Mansfield madness

The scheduled return of Lollapalooza was scrapped in the 11th hour last season due to " logistical difficulties, " and what a superb marketing decision that turned out to be — after all, what could better capture the spirit of the original than a brand new war in Iraq? The only tour on the road this summer that could conceivably benefit from resumed hostilities, Lollapalooza 2003 brings back ’91 headliners Jane’s Addiction with Audioslave (Soundgarden: Lolla ’92, ’96; Rage Against the Machine: ’93), Queens of the Stone Age (whose Josh Homme was in Screaming Trees in ’96), Incubus, Jurassic 5, and the Donnas. Lolla ’03 hits the Tweeter Center in Mansfield on July 25; tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 a.m. Among the others who’ll slog it out at the Tweeter this summer: the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, who’ve dropped the illusion of gratitude and now remind us they could all, very soon, be simply the Dead (June 22; on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m.); Neil Young and Crazy Horse (July 1, Neil preceding his old pals Pearl Jam by a single tantalizing night; on sale Monday at 10 a.m.); the greatest-hits-pimping R.E.M. (October 5; on sale April 19); and Aerosmith with — weren’t they retired? — Kiss (August 25 and 27; on sale April 26). Call (617) 931-2000 for tickets.

Racket in Cohasset

The Tweeter isn’t the only summer-concert venue getting its dogs in a line. The South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset just unveiled its schedule of (mostly) oldies-but-goodies. Tickets went on sale last week — expect the top draws to go quickly. Of those performers who might be of interest to the under-40 crowd, Alison Krauss + Union Station are in on August 17, Ani DiFranco shows up on August 19, and Aimee Mann arrives on August 22. Tony Bennett kicks off the season on July 6 with his only area summer appearance. Also look for the Righteous Brothers (July 11), the Righteous Bros’ 1970s and ’80s disciples Hall and Oates (July 13), country star Vince Gill (July 19), Mary Chapin Carpenter (July 26), Loretta LaRoche (July 27), Joe Cocker (August 1), one of the groups calling itself the Beach Boys (August 2), Huey Lewis and the News (August 7 and 8), Kenny Rogers (August 9), Engelbert Humperdinck (August 15), Julio Iglesias (August 16), and the comedian Wayne Brady (August 21). Call (617) 931-2787 for tickets.

Mclusky do Boston

Mclusky’s tour T-shirts read " Shitrock, " and we can only hope it’s a mantra that gets taken up far and wide. Their second album, Mclusky Do Dallas (Too Pure), might be the best thing Steve Albini has recorded since In Utero: a chaotic tantrum of supercharged bass lumber, hectic backbeats, mangled Pixies-scree guitar mayhem, and in singer Andy Falkous a wired-for-destruction frontman combining the gone-gone-goneness of Frank Black and Jesus Lizard’s David Yow. If they’d released only the gonzo, hardcore-strength album opener, " Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues " (the Stones? Star Wars? What?!), they’d still be our favorite Brit spasm gang of the millennium. Their US tour hits T.T. the Bear’s Place, 10 Brookline Street in Central Square, on Shakespeare’s birthday, April 23; call (617) 492-BEAR.

Late relief