*The modern rock band SUGARR™ will be back, after a one-week break, at Hot Shots II in Newtown on Saturday, May 19. Showtime is scheduled for around 10 pm, and the cover is usually $3. The band will then move into Danbury the following weekend, for a show at Players (formerly Our Place Café) on Osborne Street in Danbury on Saturday, May 26.

*I don’t know how this keeps happening, but it doesn’t seem to be a bad thing. Ives Concert Park unveiled its summer concert series schedule last week and once again there are a few shows that are by groups performing twice in Connecticut within days of each show. THE GO-GO’S, for instance, will be at Foxwoods Casino on July 6, and will now also be in Danbury on Sunday, July 8. But the concert park’s track record has proven a few times in the past that such overlapping shows are not a problem in this state.

In addition to The Go-Go’s, Ives Concert Park will also host performances this year by THE IRISH TENORS (the season opening show is June 30), TRISHA YEARWOOD (July 15), THE DOOBIE BROTHERS (July 21), THE EVERLY BROTHERS “with special guest” THE KINGSTON TRIO (August 12), THE BEACH BOYS (August 17) and THE YES SYMPHONIC TOUR (September 3).

The Labor Day concert by Yes will be a performance by the rock legends, backed by a 40-piece symphony orchestra.

*OUR LADY PEACE headlines a show on June 9 at The Webster Theater in Hartford. AMERICAN HI-FI is opening that show, but will return the following month as a headliner, this time with EVERCLEAR, FLIP and THE MAYFIELD FOUR in tow.

*Details should be arriving momentarily in terms of ticket prices and on-sale dates, but watch for PAUL SIMON with BRIAN WILSON at The Meadows in Hartford on July 14; MATCHBOX TWENTY on August 18; and CROSBY, STILLS & NASH, August 20 (although one source is mentioning that last show as one for the Oakdale in Wallingford).

The Matchbox Twenty tour, with TRAIN in the opening slot, kicks off July 31 in Fargo and will continue through the end of September. In the meantime, Rob Thomas and the boys will be joining BON JOVI for a two-month romp across Europe.

SARAH HARMER will be opening the BARENAKED LADIES show on July 20. Tickets for that show at the Meadows are already on sale.

*DESTINY’S CHILD will be in Hartford on July 19, but I have conflicting information concerning where the show will be. One way or another, the second stop for the trio headlining the 2001 MTV TRL Tour will be in Connecticut. Opening sets will be offered by EVE, DREAM, 3LW, NELLY and JESSICA SIMPSON.

*For those of you who, like me, grew up on the cool music of the Eighties (and no, that’s not an oxymoron), here’s some welcome news of sorts. DEPECHE MODE is hitting the rode for the first time in six years with new material this summer. That’s the good news. The bad news is the closest stops the tour will be making to us is June 27 at Madison Square Garden and July 1 at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Mass.

*Something called “Walk Down Abbey Road” will be at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford on July 22. The tour features TODD RUNGREN, ANN WILSON, ALAN PARSONS and JOHN ENTWISTLE.

Parsons is a one-time Beatles producer. His tour, which VH-1 is calling “a touring tribute to his former employers,” will feature two distinct performances. The first half of the show is set to include a few songs by each performer; the second half will “tackle an assortment of Beatles tunes selected by Parsons,” according to the music network. The tour will kick off on June 15 in San Diego and run for just over five weeks, making Connecticut one of the final stops. No ticket details yet, including price or on-sale date.

*Details arrived this week for Saturday’s World Cup of Punk Festival at Empress Ballroom in Danbury. Doors will be opening at 1 pm for the all-ages event and performers will be BLOOD FOR BLOOD, IRON CROSS, REACH THE SKY, DEATH THREAT, YOUTHFUL OFFENDER, STEP 2 FAR, BLOODSHOT HOOLIGANS, WHAT FEEDS THE FIRE, ROACHENDER, CLENCHED FIST and FOR ALL IT’S WORTH. The club is at 155 Main Street. Call Empress Ballroom at 796-0000 or visit www.empressballroom.com if you are interested in spefics for Saturday, including the start-time for a specific band.

KYD MYN has replaced Last Kid Picked as one of the openers for next weekend’s CONNECTICUT WHITE BREAD SHOW, May 25.

It looks like ANOTHER DARK DAY has been dropped from the bill for May 26. GARGANTUA SOUL, BIP TOP LOW and DISMAY will still be playing Saturday night, however.

*The Humor File: I found the inclusion of a Trane ad (a company whose logo is “It takes a lot to stop a Trane”) on the CNN Web page presenting the story of Tuesday afternoon’s runaway train in Ohio ironic.

*As a woman, I have to say I am pretty peturbed with the latest series of American Express Travelers Cheques commercials. The first two ads, in heavy circulation for the last three months or so, presented women in frightening scenarios: the first woman had just exited her cab, only to have the cab take off with her purse, which was of course full of money. The second ad shows a panic-stricken woman on a pay phone at the beach. Her purse has been stolen right off her blanket.

This week the company is running a new pair of ads, one with a traveler at an airport and the second with a restaurant patron. The woman at the airport seems to have had her bag picked up off the carousel, and the woman at the restaurant has had her purse picked up right from under her chair, it seems.

Am I meant to believe that women are the only people who have money stolen? What’s the deal here? Can we say sexism?

Until next week, I’ll be seeing you... on the road, but not traveling with American Express Travelers Cheques, that’s for sure!

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

MAY 18 — Dr John at Mohegan Sun, Uncasville; Shakedown at Toad’s Place, New Haven, Silent Majority and Smoke the Prophet opening (all ages); The Nerds at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury; Joe Proc and Abu at Mimi’s, Danbury; Rane at Roo Bar, Hartford; Mad Chyron Mob, Switchdance and They Hate Us at Empress Ballroom, Danbury (all ages);

May 19 — SugarR at Hot Shots II, Newtown; Psycloptics and Dogfish at Players, Danbury (formerly Our Place Café; third band TBA); Jim Carroll at Tune Inn, New Haven; Darik & The Funbags at Tuxedo Junction; World Cup of Punk Festival at The Empress Ballroom, Danbury, featuring Blood For Blood, Reach the Sky, Iron Cross, Death Threat, Youthful Offender, Step 2 Far, Bloodshot Hooligans, What Feeds the Fire, Roachender, Clenched Fist and Fot All It’s Worth (doors open 1 pm; Off The Hook at Sky Box Café, Fairfield; Rane at Steve & Sully’s, Hartford;

May 20 — H20 at Toad’s Place, Midtown and Cooter opening (all ages); Lucy Kaplansky at Acoustic Café, Bridgeport; Planet X at The Webster Theater, Hartford;

May 22 — Stereo Mud at The Webster Theater;

May 23 — CSA Songwriters’ Showcase at Acoustic Café; Econoline Crush at The Webster Theater;

May 24 — Lynyrd Skynyrd at Mohegan Sun’s Uncas Pavilion, Uncasville, George Thorogood & The Destroyers opening; Little Feat at Foxwoods’ Fox Theater, Ledyard (tickets not yet on sale); Sans Cherubs and Melissa Ferrick at The Webster Theater, Sister Funk opening;

May 25 — Kenny Wayne Shepherd at ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre, Double Trouble and Lizzie West opening; Candira at Toad’s Place, Edipus and Dicast opening (all ages); Screaming Broccoli at Tuxedo Junction; CT Whitebread, Faultline and at The Empress Ballroom (all ages); Joe Proc at Carl Anthony’s;

May 25 & 26 — Hootie and the Blowfish at Foxwoods Casino;

May 26 — Adrian Legg at Acoustic Café; Bile at The Webster Theater, 13th Hour, Collapse Into Reason and No Response opening (all ages); Amortar at Laszlo’s Arts Café, Monroe; Pleasure Crush and SugarR at Players (formerly Our Place Café); Them Bones at Tuxedo Junction; Big Top Low, Dismay and Gargantua Soul at The Empress Ballroom (all ages); Joe Proc at Putnam House, Bethel;

May 27 — The Black Crowes and Oasis at ctnow.com Oakdale Theatre, Spacehog opening; Lucinda at Kent Summer Arts Festival, Kent (noon-3 pm);

May 30 — Bill Perry at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Café, Hartford;

May 31 — Dick Dale at Toad’s Place, The Swaggerts and Steel Rodeo opening.

JUNE 1 —Michael Hill’s Blues Mob at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Café, Hartford;

June 2 — Angry Salad, Perfect Toy, The Limit and Zero Chance at The Webster Theater, Hartford;

June 3 — (SOLD OUT) U2 at Hartford Civic Center, PJ Harvey opening; Addison GrooveProject at Steve & Sully’s, Hartford;

June 6 — Aerosmith at Meadows Music Centre, Hartford, Fuel opening (tickets on sale April 21);

June 7 — George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic at Toad’s Place, New Haven; The Homes Brothers at Black-Eyed Sally’s;

June 8 — Max Creek at Toad’s Place (all ages); Walter Trout & The Free Radicals at Black-Eyed Sally’s; Super Soul Jam featuring The Stylistics, Delfonics, Dramatics, The Chi-Lites, Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes and Cuba Gooding Sr at The Palace Theatre, New Haven;

June 9 — Our Lady Peace at The Webster Theatre, American Hi-Fi opening.