Louis C.K.'s Beacon Theater comedy special/internet experiment turned out better than anyone could have expected: in the 12 days since the special was put online for $5, Louis has made more than a million dollars! And he announced on his website that he is donating $280,000 to five different charities: "The thing is still on sale. I hope folks keep buying it. If I make another million, I'll give more of it away. I'll let you know when that happens because I like you getting to know what happened to your 5 dollars and bringing awareness to the bla bla bla." Aww: come for the bag of dicks, stay for the benevolence. more ›

Note to maudlin, post-punk, goth-rockers, it's time to bust out the black eyeliner: The Cure is coming to town (and they just got nominated to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame). And they're bringing original keyboardist Roger O'Donnell with them (he was fired in 2005, but on September 11th of this year he announced he rejoined the band). They'll be setting up shop at Beacon Theater on November 25th, 26th, and 27th—playing their first three albums in full (they're also doing this iin London and LA). Tickets go on sale on Halloween, at 10 a.m. While we wait... check out Robert Smith in a Rangers jersey during a Radio City Music Hall show in 1996. more ›

Two dozen men snaked out of the bathroom line at the Beacon Theater Tuesday night, most swigging plastic 16-ounce beers. The women's side, however, was completely empty. "This is a Steely Dan concert for sure," one man noted, "19 men for every woman." Our knowledge of Steely Dan was limited to hearing parents belt out "Peg" at weddings and the fact that the band is named after a sex toy. Urged by a certain editor who claimed we were making a "big mistake" if we missed it, we caught Steely Dan's performance of their 1976 album The Royal Scam, with completely open ears to unlock the mystery of The Dan and their many, many dudes. more ›

It's a Conan O’Brien stage show reboot. The late night talk show host is bringing his live act back to New York. TBS has announced that O'Brien will take the Beacon Theater stage from October 31st to November 3rd, all in celebration of his one year anniversary move to TBS (he'll also be swinging by Chicago in 2012). more ›

The Allman Brothers are still holding court at the Beacon Theater. Last week drummer Butch Trucks told us they'd have a special guest every night of their run at the venue except the 26th ("The 26th is [the 40th anniversary of] the day that we actually started.") And sure enough, Mr. Eric Clapton made an extended appearance on stage during the 2nd set last night. Relix (who else?) reports that this marked "his first appearance with the blues-rock legends after four decades of collaborations with its members." Gregg Allman introduced Clapton as “a real great player and a real wonderful person” (aww) and as you can see, one audience member caught the classic "Layla" on a digital camera. more ›

Today we received a message saying that "Tomorrow at 10am, MSGE will be announcing the legendary artist that has been confirmed to reopen the Beacon Theatre in the coming weeks. The beloved New York landmark recently underwent a 7-month restoration to return the venue to its original grandeur, and one of the most prolific musicians of our day will take the stage of the magnificently refurbished theatre for an unforgettable night of music to celebrate this historic event." Related? Everyone is abuzz about how the 74-year-old Leonard Cohen will play the Beacon on February 19th. There's nothing on Beacon's calendar for that date as of yet, and the rest of their scheduled shows begin around that time. more ›

The Beacon Theater, which went dark last month for restorations, gets The NY Times treatment today as the "Carnegie Hall of rock rooms." The Times looks at the venue's past (it nearly became a grocery store in the 70s) and 78 years of neglect. But after the 6-month, $15M facelift (to be complete in February '09), will the vibe still be in tact? Gregg Allman commented, saying it “has a great vibe, it’s not either a coliseum or a club," but he went on to note that "you didn’t want the house lights all the way up, given those cobwebs with the big hunks of dust." Will the legions of hippies who flock to the UWS venue for the Allman Brothers, and various jam bands, feel at home with a clean, refurbished interior--or will they not even notice the changes? more ›

Last night Rat Dog ended their three-night run at the Beacon Theater. The band is led by the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir, and is one of the few left that will bring the hippies out to the Upper West Side (pictured). more ›

When They Might Be Giants released their twelfth album, The Else, over the summer, The Village Voice called it “as tuneful and rockin' as all the rest, from the withering ‘I'm Impressed’ to the female-empowerment anthem ‘Take Out the Trash.’” Keeping it fresh is no small feat for a band with such an impressive body of work, accumulated over the course of the past 25-plus years. But a listen to The Else or, even better, a couple hours spent at one of their live shows is proof enough that the Johns remain as creatively resilient as ever. They spent most of the fall 2007 on the road and have since been putting the finishing touches on their next project for Disney, “Here Come the 123s.” Oriented for children, the CD/DVD package will feature a mix of animation and music like their previous “Here Come the ABCs”. On Saturday February 2nd they play a grown-up rock show at The Beacon Theater, with horns. [Tickets.] more ›

Shine a Light, the film documenting The Rolling Stones show at Beacon Theater in 2006, is about to hit the big screen. And the really, really big screen. The Martin Scorsese-directed rockumentary will be in both regular and IMAX theaters this April, and it won't be the first time Mick Jagger's lips have reached epic proportions; the band recorded their first IMAX concert in the early '90s. Check out the trailer for the latest one, below. more ›

TREE LIGHTING: Earlier this year, New Yorkers Fountains of Wayne transformed Demetri Martin into a lonely suit living in Brooklyn in this video. Tonight the band will be rockin' around the Stuy Town Christmas tree. A reader writes in:I just happened to see this flyer hanging up for the annual christmas tree lighting. And what the hell is this...7:30-8:00pm, FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE. Seems like it's top secret, but there are flyers everywhere.Random! But if you're... more ›

READING: Dave Eggers has delivered two (out of three) great novels, and tonight he reads from last one (which is just out on paperback), What is the What. He'll be at the Strand discussing the book and he'll also give a slideshow presentation from a recent trip he took to Sudan. More info here. Friday // 7pm // Strand Bookstore [828 Broadway] // Free EVENT: We love a good pillow fight, and tonight there's a... more ›

Last night we sent photographer Raymond Haddad to the I'm Not There concert at Beacon Theater. Calexico, The Roots, My Morning Jacket, J Mascis, Yo La Tengo, Mason Jennings, Joe Henry, Mark Lanegan, Lee Ranaldo & the Million Dollar Bashers and many more were on hand to celebrate the soundtrack, the film and of course Bob Dylan himself (who, in fact, was not there). The soundtrack is a double-discer that's been getting praise from... more ›

Given the large number of people that work for the City of New York, it's inevitable that some will be charged with crimes in any given year. The New York Post, however, is highlighting some of the more noteworthy crimes committed by city workers in today's paper. They range from the relatively benign (a schoolteacher getting busted for smoking weed before heading into a show at the Beacon Theater) to the more serious (a drunk driver who hit a fireman assisting a driver, and a man who murdered his ex-fianceé.) more ›

MUSIC: Scottish indie sensations Camera Obscura bring their pop and their rock to the Seaport tonight. They're joined by The Last Town Chorus. After that, there's only one more show down there this season! more ›

Last year the Rolling Stones played two nights at the Beacon Theater (partly to celebrate Bill Clinton's 60th birthday - we guess Hillary will get Celine). It's just been announced that this September 21st Martin Scorsese will release a documentary filmed at the shows. The larger than life event will become just that in celluloid as it gets the IMAX treatment, but is the world ready for a 50-foot Mick Jagger? Well, it's not the first time it's happened. more ›

Rappers Ja Rule and Lil Wayne both found themselves ending their weekend with arrests last night. The separate incidents both took place in the city. more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: Falling debris at 107th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan, a police officer is shot in Brooklyn's Nassau County's 3rd Precinct, and a car vs. building incident on Atlantic Avenue.
• Kittens in trees are over. Firefighters rescue drowning dog in Hudson River
• When your roommate is a mysterious stranger, write about him in The New York Times.
• NYC playing fields: no longer just for "having sex, getting high on drugs or settling fights."
• The man behind the woman behind the man. How Charlie Rangel played queenmaker to Hillary.
• And speaking of the queens, she's flush: Hillary raised $26 million in the first three months of 2007.
• One 13-year-old is dead and another 13-year-old is arrested after a playground fight turns deadly.
• Are special ed kids on Staten Island getting the shaft from the Department of Education?
• Is this cliche-fulfillment: Three city teachers caught smoking a joint outside an Allman Bros. concert at the Beacon Theater.

MOVIE: Beware to those heading over to Pioneer Theater tonight, that Jackass Steve-O will be there promoting his new movie TV: The Movie. "A celebration of the ever increasing depravity of television in our society-- it's a channel surfing adventure through the most utterly ridiculous spoofed television programming and commercials." And we bet he'll totally staple something to his face. more ›

Ahmet Ertegun, the man who founded Atlantic Records, died yesterday at the age of 83. Ertegun, along with a partner, Herb Abramson, founded Atlantic Records in 1947. They started up in an office in a hotel on West 56th Street in Manhattan. The initial investment of $10,000 was borrowed from his family dentist. 48 years later, in 1995, at the Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Dinner, it was announced that the museum's main exhibition hall would be named after Ertegun. more ›

THEATER: A.R. Gurney’s new meta-play, Post Mortem, takes place in a future tyrannical America where a college student discovers a lost “masterpiece” by the largely forgotten playwright A.R. Gurney. In Post Mortem's cowardly new world, many believe Dick Cheney to be responsible for Gurney’s death, and the discovery of an unpublished memoir reveals Gurney affairs with Cameron Diaz, Katherine Hepburn and Katrina Kerns. (Okay, that last one's from our own meta-memoir.) The student’s willingness to defy the government by producing the banned play wins him both a shot at the Nobel Peace Prize and his hot professor’s affection. - John Del Signore more ›

The Rolling Stones are back for yet another tour! Alternating openers for them on this one are Alice Cooper, the Dave Matthews Band, Kanye West and Van Morrisson. We get Kanye, and couldn't be happier. They'll play Giants Stadium on September 27th. more ›

"Last year Elton John declared that Rufus Wainwright was the greatest songwriter on the planet. Quite a profound statement from the king of pop himself. This was presumably based on hearing 2004's Want One, followed earlier this year by the groundbreaking opus, Want Two." Elly Roberts goes on to say that Wainwright's recent show at The Lowry was "An epic night, and a high watermark of a musician on top of his game, who has single headedly changed the possibilities of popular music." Our hometown (via Rhinebeck, New York and Canada) hero headlines the Beacon Theater two nights in row this week. We're especially excited about Wednesday's show. Regina Spektor is opening. more ›

- Last night, police were investigating the death of a Midtown apartment building doorman who was found murdered near his subway station in Queens, apparently on the way home. Today, it was announced that two suspects were arrested in the murder of Arshad Mahmood. One theory is that one of the suspects thought Mahmood was having an affair with his wife. Mahmood usually drove to work until his license was suspended, so he took the train to work; his brother told Newsday, "He felt very very comfortable in the train. He was a New Yorker. But we have to ask ourselves what if he were driving instead." more ›

Last week I didn't tell you about the show Beck played at Hiro Ballroom Friday night (one night before his appearance on Saturday Night Live). That's because the "secret" show wasn't even announced until Thursday. Beck is known for playing last-minute small-venue shows, and I was lucky enough to score a ticket to this one. Here are the pictures. more ›

Do you truly appreciate this city? more ›

We'll have a full list of April and May shows coming up soon, there are A LOT to cover. We find it somehow comforting that we're already buying tickets for shows in the springtime ... we're ready to thaw! Moving on, so as not to repeat ourselves here is last month's sell outs list which has tickets that are still on sale for upcoming shows. And as for the below list we have starred the shows that have a high risk factor of Hilary Duff being in attendance, consider this a public service. more ›

great, but want to check them out for ourselves, since we do like this video. Also check out the last sell outs post for more info on future shows we're not relisting here. more ›

Do you remember rock n' roll? Not the synthy 80's stuff that's been inundating our ears lately, but actual guitar grinding rock. Well Dear Leader will make you remember, incase you don't. They are what rose from the ashes after the band Sheila Divine broke up in 2003. Their lyrics and sound are anthemic and loud. So come stomp your feet to them tonight at Pianos. More details after the interview. more ›

Time to start the new year off right, by seeing live music and not being left out on the cold cold sidewalk listening to your favorite songs echoing down the snow-filled street. This month there are a lot of hyped up bands coming our way. We are mainly talking about the Arcade Fire, if you don't have tickets we don't know what to tell you. If you're good at haikus you could try this contest. We'll also be having some ticket give-a-ways for some shows this month, and maybe MAYBE there will be an Arcade Fire one. But in the meantime, here are some tickets on sale that you can still buy: more ›