*HAT CITY BLUES BAND will be performing a benefit concert for Newtown Youth Services next month. Ron Caruso, Gary LeVan, David Lott, Bill Morris and Ed Pryzby will be in The Alexandria Room of Edmond Town Hall in Newtown on Friday, May 16. The show is expected to run from 7:30 to 10:30, donations at the door are $8, and all proceeds will benefit NYS.

The band is currently seeking sponsors. For details on that contact David Lott at 270-9357. Additional information will also be presented in next week’s Enjoy section.

*Tickets for another big show at the Meadows are going on sale this weekend. AEROSMITH and KISS will be opening their US tour in Hartford on Saturday, August 2, and tickets are going on sale Saturday morning.

Prices have been set at $89.50 and $129.50 for the reserved section, and $49.50 for the lawn. Nothing like keeping tickets affordable…

Tickets will be sold at the Oakdale box office in Wallingford (the Meadows box office has still not opened for the season), so for anyone hoping to purchase in person there will be a wristband lottery for this event. Wristbands will be distributed at 8 am Saturday morning, the lottery will occur at 9:30, and on-sale begins at 10.

*Tuxedo Junction in Danbury has been focusing on local bands lately, but Sunday night looks a little different. The club will be hosting a show by BENT BROTHER, a/k/a “the original 80s hair band that produced such hits as ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It,’ ‘I Wanna Rock,’” and others. DEE SNIDER, JAY JAY FRENCH, MARK “THE ANIMAL” MENDOZA, EDDIE O’JEDA and A.J. PERO will be in Danbury for their only show in the United States before a tour of South Korea for the armed forces, and then Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Spain.

Tickets are $22 and are available from the club (748-2561), TicketMaster outlets and Strawberries stores.

*Masur Public Relations hasn’t given fans of HALFORD, TESTAMENT, IMMORTAL, PRIMAL FEAR, et al, much time to purchase tickets for an upcoming show in Hartford, but if you’re a fan of metal rock then I guess the thought is you don’t need much time. Just hear the details and go!

MPR is the publicist/promoter for The 2003 Metal Gods Tour, which opens this Friday in Chicago and reaches The Webster Theatre in Hartford next week – on Thursday, May 1. The tour’s line-up features all of the bands mentioned above, along with Amon Amarth, Carnal Forge and Pain Museum.

The promoter continues to add shows to the tour, which already had 30-plus gigs within 49 days at its initial announcement. Tickets are available through tickets.com and are priced at $22.50 (pre-service charges) for the Hartford show.

*SOL DOG has now shows, including some at new venues, in upcoming months. First the guys return to Classic Rock Airport Pub in Danbury on May 9, but then the four will be over at The Red Door Café in Watertown on May 16 and then The Corner Pocket in Orange on May 31. Those last two are new locales to see Rev, Ron, Mark and Curtiss.

Shows are also scheduled for June 6 at Café 127 in Shelton, and July 6 at The Avenue Café in Black Rock/Bridgeport.

*Tickets for the May 5 THIRD EYE BLIND show ($27) are still available but can be purchased only through ebay’s etix online service. The address for this show is members.ebay.com/aboutme/3eb-etix. This ticket service offers the options of purchasing tickets for a show as well as bidding – if you want – on autographs from the band and VIP tickets, which for New Haven will include a pre-show meet and greet. Visit the web page for details.

*Because of a last-minute opportunity to play Saturday Night Live next weekend, 50 CENT will headling Hot Jam 2 at Hartford Civic Center on Friday, May 2, instead of the original date the following night. As reported in The Hartford Courant last week, this date change also comes with a line-up change: the show will now feature LI’L KIM, CAMRON AND TANTO, METRO & DEVONTI in addition to the previously announced LIL’ MO and NIVEA. Tickets purchased for May 3 will be honored on Friday, but will be refunded at the point of purchase if you can’t make it to the civic center on Friday.

Until next week I’ll be seeing you… on the road, looking for the cure to the common cold and a softer tissue.

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

APRIL 25 — Gia at Colorado Brewery, Danbury, Funkestra opening; Clashing Headstocks at Classic Rock Airport Pub, Danbury; Off The Hook at Carl Anthony’s, Monroe; The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury; The Nields and Cadence Carroll at Acoustic Café, Bridgeport; Johnny Winter featuring James Montgomery at Toad’s Place, New Haven;

April 25 & 26 — Toto at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, Uncasville;

April 26 — Good Charlotte and New Found Glory at Hartford Civic Center, Less Than Jake and Hot Rod Circuit opening; Wayne Keenan at The Acoustic Café, with guest vocalist Vesta Williams (limited seating left); Gutterboogie at Classic Rock Airport Pub; Hipnotic at Tuxedo Junction; Fall Out Boy at The Empress Ballroom, Landis, Two Shots of Rye, A Chase Worthwhile and The Posterchild opening; Wayne Keenan at Acoustic Cafe; 7th Enemy, Gaiah, Hammerfist, Rucus and Tubesteak at The Webster Theatre;

April 27 — Bent Brother at Tuxedo Junction; Tower of Power at The Webster Theatre (all ages);

April 28 — The Doors/Doors 21st Century (Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krieger & Ian Astbury) at Oakdale Theater; The Pat McGee Band at The Webster Theatre;

April 29 — Dixie Dregs at Toad’s Place; The Used and Thrice at The Webster Theatre (all ages);

April 30 — Matt Nathenson at Acoustic Café; Jurassic 5 at Toad’s Place (all ages).

MAY 1 — The 2003 Metal Gods Tour at The Webster Theatre, Hartford, featuring Halford, Testament, Immortal, Primal Fear, et al; The Supersuckers at Toad’s Place, New Haven, The Forty-Fives and Throw Rag opening (all ages);

May 2 — Hot Jam 2 at Hartford Civic Center featuring 50 Cent, Li’l Kim, Camron and Tanto, Metro & Devonti, Lil Mo and Nivea (tickets originally purchased for May 3 will be honored); Junction 18, Bayside, The Goodwill, Roxie and Falling Through at The Empress Ballroom, Danbury (all ages); The Toilet Boys at The Webster Theatre, Bantam and Biopop opening (all ages);

May 3 — Peter Obre and Alan Johnson at 707 On Main, Monroe; Full House at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury; Ministry at The Webster Theatre, Nothingface, Lollipop Lust, Kill and Motograder opening;

May 4 — Toots & The Maytals at Toad’s Place;

May 5 — Third Eye Blind at Toad’s Place (**note: tickets through ebay);

May 6 — Buju Banton at Toad’s Place (all ages);

May 9 — LL Cool J at The Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Amerie, Tosha Makia and go opening; Sol Dog at Classic Rock Airport Pub, Danbury; Dope at The Webster Theatre, Hartford, Zug Island and Tapping The Vein opening (all ages); Bernard Allison at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Café, Hartford; Dope at The Webster Theatre;

May 10 — Toxic Narcotic at The Empress Ballroom (all ages); King’s X and Fishbone at The Webster Theatre, Sugarfist, Johnny Law and Revelaria opening (all ages); Wayne Keenan at The Acoustic Café, Bridgeport, with guest vocalist Vesta Williams (limited seating left); Sugar Ray & The Bluetones featuring Monster Mike Welch at Black-Eyed Sally’s.