*Very exciting news from The Palace Theater in Waterbury this week.

While initial dates for the first leg of JOHN MELLENCAMP’s No Better Than This Tour start at the end of this month, a new set of Mellencamp concert appearances that begin in February of next year has just been announced. And those dates — for a tour that was designed as a uniquely formatted “evening with,” which brings the musician and his music to theater-sized venues — includes a stop in Waterbury. The performance will be broken into three segments: the first showcasing Mellencamp in an acoustic context, then fronting a small combo to celebrate his blues-country and rockabilly roots, and then finishing with the full rock band.

The new No Better Than This Tour dates commence in early February, with the second being a February 4 stop in Waterbury. Tickets range from $46.75 to $130, they go on sale Friday, October 15, and each purchase will include a digital download of No Better Than This.

The Palace is also offering a VIP ticket option ($255), which in addition to a seat within the first ten rows will also send you home with an exclusive Mellencamp concert shirt, a limited, numbered tour poster, a limited edition vinyl copy of No Better Than This, and a tour laminate.

All ticket holders, however, will be treated to an unusual “opening act”: the screening of It’s About You, a documentary by Kurt Markus that was shot on Super8 film over the course of last year’s Bob Dylan-John Mellencamp-Willie Nelson tour of minor league baseball stadiums. The film also chronicles the creation of No Better Than This while serving as contemplation on the state of the country at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century.

*The latest show to be confirmed for The Stamford Palace is an almost-almost-New Year’s Eve show. GREGG ALLMAN will perform at the Palace on Wednesday, December 29, at 7:30, and tickets for that will be on sale Friday, October 15.

Prices are $40 to $60, and tickets will be available online through SCAlive.org or through the theater’s box office (M-F 10 am-6 pm) at 203-325-4466.

*Meanwhile, if you have tickets for the DISTURBED show later this month at the Oakdale Theatre and haven’t already heard, the October 27 concert has been cancelled.

Lead singer David Draiman has been diagnosed with a serious, but not permanent, throat condition. He will be required to not perform for at least the next four weeks to avoid the possibility of permanent damage.

All credit card purchases will be automatically refunded, so watch your statement. Cash purchases must be refunded at point of purchase.

*If you’ve looked through the concert calendar below you may have noticed that TOWER OF POWER has a pair of shows in our state within the next week.

The first will be this weekend, Saturday night at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den. That means it’ll be a free show, but you’ll want to get up to Uncasville well before the 8 pm showtime if you want to get into this one. Wolf Den seating is first come, first served.

The second show will be next Friday night at The Palace Theater in Waterbury. Tickets for that one are $40, with reserved seating; call 203-346-2000 or visit PalaceTheaterCT.org for tickets to that one. Also available are $100 tickets which include a pre-show party and an after-show dance party with live music by Devino Brothers’ Old Skool Horn Band.

*ROBIN GIBB, a principal member of, of course, The Bee Gees, will perform in Mohegan Sun Arena on Thursday, December 16. Tickets are $40 and go on sale Saturday, October 16, at 10 am through TicketMaster. Tickets will also be available at the arena’s box office beginning Sunday, October 17, subject to availability.

*Toad’s Place in New Haven will host “Rock Out For The Children,” a benefit for The Make-A-Wish Foundation next weekend. Tickets are $5 in advance or $10 on Sunday, October 24. Doors open at 5 and the music will start about 30 minutes later (remember, this is club time we’re talking about…) and will include sets by INABLACKOUT, BATTLE CRY, SORROW SEED, CHAOS EMBRACE, HEADWRENCH, GARGAMEL, OMINOUS, NO GOOD BASTARD and AARON SILVER.

*Locally, MIDNIGHT RODEO has a handful of shows coming up the next few weeks including Saturday, October 23, at Hot Shots Grille here in Newtown, for an evening that will also include the return of “Coyote Ugly” girls and mechanical bull riding; The Halloween Hoe Down at The Cookhouse in New Milford on Friday, October 29; a gig over at Rivalry Sports Grille in Monroe on Friday, November 5; and then the band will be providing the music on Monday, November 8, again at The Cookhouse, for the KICKS 105.5 Caribbean Beach Party.

*Also next weekend, THE WAY-BACK MACHINE has landed the opening work for ERIC BURDON & THE ANIMALS at Ridgefield Playhouse.

Tickets for that show are $67.50 and $72.50, and can be purchased online at www.RidgefieldPlayhouse.com or by calling 203-438-5795.

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 15 — Lady Antebellum at the Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, with special guest David Nail; Rob Zombie & Alice Cooper at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Murderdolls opening; Lifehouse at The MGM Grand at Foxwoods, Mashantucket, Kris Allen opening; Darik & The Funbags and The Zoo at Toad’s Place, New Haven, Unzipped and Wreck’d opening;

October 16 — The Way-Back Machine at The One-Eyed Pig, Newtown; Hat City at LumberYard Pub, West Redding (Georgetown); Tower of Power of Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, Uncasville;

October 17 — Open Mic @ 59, 59 Bank Street, New Milford, featuring Don Lowe, The Pears and The Blue Yodels (fundraiser for The Village Center for the Arts); Eric Johnson, Andy McKee & Peppino D’Agostino at The Ridgefield Playhouse;

October 20 — Senses Fair and Bayside at The Webster, Hartford, Title Fight and Balance & Composure opening;

October 21 — Drake at the Oakdale Theatre; Los Lonely Boys at The Ridgefield Playhouse;

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; Cute Is What We Aim For at The Webster Underground, Hartford, Phone Calls From Home, Sunday Night Scene, et al opening; Lonestar at The MGM Grand at Foxwoods;

October 23 — Midnight Rodeo at Hot Shots Grille, Newtown; Ke$ha at Mohegan Sun Arena; Eric Burdon & The Animals at The Ridgefield Playhouse, The Way-Back Machine opening; Emerson Drive at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den;

October 24 — Buddy Guy at The Ridgefield Playhouse; Rock Out For The Children at Toad’s Place, New Haven, benefit for Make-A-Wish Foundation to feature Inablackout, Battle Cry, Chaos Embrace, Headwrench, Aaron Silver, et al;

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, Those Darlins and Eytan & The Embassy opening; Indigo Girls at Toad’s Place, Mount Moriah opening;

October 29 — Old School at Proud Mary’s; Midnight Rodeo at The Cookhouse, New Milford; Average White Band at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den;

October 30 — Hat City Blues at Redding Road House; Bush at The MGM Grand at Foxwoods.