*Fresh off a sold-out European tour that had rave reviews following each show, ERIC CLAPTON will return to Connecticut for shows at Mohegan Sun Arena on October 6 and 7. Tickets are going on sale Saturday morning, priced at $85 and $150, at 10 am, through TicketMaster vendors. Remaining tickets will additionally be sold through the casino’s box office beginning on Sunday.

*Also on sale this weekend – on Friday at 10 am – are tickets for BLUE MAN GROUP’s second show this season in Connecticut. The trio, who had already announced a September 27 show at Mohegan Sun Arena, will also be performing on Friday, September 29, at The Chevrolet Theatre in Wallingford.

Tickets are $47.50, $67.50, $92.50 and $100, and will be available through LiveNation.com, TicketMaster outlets and the theater’s box office.

At 4 pm on Friday, tickets for an August 22 show by CHRIS BROWN, with Ne-Yo, Lil’ Wayne, Dem Franchise Boyz and Juelz Santana, will also be going on sale. This show will also be at the Chevrolet Theatre; tickets are $38.50, $48.50 and $58.50, and will be available through the same outlets mentioned above.

*Blues master JAMES COTTON returns to Bridgeport next weekend, performing as part of the summer-time Sweetport Music Festival in Bridgeport. The Grammy Award-winning blues artist, along with the WHAT UP FUNK BAND, will be performing a free concert on McLevy Green on Friday, July 28, at 6 pm.

Free parking will also be available nearby.

For further information call 203-367-7917 or visit InternationalPerformingArts.com.

*Renard Bossiere, who has performed with the Neville Brothers and Tom Tom Club, brings his Nardy Boy Project to The Bitter End, 2770 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, on Friday, July 21.

Nardy Boy features multi-instrumentalist Boissiere on guitar and vocals, performing a wide range of originals and covers with a unique flair that is quickly becoming a favorite of local live music fans.  Nardy Boy also performs as a duo and solo endeavor.

Mr Bossiere is the mastermind behind FBL Music, a full-service music production company, and also finds time to perform with reggae singer Mystic Bowie, the New Orleans-influenced jamband Freelance Pallbearers, and the powerful jazz-fusion project Rambunction.

The Freelance Pallbearers, incidentally, will perform at The Bitter End on the following Friday, July 28. That venue is at 2770 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport. Admission for that show, which will start at 10 pm, is $5.

*While the July 25 American Idols Live show at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport was announced as being sold out a few months ago, it seems some seats are available after all. A cursory look through the arena’s website late last week indicated that good seats were in fact available. Single seat purchases would get you closer to the stage, of course, but even someone still looking for a pair of tickets wouldn’t do too badly.

Visit ArenaAtHarborYard.com for full details.

*A few nights later, on July 28, THE PRETENDERS will be playing at the Palace Theater in Waterbury. IV THIEVES (formerly Nic Armstrong & The Thieves) will be opening.

Tickets, priced at $50.25, are still available; call 203-755-4700 or visit PalaceTheaterCT.org.

*IAN ANDERSON, known of course for his years of work as the flute and voice behind the legendary JETHRO TULL, will play a solo show at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theatre on Friday, October 6. Tickets are $35 and $45 (with the higher-priced tickets offering a choice between reserved seating and maitre’d seating), and on sale now; call 800-200-2882 or visit Foxwoods.com and click on Entertainment.

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

JULY 21 — The Guess Who at Ives Concert Park, Danbury, The Doug Wahlberg Band opening; Neil Sedaka at Mohegan Sun’s Cabaret Theatre, Uncasville (nightly through July 23); Nardy Boy Project at The Bitter End, Bridgeport;

July 22 — Neil Sedaka at Mohegan Sun’s Cabaret Theatre;

July 23 — Neil Sedaka at Mohegan Sun’s Cabaret Theatre;

July 24 — The Indigo Girls at Mohegan Sun Cabaret (acoustic show, also July 25); Fiona Apple at Mohegan Sun Arena, Damien Rice and David Garza opening;

July 25 — The Indigo Girls at Mohegan Sun Cabaret (acoustic show, also July 24); American Idols Live at The Arena at Harbor Yard, Bridgeport (second show scheduled for Sept 23); Breaking Benjamin, Crossfade and Dropping Daylight at The Webster Theater; Kansas at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den (also July 26);

July 26 — Dixie Chicks at Mohegan Sun Arena; Kansas at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den (also July 25);

July 27 — Kenny Chesney at The Dodge Music Center, Dierks Bentley opening; LL Cool J at The Webster Theater;

July 28 — Roberta Flack at Ives Concert Park; The Pretenders at The Palace Theater, Waterbury, IV Thieves opening; James Cotton at McLevy Green, Bridgeport; .38 Special at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den (also July 29); The Freelance Pallbearers at The Bitter End, Bridgeport;

July 29 — Anita Baker at Mohegan Sun Arena; .38 Special at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den (also July 28); Peter Frampton at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theatre; Leon Russell at The Ridgefield Playhouse;

July 30 — OzzFest 2006 at The Dodge Music Center;

July 31 — The Goo Goo Dolls and Counting Crows at Mohegan Sun Arena.