This spring and summer live music will turn up the heat all over New England! SO much music–SO little time. Here are my picks for the best shows coming to town! If you have teen or pre-teen girls- THIS JUST IN:

ONE DIRECTION!!

THEIR FIRST HEADLINE TOUR SELLS OUT IN MINUTES INCLUDING MADISON SQUARE GARDEN! DUE TO OVERWHELMING DEMAND – 2013 US SUMMER TOUR ANNOUNCED!  2013 US SUMMER TOUR TO HIT THE COMCAST CENTER IN MANSFIELD, MA ON JUNE 26.
Tickets go on sale Saturday April 21, 2012 at 10:00 am at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com.

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THEN there are the BIG OL’ BANDS & ARTISTS – from  RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS to MADONNA–they’re back! But then they never really left. If you don’t already have your tickets –you better make some calls:

 
 RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

The I’M WITH YOU tour finds the 2012 inductees to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame  with us –on their ONLY New England stop!

5/7 TD Garden/ Boston

*****

RADIOHEAD

Still evolving since 1985 and one of the most influential groups ever, they are consistently praised by critics and embraced by listeners.

5/29 Comcast Center/Mansfield MA

*****

THE DAVE MATTHEWS BAND

They’re working on new studio album but will take time out to kick back on the DMB 2012 Summer Tour!

6/5-6 Comcast Center/ Mansfield MA

*****

JAMES TAYLOR

The  sweetest voice north of Carolina, east of the Mississip, south of the North Pole, and at the center of my heart. Join James and his band on the road–and catch his guitar lessons online!

6/30 Verizon Wireless Arena/ Manchester NH

7/2-3-4 Tanglewood Music Center /Lenox MA

*****

ROGER WATERS

Pink Floyd front man hits THE WALL at Fenway. Need I say more?

7/7 Fenway Park/ Boston

MADONNA

The high priestess of pop, Super Bowl gladiatrix, keeper of the coned bra, and Gaga’s guru—she’s like a prayer for eternal youth.

9/4 TD Garden/ Boston

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And the beat goes on… Check it out:

 DARYL HALL/SHARON JONES and the DAP KINGS

It’s a match made in soul heaven: Hall & Jones! Philly soul meets the raw power of the gospel/funk “Daptone” soul of Ms. Jones and the Dap-Kings.

4/12 House of Blues/Boston

 *****

 COURTNEY LEWIS & DISCOVERY ENSEMBLE

The 27 year-old Belfast born Lewis has been called a “superconductor”! An emerging international talent, Lewis’s mission with this Boston-based ensemble is to introduce inner-city school kids to classical music. And he’s gorgeous.

4/13 Jordan Hall /Boston

*****

 JOHN MAYER

No matter what you think of the hearts he’s broken—that voice and his phrasing is as supple as a spring night.

4/18  Providence Performing Arts Center/ Providence R.I.

*****

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

The wacky moniker can be traced to the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour. Codes and Keys is their latest album. My 18 year old is a major fan.

4/21/Wang Theatre Boston


 ESPERANZA SPALDING: RADIO MUSIC SOCIETY TOUR

This Berklee College of Music ‘s bass-playing singer/songwriter was last year’s Grammy award-winning BEST NEW ARTIST!

4/22 The Orpheum Theatre/Boston

*****

BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Conductor Bernard Haitink leads the orchestra with actress Claire Bloom, bright young singers Layla Claire and Kate Lindsey, and the women of the Tanglewood Festival chorus in Mendelssohn’s delightful music to Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM!

4/24 Symphony Hall/Boston

LADY ANTEBELLUM

The Nashville trio brings its honeyed harmonies and WE OWN THE NIGHT world tour to New England, hot off a Grammy win for Best Country Album!

DARIUS RUCKER OPENS!!

5/5 DCU Center/Worcester MA

*****

 FEIST

The video of the first track from her latest album METALS begins with a man burying a dead dog. The girl is moody. Her mysteriously emotive vocals amalgamate a panorama of alternative influences: folk, jazz, indie rock, country, blues. She’s a singular sensation.

5/7 House of Blues /Boston

*****

OPENING NIGHT OF THE BOSTON POPS WITH BERNADETTE PETERS

The Tony Award -winning Broadway star joins Conductor Keith Lockhart to kick off the 127th season of the Boston Pops!

5/9 Symphony Hall/Boston

*****

CAKE

I like a band with a short name and a long shelf life.

5/10 Lupos Heartbreak Hotel/Providence R.I.

*****

THE CRANBERRIES

The Irish rock band lead by Dolores O’Riordan is back in bloom with ROSES, their first album in 10 years.

5/11 House of Blues/Boston

*****

POLYPHONIC SPREE

This alt rock pop symphonic choral extravaganza of 30 plus singer, musicians playing electric violins , flutes, French horns, guitars, harps, tambourines, trumpets, percussion, and more – while wearing their signature white choir robes—is a blast!

5/22 Paradise Rock Club/Boston

*****

 STEVE MARTIN and the STEEP CANYON RANGERS

He’s hilarious AND plays the banjo. Seriously. Their album RARE BIRD ALERT debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Chart.

5/29-30-31 Symphony Hall/Boston

 IL DIVO

Conceived by Simon Cowell and dedicated to the proposition that all musical genres are created equal, they’re  an international classical pop cross-over quartet—a Swiss tenor, a  Spanish baritone, a French pop artist, and an American tenor—who sing everything from Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”(!)

6/2 Wang Theatre/Boston

*****

KRISTIN CHENOWETH

An Emmy and Tony Award winner, she was Broadway’s good witch in WICKED, and may be a little bit wicked on ABC’s new series GOOD CHRISTIAN BELLES.

6/8 Opera House/Boston

 *****

 FOSTER THE PEOPLE

You better run faster than your PUMPED UP KICKS can carry you for tickets to this one…

6/15 Bank of America Pavilion/Boston

*****

DIANA KRALL

A voice like a cool breeze, the Grammy award-winner’s intimate phrasing is like no one else’s, honed at Boston’s Berklee College of Music .

6/30 South Shore Music Circus/Cohasset

 *****

SARAH MCLACHLAN

The angel voiced Sarah’s 2012 Symphony Tour benefits

7/6 Bank of America Pavilion/Boston

COLDPLAY

The Grammy award-winning super group led by Gwyneth’s husband Chris Martin brings its atmospheric chant-like anthems to town.

7/29-30 TD Garden/Boston

 

***************HAVE FUN!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IL DIVO

Conceived by Simon Cowell and dedicated to the proposition that all musical genres are created equal, they’re  an international classical pop cross-over quartet—a Swiss tenor, a  Spanish baritone, a French pop artist, and an American tenor—who sing everything from Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”(!)

6/2 Wang Theatre/Boston

 

KRISTIN CHENOWETH

An Emmy and Tony Award winner, she was Broadway’s good witch in WICKED, and may be a little bit wicked on ABC’s new series GOOD CHRISTIAN BELLES.

6/8 Opera House/Boston

 

 

FOSTER THE PEOPLE

You better run faster than your PUMPED UP KICKS can carry you for tickets to this one…

6/15 Bank of America Pavilion/Boston

 

DIANA KRALL

A voice like a cool breeze, the Grammy award-winner’s intimate phrasing is like no one else’s, honed at Boston’s Berklee College of Music .

6/30 South Shore Music Circus/Cohasset

 

SARAH MCLACHLAN

The angel voiced Sarah’s 2012 Symphony Tour benefits

7/6 Bank of America Pavilion/Boston

 

COLDPLAY

The Grammy award-winning super group led by Gwyneth’s husband Chris Martin brings its atmospheric chant-like anthems to town.

7/29-30 TD Garden/Boston