Pop Date Book

* Tickets go on sale Friday for This Ain’t No Picnic, an all-day show featuring Sonic Youth, above, Sleater-Kinney, Sunny Day Real Estate and Mike Watt, among many others, July 4 at Oak Canyon Ranch in Irvine. . . . The Offspring will be at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on July 16. Tickets go on sale Saturday. . . . Motley Crue and the Scorpions will be at the Universal Amphitheatre on Aug. 13 and the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion on Aug. 14. Tickets go on sale Saturday. . . . On sale today: Poster Children, May 21 at the Troubadour; June Carter Cash, May 27 at the Troubadour;St. Etienne, June 4 at the Glass House; and Freakdaddy, June 12 at the Glass House. . . . Available Saturday: Van Morrison and Taj Mahal, June 4 at the Universal Amphitheatre; Cibo Matto, June 16 at the Palace; and Jewel, June 26 at the Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista. . . . On sale Sunday: the Robert Cray Band, John Lee Hooker and Keb’ Mo’, July 9 at the Greek Theatre; Donna Summer, Aug. 7 at the Universal Amphitheatre; War, Sept. 25 at the Greek Theatre; and some 20 Universal Amphitheatre shows that were previously available via season subscription only. . . . Tickets are available now for these shows: 5 Degrees of Soul, Wednesday at LunaPark; Dick Dale, May 28 at the Coach House; Old 97s, June 3 at the House of Blues; Dave Mason, June 4 at the Coach House; Coolio, June 6 at the House of Blues; Common Sense, June 10 at the Coach House; Cadillac Tramps, June 25-26 at Roxy; Randy Newman, June 26 at the House of Blues; Richard Thompson, June 30 at Roxy; Eek-a-Mouse, July 2 at the Coach House; and Joan Armatrading, Aug. 9 at the Galaxy Theatre.