Last night at Baruch College's Mason Hall in Manhattan, a motley crew of indie rock and power pop all-stars came together to pay tribute to the seminal Third/Sisters Lovers album by Big Star. The group of musicians, which included Michael Stipe and Mike Mills of R.E.M., Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo, Matthew Sweet and original Big Star drummer Jody Stephens, was organized and directed by Chris Stamey of the dBs, one of the descendants of Big Star. It was a reverential but heartfelt evening, with upwards of 10 people on stage at a time bringing the haunted, drug-addled album to life with generous, often upbeat arrangements, including full string and brass sections. more ›

Click through for more on Henry Wolfe, Passion Pit, Joanna Newsom and the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. more ›

Stephen Dima, Seaport Music more ›

So get your dancin' flip flops on, avoid anyone with a video camera and mark these shows on your calender: more ›

Coolfer hasn't attended a music festival since the 1995 edition of Lollapalooza, but this Saturday's Little Steven's International Underground Garage Festival is promising enough to prompt a ticket buy. Most bands won't play more than a few songs, but the line-up is amazing and mixes the old and new very well: The Stooges, the New York Dolls, the Strokes, Chocolate Watchband, the Pretty Things, Big Star (Alex Chilton is pictured to the right), the Raveonettes, the Romantics, the Mooney Suzuki, the Fuzztones, the Shazam, the Electric Prunes, the Star Spangles, the High Dials, the Dictators and too many more to mention. That's a lot of bands for $20 ($25 at the gate). The concert will be held at Randall's Island. Gates open at--are you ready for this?--10am. Show starts at 11am. It's gonna be a long day, and a very long day if the rain hangs around through the weekend. more ›