*Just days after announcing that her current tour will be her final one (although she reportedly does plan to continue to record music and remain active otherwise) comes news that GLORIA ESTEFAN will return to southeastern Connecticut in the fall. The Queen of Latin Pop will be at Mohegan Sun Arena on September 11. Her last appearance in the area was also at Mohegan Sun, when she helped the casino and entertainment center celebrate the grand opening of a $1.1 billion expansion in November 2001.

Tickets for this year’s show will be going on sale Saturday, July 10, at 10 am, and are priced at $76 and $96. Saturday’s sales will be online or over the phone only through tickets.com (800-477-6849). In-person sales will begin on Sunday, July 11, at 10 am.

*HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS, who continues to have fun and find success with summer tours – the band’s last studio album was released in 2001, and it was a decade before that that Hard At Play was released – is on the road again. This year’s outing will bring the boys to Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theatre. Tickets are $55 and $66 and are on sale now.

*This weekend ONCE REMOVED will be at a recently-opened pub in Fairfield. Blaggard’s Pub, on King’s Highway opposite The Home Depot, will host the band on Friday, July 9. Showtime is 9:30.

*Two announcements came in last week from The Webster Theater concerning shows scheduled for the dates of August 12-13. The SOUND TRIBE SECTOR 9 show on Thursday has been canceled, and Friday’s show by BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB (which was also going to feature at set by The Bon Vondies) has been postponed. Refunds are available for the first show; hang on to your tickets for the second. They’ll be good for the new date once it’s announced.

The good news from the Hartford theater is that CHRIS ROBINSON , of The Black Crowes fame, will headline on Monday, July 19. Tickets, just $13.50, are already on sale.

EVERLAST, with Buddahead supporting, headlines on July 27, and those tickets are also $13.50.

*I could have sworn there was a TOBY KEITH concert scheduled for The Meadows in Hartford for September 5, but now the country superstar will be in Essex Junction, Vt., that evening instead. What about his Connecticut fans?

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

JULY 9 — Sol Dog at The Georgetown Saloon;

July 10 — OzzFest 2004 at The Meadows Music Theatre, Hartford, with Black Sabbath headlining, also Judas Priest, Slayer, Slipknot, et al; Rufus Wainwright, Ben Folds and Guster at the Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford; Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes at Toad’s Place, New Haven; Don Henley at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theatre, Ledyard; Curtis T & The Bernadettes at The Georgetown Saloon;

July 11 — Kenny Chesney at Meadows Music Theatre, Uncle Kracker and Rascal Flatts opening; The Music of Led Zeppelin by Randy Jackson and Hartford Symphony Orchestra at Hartford Civic Center; Simon & Garfunkel at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville; Village People at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; L.A. Guns and Dokken at The Webster Theatre, Hartford, Secret Smile and Promize opening (all ages); Scratch & Sniff Duo at The Georgetown Saloon;

July 12 — Brad Paisley and Keith Urban at Mohegan Sun Arena; Big Head Todd & The Monsters at Toad’s Place, Pat McGee Band opening (all ages); Dobie Gray at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; Strangefolk at The Webster Theatre, Tenet opening;

July 13 — Hall & Oates and Michael McDonald at the Oakdale Theatre, Average White Band opening; Old 97s at Toad’s Place, Charlie Mars opening (all ages);

July 14 — Dark Star Orchestra at Toad’s Place (all ages);

July 15 — “Weird Al” Yankovic at Mohegan Sun Arena; Steel Pulse at Toad’s Place (all ages);

July 16 — Dave Matthews Band at The Meadows Music Theatre, N.E.R.D. opening; Gillian Welch and Old Crow Medicine Show at The Webster Theatre (all ages); Mission of Burma at Toad’s Place, White Magic opening (all ages); Party Boss at The Georgetown Saloon.

July 17 — Dave Matthews Band at The Meadows Music Theatre, N.E.R.D. opening; Hoodoo Band at The Georgetown Saloon.