Odds & Ends: Garth Brooks, Patti Smith, Billy Joel & Living Colour

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Garth Brooks has more shows planned for Tulsa, Okla.  After all he was born there.

Last week Brooks announced he and his wife, Trisha Yearwood, would play BOK Center Jan. 15-17 and that tickets would go on sale today.

But, as most venues have discovered, putting Brooks’ shows on sale is kind of like a certain potato chip in that you just can’t stop with one, two or three.  The BOK Center has added Jan. 9-11 with Jan. 10 featuring an early performance beginning at 7 p.m. and a late show starting at 10:30 p.m. (all times local).  That brings the Tulsa total to seven concerts.  Tickets are on sale now.

And while we’re talking about Garth, we should remind you that tickets for his Boston shows at TD Garden scheduled for Jan. 22-24 go on sale Nov. 21.

The lineup for the traditional Vatican Christmas concert will include Patti Smith.

Italian newspaper Corrier della Sera reports that Pope Francis, who met and shook hands with Smith in St. Peter’s Square in April 2013, invited the singer to perform at the Dec. 13 concert.

But the invitation is not without controversy.  International Business Times reports that the Pope’s request for Smith to perform arrives at a time when a Catholic organization has been trying to prevent the singer/songwriter from performing at the Basilica of San Giovanni Maggiore in Naples Dec. 9, saying her appearance would be “blasphemous.”

Smith won’t be by herself at the Dec. 13 show.  Also on the lineup are DJ Bob Sinclair and Sister Cristina Scuccia, the “singing nun” who one 2014’s “The Voice Of Italy” competition.

A drinking game where participants would need to knock back shots every time another Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden is announced would probably put everybody under the table.  The Piano Man’s 16th franchise show is scheduled for April 3.

Although Joel broke his own record longest run of any artist at MSG when he announced his 13th show at the venue, he still needs a few more gigs to break Elton John’s record for the total number of shows at the Garden.  The newly announced April 3 show will mark Joel’s 62nd show at the venue, two shy of Elton’s 64-show benchmark.

Tickets for Joel’s April 3 show are available now.  Check out BillyJoel.com for more details.

Fans of Living Colour have probably noticed that the band’s fall schedule has shrunk a bit during the last few days.  That’s because the group has decided to spend more time in the studio to complete its sixth album, Shade.

Gone from the schedule are shows scheduled from Dec. 3 through Dec. 14 which included stops in Nashville, Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta.

But that doesn’t mean the band is totally off of the road.  Vernon Reid & Co. will play New York’s Irving Plaza Nov. 28; Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry, N.H., Nov. 29; Boston’s Paradise Rock Club Nov. 30 and the World Café Live in Philadelphia Dec. 1.

“While we don’t want to disappoint our fans, we need this time to finish recording the new album,” Reid said.  “We will be back in February with new material.  We really appreciate our fans’ support and want to make the best record we can.”