*Classic rock will return to The Blue Z in Newtown this weekend when THE HIP REPLACEMENTS take the stage on Friday night. Showtime for their December 4 show is 7 pm.

JOHN SUNDAD will perform jazz on Saturday the 5th starting at 7:30, and then my friend and editing cohort JOHN VOKET will be back in the (coffee) house on December 10. Newtown musician JIM ALLYN will be headlining on December 11, and then live music will accompany the December 12 opening reception for Jessica Gaddis, the next artist to be featured at The Blue Z.

*PETER OBRE and ALLAN JOHNSON (both Class of ’76 Newtown High graduates), a/k/a Homeward Bound, will be at The Elms in Ridgefield on Friday, December 4.

The inn is at 500 Main Street (Route 35), and the show will run from 6 until about 9 pm.

*Meanwhile, FAIRFIELD CROSSING will bring its Irish music to the comfortable room at Mocha Coffee House in Sandy Hook on Friday. The musical friends will bring back their repertoire of traditional and contemporary Irish-Scottish, Appalachian, bluegrass, New England and French-Canadian tunes for an 8-10 pm show.

Then on Saturday the coffee house will host two musical offerings to complement Sandy Hook Center’s tree lighting.

First up from 5 to 6 will be RIVER HILL SAXOPHONE QUARTET. John Cizik (soprano and alto saxophones), Chris Sutton (baritone and tenor saxophones), Robert Rabinowitz (alto and soprano saxophones) and Mike Ingber (tenor saxophone) will be playing their arrangements of classic jazz, popular music and seasonal favorites to maximize the effect of a four horned monster of music.

Then at 8 JON SLOW will have the coffee house corner, filled with his “textured, melodic chord progressions, energetic strumming and bottomless well of songwriting inspiration.” Slow, who has begun recoding a new song list, will be playing until about 10 pm.

*AARON LEWIS will take off his hat as frontman of STAIND for another solo acoustic performance at Mohegan Sun Arena next year. I believe Lewis usually does a series of smaller shows, but this one, as I just mentioned, has been put into the arena so we may only be seeing one show on February 5 instead of his usual stand of four or five shows.

Tickets will be on sale this weekend — Saturday, December 5, at 10 am — first through TicketMaster vendors and then beginning on Sunday at the casino’s box office as well. They’ve been set at $35 and $50.

*Also on sale Saturday morning will be tickets for a March 13 show by MARTINA McBRIDE and TRACE ADKINS, who will bring their Shine All Night Tour to the same venue. Tickets are $60 and $75 for this one; TicketMaster on Saturday, casino also on Sunday.

*Meanwhile over at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, tickets for a March 6 ALICE IN CHAINS show will be going on sale this weekend.

Priced from $30 to $55, those tickets will be going on sale tomorrow morning at 9 am through MGMatFoxwoods.com, through that venue’s box office (in person or call 866-646-0609) or through TicketMaster vendors.

Until next week, I’ll be seeing you… on the road, where maybe — just maybe — you’ll be driving home with a Christmas tree that’s almost as pretty as mine. (I did really good this year!)

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

DECEMBER 4 —The Hip Replacements at The Blue Z, Newtown; Fairfield Crossing at Mocha Coffee House, Sandy Hook; Homeward Bound at The Elms Inn, Ridgefield; Tim Reynolds & TR3 at Fairfield Theatre Company;

December 5 — Jim Sundad at The Blue Z; River Hill Saxophone Quartet at Mocha Coffee House (5 pm show), then Jon Slow (8 pm); David Morgan at Redding Community Center (Lyrics Coffeehouse series), Redding;

December 7 — Insane Clown Posse at The Webster, Hartford;

December 10 — John Voket at The Blue Z;

December 11 — Jim Allyn at The Blue Z; Mark Mahoney at Mocha Coffee House; Furthur Fest at The Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, featuring Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Jeff Chimenti, John Kadlecik, Jay Lane and Joe Russo; Dickey Betts & Great Southern at Infinity Music Hall, Norfolk, The Luke Mulholland Band opening;

December 12 — The Proud Flesh at Mocha Coffee House; Hat City Blues Band at Lumberyard Pub, West Redding;

December 18 — Kristin Ryan at Mocha Coffee House; John Valby XXXmas Show at Toad’s Place; Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den, Uncasville (also December 19);

December 19 — Free Thought at Mocha Coffee House; Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den;

December 20 — Mystic Bowie CD release party at Fairfield Theatre Company;

December 26 — Bassix at Mocha Coffee House; Eight to the Bar at Infinity Music Hall;

December 30 — Hatebreed at The Webster, Hartford; Apache Stone with Michael Lombardi at Mohegan Sun’s Wolf Den; The Ryan Montbleau Band at Fairfield Theatre Company (also December 31);

December 31 — The J. Geils Band at Mohegan Sun Arena; The Ryan Montbleau Band at Fairfield Theatre Company.