Dave Matthews Band/The Avett Brothers It's time, once again, for the annual tour by Dave Matthews Band. Last time around, they were touring right after the accident/shortly before the death of saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Looks like Jeff Coffin is still taking his place and you can only imagine how much he's tightened things up since last year. No doubt you'll get some samples from the band's upcoming album, Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King, due on June 2. The big news here though is the opening act Concord's The Avett Brothers. Since landing on the American Records label and working with Rick Rubin wasn't enough of a success for the local guys, a spot on tour with DMB for a number of nights is another feather in a cap that's going to look like Big Bird in no time. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Jeff Hahne)
Fall Out Boy/50 Cent Mr. Ashlee Simpson and crew will hit the town for a night of that wonderful emo-pop crap that so many people eat up with a spoon. Yeah, I'm not a fan. Though I do have to wonder what in the world is 50 Cent doing with them? Could make for an interesting on-stage mash-up. But I doubt it. The Bo-Round, aka Bojangles' Coliseum. (Hahne)
Lefty Williams Band Born without a right arm, Jason "Lefty" Williams plays blues guitar better than many fully-limbed axemen. His most recent disc, Snake Oil (produced by John Keane and featuring Tinsley Ellis on a couple tracks), smokes with a blues-rock foundation topped with Williams' whisky vocals and taught songwriting. The Atlanta-based Williams coaxes riffs, ala fellow Georgia guitarists Dickey Betts and Robert Cray, with his muscular fretwork. Salvador Deli (Shukla)