*A second Connecticut show with THE WHO headlining, and THE PRETENDERS opening, has been scheduled, this one at Harbor Yard (the same bill will be at Mohegan Sun on December 1).

Tickets for a November 28 show at Arena at Harbor Yard will be on sale Friday morning at 10. A lottery wristband system will be used for this on-sale event, with patrons who are in line between 8 and 9:15 am receiving wristbands and then promptly at 9:15 a number drawn to determine what number wristband will be first in line). Anyone arriving after 9:15 will be put in the back of the line.

If you don’t want to wait in line tickets will also be available through LiveNation.com and TicketMaster vendors and online.

Tickets start at $52.25 and increase to $77.25, $97.25 and $202.25.

*Tickets for four TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA shows in two Connecticut locations have gone on sale.

The stellar Christmas production will have two shows at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday, November 25, the first at 2:30 pm and then another at 7:30.

Tickets for both shows are $40 and $50, available through TicketMaster vendors and at Mohegan Sun’s box office.

The day after Christmas the tour will roll back into the state, this time stopping at Hartford Civic Center. Again following the two-shows-one-day routine, TSO will be in Hartford on Tuesday, December 26. Performances are planned for 3 and 8 pm, and those tickets are $39 and $49, also available from TicketMaster and the civic center’s box office.

HEATHER GUNN will be touring with TSO again this year. Heather is a Newtown native now living in New York City with husband Wil Rivera, with whom she has started a fitness studio called Grassroots Fitness Project.

Heather (NHS ’99), who has toured for two years already with TSO, began rehearsals this week for the 2006 tour. This is the second year she’ll be a vocalist for the East Coast company; the first year she was a “floater” between the two touring companies. She’ll be in rehearsals pretty steadily, first in Manhattan and then in Lakeland, Fla, before traveling to West Virginia to begin the tour on November 2.

Heather and the rest of TSO’s East Coast company will be performing 61 shows this year, wrapping the tour with two performances in Washington, D.C., on December 30.

*The announcement about tickets being put on sale for AEROSMITH and MÖTLEY CRÜE, who will co-headline at Mohegan Sun Arena on Wednesday, November 29, also came in late last week (which is why the aforementioned TSO events weren’t mentioned in last week’s column).

Before the tickets went on sale, however, Mötley Crüe had to cancel the Connecticut stop due to a scheduling conflict.

Aerosmith will now be headlining alone, tickets have gone on sale and have been reduced to $80, $110 and $135 (down from the original prices of ($110, $140 and $165 apiece).

*Chow, the performance venue in New Haven that’s owned by Zinc, has decided to bring back its popular Sunday Night Cabaret Series. The first show of the new series was last weekend; I didn’t get a note about this until last Friday, unfortunately, or I would have shared the news in time for you to go see jazz virtuoso Giacomo Gates).

Performances begin at 7, there is a $15 cover and an $8 drink minimum, and this weekend’s featured performers are AMBER EDWARDS & ANDY RUBENOFF, who will perform “An Evening of Johnny Mercer.”

Upcoming shows include “NY’s Diva” BABY JANE DEXTER on Sunday, November 5; ANNE TOFFLEMIRE, performing works by America’s favorite female composers of the last 100 years on Sunday, November 12; and TED TAYLOR & DOUG WILLIAMS on Sunday, December 10, with classics from the 1940s and 50s.

The café is at 966 Chapel Street in New Haven, behind Zinc, and can be reached by calling 203-772-3002. Reservations are recommended.

*Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den will host shows next weekend by two musicians fully capable of taking center stage in a larger venue.

On Friday and Saturday, October 27-28, UNCLE KRACKER will headline, and then THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND will close the weekend with a show on Sunday, October 29.

All three shows are free; the Uncle Kracker gigs will start at 8, and the Derek Trucks event will begin at 7. 

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

OCTOBER 20 — Keith Urban at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville; The Kevin Costner Band at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; Marty Balin and Slick Aguilar at FTC Stage One, Fairfield, Scot Sax opening; The Nerds at Toad’s Place, New Haven, The Radiocats and Makel opening;

October 21 — Barenaked Ladies at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; Story of The Year at Toad’s Place, Anberlin, Greely Estates and Monty Are I opening (all ages); Gwar at The Webster Theater, Hartford, The Red Chord and Municipal Waste opening; The Usual Suspects at Georgetown Saloon;

October 22 — Deicide at The Webster Theater, Desolation opening (reschedule date, all ages show); Thomas & Deleo at The Georgetown Saloon;

October 23 — The Orchestral Jethro Tull featuring Ian Anderson at Stamford’s Palace Theatre;

October 25 — Crossfade at The Webster Theater;

October 27 — John Sebastian at Edmond Town Hall, Newtown, also Artie Traum and Professor Louie & The Crowmatix with special guest John Platania; All-American Rejects at Dodge Music Center (indoor show), Gym Class Heroes, The Format and The Starting Line opening; Loretta Lynn & Randy Travis at Mohegan Sun Arena; Olivia Newton-John at Foxwoods Casino; Uncle Kracker at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den (also Oct 28); The Misfits Feind Fest featuring The Misfits, The Addicts, Osaka Pop (featuring Marky Ramone), Balzac, Juicehead and Orange at The Webster Theater (all ages); Commander Cody and The Matt Rae Trio at FTC Stage One; The Breakfast at Toad’s Place, Fonghoulish Freakout opening (CD release party; all ages show); Knuckleheads at The Georgetown Saloon;

October 28 — Uncle Kracker at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; Uncle Mustache at Georgetown Saloon (Halloween party);

October 29 — Zappa Plays Zappa at The Chevrolet Theatre; Michael Schenker Group at The Webster Theater, Vengence and DOA2K opening; Derek Trucks Band at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den;

October 31 — Alice Cooper at Foxwoods Casino.