Click through for more on Broken Bells and Morning Benders live, Spin's 25th anniversary concerts, and My Morning Jacket's five night residency at Terminal 5. more ›

People tend to either love The Hold Steady or hate them, but even those in the latter camp don't really despise them in a 30 Seconds to Mars sort of way. Say what you want about frontman Craig Finn's half-spoken/half-sung vocalizations, it's hard to knock a group with such an affable lack of pretension. A couple years after the dissolution of his previous band Lifter Puller, Finn started The Hold Steady in 2002 with no greater ambition than to gig locally and bring the joy back to making music. Four albums and countless touring miles later (last summer they opened for the Rolling Stones), the band has still managed to preserve that casual yet exuberant spirit that's proven so infectious. Full length number four, Stay Positive, hit stores on Monday; we recently spoke with Finn about the album, the fans and the blogs. more ›

EVENT: Into anime? It's your lucky weekend, the New York Anime Festival is in town! There will be previews, screenings and panels galore. Check out their website for more details. All Weekend // Jacob Javits Convention Center [655 W 34th St] // $30 day pass, $55 weekend pass SHOP: FIT and the Design Mavens come together for a 3 day shopstravaganza. Tons of designers we're not cool enough to have ever heard of will be... more ›

MUSIC: If you aren't at your local hometown bar this Thanksgiving-eve, drinking with old high school buddies -- we suggest a sonic alternative. Tonight The Hold Steady and Art Brut do their best at making Terminal 5 feel a little bit cozier this holiday season. Buy tickets here. 7:30pm // Terminal 5 [610 W 56th St] // $30 MUSIC MOVIES: If you're sick and tired of the bands playing around town, go check out two... more ›

Those who missed out on getting tickets to the electrospazzy one-two punch of Dan Deacon and Girl Talk at Webster Hall last Saturday night fell into a bit of luck as the weekend approached. A last minute, late night show was announced for Bowery Ballroom that same night, and the formerly out of luck were now sitting pretty, seeing the two perform in a smaller room at a better hour and for less money. Great deal, right? Well, not so fast. By the time Dan Deacon came on around 12:45, the place was a total disaster. Puke in every sink, girls crying on the sofas and drunk kids getting hauled out of there so frequently by security it started looking like a WTO protest. While this didn't directly affect the music, Girl Talk in particular, who then followed Deacon's hypnotizing set, relies so much on the behavior and interactivity of the crowd that it really became quite a chore to enjoy. Far be it from us to tell the majority of the crowd at a concert they were behaving poorly, but surely we weren't the only ones who were distracted and annoyed my the amateur antics on display. Then again, maybe we've just outgrown the shtick. (pic via JKART's flickr) more ›

MUSIC: Last week Craig Finn made a solo appearance amongst the books at Barnes & Noble, tonight he's with his rock band, The Hold Steady, playing another free show. Joining them are the Old 97’s, and newer band, Illinois. A triple-threat lineup with a can't-be-beat pricetag. more ›

FESTIVAL: Conflux 2007 has arrived. Starting tonight and running through Sunday, their "annual New York City festival for contemporary psychogeography" will help re-imagine urban spaces with a series of events, lectures, workshops, installations, parties and so much more. Get all the info and schedules you need, here. more ›

READING: Check out today's interviewee, Peter Yarrow, tonight at Barnes and Noble where he'll be performing and signing the recently published Puff, the Magic Dragon book. C'mon, you know you've always wanted to hear that song live! more ›

While we couldn't make it down this year (a bit festivaled out between SXSW and Coachella and Sasquatch so far this year), Bonnaroo kicked off last night with a couple local favorites warming up the early arrivers. The National, Langhorne Slim and Apollo Sunshine among others took the stage for the Thursday night festivities. Much much more on the way for the rest of the week, including hometowners Sam Champion, El-P and The Hold Steady. If you're stuck in NYC this weekend as well, relive our full coverage of the hippie/hipster fest from last year here, here and here. Also, stream the current fest at AT&T Blueroom. (Photo via EW's flickr.) more ›

Yes, yes...Last week was Volume 18. We had some counting...issues. Apologies. more ›

Here's a heads up on sunny summertime shows. Sure, after the first week we'll be complaining about the heat, the smell of the city as it melts, and the lack of shade...but it's always nice to have some music to look forward to. So stock up on the SPF for the following shows: more ›

TRIVIA: Think you know a lot about New York? Come "challenge your knowledge of New York places, faces, dates and facts at the New York Book Club’s first trivia night. Special guests Steve Zeitlin and Marci Reaven, authors of Hidden New York and directors of City Lore, will be on hand to explain and educate." They warn you to bone up on your trivia at www.citylore.org and www.placematters.net beforehand. more ›

THEATER: Lear deBessonet culled material from sources as varied as Henrik Ibsen, Joan of Arc and Times contributor/author Russell Shorto (The Island at the Center of the World), scientific journals, and post-it notes from the desks of corporate secretaries to create the new play transFigures. She was also inspired by the Jerusalem Syndrome, the well-documented psychosis that causes ordinary tourists to channel Biblical figures, create togas out of hotel bed-sheets, and parade through the Holy City as Moses, Mary Magdalene, Jesus, and other religious icons. - John Del Signore more ›

Just when we thought we were finally done having to think about the music of 2006, we get one last hurrah of ultimate listage. The 34th annual Pazz and Jop poll finally made landfall this week, and unsurprisingly, there were few shockers. Some feigned outrage/interest that Bob Dylan's latest overtook the otherwise consensus disc of the year by TV on the Radio (see image), but a few minor swaps at the top won't be enough to change many opinions at this point, as we approach Presidents Day 2007. The one thing this (hopefully) final 2006 list brings to our attention is just how, and we’ll just say it, mediocre the last year in music was. A good chunk of these albums were seen as letdowns upon release, yet they find their way up on here regardless. With the exception of TVotR, many of the albums on the final list are seen as some of the respective band's weaker efforts. Few fans thought the newest Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Decemberists, or even the very well received Hold Steady albums were their best to date, yet they all comfortably make the list. Perhaps when we look back at 2006 as the year that "indie rock" started heading towards the mainstream, this list will act more as a tribute to many of the bands that pushed the undefined genre towards the breaking point, rather than a direct celebration of the works themselves. For now, it's just a final reminder that there was so little we truly fell in love with last year. more ›

There hasn't been much going on to mark the occassion, but The Daily News put together a Top 10 list of their favorite Letterman moments over the years. Their picks include Madonna's 1994 appearance in which she "dropped 13 F-bombs", Britney breaking the news she was pregnant with a 2nd child just last year and of course Drew Barrymore who came on the show and flashed Letterman in 1995. more ›

EVENT: Tonight is the "Taxi 07: Transforming and Icon" event, marking the 100th anniversary of the New York taxi. The Design Trust for Public Space have gathered together members of the city’s design community and tonight they discuss ideas for the redesign the yellow cab. The idea of a redesign was announced back in 2005. more ›

Ah, the end of the year is upon us...and that means one thing: end of the year lists. Information Leafblower is a little ahead of the game and has posted his fourth annual "Top 40 Bands In America (As Voted On By A Bunch Of Effing Music Bloggers That Only Listen To Cooler Than You Guitar Based Indie Rock And Not Much Else)" list. more ›

EVENT: Tonight at the Apple Store, the NYC photobloggers get together again. Come check out: Scott Heiferman, Kara Canal, Rebecca Smeyne, Will Sherman, Kamau Mucoki, Boogie and Martin Fuchs. more ›

THEATER: Less than a week post-Fringe, another festival is upon us: the Brick's new Clown Theater Festival, which starts tonight with a subway parade and "free-for-all pie-fight." Some of the participating local and international performers wear big red noses but these aren't the sort of clowns that kids get scared of at birthday parties, but rather the promoters of and participants in a vibrant physical format that's re-energizing theater; there are performances like Chiche Capon's Cabaret out of France and Fools Mass by NYC's own Theatre Group Dzieci, plus workshops for aspiring clowns. Even if the Fringe has you tuckered out, these will be different and delightful enough to get you going again. - Mallory Jensen more ›

THEATER: Though some might balk at an outdoor performance in this muggy, thunderstormy weather, The Drilling CompaNY's version of As You Like It, the next installment of Shakespeare in the Park(ing) Lot (directed by Jesse Ontiveros), is bound to exude enough cool to counteract the waves of heat rising from the asphalt. It also helps if you show up with your own chair so you don't have to exert yourself in a scuffle to nab one of the limited number available there. - Mallory Jensen more ›

There is a band playing Northsix tonight called Duran Duran Duran. We don't know anything about them, but based on their name alone we'll suggest checking them out. If you want to go with the safe bet though, head to the Delancey where Pela starts off their April residencey tonight. more ›

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: more ›

Not that you were asking, but we know you wanted it. The obligatory Best of '05 List. We chose to list off the Best NYC Shows in 2005. We compiled this list after closely surveying and consulting...ourselves. Here are our Top 11 NYC Shows of 2005. That's right, we said ELEVEN. more ›

It's CMJ week in NYC. Arcade Fire, Devendra Banhart, Lady Sovereign, Feist, Nouvelle Vague, Doves, The Wrens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cursive, !!!, Wolf Parade, The Hold Steady, Brian Jonestown Massacare... we can't even begin to list everything going on. Why should we? CMJ's listings reveal everything you need to know. Further inspection of CMJ.OhMyRockness.com lets you in on even more. The CMJ archives at BrooklynVegan will clue you in even further, and Central Village's itinerary has more than enough to keep you busy. Instead we'll focus on a few select non-CMJ shows happening during CMJ. more ›

This week is full of shows by some of our favorite new artists. On the high-profile end of the spectrum, The Hold Steady are back at Bowery Ballroom for a two night run Friday and Saturday. We're especially interested in checking out the openers on Friday. It's the Pitchfork-approved, Coldplay-tour-opening, Village Voice weird album of the week winning band called Black Mountain. On Sunday, M.I.A. plays her biggest and freeest NYC show yet at Summerstage. Superstar DJ Diplo is on the bill too, though it's questionable whether he'll show up. He definitely plays Friday with RJD2 on a Rocks Off Concert Cruise though. more ›

Air America's The Majority Report with Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder will broadcast live from The Tank, which it also did during the Republican National Convention. This time the broadcast includes a live studio audience and guest Tim Robbins. more ›

Since this seems to be hard to grasp for some we just want to reiterate that this post is just to let you know that we've noticed a few tickets that are on sale for shows that we believe may sell out. We won't be repeating any ticket listings we posted last time, so you may want to give that list a once over as well. Also, we put a $ sign next to overpriced shows that are in no way worth the amount being charged. more ›

For those of you not going, or for those who haven't left yet, check out the SXSW player which streams all of the bands playing this year. more ›

If anybody missed last week's The Hold Steady show at Mercury, shame on you. You're probably a wuss. In that case, wow, you're in for a big week. Our TONY cover-boy (and new east village renter, swoon) Conor Oberst is playing, like, forty-seven shows this week. Man, when this guy moves in, he really moves in. more ›