*Yale Field in West Haven will be the site for Big Summer Classic 2005, a traveling festival featuring THE STRING CHEESE INCIDENT, KELLER WILLIAMS, MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD, and others. The tour will be in Connecticut on Sunday, July 24. The parking lot will open at 10 am, gates will open at 1, and showtime for the rain or shine event will be 3 pm.

 Tickets are $39.50 in advance or $45 on the day of the show. The show is open to all ages. Tickets are available through TicketMaster.

 Also performing in the Connecticut show will be Yonder Mountain String Band, Umphrey’s McGee and New Monsoon (which is the line-up for most shows, with the exception of a pair of gigs in Canada that will also include Xavier Rudd).

 *The Strange Days Festival will be stopping at the Oakdale Theatre on Tuesday, June 21. Tickets for this show will be on sale by the time this week’s paper hits the streets, but I didn’t find out about that fact until after last week’s deadline.

 The show will feature performances by THE DOORS OF THE 21ST CENTURY, JOHN KAY & STEPPENWOLF, VANILLA FUDGE, THE YARDBIRDS and PAT TRAVERS BAND.

 Prices run from $35 to $55, and tickets are available through the Oakdale’s box office and TicketMaster.

 *I think it’s funny that Pop Tarts is the official sponsor of the American Idols Live Tour, which will be at Hartford Civic Center on Friday, July 29. Think about it for a moment, won’t you?

 Tickets are $37 and $47 for this concert; call 860-525-4500 to order.

 According to the civic center’s website, still cameras will be allowed into the arena for this show. Audio and recording devices, typically, will not be allowed, but still cameras – with lenses not to exceed 90 mm and none with removable lenses – will be allowed into this show.

 *Speaking of the Idols, KELLY CLARKSON has been added to the Mohegan Sun Arena calendar. Clarkson will be in Uncasville on August 5.

 *New shows announced by The Webster Theatre this week include INNER CIRCLE on Saturday, June 4; MICHAEL GRAVES, formerly of The Misfits, and TRASHLIGHT VISION (ex MurderDolls) on June 14 in The Webster Underground; and REEL BIG FISH, AMERICAN HIFI and PUNCHLINE on July 1.

 *Tickets aren’t yet on sale but fans of the country singer LEANN RIMES can expect to see her on August 12 at Foxwoods Casino now that she has added additional shows to her summer schedule.

 Also recently added to the Foxwoods calendar is an August 4 show by GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS (switched, apparently, from original plans for a show at Ridgefield Playhouse that night); HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS, August 20; a September 2 show by HALL & OATES, with TEARS FOR FEARS opening – the day after the same bill will be closing the 2005 season at Ives Concert Park in Danbury; and an October 7 concert by JETHRO TULL.

 *TicketMaster is listing the August ROLLING STONES show in West Hartford, which went on sale last weekend, as sold out. If you’re still hoping for a ticket, however, single tickets in the upper regions of the stadium at Rentschler Field and very high-priced field tickets were still available on Tuesday morning.

 *April in Paris on my birthday. If I could spend my birthday with COLDPLAY, that’s where I would be this year.

 Coldplay will kick off its tour to support the long-awaited release X&Y with a show in Paris on June 9. After traveling steadily for June and July, the band will make its way to the US with a show in Hartford on August 4. Tickets for that concert, which will be at The Meadows, are scheduled to be going on sale to the general public on June 4 (Coldplay.com members had the opportunity to order presale tickets earlier this month).

 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

MAY 27 — Sarah McLachlan at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, The Perishers opening; Survivor at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theatre, Ledyard; Average White Band at Toad’s Place, New Haven; Vertigo at The Acoustic Café, Bridgeport; The Village People at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den (also May 28);

May 28 — Hat City Blues Band at Black Rock Castle, Bridgeport; Big Ed at Toad’s Place, with special guests Sick Ticket (all ages); The Village People at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den (also May 27);

May 29 — Dark Star Orchestra at Toad’s Place (also May 30; two-day passes available);

May 30 — Dark Star Orchestra at Toad’s Place (see May 29 listing); Team Sleep at The Webster Theatre (all ages).

JUNE 2 — Streetlight Manifesto, Gym Class Heroes and Whole Wheat Bread at The Webster Theatre, Hartford; 

June 3 — Dick Dale at Toad’s Place, New Haven, The Vultures, 9th Wave and The Swaggerts opening; Big & Rich at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theatre, Ledyard, Cowboy Troy opening; Foreigner at The Webster Theatre (all ages);

June 4 — Joan Jett at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, Uncasville; Inner Circle at The Webster Theatre (all ages);

June 5 — Al DiMeola at The Ridgefield Playhouse for Movies and The Performing Arts; Agnostic Front at Toad’s Place, Champion, Martyr Ad and Full Blown Chaos opening (all ages); Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe at The Webster Underground, Hartford, Zox and Paranoid Social Club opening (18 and up); Dick Dale at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den.