Working For The Weekend …

Untold knowledge and wealth await those who take the time to read the following items scheduled to post within the next 72 hours.

Saturday – Newport Gets Jazzed – Herbie Hancock, Chris Botti and Sonny Rollins headline the JVC Jazz Festival.

Joseph Arthur Tours A Hot Bag – The one-man band and artist hits the road in July.

Sunday – Stringtime In Oregon – Yonder Mountain String Band’s annual shindig, The Northwest String Summit, returns with a stellar lineup.

Hanging Out With Ned – Nedfest: beer, bluegrass, jazz and world music in the Colorado Rockies. Need we say more?

Monday – Rancid Rolls Out Date – The California punk vets head out in advance of a new release.

Rockin’ The Touring Battlefield – Pat Benatar gears up for a busy summer with a 40-city trek and the release of a 2-CD hits collection.

Building A Rainbow – In the first of a three-part series about artists appearing with Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Tour this summer, Pollstar chats with Deborah Cox about jazz, being a club diva and the perils of being a mom while starring on Broadway.

Our HotStar for next week is Hot Chip

Link-O-Rama …

Coachella promoter says festival drew 30,000 fewer people than last year – The Desert Sun

Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz prepare for Saturday wedding while media hopes for circus – NBC / Access Hollywood

Saying they do not want to become a “boy group,” Cistercian monks prep for stardom with the release of their Chant CD. – The Times Online U.K.

John Oates talks about his love affair with fast cars – Motor Trend

Q&A with Don Felder – Rocky Mountain News

A few minutes with Sugarland – The Providence Journal

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

It’s a fall tour for New Kids On The Block! Playing arenas, new dates include October 17 in San Antonio, November 1 in Fort Lauderdale, November 14 in Denver and November 21 in Vancouver. We’ll post a special item on this tour as soon as we change the ribbon in our Smith-Corona

Joss Stone heads to South America in June. Dates include June 11 (Buenos Aires), June 15 & 16 (Sao Paulo) and June 18 (Curtiba). Ms. Stone also plays Mexico City on June 22 and Guadalajara on June 24.

Jerry Seinfeld brings the funny to Phoenix on June 6. Other new dates include Spokane on June 26 an dDallas on July 17.

And Kill Hannah has lined up several new club / theatre dates for July. Stops include Dallas at the Granada Theater on July 11; Phoenix at the Old Brickhouse Grill on July 16; Los Angeles at El Rey Theatre on July 19 and Salt Lake City at Club Sound on July 28.

During the day we also updated the schedules for Sebastian Bach, Ronnie Milsap, Dionne Warwick, The Hold Steady, Toby Keith, David Cassidy, Kate Voegele, The Bouncing Souls, The Raconteurs, plus more artists and bands than a dog has fleas, a centipede has legs and the RIAA has lawyers.

And that wraps up another week in concert data analysis. Have a great weekend!