With former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted having unveiled his new band, EchoBrain, out in California earlier this month, it's perhaps not surprising to see Newsted's pre-Metallica thrash outfit rearing its collective head once more. Yep, '80s thrash vets Flotsam & Jetsam have come back from the dead (again), and if you're nice, maybe they'll play their cover of "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting." The band are at the Webster Theater (860-525-5553) in Hartford on Sunday with W.A.S.P., the LA metal band who'll probably forever be remembered for bassist Chris Holmes's vodka-saturated rant from his mom's swimming pool in The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. Now that we think of it, if you ask W.A.S.P. nicely, maybe they'll play their cover of "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting." Believe it or not, W.A.S.P. have a new album, and they're in the midst of a tour that also stops, sans Flotsam & Jetsam, at the Asylum (207-772-8274) in Portland on Monday.

Hartford is Dee Snider's home base, but the big festival at that town's Meadows Music amphitheater this Monday features pop punk and neo-metal of a much more recent vintage. It's a Lollapalooza-ish line-up headlined by Blink-182, with supporting appearances by Jane's Addiction/Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro, Crystal Method, Jimmy Eat World, Michael Jackson-covering kids Alien Ant Farm, Sum 41, Stroke 9, New Found Glory, Mest, Saliva, Boy Hits Car, and a bunch more. If you can't make it to Hartford on a Monday, you can also catch Navarro at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on Friday. That same night, Crystal Method headline the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester, where they're topping a multi-act electronica showcase that'll include Uberzone, Feelgood, and Scotty Marz. And Jimmy Eat World headline the Paradise (617-423-NEXT) in Boston on Saturday, as well as Lupo's on Sunday.

If you missed him last week in Cambridge, there's still time to catch the wild-tongued reggae visionary/eccentric Eek-A-Mouse. He's at the Muse (508-228-6873) on Nantucket on Friday; on Saturday he closes out the season at the Wellfleet Beachcomber (508-349-6055) on Cape Cod; and on Sunday he visits the Ocean Mist (401-782-3740) in Matunuck, Rhode Island.