Roadtrips

He may be the biggest star in Las Vegas, but we detect a bit of fear and (self) loathing in Wayne Newton's latest bio. "People may leave one of my shows disliking Wayne Newton," he says, "but they've never walked out saying, `He didn't give us our money's worth.' " Yikes. The guy's speaking ill of himself -- in the third person! Perhaps he'll make up for it by patting himself on the back in the first person when he plays the Lowell Auditorium (978-454-2299) on March 27.

Otherwise March 27 belongs to hip-hop: the "Hard Knock Life" tour featuring Jay-Z, DMX, and Method Man finds its way to the FleetCenter (331-2211), and out in Worcester that night the Roots bring a little organic soul to the Palladium (508-797-9696), with Common opening. Act now or hold your tongues; the next time the Roots come through New England, it'll be on the opening end of a tour by the Dave Matthews Band and Santana at Foxboro Stadium (331-2211) on May 29.

The Elephant 6 collective strikes again this week this time as the Olivia Tremor Control drop their second disc, Black Foliage: Animation Music by the Olivia Tremor Control (Flydaddy), which sounds impeccably like a lost '60s heir to Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper. They'll support it with gigs at Pearl Street (413-584-0610) in Northampton on April Fool's Day and at the Middle East (864-EAST) on April 2, both with fellow Elephants Elf Power.

In lieu of Los Lobos, Cesar Rosas is out supporting his first official solo disc, Soul Disguise (Ryko), at the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence on March 27 and at the House of Blues (617-491-BLUE) in Cambridge on March 28. A couple of his bandmates -- David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez -- are headed this way in the Latin Playboys, who'll be at the Paradise (617-562-8800) in Boston next month on April 16.

In lieu of Korn, well, those who missed 'em when they passed through the area March 19 and 20 are a bunch of lucky dogs, since they live a mere hour's drive from a town with a Korn cover band. The outfit is called Hyde -- which is what most Korn fans would probably do if they heard about this. But in the unlikely circumstance that this line of work doesn't pan out for Hyde, they can always tune up and declare themselves a Limp Bizkit cover band -- like, who's gonna know from what? Hyde do their best Korn impersonation on a bill with Rawhead Rex and the Japanese Core Band at, yes, the Lucky Dog Music Hall (formerly known as Sir Morgan's Cove: 508-363-1888) on March 26.
-- CC