*HAT CITY BLUES BAND (the musicians seen here) will be performing its 2nd Annual Newtown Youth Services Benefit Concert this weekend. The show will be Saturday, May 22, and it’s moving to The Fireside Inn, which means more room for attendees and more room for dancing. Showtime is 8 pm, and admission is a suggested donation of $8.

All of the money collected through door admissions and ticket sales for raffles will be donated to Newtown Youth Services. Last year’s show raised $2,000, and Blues Band member David Lott said recently that the band’s goal this year is to double that amount.

Members of the NYS Youth Advisory Board will be participating by selling tickets, collecting money and serving refreshments. Hat City Blues Band recently finished producing its first CD and the band promised to give out at least ten copies of that recording as well as band T-shirts.

*Local boys BAD LITTLE BROWNIE will be at 100 Church Hill in Sandy Hook this weekend. Butch Bochino, Kevin Donohue, Dave Soletsky and Charlie Spolar will be performing their takes on classic rock on Friday, May 21, starting around 9:30.

*Since the April 27 release of the CD/DVD Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978), there has been enormous demand for a BLACK SABBATH tour. Original Black Sabbath members Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, along with Osborne solo band member Mike Bordin on drums, have answered this call with a 26-show tour this summer as headliners of OzzFest and the fun starts with the festival’s Hartford stop on July 10.

*Tickets for an August 31 concert by JOURNEY at the careerbuilder.com Oakdale Theatre will be going on sale Saturday morning. Tickets are $38.50 and will be available at the box office in Wallingford, oneline at tickets.com or by calling the Oakdale at 203-265-1501.

Apparently there is strong demand for Journey concerts in Connecticut because tickets for a September 1 concert by the classic rock band at Mohegan Sun Arena will also be going on sale this weekend. Seats have been set at $25 and $35 and will be available at the arena’s box office beginning at 10 am; a limited number of wristbands will be distributed beginning at 7. Tickets can also be purchased through tickets.com online, by calling 800-477-6849 or by visiting a tickets.com vendor.

*More tickets for another Meadows concert will also be going on sale this weekend.

NORAH JONES will be returning to Connecticut (after a sold out show earlier this spring at the Oakdale) for a concert that will have lawn tickets at $25 and all pavilion seats at $58. These tickets will be going on sale Saturday morning at 10.

*CAROLE KING, who was named one of the 100 Most Important Women in Rock by VH-1 a few years ago, will be performing at Mohegan Sun Arena on Tuesday, July 27. Tickets are $75, $100 and $125 apiece; call 800-477-6849 or visit any tickets.com vendor for tickets or details.

*REBA McINTIRE’s June 4 concert at the arena is sold out, as is ROD STEWART’s July 13 show at the same venue.

*Kate Clinton will be opening for MELISSA ETHERIDGE when Etheridge opens the 2004 season at Ives Concert Park in Danbury next month. Tickets for the June 18 show are on sale; visit any TicketMaster location or the concert park’s box office on the westside campus of Western CT State University.

*THE JAZZ MANDOLIN PROJECT, which has been setting itself apart from what most people expect of mandolin music, will be in Hartford at The Webster Theater next week. The performance, featuring Jamie Masefield and Phish drummer Jon Fishman, will be in town on Thursday, May 27. Tickets for the all ages show are just $15.

*THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND will headline a Rock ‘n Riders Motorcycle Rally this weekend at the Meadows, which is going to be, I believe, the first performance of the year for the Hartford amphitheater. Tickets for the event are just $10, with kids ages 10 and under free.

Tickets are being sold only through the Oakdale box office and at tickets.com outlets – there are no phone or Internet sales for this event. You can also pay at the gate on Sunday.

The rally will run from 10 am until 5 pm, with music starting around noon. In addition to Marshall Tucker Band the afternoon will feature performances by DIAMONDBACK and THE WHISKEY RIVER BAND, the Connecticut-based southern rock band (as opposed to the Wisconsin-based Wisconsin’s Original Whiskey River Band).

*Two music choices are available for July 11 in Hartford, and tickets are available now.

KENNY CHESNEY will be bringing his Guitars, Tiki Bars and A Whole Lot of Love Tour to the Meadows that night, with Rascal Flatts and Uncle Kracker in supporting slots (and I’m sure Kracker will be making an appearance during Chesney’s set for the performance of “When The Sun Goes Down”).

Tickets are $32.35 for the lawn and $64.25 for the reserved pavilion seating.

Just across town that evening vocalist Randy Jackson will be joining Hartford Symphony Orchestra for a performance of THE MUSIC OF LED ZEPPELIN at Hartford Civic Center. Tickets for this show are $35 and $42.50.

Until next week I’ll be seeing you… on the road. And remember: click it or ticket.

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

MAY 21 — Bad Little Brownie at 100 Church Hill, Sandy Hook; Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, .38 Special opening; Off The Hook at Proud Mary’s, Newtown; Sol Dog at The Black Duck, Westport; Darik & The Funbags at Toad’s Place, New Haven, Another Day Wasted, Old Marsh and Remedy opening; Party Boss at The Georgetown Saloon; Reid Genauer & The Assembly of Dust at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury;

May 21-22 — The Neville Brothers at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, Uncasville;

May 22 — Hat City Blues Band’s 2nd Annual Newtown Youth Services Fundraiser at The Fireside Inn, Newtown; Jason Mraz at Oakdale Theatre; SideShow at The Brickyard, Hartford; Jim Weider Band at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Café, Hartford; Sister Funk at The Georgetown Saloon; The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction; Daria Musk Trio (DM3) at The Green Room, Bridgeport; The Romantics and Chesterfield Kings at Toad’s Place, Eblend opening (all ages);

May 23 — Rock n’ Riders Motorcycle Rally at the Meadows Music Theatre, Hartford, featuring The Marshall Tucker Band, The Whiskey River Band and Diamondback (gates open at 10, music starts at noon); Andrew WK at Toad’s Place, The Locust, No Motiv and Slow Coming Day opening (all ages); Scratch & Sniff Duo at The Georgetown Saloon;

May 25 — Fuel at Toad’s Place, Breaking Benjamin opening (all ages);

May 26 — Spitalfield at Toad’s Place, The Reunion Show and Slow Coming Day opening (all ages);

May 27 — Vince Welnick at The Webster Theatre; Jenoah and Socratic at The Empress Ballroom; Gwar at Toad’s Place, Bad Acid Trip and Watch Them Die opening (all ages);

May 28 — SideShow at Murphy & Scarletti’s, Farmington; Off The Hook at The Redding Roadhouse; Michael Bolton at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theatre; Sheena Easton at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; Twinkies at The Georgetown Saloon; Shakedown at Toad’s Place, Rusty Horse and Fusebox opening (all ages);

May 29 — Jeff Pichell & Texas Flood at Black-Eyed Sally’s; SideShow at Sports Rock USA, Bristol; Off The Hook at The George Washington Tavern, Washington; Cinnamon Sky Trio at The Georgetown Saloon; Them Bones at Tuxedo Junction;

May 30 — Night Ranger at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; Funkfest at Toad’s Place, Rearview, Shirley Love and Electric Mayhem opening (all ages).