This really is turning out to be the year of the venue -- with more openings, closings, re-brandings, re-namings and articles written about the places we go see music than ever before. Now with the latest Bowery Presents venue (The Music Hall of Williamsburg) opening next week, there's another article in The Times. The piece starts out describing the complex acoustic design that one might "expect to see in a multimillion-dollar concert hall in Berlin......

With brick and mortar sales declining, and the future of the music industry uncertain - at least live shows are always dependable. Sure, there are a lot of venues closing, but how about the ones thriving? The NY Times reports on some of the big players in the New York venue scene. In New York heated competition among concert promoters has driven a building spree of small and midsize spaces over the last two years.......

The Plug Awards are coming up next week (February 2nd @ Webster Hall). "What the hell are those?," you may be asking. Well, they're independent music awards celebrating "artists who live and flourish in the margins." And YOU can vote on everything from Album of the Year to Music Blog of the Year to Internet Radio Station of the Year. So vote now! Langhorne Slim, Gang Gang Dance, Matisyahu (and more) will be on hand......