John Mellencamp [ tickets ] has signed on to play a New Year's Eve show at the new Conseco Fieldhouse arena in Indianapolis. The new home of the NBA's Indiana Pacers is scheduled to open in November.

According to Mellencamp's official website, tickets will go on sale via Ticketmaster on Oct. 23. Information about opening acts and ticket prices haven't been released. [LiveDaily is a publication of Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, which handles online ticket sales for Ticketmaster.]

Mellencamp's October itinerary also shows newly-announced concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden and the Providence Civic Center in Rhode Island, as well as a change-of-date for a Syracuse performance.

Mellencamp re-launches his ''1999 Rural Electrification Tour'' tour Oct. 1 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. The production then treks through Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, and the Dakotas before wrapping up the month in Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Mellencamp recently released the album ''Rough Harvest,'' which consists mostly of songs he recorded at his home studio in 1997. The low-profile release fulfills his contract with longtime label Mercury records. The Indiana native released his self-titled debut for Columbia records last year.