*MARY J. BLIGE and JAY-Z, who are in the midst of a historic North American co-headlining tour (The Mary J. Blige & Jay-Z: Heart of the City Tour marks the first time in more than 15 years that an African-American male-female bill of this stature have co-headlined a national concert tour), will be in Connecticut on Thursday, May 8.

Tickets for that Mohegan Sun Arena show will go on sale Friday, March 28, at 10 am, through TicketMaster vendors. Prices are $95, $125 and $150 for seats, and the casino’s box office will begin selling tickets on Saturday if any remain at that time.

*Also going on sale Friday will be tickets for POISON’s return to Connecticut, which will be on Tuesday, July 29, when Bret Michaels (perhaps with the love of his life if he finds her by the end of Rock of Love 2), Rikki, C.C. and Bobby headline at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Tickets for that show are just $35 and $45 and will be available as of 10 am Friday through TicketMaster vendors. They’ll also be available for purchase beginning Saturday morning if the show doesn’t sell out on Friday.

Dokken and Sebastian Bach will have opening sets.

*Classic rock staples CHICAGO and THE DOOBIE BROTHERS are taking a co-headlining tour on the road this summer, and Connecticut will celebrate the Fourth of July with this tour’s stop at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Tickets for the July 4 Chicago-Doobie Brothers show will go on sale Saturday, March 29, through TicketMaster vendors. Prices for this show have been set at $46 and $56. Remaining tickets will also be available through the casino’s box office beginning Sunday if they don’t sell out on Saturday.

*Time to get ready for the annual return of DAVE MATTHEWS BAND. The band will be doing two shows in Hartford this year, playing the Dodge Music Center on Friday and Saturday, June 13-14, with special guest Paolo Nutini.

Tickets are $40.50 for the lawn and $75 for reserved seating, and will be available through LiveNation.com and TicketMaster vendors.

*A few hours later, tickets for THE JONAS BROTHERS and AVRIL LAVIGNE, who will be at the Dodge Music Center on Saturday, July 26, will also be going on sale. These tickets have been set at $27.50 for the lawn and range from $49.50 to $65 and $75 for the pavilion/reserved seating area, and they’ll be available starting at noon Saturday, also through the same vendors.

*Wow, big news last week about PEARL JAM, no? And of course It’s more exciting that not only will the band be going on a ten-date East Coast tour this summer, but they’ll also be coming to Connecticut. The  band will be at the Dodge Music Center on June 27, with Ted Leo and The Pharmacists opening. On-sale dates will be announced within a few days (probably right after my deadline, but I’ll still let you know when I hear something).

*Speaking of things happening after deadline, I didn’t hear about ZZ TOP’s June show at the Chevrolet Theatre until after last week’s deadline had passed. Sorry about that.

Tickets for the June 20 show are $45 and $65 apiece, and are available from LiveNation.com and through TicketMaster vendors.

*The Ridgefield Playhouse is teaming up with a newly opened, smaller, non-seated venue in Danbury, The Hierloom Arts Theatre at 155 Main Street (the former Empress Ballroom), to present acts that would be better suited in a smaller venue than a 500 seated performing arts center. First up will be DIZZY REED, keyboardist for Guns N’ Roses, on April 9 with a special performance by Jizzy Pearl. The  set list will reportedly feature Guns ‘N Roses hits including some deeper cuts from Use Your Illusion I and II, along with a mix of classic rock standards. The band will also be performing some new music from Reed, including music from The Still Life soundtrack (a movie Reed recently wrote music for).

Reed’s new band Hookers & Blow are also planning to perform the music of Love/Hate for the first time in North America in over 15 years, including the MTV hits “Blackout In The Red Room”, “Why Do You Think They Call It Dope?” and “Spinning Wheel.”

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by going online to HeirloomArts.org or at the door the night of the show.

*JEFFERSON STARSHIP, led by Jefferson Airplane founder Paul Kantner and featuring a who’s who of Bay Area luminaries, will play songs of Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Grateful Dead and Quicksilver when they perform “The Great ’68 Airplane-Quick-Dead Show” at The Ridgefield Playhouse for Movies and the Performing Arts on Friday, April 11.

The show will feature special guest Grateful Dead pianist Tom Constanten, Jefferson Starship/Jefferson Airplane founder Paul Kantner, Quicksilver Messenger Service/Jefferson Starship founder David Freiberg, Cathy Richardson (taking over the Grace Slick role), Slick Aguilar, Chris Smith and Donny Baldwin plus Grateful Dead’s original pianist Tom Constanten.

Tickets are $67.50 and can be ordered through the box office at 203-438-5795, or online at RidgefieldPlayhouse.org.

*The original members of ASIA will be performing at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den on Saturday, April 5.

The band is celebrating its first studio album in 25 years and has already begun touring in England. The US tour dates begin on April 4, with Connecticut being the second stop of a six-week United States tour.

The long-awaited new album, however, called Phoenix, won’t be available until April 14, after the show at Mohegan Sun.

*ED ROLAND, the lead singer of alt-rock band Collective Soul, will play a solo show at Mohegan Sun’s Cabaret Theatre on Friday, May 23. Tickets for that performance are $45, and can be purchased at the casino or through TicketMaster.

Meanwhile Roland’s band will be performing a free show at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, where shows are always free but open to the 21-and-over crowd, on Sunday, April 13.

*Music at Mocha this weekend: A new listing for the Glen Road coffeehouse will open the weekend on Friday, March 28.

HOPE SPRINGS – made up of mother Nancy Northrup on guitar and vocals, future son-in-law Mike Fraser on guitar and vocals, and daughter Marissa Mayes on keyboard and vocals – will bring their three-part harmonies and eclectic blend of musical styles to Sandy Hook for a performance on Friday, March 28, from 7:30 to 10. Look forward to some familiar covers and enjoyable originals.

Then on Saturday the stage area will be devoted to JON SLOW whose “recipe of textured, melodic chord progressions, energetic strumming, and bottomless well of  songwriting inspiration have always been the watermark of his musical endeavors.” Jon will be the headliner on Saturday night, from 7:30 to 10, performing from his repertoire of originals and covers.

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 clubs are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

UPCOMING SHOWS

MARCH 28 — Hope Springs at Mocha Coffee House, Sandy Hook; Tim Reynolds & TR3 at Fairfield Theatre Company, Fairfield; Stanley Maxwell at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Café, Hartford;

March 29 — Jon Slow at Mocha Coffee House; Johnny Winter at The Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield; Eight to the Bar at Black-Eyed Sally’s; Tower of Power at Mohegan Sun Wolf Den, Uncasville (also March 30);

March 30 — Tower of Power at Mohegan Sun Wolf Den.

APRIL 3 — Jackson & Mr Council at The Acoustic Café, Bridgeport (Black Rock);

April 4 — The Attic at The Acoustic Café, The Lawnboys opening;

April 5 — Carlos Santana at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, The Derek Trucks Band opening; Asia (original members) at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; Lovewhip at The Acoustic Café;

April 6 — Jackson Browne at The Chevrolet Theatre, Wallingford (solo, acoustic show); The Bacon Brothers at The Ridgefield Playhouse, Chris Barron opening.