Sean Spillane On Music

I don’t know what’s more surprising: Van Halen touring with David Lee Roth or Van Halen recording an album with David Lee Roth.

But it’s true that Van Halen will be on the road beginning Feb. 18 and the group’s new record, “A Different Kind of Truth,” will be released Feb. 7. The first single, “Tattoo,” comes out Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Oh, and here’s another surprise: Kool and the Gang is the opening act on some tour dates.

Van Halen’s tour does make a stop in Connecticut, coming  to the Mohegan Sun Arena on March 3. No word on ticket prices or whether it will be a Kool show, but tickets go on sale Saturday, Jan. 14, through Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com.

Other tour stops in the region include shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Feb. 28 and March 1, and Boston’s TD Garden on March 11.

Rapper Rick Ross will headline the Winter $tash Ba$h at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport on Jan. 26.

Word is that Wale and Meek Mill also are on the bill.

Tickets ($200 for general admission floor pit area, $125, $75, $55, $35) go on sale Nov. 25 at 12:01 a.m. through Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com.

Country singer Rodney Atkins canceled his Dec. 9 concert at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford because of what were called “unforeseen circumstances.”

Ticketholders may get refunds at the point of purchase.

There are 300 tickets to the Nov. 15 Katy Perry concert going on sale Friday, Oct. 14, at 11 a.m. that are “great seats next to the stage,” according to a press release.

It is Perry’s second time through with her California Dreams tour. I saw it at the Mohegan Sun Arena earlier this year and it was fun. Probably a lot more fun for her die-hard fans, but it was an interesting evening.

Not that big a fan of her music, but she did put a lot of time, money and effort into her concert extravaganza, so you have to respect that.

The newly released tickets will be available through www.ticketmaster.com or at 800-745-3000.

The Rhythm Devils had the crowd smiling and dancing, playing a 90-minute set heavy on Grateful Dead classics.

I’m sure it’s always a thrill for the Deadheads in attendance to see former members of The Grateful Dead and The Rhythm Devils have two — drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann.

Far from being a drum-centric band, there was some guitar firepower on stage with Steve Kimock being joined by Keller Williams, a true supergroup.

Williams also handled the singing, but it was the musicianship involved with the members that propelled the performance.

Dr. John and the Lower 911 just finished and, not surprisingly, they were terrific.

The good doctor always surrounds himself with the top musicians from the New Orleans scene, which is loaded with talent. What a great way to spend an afternoon. His set was loaded with all of his best-known songs, which gave the Vibes a nice N’awlins feel.

If you want to catch the last few hours of the fest, tickets for Connecticut residents are just $20 today. Music ends at 8 p.m.

Up next is The Rhythm Devils, featuring ex-Grateful Dead drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, followed by the final Main Stage act, The John Butler Trio.

Elvis Costello was amazing. I know a lot of people that wish they were here, and all I can say is “You should’ve been.”

He’s been touring with his Spinning Song Wheel, but that obviously wouldn’t work at a festival. Instead he relied on a set filled almost entirely with his greatest hits.

His voice wasn’t as strong as it normally is, but he did make brief mention of the fact that he got “out of his sick bed” to perform. Still, he sounded fine.

He added a couple of cover songs to his set, including “This Wheel’s on Fire,” by Bob Dylan, and a couple by Nick Lowe, including “(What’s So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding,” which is more associated with Costello and Lowe by this point.

More importantly, Costello, in his encore, performed the title track from his album “Sulphur to Sugarcane,” which namechecks Bridgeport, although it’s not certain if he’s talking about the host city of the Vibes.

Anyway, the lyrics say, “Down in Bridgeport, the women will kill you for sport,” so I hope it’s another city of the same name.

Either way, his mentioning Bridgeport drew a loud reaction from the concertgoers, most of which have never heard the song.

Costello even got into the spirit of the Gathering of the Vibes by performing The Grateful Dead’s “It Must Have Been the Roses,” which thrilled the crowd to no end.

Jam band moe. is wrapping its set and I have to say, I’m not impressed.

Maybe I’m not enough of a fan of the jam-band scene to appreciate moe., but I just couldn’t get into it at all.

It’s the first Main Stage act I saw that left me wondewring, “How long is this going to go on?”

Elvis Costello is up next and if you’re not here,m you should be, He always puts on a great show.