Ok so check out these concerts this summer...

we got the Dream Theater and Megadeath tour, Ozzfest(I hate most of the bands at ozzfest, but the origonal Black Sabbath is coming back and Judas Priest, and Black label society), we got Robert Plant and the SS, Presence (awesome Led Zeppelin cover band), Buddy Guy and Eric Johnson, The Black Crowes, Deep Purple, Allman Brothers... the list goes on

so basically i'm going to spend about 1000$ in concert tickets this summer

I'm going to add one to your list... Steve Vai and Eric Sardinas!!!! I saw them at the House of Blues in Chicago and it kicked ass. If you haven't heard Eric Sardinas play before or seen Steve Vai play before... definitely check it out! I never heard any of Sardinas' stuff before but after that concert I'll be a fan of his for the rest of my life. He was just as much fun to watch as Vai was. He plays heavy blues stuff and it's AAAAAAALLLLLLLLL slide guitar (with distortion, sounds awesome). He can definitely shred it though. He's a good vocalist too. So check it out!