Do certain band's fans tip better than others? Sasha Frere-Jones does an uncontrolled study at Bowery Ballroom -- and Chromeo fans, you're busted.“When Chromeo played, their crowd drank house vodka and Budweiser. Didn’t tip. Some of them did what I’ll call the slide-backs. They put a dollar down on the bar, wait until you turn your back, then palm their buck and walk away. Classy. When your night starts out with “What’s your cheapest drink?”......

Alwyn Court, by edEx at flickrToday on the Gothamist Newsmap: serious trauma at Attorney and Houston Sts. in Manhattan, a water rescue at 1st St. and Astoria Blvd. in Queens, and a gas leak on Kingsland Ave. in Brooklyn. The NYPD and FDNY collaborated yesterday to put divers in the dark and frigid waters off a jetty at Orchard Beach in the Bronx, in order to rescue a 14-year-old boy trapped in the rocks......

MUSIC: Of course we're going to recommend you come hang out with us tonight at our 5 year anniversary show. Come on by and check out Pattern is Movement and The Forms, along with a special guest band at midnight. On top of all that, you'll get Craig Wedren deejaying between sets. What more could you ask for? Buy tickets here. Friday // 9pm // Union Hall [702 Union St, Park Slope] // $10......

Craig Wedren is the former front man for the sorely missed D.C. band Shudder to Think, a group that seemed to intuitively grasp all the overlooked possibilities of the late-80s/early 90s post-punk landscape and render them into a sound that was at once startling, bizarre and irresistibly catchy. Since the band’s end ten years ago, Wedren has made a career as composer of soundtracks for movies such as Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter,......

As we mentioned last week, Gothamist is turning 5 years old next month! Come celebrate with us at a special show at Union Hall. Here are the details: Movable Hype 12.0 and Gothamist Turns 5! Friday, February 15th, 9pm Union Hall (702 Union Street, Park Slope) Featuring: The Forms, Pattern is Movement and Special Midnight Guests! Deejay Craig Wedren You can buy tickets here for $10. We're also giving a pair away, so if you......

We hope you like change, because there's sure a lot of it when it comes to who's writing the music picks. Now, on to the picks...while we'll be down in Austin for SXSW this week, we aren't taking every band with us. There will be plenty to rock out to in the city, and as an added bonus, it's St. Patrick's Day this weekend...so your rock will be mixed with green beer. Tonight the Presets......

Hey, happy Chinese New Year, everyone! Time to drive out the old spirits of the past year and welcome the good spirits of the new year. The Chinese do this with explosions and fireworks; we'll do it rock-style, with extremely loud noises. Such as: The week starts out with a bang on Monday, with the magically delicious, occasionally unsettling experimental rock of Deerhoof (at left) at Bowery. Instead of traditional opening bands, the show will......

What's your New Year's resolution? Is it to check out more live music, perhaps, and not be such a couch potato? Dance more, drink more, veg less? You have come to the right place. Here's some of what's happening around town this week: Not much going on in the early part of the week, as several clubs are closed. Maybe Monday is the night to check out former America's Next Top Model contender Shandi Sullivan......

Camera phone looky-loos, this one's for you. We're talking about the biggest band to hit small to medium sized NYC venues since Sufjan Stevens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and The Arcade Fire. We're talking about Montreal's latest buzz band Wolf Parade. You've got three chances to see them this week. That's three chances to see them before they come back to play Webster Hall. If you can't find a ticket to the sold......

Comedy shows in New York this weekend are going to be just like Debra Messing’s hair– all over the place but still really good. Here’s the rundown of what not to miss: Saturday April 30 This Saturday night will be a one night only affair with Holiness, Sri Swami The Guru Pitka, who may or may not be Mike Myers. “A Dharma-Talk and Sutra: The Four Laws of Happiness" features Guru Pitka, an altar ego......

Hyper-important must-see event of the month, first: Tomorrow (Jan 19), The Hold Steady play Mercury lounge. Ticket available through TicketWeb. This is no joke, everyone. Ten dollars. Such a great band. So much fun. I just wrote those short little sentences and sentence fragments without the expletives that were thrusting through my fingertips. Calmly: See this show. Send thank you notes here. What do they sound like? You know that fun, awesomely written, rock and......

Craig Wedren, Musician...

Tonight the Knitting Factory and the Onion are having a listening party for Wilco's A Ghost Is Born. Of course, you could have been downloading the album off the Internet for the last three months, and the band's website was streaming the entire album well before its release. But...if you haven't heard it or just want to show up to get a handful of flyers and a free button, the event starts at 7pm. While......