MAJOR ACTS RETURN
CT’s concert venues have announced a slew of summer events, ending the drought of touring bands caused by the coronavirus pandemic
On a single week in Connecticut this August you can see Kiss, John Legend, Drive-By Truckers, 311, Foreigner, comedian Tom Segura and a double bill of Alanis Morissette and Garbage.
Connecticut’s major concert venues have announced a slew of summer events, ending the drought of major touring bands caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s an embarrassment of riches. Major tours from 2020 have been rescheduled for this year, while whole new tours are getting rolled out. Connecticut will see everyone from Lady A to Alice Cooper, from the Jonas Brothers to Brothers Osborne, from Rod Steward to Harry
Styles. There are farewell tours from both Kiss and the Monkees and a 50th anniversary tour from the Doobie Brothers. Whitney Cummings, Norm MacDonald and Dave Chappelle are among the comedy heavyweights stopping by.
A lot of venues have eased into reopening with local and regional bands — springtime has been very good to tribute bands, sidelined
Broadway stars with cabaret acts and folk duos. But as summer heats up and COVID restrictions continue to fade, you’ll see top names from just about every genre and era of pop music back on the road.
The waters were tested for outdoor shows last summer, and demand has only grown. But large indoor venues are also back in the mix. Hundreds of shows have been announced in the past couple of months. Some of the venues’ schedules extend right through the end of this year and into 2022.
Here’s what to expect as the state emerges from isolation and prepares to rock out again. (Some venues, such as Hartford’s XL Center and Bridgeport’s Webster Bank Arena, don’t have major summer music events on their schedules yet, and aren’t included here, but stay tuned.)
All the venues have health and safety guidelines in place. Some still require masked, and some have reconfigured seating
for social distancing. Check the websites for details.
Also remember that reduced capacity means fewer tickets on sale. If you need to see a show, don’t delay.
College Street Music Hall
238 College St., New Haven, collegestreetmusichall.com.
Dozens of bookings have been announced in the last few weeks: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic on June 25, Japanese Breakfast on July 29, Drive-By Truckers on Aug. 28, Too Many Zooz and Big Fredia on Sept. 24, Mt. Joy with Trampled by Turtles on Oct. 7, Guided By Voices on Oct. 23, Sylvan Esson on Nov. 10, Purity Ring on Nov. 13, indie rock icons Dinosaur Jr. (who have a new album out) on Nov. 19 and frequent visitor Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox on Oct. 29.
Foxwoods
350 Trolley Line
Blvd., Mashantucket, 1-800-FOXWOODS, foxwoods. com/entertainment.
The resort casino is reintroducing itself by renaming and/or renovating several of its venues. The Fox Theater is now the Great Cedar Showroom, the Grand Theater is now the Premier Theater, and the Shrine nightclub has had a facelift.
50 Cent will be at the reopening of the Shrine nightclub on May 21, followed there by Loud Luxury on May 22, Rick Ross on May 28, Diplo on May 29 and Zedd May 30. The Premier Theater welcomes Cheap Trick on June 12, the “Ladies Love R&B” revue (with Ginuwine, Adina Howard, Joe and Case) on June 18, Dave Chappelle June 24, Train on Aug. 20, Tyler Henry the “Hollywood Medium” on Aug. 22, John Legend on Aug. 27, comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias on Sept. 5, Lil Kim on Sept. 18, Tony Bennett on Sept. 25, “The Voices of Soul and R&B” (Stephanie Mills, The Whispers and Mel’isa Morgan) on Oct. 1, Nas on Oct. 23, metal saviors Judas Priest on Oct. 30, a ‘90s double bill of Collective Soul and Better Than Ezra on Nov. 6, John Fogerty on Nov. 13,
Tanya Tucker plays Foxwoods’ Great Cedar Showroom on Aug. 14, and other music acts turn up there, but the space is largely dominated by comedians: Doug Stanhope on Sept. 4 and Kathleen Madigan on Sept. 10, then Indigo Girls on Sept. 17, “Saturday Night Live” alum Jay Pharaoh on Sept. 18, comic Ryan Hamilton on Sept. 25, Zucchero on Sept. 26, Whitney Cummings on Oct. 1, Norm MacDonald on Oct. 8, Jess Hilarious on Oct. 9, Little River Band on Oct. 22, Chris DiStefano on Oct. 23, “Cat & Nat Off the Rails Live!” on Oct. 29, Tracy Morgan on
Nov. 5, guitarist Pat Metheny on Nov. 6, Sinbad on Nov. 19, Justin Willman on Nov. 20. The Great Cedar Showroom ends its year with a weeks-long engagement of the impressionist extravaganza “Legends in Concert” from Nov. 26 to Jan. 2, impersonating the larger-than-life likes of Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Michael Jackson and Cher.
Hartford Healthcare Arena
500 Broad St., Bridgeport. livenation.com.
The new arena in the state hits the ground running with major rock tours, from bands both current and classic: Atlanta rockers Blackberry Smoke on July
30; Kings of Leon on Aug. 17; The Brothers Osborne on Aug. 20;
‘90s nu-metallists 311 on Aug. 24; Foreigner’s “The Greatest Hits of Foreigner” tour on Aug. 25; The Beach Boys on Aug. 29; and the incomparable Alice Cooper plus Ace Frehley (whose old band Kiss is in Hartford this same week) on Sept. 19.
Infinity Hall
Two locations: 32 Front St., Hartford and 20 Greenwoods Road West, Norfolk. infinityhall. com.
The original Infinity Hall in Norfolk gets back to business before the Hartford one does, with: Will Evans of Barefoot Truth on June 25; Jonathan Edwards on June 26; Donavon Frankenreiter on July 20; Cast of Beatlemania on July 24; Roomful of Blues on Aug. 14; The Weight Band (featuring a couple of former members of The Band, doing that band’s songs) on Aug. 21; Todd Snider on Sept. 10 and 11; Reckless Kelly on Sept. 15; David Cook on Sept. 18; David Wilcox on Sept. 19; Average White Band on Sept. 23; Crystal Bowersox on Sept. 26; the CSN&Y tribute Laurel Canyon on Oct. 8; Gaelic Storm on Oct. 12; the Chicago tribute Connecticut Transit Authority on Oct. 16; Peter Wolf and the Midnight Travelers on Oct. 22; 10,000 Maniacs on Oct. 23; Donna the Buffalo on Oct. 30 and Dustbowl Revival on Nov. 9.
The Hartford Infinity Hall has: the Clapton tribute Journeyman on Aug. 25; Alejandro Escovedo on Sept. 8; Al DiMeola on Sept. 19; the Michael Jackson tribute Who’s Bad on Sept. 23; Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues on Sept. 25 and the Eagles tribute Eaglemania on Oct. 1; Jackie Greene on Oct. 14; a “Motown Memories” revue with That Motown Band plus Garfield Fleming of the Delfonics on Oct. 15; Tab Benoit on Oct. 29; The David Bromberg Quintet on Nov. 4; Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes on Nov. 5; Marc Broussard on Nov. 13 and Hartford-based “The Voice” victor Javier Colon on Dec. 4.
Some bands get to play both Infinitys: the Fleetwood Mac tribute Tusk is in Norfolk on July 9 and Hartford on Oct. 22. The Led Zep tribute Kashmir is in Norfolk on July 31 and Hartford on Oct. 30. Robert Randolph & the Family Band plays Norfolk on Oct. 21 and Hartford on Oct. 23. The Outlaws are at Norfolk Oct. 7 and Hartford Nov. 10.
Mohegan Sun
1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard, Uncasville, 1-888-226-7711, mohegansun.com.
As of now, the Mohegan Sun calendar doesn’t kick off until July, with ‘80s pop stars Air Supply on July 18 and country stars Lady A on July 29. August brings: singer-songwriter Dustin Lynch on Aug. 5; Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons on Aug. 6;
Rod Stewart on Aug.7; a cappella group Straight No Chaser on Aug. 8; ventriloquist Jeff Dunham on Aug. 20; The Deftones on Aug.
21, comedian Tom Segura on
Aug. 27; three infusions of Nashville with Big & Rich on Sept. 1; Toby Keith on Sept. 3 and Dan + Shay on Sept. 11; Latin superstar Marc Anthony on Sept. 18; comic Sebastian Maniscalco for two dates of his “Nobody Does This” tour on Oct. 1 and 2; Harry Styles on Oct. 23; the Doobie Brothers 50th anniversary tour on Oct.
28; the Monkees Farewell Tour with Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith on Oct. 29; country stars Old Dominion on Oct. 30; Dave Matthews Band on Nov. 9 and
10; the latest Celtic Thunder tour (“Ireland”) on Dec. 3; and singer-songwriter Chris Young on Dec. 5.
Mohegan Sun’s Comix Roadhouse stage, which started up again months ago, continues to have stand-ups on weekends, occasional music acts and regular features such as the “Lipstick, Lashes & Lies” drag shows and Jim Spinnato’s comedy magic matinees.
The Oakdale
95 S. Turnpike Road, Wallingford. 203-265-1501, oakdale.com.
The Oakdale has a dozen shows booked this year so far: the venerable “Happy Together” ‘60s nostalgia tour with The Turtles, The Association, The Vogues, Chuck Negron and Gary Puckett on July 29; dancing violinist Lindsey Stirling on Aug. 18; rapper Fabolous on Sept. 17; Primus’ Rush-themed “Tribute to Kings” tour on Sept. 26; “Disney Princesses, the Concert” on Nov. 19; and Lil Tjay on Nov. 24. The first Oakdale booking that had to be canceled due to COVID, the international tour of “Riverdance” back in March of 2020, won’t be back until May 6-8, 2022.
Westville Music Bowl
45 Yale Ave., New Haven. westvillemusicbowl.com.
The brand new music venue (repurposed from a tennis stadium) near the Yale Bowl in New Haven was among the first out of the gate with big live shows this year. The season continues with Greensky Bluegrass on May 21 and 22; indie rock icons Dinosaur Jr. on May 23; six sold-out sets by the Grateful Dead tribute Joe Russo’s Almost Dead from May 28-30 and June18-20; two sold-out Disco Biscuits shows June 4 and 5; Lake Street Dive June 10 & 11; Goose on June 12 and 13 (both sold out); Pigeons Playing Ping Pong on June 26; Billy Strings on Aug. 6 and 7; and a hip-hop/skapunk hybrid of Dirty Heads and Sublime With Rome (featuring bassist Eric Wilson of Sublime and singer/ guitarist Rome Ramirez) on Sept. 23;
The Tedeschi Trucks Band that was originally scheduled to open the Westville Music Bowl — first last year, then again this spring, postponed due to COVID both times — will finally grace the bowl on July 6 of 2022, but this July, the band’s leaders Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks will appear in a scaled-down duo format on their “Fireside Live” tour, July 6 and 7.
Xfinity Theatre
61 Savitt Way, Hartford. livenation.com.
The venue still fondly known as The Meadows returns to its familiar mix of country and classic rock: Luke Bryan on July 16; Black Crowes on July 25; a ‘90s alt-metal mix of Korn and Staind on Aug. 20; Thomas Rhett on
Aug. 21; Kiss’ alleged final tour ever (dubbed “End of the Road”) on Aug. 22; Alanis Morissette with Garbage on Aug. 28; Dead & Co. (with Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann of The Grateful Dead) on Sept. 5; and the reunited Jonas Brothers on Sept. 29.