*Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s (PanCAN) PurpleStride Danbury, in collaboration with QPID Productions, will present “Sounds For Stride,” an afternoon and early evening music event that will also raise funds for PanCAN. The event will take place Saturday, October 9, from 1 to 5 pm, at Sandy Hook Park, 5 Glen Road in Sandy Hook Center.

I’ll be honest with you: This is something being arranged by a former Bee employee and a good friend of mine, Kristen Angell. She has been working feverishly to raise funds for cancer research for a number of years. Kristen has been directly affected by this miserable disease in a number of forms, with friends and family all being diagnosed with various forms of this insidious illness, often through no fault of their own.

Featured performers next Saturday will be ZTRAIN, offering their first performance in Connecticut. The band was formerly known as VOG (Voice Of the Ghetto, who performed at Weaver Auditorium and The Webster in Hartford, Husson University in Maine, and Toad’s Place in New Haven, among other locations), but remains is a very diverse musical group. Members have with roots from different races, cultures, creeds and ethnicities.

The band specializes in reggae but is very proficient, I’m told at hip hop, r&b and funk. ZTrain’s musicians have been performing professionally for over 20 years

Opening bands include THE BRIAN HARRINGTON QUARTET, QGM CREW, AFTER THREE SECONDS and THE SCREW UPS.

Requested donation is $10 per person, and all proceeds will Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s PurpleStride Danbury 2010.

Gates open at noon, with the music to begin at 1. Food from Chao Chi American Eatery & Bar will be available for purchase, as will non-alcoholic beverages. Door prizes will also be given out during the afternoon.

This is an outdoor event; rain date TBD.

For additional information or to volunteer contact Kristen at 203-792-2405 or KAngell@PanCanVolunteer.org.

*Tickets for CLAY AIKEN’s only Connecticut date for his 2011 Tried and True Tour — Sunday, February 20, at The Palace in Waterbury — will be going on sale Friday, October 1, at 10 am. They’ve been priced from $38 to $78 and will be available online at www.PalaceTheaterCT.org or by calling 203-346-2000.

*Tickets for CYNDI LAUPER’s Memphis Blue Tour, which will also visit the Palace, on Sunday, December 12, will be going on sale at the same time. Unfortunately I cannot locate prices for these.

*“Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Somebody To Love,” “The Show Must Go On”… CELEBRATING QUEEN will bring Freddie Mercury’s vocals back to life at The Palace Theater in Waterbury on Saturday, October 9, at 8 pm. Celebrating Queen features one voice that can recreate the late great Queen lead vocalist Freddie Mercury’s range like few others: Joe Archambeault (a/k/a JJ Midnight).

Audiences will hear all of the famous Queen vocal arrangements that Freddy Mercury made famous, including the crazy high notes and intricate harmonies driven by a high-octane rock band. Archambeault, a Bristol native, performed in Queen cover bands over the years and started Celebrating Queen in 2006. The group includes lead guitarist Joe Grasso from Naugatuck, percussionist Joe Sagliano from Watertown, and rhythm guitarist Shawn Fitzgerald from Bristol.

Tickets for Celebrating Queen are all $35 can be purchased by phone at 203-346-2000, online at www.PalaceTheaterCT.org, or in person at the Palace Theater Box Office, 100 East Main Street in Waterbury.  Groups of 20 or more qualify for discounted rates and should call the Group Sales hotline at 203-346-2002.

*If tribute bands are your thing and Queen doesn’t do it but perhaps a bit of Led Zeppelin would, ZOSO, “the ultimate Led Zeppelin experience,” will be at The Palace the previous night. Tickets for that October 8 show are $25 to $35 and available through the same options outlined above.

*Meanwhile, I also offer a reminder that TOWER OF POWER will headline at the Waterbury landmark on October 22, and THE BLACK CROWES will bring their 20th anniversary tour into the city on October 26. Tickets for both of those shows are already on sale.

*OLD SCHOOL (Tony Summo and Lou Bellofatto) will be at Proud Mary’s twice month. The guys will be at the lounge at The Inn at Newtown on Fridays, October 8 and 29.

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 clubs are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

UPCOMING SHOWS

OCTOBER 3 — Shawn Taylor at McLaughlin Vineyards, Sandy Hook (1 pm show);

October 6 — Papa Roach and Skillet at The Dome at Oakdale, Trapt and My Darkest Day opening;

October 8 — Old School at Proud Mary’s, Newtown; Sevendust at The Webster, Hartford, Ten Years, Since October and A New Revolution opening; The Quarrymen at The Palace, Danbury, to be followed by a screening of Nowhere Boy; Zoso at The Palace, Waterbury;

October 9 — Sounds For Stride: PanCAN Fundraiser at Sandy Hook Center Park, Sandy Hook, featuring ZTrain, The Brian Harrington Quartet, QGM Crew, After Three Seconds and The Screw-Ups; Foghat at The Ridgefield Playhouse, with special guest King Norris featuring Fred Norris (The Howard Stern Show); Godsmack at Mohegan Sun Arena, Five Finger Death Punch and Drowning Pool opening; Celebrating Queen at The Palace, Waterbury;

October 10 — Roger Waters: The Wall Live at the XL Center, Hartford;

October 15 — Lady Antebellum at the Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, with special guest David Nail; Rob Zombie & Alice Cooper at Mohegan Sun Arena, Murderdolls opening; The Adults at The Cookhouse, New Milford; Lifehouse at The MGM Grand at Foxwoods, Mashantucket, Kris Allen opening;

October 16 — The Way-Back Machine at The One-Eyed Pig, Newtown;

October 21 — Drake at the Oakdale Theatre;

October 22 — The Adults at Proud Mary’s, Newtown; Tower of Power at The Palace Theater, Waterbury; Insane Clown Posse at The Webster, Hartford, Axe Murder Boys and The Dayton Family opening;

October 23 — Ke$ha at Mohegan Sun Arena;

October 25 — Jeff Daniels at Fairfield Theatre Company;

October 24 — Liz & the Crickstones at McLaughlin Vineyards (1 pm show); Buddy Guy at The Ridgefield Playhouse;

October 26 — The Black Crowes at The Palace Theater (Waterbury);

October 27 — Disturbed at the Oakdale Theatre, Hail The Villain and Art of Dying opening;

October 28 — OK Go at The Webster;

October 29 — Old School at Proud Mary’s;

October 30 — Hat City Blues at Redding Road House.