Atlantic City has been a regular tour stop for the American Idol Tour for the last few years, but this year an Idol star is jumping the gun.
Singer-songwriter and Idol judge Kara DioGuardi will be taking a break from the show to remind fans she has talent as well. She’s coming to the Borgata to headline on Friday, April 9, 9pm, and Saturday, April 10, 8pm, in the Music Box. Tickets are $45 and $55 and go on sale this Saturday, March 13 via Borgata’s Web site.

Come join the Tony Day Ensemble (left) at the Noyes Museum of Art in Oceanville on Saturday, Feb. 6, from 2:30-4:30pm for an afternoon of jazz, blues and poetry in celebration of African American History Month.  The group’s creative approach will entertain, encourage dancing and provide an overall fun time.
This year’s ensemble features eight locally and nationally recognized musicians including guitarist Teddy Royal, organist Kyle Kohler, tenor saxophonist Larry Unthank, vocalists Angela Burton, Harvey Drew Dawson and Tim Norman, and poet Joann Peoples. The bandleader, Day, will show his skill on drums and percussion. He has toured extensively throughout the world as a working professional musician, and his performances range in genre from jazz, country, rock, blues, Top 40, R&B and Latin. He has performed headliner acts in Las Vegas and Atlantic City showrooms, at the Cape May and Somers Point Jazz festivals and the NCL Cruise Ship lines. He enjoys great musical diversity by playing with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra, the Platters, and the South Jersey Area Wind Ensemble. He is also the bandleader for the Across the Globe Jazz Group, and is the drummer for the Denise Black Big Band. The cost for Noyes Museum members is $7 and $10 for non-members, which includes refreshments and desserts by caterer Harvey Dawson. Reservations are strongly suggested.
—    Kelley Anne Essinger

Alicia Keys

The Taj Mahal has announced that Alicia Keys will be performing at the casino with special guest Melanie Fiona on Saturday, March 20. Tickets go on sale Feb. 6.

In other casino concert updates, Caesars will host a performance by The Boys, singers from the cast of the hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys, on March 20. Chicago comes to Caesars May 29-30. Both shows go on sale this Saturday, Jan. 30, at noon. Over at the Borgata, Tiesto headlines on Saturday, March 27; tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10am.

Grammy-nominated and Billboard Magazine’s group of the decade, Nickelback, announced they have extended their Dark Horse World Tour into June 2010, including a stop at Boardwalk Hall on Saturday, April 3. Nickelback will be joined by Shinedown and Sick Puppies for the Atlantic City performance.

Tickets go on sale Saturday (Jan. 30) at 10am and are available through the Boardwalk Hall Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations, Ticketmaster.com, LiveNation.com and by-phone at 800-736-1420. Tickets for this event are: $35, $69.50 & $89.50.

Nickelback fan club members will have access to pre-sale tickets beginning Thurs., Jan. 28. Citi® cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Fri., Jan. 29 at 10am local time through Citi’s Private Pass® Program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com. Additional information on the tour, ticket on sales, fan club membership and VIP packages is available at Nickelback.com and LiveNation.com. Go here for Boardwalk Hall.

Cyril Neville

Come celebrate Mardi Gras with a bang this year! Presented as part of the Tony Mart Reunion Series, this will not only be a party to remember, it will also be benefiting ACCESS ONE, a bona fide medical support charity in Atlantic County. The celebration comes complete with a real New Orleans second line parade, beads, a Mardi Gras costume contest, Caribbean rum punch, beads, authentic Cajun cuisine and did we mention beads? Cyril Neville, soulful singer of the legendary Neville brothers, will be performing at 8pm. The party starts at 5pm on Saturday, Feb. 27, at St. James Parish Hall in Ventnor, so there will be plenty of time to visit the fabulous buffet, complete with gumbo, smoked turkey, eggplant jambalaya, shrimp Creole, Mardi Gras King Cake and chocolate pecan bread pudding with rum sauce. This is all included with a tax-deductible donation of $25 per person. There is plenty of free parking and tickets can be purchased at the door. Tables of eight or more can be reserved by calling Janine Golden at 609-927-6662 or Nancy and Carmen Marotta at 609-653-6069. We hope to see you there! — Garrett Burrell

I was delighted to find out this week that two singer-songwriter icons are teaming up for a tour. Carole King and James Taylor, who launched their careers together at L.A’s Troubadour in 1969, have announced their Troubadour Reunion Tour, which begins in New Zealand and Australia in March and continues a summer run in North America beginning May 7 in Portland.

The longtime friends presented a series of concerts at the Troubadour in 2007, to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary. As part of the whole Troubadour vibe, the backing band for the tour will be the same musicians who performed with them in both 1969 and 2007, guitarist Danny Kortchmar, drummer Russ Kunkel and bassist Lee Sklar.

While no date for an Atlantic City casino has been announced as of now, the duo will be at Philly’s Wachovia Center on Thursday, June 10, and are booked for the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut on June 12. A.C. casino entertainment directors please note: There is no concert scheduled for Friday, June 11. Let’s get on it!

courtesy ladygaga.com/photos

Reportedly due to exhaustion and dehydration, Lady Gaga collapsed and passed out before her show last night in West Lafayette, Indiana, and her physician advised her to take a few days off to rest.
As a result, three shows have been cancelled, including the Borgata performance on Saturday night, Jan. 16, in Atlantic City.
Tickets for this performance will be refunded. If ticket holders have additional questions, please call 866-900-4TIX.

Elvis Costello

The latest bookings at Caesars are a good sign that the economy is getting better. After spending a ton of money to refurbish their Circus Maximus Theater, the casino let it go dark an awful lot as the weight of the recession was crushing casino revenues.

Caesars is bringing more shows to town in 2010, including B.B. King and Buddy Guy (Feb. 13), Steve Winwood (Feb. 14), the Gipsy Kings (April 24), Mark Knopfler (May 8th) and Jethro Tull (June 12).

Now comes word that the band Train will headline March 27, fabulous Elvis Costello April 16 and the Doobie Brothers on the first of May. Tickets for the latter three shows go on sale this Saturday, Jan. 16, at noon on Ticketmaster.

It has been announced that due to illness the Natalie Cole concerts scheduled for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 at the Tropicana have been cancelled.

According to the Tropicana Press release, “Natalie Cole’s scheduled appearance at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, on New Year’s Eve, has been cancelled at the advice of her doctor due to a vocal fold hemorrhage. Dr. Kenneth Altman at the Grabscheid Voice Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City says that immediate strict vocal rest is necessary to repair the hemorrhage.”

“I want to express my sincere apologies as I was excited to perform for my fans in celebration of the New Year, but unfortunately at my doctor’s advice the show will not be able to go on. I look forward to seeing you all very soon and wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year,” said Cole.

The O’Jays will perform in the Tropicana Showroom on December 31 and January 1. Any customer who chooses not to attend The O’Jays performance, in lieu of Natalie Cole, must visit the Tropicana Box Office or contact TicketMaster directly for a refund.

Rob Thomas: Jan. 9 at Borgata.

Rob Thomas fans just didn’t get a break when it comes to his appearance at the Borgata. His first date, scheduled Nov. 6, had to be postponed due to a personal family matter. The concert was then rescheduled for Saturday, Dec. 19. So what happens on that date? The entire Northeast, including AC, is hit with a blizzard that dumps from 12-24 inches of snow in the region and his show is snowed out.
Now comes word that the Rob Thomas show has been rescheduled for Saturday, Jan. 9, at 8pm. Tickets will be honored if purchased for both the 11/6 and 12/19 dates. However, if you want a refund, you must get it processed by 5pm on Dec. 31.
In other date change news at the Borgata, the Aaron Lewis concerts were originally scheduled for Feb. 12-13. However, the concert at 8pm on Friday, Feb. 12 has been rescheduled for Sunday, Feb. 14 at 11pm. Tickets purchased for the Friday show will be honored for this date. The Saturday show is sold-out.