*There are still a number of DIDO tickets out there for the rescheduled ctnow.com Meadows show. Patrons need to return their Dido tickets for the ctnow.com Meadows at the point of purchase, and then re-purchase tickets you wish to see the show at the ctnow.com Oakdale on July 1.

*SOL DOG is back tonight at The Classic Rock Brew Pub in Danbury for not only a homecoming of sorts to this area, but a return for the bar’s big Fourth of July (early) show. That’s right, Friday, June 29, is Fireworks Night! and Sol Dog has been selected to help Danbury ring in all things red, white and blue with a bang again this year.

The band will be starting around 8, playing outside on the back lot, and then the fireworks start as soon as it’s dark. Then Sol Dog gets to play some more, and after that they move inside and play even more. Radio station i-95 will be there giving away a bunch of stuff, too. Rain date is Monday, July 2, and Rev — the lead singer, lead guitarist and lead man when it comes to making a kilt look damn good! — recommends getting there early because the place gets packed for its big Independence Day extravaganzas.

*THE PARTING GIFT’S bass player, Sean Sheridan, will be out of town on the 30th of June so Kim Leaman will be going it solo of behalf of Parting  Gift, opening for the punk band THE INTERNATIONAL BRUNCH MUMMIES at Hat City Ale House tomorrow night. The show is expected to kick off around 9:30, and this is reportedly the first solo act ever at Hat City.

*Some thoughts this week on THE GO-GO’S, who have officially reunited (for this summer at least), recorded and released a new album, and are on the road. God Bless the Go-Go’s, which features an album cover with the five women — the original members, Belinda Carlisle, Charlotte Caffey, Jane Wiedlin, Gina Schock and Kathy Valentine — dressed as various saints. Honesty, Chastity, Marcy, Purity and Modesty are personified on the album cover, which has of course drawn ire from The Catholic League for Religious Rights (as has the band’s updated Web site, www.gogos.com, and I would imagine the fact the girls shot their first video for the new album’s first single, “Unforgiven,” at a former synagogue built in the 1800s probably raised a few eyebrows as well).

But who cares about the controversy? The album’s a hoot! …and I mean that in a good way. The fourth album from these gals, God Bless The Go-Go’s, for one thing, marks the first all-new material by this group in 17 years. The album also reflects more of the pop stylings the band is remembered for than of the punk roots the quintet had hoped to become famous for two-plus decades ago.

If you listen to the group’s first album (1981’s Beauty and The Beat), you can hear the punky roots. Even if you listen to the 1990 complation released by IRS Records, you can hear it, not to mention see it: look at the length of these songs! The longest one clocks in at 4 minutes, 16 seconds (“You Thought”), another hits the 4-minute mark on the nose (“Lust To Love”), and the rest are shorter than that.

So why all of this prattering? Belinda & Co. will be right in Danbury next weekend. The Go-Go’s are playing the third concert of Ives Concert Park’s summer season (preceded by THE IRISH TENORS on June 30 and NY POPS FIREWORKS Concert on July 4) on Sunday, July 8, at 7 pm. Tickets for The Go-Go’s run from $25 for the lawn area up to $60 for the front section of the reserved seating area, although children’s seating in the lawn area is just $10. Call the concert park’s box office at 837-9226 or TicketMaster, 744-8100, for tickets. Then get out your old CDs, cassettes and many even albums and 45s and give a re-listen to “Our Lips Are Sealed,” “We Got The Beat,” “Head Over Heels,” “Vacation,” and everything else Go-Go’s related, including the awesome new album. See you at the concert park next Sunday evening!

Until next week, I’ll be seeing you... on the road.

Questions and comments should be sent to Shannon Hicks, c/o Bee Publishing Co., 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown 06470, or shannon@thebee.com; or call The Bee office at 426-3141.

Shows listed on the calendar at club locations are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

UPCOMING CONCERTS

JUNE 29 — Backstreet Boys at ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre, Hartford, Shaggy and Krystal opening (separate sets); Darik & The Funbags at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury; Three Finger Demon, Fourth Corpse, Justice League and Altitude at Empress Ballroom, Danbury; Sol Dog at The Classic Rock Brew Pub, Danbury; Jonatha Brooke at The Webster Theater, Hartford, Fivewise, Echo Janes and Uneven Ends opening (all ages); Ink and The Limit at Toad’s Place, New Haven, The Flames and My Own Grenade opening (all ages); Chris Beard at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Café, Hartford;

June 30 — Bill Perry at Black-Eyed Sally’s; The Wallbangers at Tuxedo Junction; Another Dark Day and S.A.T.O. at Players Café, Danbury; Joe Proc at Putnam House, Bethel; The International Brunch Mummies at Hat City Ale House, Danbury, Kim Leaman (of The Parting Gift) opening; Luxx, Throne, Sibil, Gaiah and Lifo at The Webster Theater (all ages).

JULY 1 — Dido at ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, Hartford, Travis opening; Jim Edelman benefit concert at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury, featuring Out of The Blue, Danny Sawyer and OFB, Future Tense, Sapphire 2001, and special guest TBA (showtime 6 pm);

July 3 — Echo & The Bunnymen at Toad’s Place, New Haven;

July 5 — Deep Banana Blackout at Toad’s Place, Lake Trout opening (all ages);

July 6 — The Go-Go’s at Foxwoods Casino, Ledyard; Shakedown at Toad’s Place, Silent Majority, Fountain Project and Rafter Bats opening (all ages); Hipnotic at Tuxedo Junction;

July 7 — Journey at Meadows Music Centre, Hartford, with John Waite and Peter Frampton; Earth at The Webster Theater, Hartford, 30 Stones, Split Shift, Facing Sideways, Cyd Xmas, Shatterbox and Nme opening (all ages); FUBAR at Tuxedo Junction.

July 8 — The Go-Go’s at Ives Concert Park, Danbury; Saves The Day and The Anniversary at Toad’s Place, Dashboard Confessional and Hot Rod Circuit opening;

July 12 — Dexter Freebish at The Webster Theater, Missing Joe and Renata opening (all ages); Addison Groove Project at Toad’s Place, Smoke the Prophet opening (all ages);

July 13 — Mary Sippin & The Diamond Spurs at C.H. Booth Library, Newtown (Summer Concert Series, free, 7 pm); Stevie Nicks at ctnow.com Meadows Music Center (few duets with Sheryl Crow), Jeffrey Gaines opening; Larry Garner at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Café, Hartford; Kristin Hersh at Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield; The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction;

July 14 — Paul Simon with Brian Wilson at ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre; “Walk Down Abbey Road” featuring Todd Rundgren, Ann Wilson, Alan Parsons and John Entwistle at Mohegan Sun; Jerry Cantrell at The Webster Theater (rescheduled from May), Mirv and Swarm opening (all ages); Joe Rockstar at Tuxedo Junction;

July 17 — MTV’s TRL Tour featuring Destiny’s Child at ctnow.com Meadows Music Theatre; The Wallflowers at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theater, Uncasville;

July 18 — CSA Songwriters’ Showcase at Acoustic Café, Bridgeport; Everclear at The Webster Theater, American Hi-Fi and Mayfield 4 at The Webster Theater, Hartford; Dennis Quaid & The Sharks at Foxwoods’ Fox Theater;

July 19 — Kip Winger at Toad’s Place;

July 20 — The Barenaked Ladies and Vertical Horizon at Meadows Music Centre, Action Figure Party and Sarah Harmer opening; 68 Comeback Special at Mohegan Sun Casino (trio led by Brian Setzer); Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials and Tab Benoit at Black-Eyed Sally’s; After Dark V at The Webster Theater featuring Atavus, Clip, Sibil and Medicated Savage (all ages); The Nerds at Tuxedo Junction (7th anniversary band celebration);

July 21 — Phil Lesh & Friends and Ratdog with Bob Weir (co-headlining) at Meadows Music Centre (tickets on sale May 5); The Doobie Brothers at Ives Concert Park, Danbury; Screaming Broccoli at Tuxedo Junction;

July 22 — “Walk Down Abbey Road” featuring Todd Rundgren, Ann Wilson, Alan Parsons and John Entwistle at Oakdale Theatre; Tree and Nullset at The Webster Theater, Hyde, Clokseed and Powertripp opening (all ages);

July 24 — The Smithereens at Mohegan Sun Casino;

July 25 — Mystikal, Ginuwine, Jahem, Jagged Edge and Public Announcement at New Haven Coliseum (no ticket info yet);

July 26 — Buckcherry at The Webster Theater, Econoline Crush opening (all ages); Johnny Rawls at Black-Eyed Sally’s; Chicago at Foxwoods’ Fox Theater;

July 27 — Our Lady Peace at The Webster Theater, Sinomatic opening (all ages); Chicago at the Oakdale Theatre; The Derek Trucks Band at Toad’s Place (all ages); Poppa Squat at Tuxedo Junction;

July 28 — Kenny Wayne Shepherd at Mohegan Sun Casino; John Sebastian & The J-Band at CityCenter Green, Danbury (free 7:30 show, rain location Danbury High School); Darik & The Funbags at Tuxedo Junction;

July 29 — Collective Soul at The Webster Theater (all ages); James Cotton at Washington Park, Bridgeport (3 pm, free show).