Merriweather Post Pavilion

Just announced Peter Frampton: Rams Head Live on Aug. 15. 410-244-1131 or ramsheadlive.com. Jeffrey Osborne: The Birchmere in Alexandria, Va., on Sept. 21. 703-549-7500 or birchmere.com. Burning Spear: Recher Theatre in Towson on Sept. 6. 410-337-7210, 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.com. Good Charlotte: The 9:30 Club in Washington on Aug. 19. 800-955-5566 or tickets.com. Still available "Summer Spirit Festival," featuring Jill Scott, the Roots, Chuck Brown and Estelle: Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia on Aug. 2. 410-547-7328 or ticketmaster.

Vans Warped tour The 2008 incarnation of the Vans Warped Tour rolls into town Wednesday at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia. The punk-rock extravaganza features more than 20 singers and bands, including Pennywise, Reel Big Fish, Katy Perry and Gym Class Heroes. Various vendors will be at the daylong event, and there will be opportunities for meet-and-greets with various bands. The Vans Warped Tour is Wednesday at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia.

When country music legend Alison Krauss and Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant decided to collaborate in 2007, the music world waited with bated breath to see what this dynamic partnership would create. Raising Sands, the fruit of this musical union, is a revolutionary blend of folk, rock, bluegrass, soul and blues and is a chart-topping success. Tomorrow, these two music greats perform hits off their album at Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $40-$125.

Summer is the best time to experience the transporting power of live music -- especially at outdoor festivals. With the sun above, good food, drinks and fun-loving friends around you, the summer concert experience becomes indelible. This year, there will be plenty of opportunities to indulge your love for live music under the sun (though the offerings in air-conditioned arenas aren't too shabby, either) as some of the hottest names in pop, rock and R&B blow through the area. Here are a few shows you don't want to miss.

General Growth Properties Inc. unveiled its plan for downtown Columbia last night, with redevelopment ideas that include a skating rink, new office, retail and hotel space and walking routes from The Mall in Columbia to the lakefront and Merriweather Post Pavilion. "What we're trying to do here is lay out what we think is a 30-year plan," said Gregory F. Hamm, GGP's regional vice president and Columbia general manager. "During all this time, we hope we've listened. We hope we've learned, but we're not done."

Gigantour brings thrash-metal pioneer Megadeth, death-metal groups In Flames and Job For a Cowboy, black-metal band Children of Bodom and doom-metal rockers High on Fire to the Merriweather Post Pavilion for a show that's not for the faint of heart. Megadeth, the headliner, has had a successful and sometimes tumultuous career that has spanned more than two decades and yielded six platinum albums, seven Grammy nominations and more than 20 million albums sold worldwide. The event begins at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

General Growth Properties Inc., the Chicago-based company that controls most of Columbia's downtown real estate, will hold at least a half-dozen meetings with stakeholders on its vision for downtown, a spokesman said yesterday. That news comes on the heels of the release of a plan titled "Downtown Columbia: A Community Vision" by Howard County government last week, which will feature its own set of public meetings, starting Oct. 10. "The purpose of our meetings is to present in more detail the vision for Town Center that builds on the framework that the county has presented," said Chuck McMahon, vice president of development for General Growth.