Honestly, I go away for one week and suddenly there’s more news to share than I’ve had happen in one sitting in eons. Grab some Diet Vanilla Coke and read on…

*SIDESHOW will be at Toad’s Place tonight, playing an 11 pm set opening for The Funbags. If you have time before hading down to New Haven visit the band’s website, www.sideshow.com, for some free tickets.

Upcoming SideShow gigs include September 5 at Captain’s Cove in Bridgeport, September 12 at Shenanigans in South Norwalk, and September 27 at Stash’s in New London.

*Local guys HAT CITY BLUES BAND didn’t make it to the finals of Connecticut Blues Society’s Blues Challenge – they played in an opening round recently – but blues fans from across the state are expected to show up for the final round of performances and competition this weekend. Music starts at 6:30 at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Café in Hartford, and the line-up has been set as follows (not necessarily in this order, though; I’d call ahead if you’re interested in a particular band): Shorty & The All-Stars, Hoodoo Blues Band, Jim Shipley Band, Groove Blenders, Ryan Hartt & The Blue Hearts, and Larry Wiley & The Blues Talkers.

*CMT.com, the website for Country Music Television, is listing an October 23 stop at Bridgeport’s Arena at Harbor Yard for its 2003 CMT Most Wanted Live concert tour. Country trio RASCAL FLATTS is headlining the 30-city tour, which began this week in North Dakota and continues until December 4, when it wraps in Anaheim, Calif. BRIAN McCOMAS will have opening sets for all 30 of the tour’s stops, and CHRIS CAGLE will be opening as well on all but four of the stops (he is scheduled to be on the bill for Bridgeport).

Tickets haven’t gone on sale yet and Harbor Yard didn’t have the show on its schedule, but it’s on the CMT schedule. I’ll keep an eye out for on-sale and price details.

Meanwhile, tickets are still available for a FLEETWOOD MAC show at Arena at Harbor Yard on Saturday, September 27. Prices range from $49.50 to $149.40 and tickets are available through TicketMaster or the arena’s box office, 203-382-9600.

*Elsewhere (and returning for a moment to country music), tickets are still available for WYNONNA’s August 30 show at Foxwoods’ Fox Theatre, priced at $38.50 and $49.50; TRAVIS TRITT’s show at The Warner Theatre in Torrington on September 12, with tickets at $46.50 and $56.50 apiece; JOHN MICHAEL MONTGOMERY’s show at Foxwoods’ Fox Theatre on September 18 ($38.50 and $55); ALAN JACKSON’s Mohegan Sun Arena show on September 19 ($48 and $68); and MARTINA McBRIDE’s show, also at Mohegan Sun Arena, on September 28, where tickets are $25 and $35.

*Last weekend tickets went on sale for an October 2 stop by JEWEL and her 03-04 Tour at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford. Every seat for that show is $43. Purchase tickets through Tickets.com online or by calling 888-332-5600 or by calling the Oakdale’s box office, 203-265-1501.

This week tickets for an October 5 show by Jewel at Foxwoods’ Fox Theatre are going on sale. They’ll be available after 8 am Thursday, which means they’ll be on sale by the time you read this. Tickets for that show are $66 and $82.50, and Josh Kelley will be opening. Call 800-200-2882 for details or purchases.

Also going on sale at Foxwoods will be a rescheduled date for INDIA.ARIE, who will be at the Fox Theatre on October 18. Tickets go on sale September 4 and will be priced at $27.50 and $38.40.

*Suzanne Vega will opens the “Music For A Change” fall concert series at the University of Hartford with a performance August 30. Tickets are $32 in advance and $37 the day of the show, which takes place in the West Hartford school’s Lincoln Theatre. Contact the theater’s box office at 860-768-4228 or 800-274-8587. The concert series, which is being presented in cooperation with the university’s “public alternative radio station” WWUH (91.3 FM), will donate all proceeds to local non-profit organizations. Vega’s concert will benefit CT Special Olympics.

TOM RUSH will be playing next Friday (September 5) at UHartford’s Millard Auditorium, with all tickets $20, and LUCY KAPLANSKY will be in UHartford’s Wilde Auditorium on September 12, with all tickets just $17. Both of these shows are also “Music For A Change” events, as are RICHARD SHINDELL on September 19 (tickets $15), PATTY LARKIN with GREG GREENWAY on October 10 ($17), DANA POMFRET on October 17 ($15), RANI ARBO & DAISY MAYHEM on October 24 ($15), JAMES KEELAGHAN with SONIA (of disappear fear) on November 21 ($15), TISH HINOJOSA on December 5 ($15), and CHERYL WHEELER with DAVID ROTH on December 12 ($17). Aside from the Rush show, all of the shows in this paragraph are scheduled for Wilde Auditorium.

*Blues guitarist JONNY LANG returns to the Shubert Theatre in New Haven on September 27, just about a year to the date of his last sold-out show at the New Haven venue. Tickets will be priced between $27 and $42 when they go on sale September 5 through tickets.com.

*Entertainment highlights of next weekend’s 2003 Norwalk Seaport Association Oyster Festival include DAVID SANBORN on Friday, September 5, at 9 pm; AMERICA on Saturday at 9; and THE CHARLIE DANIELS BAND on Sunday at 7. Opening for Charlie Daniels Band on Sunday, by the way, will be THE YONRICO SCOTT BAND, the group that generally works as the band for DEREK TRUCKS. That set will start around 4:30.

Tickets for the festival (which includes all entertainment) are $6 for adults if purchased in advance or $10 at the gate, $3 for children ages 3-12, and free for ages five and under. The festival is returning for its 26th appearance at Veterans Park in Norwalk, which is on Seaview Avenue. Watch for signs and don’t argue when the attendants point you to a satellite parking lot; there is no parking at the festival itself. For full details visit www.seaport.org or call 203-838-9444.

*Finally this week, due to health complications lead guitarist Gary Rossington continues to deal with following open heart surgery he had in February, LYNYRD SKYNYRD has had to cancel its scheduled performance at this year’s Big E. The band was to have been in West Springfield on Saturday, September 13. The band has cancelled all of its dates through mid-September, in fact.

The Big E will run September 13-28, and all other entertainment seems to be unchanged including DARRYL WORLEY on September 21 at 7 pm, MARTINA McBRIDE on September 27 at 8, and ASHANTI on September 28 at 8. Seating for evening concerts opens around 5 pm, by the way. Full Big E details are available at TheBigE.com or 413-737-BIGE (2443).

Until next week I’ll be seeing you… on the road, catching my breath after all this news.

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

AUGUST 29 — Darik & The Funbags at Toad’s Place, New Haven, Ink opening (all ages); Glen Roth, Kevin Ryan & Aaron Brady at The Acoustic Café, Black Rock/Bridgeport; Walter “Wolfman” Washington at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Cafe, Hartford; Tubesteak, Hether Deep, C4 and Core Release at The Webster Theater, Hartford;

August 30 — The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury; Suzanne Vega at UHartford’s The Lincoln Theatre, West Hartford; The Tim Sather Band at The Acoustic Café; Greg Piccolo & Heavy Juice at Black-Eyed Sally’s; James Cotton Blues Band at Towne Crier Café, Pawling, N.Y.

August 30-31 — Dave Matthews Band at Meadows Music Centre; Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen at Towne Crier Café;

August 31 — CT Blues Society Blues Challenge finals at Black-Eyed Sally’s featuring Shorty & The All-Stars, Hoodoo Blues Band, Jim Shipley Band, Groove Blenders, Ryan Hartt & The Blue Hearts, and Larry Wiley & The Blues Talkers.

SEPTEMBER 3 — Meat Loaf at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Cyndi Lauper opening;

September 4 — Grover Dill at Toad’s Place, New Haven (all ages); Julianna Theory at The Webster Theater, Hartford, Count The Stars, Punchline and Hopesfail opening; Danu at UHartford’s Millard Auditorium, West Hartford;

September 5 — Peter Frampton at The Fox Theatre/Foxwoods Casino; SideShow at Captain’s Cove, Bridgeport; Ol’ Dirty Bastard at Toad’s Place (all ages); radio 104 Five Bands For Five Bucks at The Webster Theater with Less Than Jake, Reliant K, Yellowcard, Drunkin Beer Nuts (and fifth band, TBA); Tom Rush at UHartford’s Millard Auditorium; David Sanborn at Norwalk Oyster Festival, Norwalk (9 pm show);

September 6 — Crosby, Stills & Nash at careerbuilder.com Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford; America at Norwalk Oyster Festival; John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band at CityCenter Green, Danbury (rain location Ives Concert Hall); Mariah Carey at The Fox Theatre/Foxwoods Casino; Billy Bob Thornton at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, Uncasville; Reach 454 at The Webster Theater; Rufus Wainwright at The Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield;

September 7 — The Charlie Daniels Band at Norwalk Oyster Festival, The Yonrico Scott Band opening; Spam Brando at CityCenter Green (follows performances by Catholic War Veterans Drum Corps & US Coast Guard Band Masters of Swing, closing concert of Summertime Festival 2003; no rain location); Maceo Parker at The Webster Theatre, Dreamswell and Sister Funk opening; Billy Idol at The Fox Theatre/Foxwoods Café;