*Two weeks from new, a trio of bands will be performing at The Garage – Newtown’s teen center on Church Hill Road – in a concert where their proceeds will be used to help victims of the December 26 tsunamis in southeast Asia.

Kel Bowers is the musician behind this event. The Newtown resident is a member of the alt-rock band SALANUM, one of the bands that will be performing on January 28. Also scheduled to play that night are THERE GOES BILL and KAMIKAZE PILOTS, two ska bands.

Admission will be just $5, and the event will run from 7 to 11 pm.

Contact Kel at 270-3555 or KelDrumz@aol.com for additional information.

*Tickets are going on sale this weekend for GOV’T MULE, who will be returning to Connecticut on February 26. Tickets for their show at the Oakdale Theatre are all $25 and will be going on sale Saturday morning at 10. Visit the Oakdale’s box office or any TicketMaster vendor in person, or call TicketMaster to charge tickets.

*Also on sale Saturday at 10 are tickets for the first announced show this year at The Meadows. The Hartford amphitheater will be hosting a special indoor show on Friday, March 4, with SLIPKNOT headlining. Opening sets will be by LAMB OF GOD, SHADOWS FALL and GIZMACHI.

Tickets are $35, and there will be a limited number of General Admission Pit Tickets available. Be sure to specify it if you want those tickets.

The Meadows box office is currently closed, so Slipknot tickets will be available at the Oakdale box office and TicketMaster vendors as well. There will be no service charge on these tickets if you purchase them in person at the Oakdale this Saturday.

*DARIK & THE FUNBAGS may have the headlining slot tonight at Toad’s Place, but GREEN INSIDE will also be having a big night. The guys are celebrating the release of their latest CD.

Tickets are $8.50 ion advance, $10 at the door, and the show will also include opening work by The Gamma Rays and Milo.

Next weekend at Toad’s Place ZOX is returning as openers for BADFISH, the Sublime tribute band. Tickets for that show, which will be on January 21, are just $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Zox is the band that Newtown native Spencer Swain has been working with for a while now, and the full band has been earning awards and picking up fans from across the country.

*A New England legend, EIGHT TO THE BAR will be at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Café next weekend. The band will be at the restaurant and music venue in Hartford on Friday, January 21.

The following night the headliners will be THE GEORGE BOONE BLUES BAND, and then on January 27 the headliner is D. SMITH SBLUES BAND. The band, formed in November 1989 (as The D. Smith Blues Project), won The Connecticut Blues Society’s Talent Search 1998, and has been a finalist of the society’s Blues Challenge in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2004.

POPA CHUBBY BAND returns to the Hartford venue on January 29.

*R&B legend ISAAC HAYES will be appearing at The Cabaret Theatre at Mohegan Sun from February 23 to February 27. Show times are 7:30 pm Wednesday through Friday, 8 pm on Saturday, and 7 pm on Sunday. Admission for all shows is $25 and tickets are on sale now through all TicketMaster vendors.

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 CONCERTS

JANUARY 14 — Joey Belladonna at The Webster Theatre, Hartford, X-It opening; Off The Hook at The Rathskeller, Southbury; Darik & The Funbags at Toad’s Place, New Haven, Green Inside (CD release party), The Gamma Rays and Milo opening (all ages); Sonny Rhodes Blues Band at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues café, Hartford; Danny Kalb Trio at Towne Crier Café, Pawling, N.Y., Paul Geremia opening;

January 15 — Mountain featuring Rick Derringer at The Ridgefield Playhouse; Off The Hook at Jacob Marley’s, Orange; Sol Dog at Café 127, Shelton; Mighty Purple at Toad’s Place, The SMYRK, Mike Errico, Eschellon and Home By Midnight opening (all ages); Cameo at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, Uncasville; Clarence Spady Band at Black-Eyed Sally’s; The Nerds at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury;

January 16 — Bile at The Webster Theatre, Circus of Dead Squirrels, Lil Bunny and Transfixed opening (all ages); Joan Jett & The Blackhearts at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den;

January 20 — George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic at Toad’s Place (all ages);

January 21 — Eight To The Bar at Black-Eyed Sally’s; New Edition at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theatre; Badfish at Toad’s Place, Zox and Vertigo opening; Chuck Negron at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den;

January 22 — Gregg Allman & Friends at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; Kick at Tuxedo Junction; George Boone Blues Band at Black-Eyed Sally’s; Johnny A. at Towne Crier Café;

January 23 — The Toasters at The Webster Theatre, featuring Supervillians, Three Years Accident Free, et al (all ages).