’s Arts Café; The Wallbangers at Tuxedo Junction; Merle Saunders at Towne Crier Café, Pawling, N.Y., Tom Pacheco opening;

January 31 —Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals at the New Haven Palace.

FEBRUARY 4 — Sol Dog at Café 127, Shelton; Guster at The Webster Theatre, Hartford; Black 47 at Toad’s Place, New Haven; Screaming Broccoli at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury;

February 5 — The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction; Blue Floyd at The Webster Theatre;

February 8 — Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Toad’s Place (all ages);

February 10 — Sol Dog at Jimmie’s Seaside, Stratford (showcase night for original music); The Derek Trucks Band at Toad’s Place (all ages), Soulive opening;

February 11 — Scream at Tuxedo Junction; The Moody Blues at the Oakdale, Wallingford; Max Creek at Toad’s Place (all ages);

February 12 — Treblehook at Newtown Coffee House, Newtown; The Wallbangers at Tuxedo Junction;

February 13 — Macy Gray at The Webster Theatre;

February 18 — The Nerds at Tuxedo Junction;

February 19 — Darik & The Funbags at Tuxedo Junction;

February 24 — Fiona Apple at the Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford;

February 25 — Suzanne Vega at Towne Crier Café, Pawling, N.Y., Willie Porter opening; The Benjamins at Tuxedo Junction; Max Creek at The Webster Theatre;

February 26 — Future Tense at Tuxedo Junction;

February 28 — Cowboy Junkies at Toad’s Place (all ages).

MARCH 3 — The Nerds at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury (band’s 5th Anniversary Party), The Notions opening;

March 4 — LFO at The Webster Theatre, Hartford (all ages);

March 5 — Blue Floyd at The Webster Theatre;

March 11 — The Broke & Hungry Blues Band at Newtown Coffee House, Newtown;

March 14 — Kenny Wayne Shepherd at Toad’s Place.

eMarch 19 — BR5-49 at Toad’s Place, New Haven;

March 20 — Buckwheat Zydeco at Towne Crier Café, Pawling, N.Y.;

March 28 — Korn at Hartford Civic Center, Staind opening (no tickets yet).

APRIL 8 — Dave DeAngelis & Friends at Newtown Coffee House, Newtown;

April 12 —Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at Hartford Civic Center.

JULY 24 —The Slackers at The Webster Theatre, Hartford.

AUGUST 23-24 — Eddie Money at Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville.