CasiNotes: A Saturday of music from rock to Yuletide

THERE'S A PRETTY formidable musical lineup at Atlantic City casinos tomorrow, especially for a weekend in November at a time when the gaming industry there is hemorrhaging red ink.

At Borgata's Event Center, '90s-rockers Smashing Pumpkins celebrate the recent release of their 20th-anniversary-marking DVD, "If It All Goes Wrong," which hits the marketplace on Tuesday.

In case you're wondering, the band, which hasn't toured in six years, features just two charter members, singer-composer Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin.

Corgan warned in a recent Rolling Stone interview that the band's road trip isn't just another "greatest hits" extravaganza.

"There are songs that are no-brainers live," Corgan told the mag. "But if we're not into them, we don't play them. It would make our life easier, but we don't end our set with the lighter-in-the-air version of 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings.' "

Borgata, One Borgata Way, 8 p.m. tomorrow, $75, 866-900-4849, www.theborgata.com.

Over on the Boardwalk, there are a couple of interesting temporary next-door neighbors.

_ House of Blues inside Showboat is hosting Melissa Etheridge. Although it's still early November, Etheridge's program is a Yuletide affair billed as "A New Thought for Christmas Holiday Concert."

The gig is the latest in a series of HOB performances to be taped for broadcast as part of the "HD Rock Live" series on the HDNet high-definition cable channel.

Showboat, Boardwalk at Delaware Avenue, 8 p.m. tomorrow, $42-$102, 609-236-2583, www.hob.com.

_ Just yards to the west, British New Wave veteran Joe Jackson makes his AyCee debut at the Taj Mahal's Xanadu theater. Jackson, who totally ripped it up last April at Glenside's Keswick Theatre, is still out promoting last year's superb "Rain" CD.

Taj Mahal, Boardwalk at Virginia Avenue, 8 p.m. tomorrow, $75 and $59, 800-236-1420, www.ticketmaster.com.

There's plenty of laughs on deck this weekend as

Dennis Miller

and

Don Rickles

make with the jokes.

Miller, who plays Borgata's Music Box, went from "Saturday Night Live" hipster to conservative pundit whose nightly talk show airs locally from 9 to midnight on WNTP (990 AM). As such, he is a perfect booking for this weekend, given the monumental results of Tuesday's presidential election. It'll be more than a little surprising if he doesn't at least mention it in passing.

And what more needs to be said about Rickles, the beloved "Merchant of Venom" who headlines Tropicana? Although he's in his ninth decade, Rickles continues to convulse audiences with his politically incorrect (but ultimately harmless) brand of insult humor. *

Dennis Miller, Borgata Hotel & Casino, One Borgata Way, 9 p.m. tomorrow, $45, 866-900-4849, www.theborgata.com. Don Rickles, Tropicana, Boardwalk at Brighton Avenue, 9 today and tomorrow, 7 p.m. Sunday, $30-$55, 609-340-4000, www.tropicana.net.

Chuck Darrow has covered Atlantic City and the casino industry for more than 20 years. Read his blog at

http://go.philly.com/casinotes. Or e-mail him at darrowc@phillynews.com.