*PETER OBRE has four dates set up to play at The Inn at Newtown this month and next. The Newtown guitar teacher and performer will be at 19 Main Street on Fridays, May 5 and 19, and June 9 and 23. Showtime is around 9 pm and there is no cover to get in.

*NATALIE MERCHANT, THE MOODY BLUES and JETHRO TULL will all be making their Ives Concert Park debuts this summer. The venue has released its Summer 2000 schedule, which also includes the return of the park’s traditional Fourth of July concert and fireworks — which was sorely missed last year — and the return of the B.B. KING BLUESFEST at the end of the summer. Tickets for all shows will be going on sale Monday morning, May 8, at 10 am.

Among the highlights of this year’s schedule are the aforementioned show by Natalie Merchant, on Saturday, July 8, at 8 pm. Tickets for that show are $50 for Gold Circle, $35 for the remaining reserved seats, $25 for adult lawn seats and $10 for children’s lawn seats. Wilco and Carrie are both slated as openers.

The Moody Blues concert will be on Saturday, July 15, at 8 pm. The Peter Spink Group will open, and tickets range from $25 for the lawn, $40 for reserved, and $60 for Gold Circle. The Jethro Tull concert will be Saturday, July 29, at 8 pm. Tickets are the same as Natalie Merchant; openers will be XRC. And finally, Labor Day Monday will see a return of The B.B. King Bluesfest, which will get under way around 4 pm. Scheduled to appear this year are King, of course, along with JAMES MONTGOMERY & THE NEW ENGLAND BLUES ALL-STARS, THE BLUE IN THE FACE DUO, and BUDDY GUY, among others. Tickets are priced the same as those for The Moody Blues.

Ives Concert Park tickets are available from the venue’s box office, which can be reached by calling 837-9226. Tickets for all shows are also available through any TicketMaster outlet, either in person, over the phone, or via the Internet. The concert park is on the westside campus of Western CT State University in Danbury. Concert parking is available on-site or from seven shuttle bus locations (also included in ticket prices); parking is included with the price of concert tickets.

*Here’s another concert we’ve all been waiting for details about: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND will indeed be playing three shows at The Meadows in Hartford again this summer. There had been talk earlier this year about the band being a bit gunshy about returning to Connecticut following the outbreak of fights and fires in the Meadows parking lot after two of the band’s three shows last August. There was also a lot of discussion going on over, once the band decided it would return, the number of shows it would be back for.

This week comes the news that DMB will indeed be in town Friday through Sunday, August 25-27. Shows are 8 pm on Friday, 7 pm Saturday and Sunday, and David Gray will be opening all three.

Tickets are going on sale Saturday, May 6, at 10 am. All lawn seats are $34, all pavilion seats are $49. Here are the details: A wristband lottery system will be used at all Tickets.com outlets and the Meadows box office. Ticket buyers can go to the outlet of their choice beginning Thursday, May 4, at 4 pm, to obtain a wristband. The number on their wristband will determine their place in line Saturday.

The starting number will be chosen by lottery drawing Saturday morning between 9 and 10 am. Possession of a wristband does not guarantee the opportunity to purchase tickets. (Anyone who knows anything about this band’s popularity knows how quickly its shows continues to sell out at.) For box office sales, wristbands will be distributed at 9:30 am on Saturday morning at The Meadows.

To buy online, go to tickets.com. To purchase over the phone, call 860/422-0000 or 800/477-6849.

There is a limit of four tickets per person for seats in the pavilion area, or six tickets for the lawn area, with no more than six tickets total allowed per person per show. Good luck!

*Also new is an announcement that STING is returning to the state, and this time to The Meadows. (Sting played an early date on his current Brand New Day Tour at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, and was at The Meadows for a summer show a few years ago). The performer will be in Hartford on Wednesday, June 28, for an 8 pm show. Tickets for this concert will be going on sale Monday, May 8, at 10 am. Prices are $38.50, $65 and $85 for the lawn, and $25 for the lawn area.

*And finally this week is the official notice from its promoters that THE 5TH ANNUAL GATHERING OF THE VIBES will indeed take place at Bridgeport’s Seaside Park, June 23-25. For an event that started as a grassroots response to the death of JERRY GARCIA, the three-day festival drew an average of 8,500 visitors last year.

Advance tickets for this year’s event — which will include music from the likes of RATDOG, THE DAVID GRISMAN QUINTET, JOHN SCOFIELD, ORIGINAL P, MOE, DEEP BANANA BLACKOUT, STRANGEFOLK, PERCY HILL, MERL SAUNDERS AND FRIENDS, MAX CREEK, ZEN TRICKSTERS, THE HARLEM GOSPEL CHOIR, and many others — are $75 for a three-day pass, $70 for a two-day pass, or $35 for a Saturday or Sunday single-day pass. Two- and three-day passes include camping privileges.

Of course, Gathering of the Vibes is more than music. Visitors, whether day visitors or those hearty souls who camp out at the event, can also take in delicious food, cold microbrews, arts and crafts vendors, the SoNo Arts Festival Puppets, Bob “Schoolhouse Rock” Dorough, and other entertainment. For advance tickets or additional information, contact Terrapin Tapes (the festival’s promoter) in Brookfield at 800/677-8650, or visit www.gatheringofthevibes.com (which happens to include a complete list of ticket outlets) or www.ttapes.com.

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. Include a phone number for confirmation, please. If you don’t have a stamp or a piece of paper or a writing utensil that works, give me a call! The phone number at the office is 426-3141. Shows listed on the calendar at club locations are for ages 21 and over unless specified.

UPCOMING CONCERTS

MAY 5 — Peter Obre at The Inn at Newtown; Spring Heeled Jack USA at Toad’s Place, New Haven (all ages); The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury; Adva and Third Rail at Laszlo’s Arts Café, Monroe; Union at The Webster Theatre, Hartford (all ages);

May 6 — Sol Dog at Jimmies Seaside, Stamford; Darik & The Funbags at Tuxedo Junction; Off The Hook at Sogno, Newtown; Static X at The Webster Theatre (all ages);

May 7 — Wyclef Jean & The Refugee All-Stars at WCSU/Charles Ives Center (part of Annual West Fest Weekend, concert is 1 pm; call 837-8711 for tickets & details); Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen at Towne Crier Café, Pawling, NY;

May 11 — “Weird Al” Yankovic at The Bushnell, Hartford;

May 12 — Off The Hook at Sogno; Point of View at Laszlo’s Arts Café; Max Creek at Toad’s Place (all ages); FUBAR at Tuxedo Junction; Kittie at The Webster Theatre;

May 13 — Big Orange Cone at Tuxedo Junction; Moppin’ Sauce at Fat Daddy’s, Watertown; Club Lucy at The Webster Theatre;

May 18 —Gunga Din at Tune Inn; Veruca Salt at The Webster Theatre (all ages);

May 19 — Peter Obre at The Inn at Newtown; Off The Hook at The Fireside Inn, Newtown; Simple Jim at Toad’s Place, Ink opening; The Nerds at Tuxedo Junction;

May 20 — The Wallbangers at Tuxedo Junction;

May 26 — Off The Hook at Sogno; Future Tense at Tuxedo Junction;

May 27 — The Benjamins at Tuxedo Junction; Stroke 9 and Local H at The Webster Theatre.

JUNE 1 — The Amazing Crowns at Tune Inn, New Haven;

June 4 — Colin Hay (of Men at Work) at Tune Inn;

June 6 — Don Henley at the Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford;

June 9 — Peter Obre at The Inn at Newtown; Rane at The Webster Theatre, Hartford (performance & CD release party);

June 13 —Red Hot Chili Peppers at The Meadows Music Theatre, Hartford, Foo Fighters and Red Hot Blonde opening; Lynyrd Skynyrd at The Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford;

June 14 — 311 and Incubus at The Oakdale;

June 15 — Tina Turner at The Meadows Music Theatre, Hartford; Mary J. Blige at The Oakdale (no tickets yet);

June 16 — Poison, Cinderella, Dokken and Slaughter at The Meadows Music Theatre;

June 17 — Mighty Purple at The Arts Barn, Madison;

June 21 — Britney Spears at The Meadows.

June 23 — Peter Obre at The Inn at Newtown;

June 23-25 — 5th Annual Gathering of the Vibes Festival at Seaside Park, Bridgeport, including performances by Ratdog, David Grisman, John Scofield, Merl Saunders & Friends, Max Creek, Harlem Gospel Choir, et al;

June 25 — The Allman Brothers Band at The Meadows, Hot Tuna opening;

June 29 — Mighty Purple on the New Haven Green (part of annual Arts & Ideas Festival, free show, beging 5:30 pm);

June 30 — Phish at The Meadows (no tickets until May 13).

JULY 1 — Phish at The Meadows Music Theatre, Hartford (no tickets until May 13);

July 8 — Kiss at The Meadows, Skid Row and Ted Nugent opening; Natalie Merchant at Ives Concert Park, Danbury, Wilco and Carrie opening;

July 9 — Steely Dan at The Meadows;

July 14 — The Beach Boys at the Oakdale Theatre, The Four Tops opening;

July 15 — The Moody Blues at Ives Concert Park, The Peter Spink Group opening;

July 22 — Yes and Kansas at The Meadows (no tickets yet);

July 24 —The Slackers at The Webster Theatre, Hartford;

July 29 — Jethro Tull at Ives Concert Park, XRC opening;

July 31 — Incubus at The Webster Theatre (all ages).

AUGUST 5 — Motley Crue at The Meadows Music Theatre, Hartford, Anthrax and Megadeth opening;

August 9 — Santana at The Meadows Music Theatre, Macy Gray opening;

August 23 — Live and Counting Crows at The Meadows (tickets on sale April 29);

August 23-24 — Eddie Money at Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville;

August 25-27 — Dave Matthews Band at The Meadows, Hartford (tickets on sale May 6).

SEPTEMBER 4 — The B.B. King Bluesfest at Ives Concert Park, Danbury, with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, James Montgomery & The New England All-Stars, The Blue in the Face Duo, et al.