*Newtown High School student ERIK BAGGER, who was featured in the Enjoy section last week, had such a great time with his debut at Next Stop Café in Bethel last month, he and the blues club/restaurant have already set up three additional dates. Erik returns to the Greenwood Avenue eatery and excellent music locale this weekend — Sunday, October 7 — and then has shows scheduled for Sunday, November 18, and Friday, December 7. All three shows begin at 7.

*I don’t have too many details this week, but there will be a performance at Hot Shots II next weekend that will not only entertain anyone who stops in to the Newtown sports bar but will also raise some money for The New York Firefighters Children’s Fund.

Starting at 1 pm on Saturday, October 13, Hot Shots will host a live radio broadcast by I-95 FM, ongoing raffles, drink specials (a designated driver will be provided by Newtown Emergency Services), and of course live music. Performances will be presented by THE JEN TAYLOR & CARRIE GUTTER BOOGIE BAND and local favorites MOPPIN’ SAUCE. (Moppin’ Sauce was already scheduled to be playing Hot Shots that night.)

I don’t know if there is going to be an admission charge, nor do I know what time the live music will be starting. I’ll work on those issues for next week. Hot Shots II is the one up on the hill at 130 Mount Pleasant Road/Route 6, at the intersection with Route 25.

*Jazz musician WAYNE KEENAN, a Monroe resident who recently released his first self-titled CD, has a series of shows set up at Carl Anthony’s in Monroe. Through November 15, THE WAYNE KEENAN QUARTET will be at the restaurant in Clock Tower Square (that’s the one on Route 25, just above the intersection with Route 59) every Thursday evening. Shows will begin at 8:30. The quartet will command the stage for its first set each week, and will then open the stage for any jazz musicians in the audience who would like to jam with them for the second set.

In addition to these shows, the quartet will be at Momo’s in Westport on Friday, November 9, and Saturday, November 24, for 9:30 shows. That restaurant is the one that shares its driveway with Westport Country Playhouse, immediately off Route 1/Post Road.

Additionally, Mr Keenan will be at 707 On Main, also in Monroe, with former Buddy Rich guitarist DAVE DANA on Friday, November 16. That show will start at 9.

*So apparently unless you know someone at Yale (or are a Yale student yourself), you aren’t going to be seeing a COUNTING CROWS show in Connecticut this fall after all. Due to changes in the band’s recording schedule, a number of its shows have been canceled, although the band has posted a note on its Web page saying it hopes to make up for the shows in the canceled markets before the end of the school year. The changes came about not only due to the recording changes, but also, again according to the band’s site, “concerns regarding travel safety necessitated these changes.”

Unfortunately one of those changes includes the previously announced October 23 show that was to be played at Foxwoods Casino’s Fox Theater

This weekend’s show on Yale’s Old Campus section in New Haven is still on, but that’s a student-only event. The last tour date now being posted by the band is October 22, and that’s another student-only event, in Massachusetts. Maybe next year…

*Also off is the October 16 show by LUCIANO at Toad’s Place in New Haven. Apparently the singer has given up flying for the time being. Can’t really blame him. I’ve done the same thing.

*BRITNEY SPEARS will be at Hartford Civic Center on December 8. O-Town will be opening. Tickets are on sale.

*Tickets are still available for two big shows at the civic center coming up this month. First up is the somewhat misleading (in today’s climate, certainly) “PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TOUR,” featuring SLIPKNOT, SYSTEM OF A DOWN, RAMMSTEIN, MUDVAYNE and AMERICAN HEAD CHANGE, on October 29.

A week later, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS will be rolling into town, leading the FAMILY VALUES TOUR, October 26. That show will also have sets by STAIND, LINKIN ARK, STATIC X and DEADSY.

*The Quick Center at Fairfield University continues to expand its musical offerings, and this year the students are already being offered everything from classic theater to contemporary dance. Later this month BLACK 47 has the opportunity to make a few new fans while also wowing those who have been watching this catchy pop-rock group with a dark sense of humor.

 Touring these days to support Trouble in the Land — their first studio recording in three years — Black 47 will be in Fairfield (for a public concert, not just a student-only thing, otherwise why would I mention it here?) on Friday, October 19, for an 8 pm show.

Tickets are $20, with discounts available for students and groups. Call 203-254-4010 or visit www.QuickCenter.com for ticket reservations, directions, or other information.

*This month’s benefit show for radio statio WPKN at Acoustic Café in Bridgeport will be on Friday, October 26. That evening, Ken Best will present a condensed version of his book, called The History of Rock: Eight Days A Week.

The audiovisual presentation will combine the history of the music, the world it affected, and the sounds of a generation. VON EM, which will offer an opening set, is “the love child of COUNTING CROWS and WILLIE PORTER,” according to the café. The trio is “poppy and funky  with a great groove,” I’m also told.

As my four-year-old-but-turning-five-on-Sunday niece Danielle is so fond of saying these days: Whatever. The ‘PKN shows are always for a good cause (especially this month, while the station is running its station fundraiser/telethon). Showtime is 9 pm and admission is just $10.

*LUCINDA is back in the news, and what a segue I have for you! The singer-songwriter will be doing a live interview and performance this weekend, with Glen Hochstetter on WPKN’s airwaves! Segues don’t get much smoother than that, baby. Lucinda will be on the air at 89.5 FM between 7 and 7:30 on October 5.

Next weekend, she makes her debut at Sweet Harmony’s Coffee House, a monthly event offered at St Andrew’s Church in Marbledale. The October 12 show runs from 8 to 10 pm.

 On October 20, she will be featured during a “Songwriters Network” cyber interview and performance. Log on to Hartford-based CyberStationUSA.com at 6 pm that Saturday evening. Then one week later, Lucinda gets to perform pretty much in her own backyard, when she returns to Borders Books*Music*Café on Federal Road in Danbury. That’s a free show, and it starts at 8 pm.

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.

 

 

UPCOMING CONCERTS

OCTOBER 5 —Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger at The Webster Theater, Hartford; Walter Lewis and David Anastasia at Next Stop Café, Bethel; The Zoo at Tuxedo Junction, Danbury; New Artist Showcase: Darian Cunning and Mirabelle at Acoustic Café, Bridgeport;

October 6 — Moppin’ Sauce at Amberjacks, South Norwalk; Walter “Wolfman” Washington & The Roadmasters at Black-Eyed Sally’s BBQ & Blues Café, Hartford; David Maxwell at Next Stop Café; Snoop Dogg at New Haven Coliseum, also featuring DJ Jam, Kurupt, Daz, The Eastsidaz, The Angels, The Liks, Soopafly and Butch Cassidy; Joe Rockstar at Tuxedo Junction; Anne Marie Menta at Acoustic Café, John Redgate opening;

October 7 — Erik Bagger at Next Stop Café, Bethel; The Donnas at Toad’s Place, New Haven, The Eyeliners and The Kicks opening (all ages);

October 8 — Joe Strummer & The Mescelaros at The Webster Theater (all ages);

October 9 — Robin Trower at Toad’s Place; Ours at The Webster Theater;

October 10 — Megadeth at The Webster Theatre, Endo opening; Jennifer George and Adrienne at Acoustic Café;

October 11 — The Wayne Keenan Quartet at Carl Anthony’s, Monroe; Magic Slim & The Teardrops at Black-Eyed Sally’s; Tropical Storm 2001: Beenie Man at Toad’s Place, Tanto Metro & Devonte and Silver Cat opening (all ages); Starside and Graceful Decent at Acoustic Café;

October 12 — Ben Allison & The Medicine Wheel at Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield; Black 47 at Toad’s Place, The Mancurians opening; Rick Ross at Next Stop Café; Christina Abbott at Acoustic Café (CD release party); Lucinda at Sweet Harmony’s Coffee House, Marbledale;

October 13 — Moppin’ Sauce at Hot Shots II, Newtown, also The Jen Taylor & Carrie Gutter Boogie Band (fundraiser for The New York Firefighters Children’s Fund, raffles, live radio broadcast from 1 pm, etc); America at Mohegan Sun, Uncasville; Paul Rishell and Annie Raines at Next Stop Café; Grapes of Vaudevillian Fantasy at Acoustic Café.