The term "nerdcore" makes us want to punch things. So does the idea of a skinny white girl playing "Gangsta's Paradise" on a glockenspiel, or a band named "Math The Band," or someone named MC Frontalot rapping about Magic: The Gathering. Because any gathering whose purpose is to revel in uncoolness is as frustrating as the too-cool-for-anyone parties at the Boom Boom Room. We were prepared to get our snark on at last night's MC Frontalot show at Knitting Factory Brooklyn, but from the moment the first honest-to-god moshpit broke out between a dozen teenagers in a sea of plaid, our cold hearts were melted. Because these nerds were having a truly fantastic time. more ›

Click through on the images for Perbacco's black truffle deals, the Knitting Factory's "Summer of Riesling" concert and wine bar crawl, and Shake Shack's hotly anticipated midtown debut. more ›

Last night the City Reliquary pretty much brought the FDNY Calendar to life with a Fire Sale! Firefighters took to the Knitting Factory stage to sell... themselves, all to benefit the Reliquary (which is trying to stay afloat). Bids started at $50 and went over 300 bucks; winners were promised "a real life opportunity to take one of New York’s Bravest out on the town for a night of romance and adventure." more ›

The first ever "professional" dreidel league will host its debut matches in Williamsburg on Dec. 12 — the second day of Hanukkah. In an article laden with Borscht Belt-style puns, the Brooklyn Paper reports on Major League Dreidel, which is expected to draw 100 participants to the Knitting Factory on Metropolitan Avenue to compete in the classic top-spinning game. League founder Eric Harris Pavony tells the paper: “MLD validates the dreidel as a bona-fide sport — and its elite are recognized and respected like professional athletes. However, they are paid in chocolate money.” more ›

The Knitting Factory has officially left Manhattan for Brooklyn, taking over the old Luna Lounge space on Metropolitan in Williamsburg. And it looks fly. They completely overhauled the unnecessarily vast room that served as Luna's main space, and split it into two spaces: the live room and the bar (from which you can see the stage). The design playfully evokes a low-budget basement recording studio, with classic pegboard walls backing the stage, and a glass window embedded stage left, where the sound engineer's room would be. The venue officially opens tonight with Les Savy Fav; and here's their upcoming lineup. How will they fare in such a venue-heavy neighborhood? more ›

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Just when you thought you could sit this New Year's Eve out, the Knitting Factory pulls you back in. It's no easy task dragging us out of the apartment on amateur night, but this full-club show, curated by Akron/Family, boasts a lineup we couldn't refuse: Dirty Projectors, Deerhoof, Megafaun, Deer Tick and a cast of thousands will invade TriBeCa for what's sure to be an unforgettable night of idiosyncratic alt-indie revelry. It's also the last concert ever at the Knitting Factory's storied Leonard Street location; next year the owners will move to the promised land, across the East River to Williamsburg. Earlier this week, we spoke with Miles Seaton from Akron/Family about the upcoming gig, the forthcoming album, and the best New Year's Eve ever. more ›

As previously mentioned, the Knitting Factory will soon be moving from its current Leonard Street location to the old Luna Lounge in Williamsburg. The change will take place early next year, and the venue will have its last Manhattan night on New Year’s Eve. The NY Press is now reporting that "the whole staff—65 people in all—is losing their jobs." Well, not all of them; "two of the 65 staff members—both managers—are being kept on. According to the bartender, the staff was told in April that they were being laid off en masse when Jared Hoffman, who took over in 2002, was still looking at a space" and "wanted to start fresh." Allegedly there were letters stapled to the employee's checks that broke the news. One old booker at the venue said that it's Hoffman who “fucked it all up." Well, Hoffman was just axed as well, so maybe the Brooklyn space really will revive the KF name? more ›

Word has come in via The NY Times that the Knitting Factory will officially make the move to Brooklyn...and Boise? Jared Hoffman, who took over the good ship Knit five years ago, announced that both the Idaho and a new Spokane, WA venue have already hung up signs -- something that Brooklyn may see soon as well, as the venue has just received the borough's approval. The Times reports they "won community board approval to begin moving into 361 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the former site of the Luna Lounge." The space will give them a smaller New York presence, moving their multi-level, multi-room venue that's been housed on Leonard Street for 14 years, into one room with a smaller capacity (around 300). Look for a grand opening between 4 and 9 months from now, and don't expect to see the same look as Luna Lounge, as they'll be doing some renovations. more ›

With the Knitting Factory looking for a new home, and Luna Lounge being closed since April, all signs are pointing to the former moving into the latter. In fact, a sign on the front door of the now defunct Luna Lounge says as much. more ›

Your newest album is called Nothing is Underrated, which seems to me to be open to a lot of different interpretations. Indeed, it is. more ›

Jazz in New York is lingering in a precarious state. It’s certainly not for lack of musicians, or audiences -- but it’s something that has been plaguing New York for decades: there just aren’t enough venues. more ›

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The rumor mill's in motion and word is that The Knitting Factory will be moving out of its long time home on Leonard Street. The news doesn't come as a surprise as last April brought word that the building the venue is housed in would be sold. more ›

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Staten Island singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson found fame through the small screen before hitting airwaves nationwide. Last year one of her songs was featured in the season finale of Grey's Anatomy (video), only to be followed by another one of her songs being picked up for an Old Navy ad (video). Needless to say she went from getting write-ups in the Staten Island Advance, to getting them in the NY Times. more ›

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MOVIE: Every national election year reminds us of that part in The Dark Crystal where the hideous Skeksis systematically drain the Gelfling’s “essence” and drink it to increase their power. If you don’t know the scene we’re talking about, you need to go see it on the big screen tonight – a regular-sized TV monitor just doesn’t do Jim Henson’s creepy masterpiece justice. The one-night-only screening will be introduced by one of the film’s puppet makers, Cheryl Henson, daughter of Jim. She’ll be joined by Robbie Barnett, who operated some of the main Skeksis; the pair will sign merch after the screening. more ›

Is this the first election season where you’ve supported one of the candidates? Sort of. This is the first time I’ve supported someone during the primaries, which carries a lot of weight with people who were already going to vote for Obama. In 4th grade I campaigned for Reagan (it worked), and in 2004 I did a bunch of fundraisers for John Kerry (Sorry, America, I failed). Basically, after Bush beat Al Gore and tried to ruin America, I decided to be more politically involved. But not too much! I want to remain “cool.” more ›

Tyler Sargent plays bass in a little band called Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, which may have caught your eye back in 2005 when they played the Gothamist Movable Hype 3.0 show at the Knitting Factory. We don’t want to call ourselves kingmakers, but ever since that night the band’s become kind of a big deal, in part because they were one of the first bands to break wide through blog buzz and a self-released album that moved over 45,000 copies in six months, all distributed out of Sargent’s Park Slope apartment. Tomorrow night they play a benefit concert at Bowery Ballroom for Planned Parenthood NYC; it’s sold out, of course, but mark your calendar for February 15th, when Gothamist anoints a new crop of indie rock darlings at Movable Hype 12.0 (it's also Gothamist’s 5th birthday.) Anyway, at some point over the weekend Tyler Sargent sat down at his computer and processed pithy answers to our questions. more ›

with illustrator Dan Goldman, which is "a spoof of the network news, the war in Iraq, and the burgeoning 'citizen journalism' movement set in the near future." Expect a lively discussion about all of the above! more ›

The Time Warner on-screen guide simply said "Tila Tequila" on MTV when the clock struck midnight last Monday, leading a casual observer to assume they were blowing through a marathon of her depressing reality show. But oh no! The oddly shaped, elfish face of the network apparently gets sole, top billing over the biggest night of the year as the host of MTV's annual New Years Eve party. She was mostly responsible for stumbling through some lines on her way to introducing the lineup of bands on tap, including the likes of Good Charlotte, Kid Rock and a somehow still relevant Wyclef. While those in attendance seemed to be having a fine time, it may pain music fans to see the network has no sign of changing their tune in the new year, rolling out the same rehashed schlock they've been shoveling for most of the decade. Cobra Starship summed it up best in their post-balldrop interview: "A lot of bands are trying to be credible...we wanna be in-credible in '08!" No word yet what role Gabe Saporta will play in "Shot of Love, Season 2." (pic via MTV) more ›

THEATER: Without uttering a single line of dialogue, theater company Parallel Exit has crammed an hour of stage time with an abundance of zany physical comedy. Accompanied by live music provided by various percussion instruments, ukulele and piano, a hapless troupe of vaudevillians stumbles though “a backstage adventure filled with comic chaos and fast-paced action, incorporating music, magic, tap, and slapstick.” Everything that can go wrong does in their little variety show, and Martin Denton says “there's enough slapstick and silliness to please the small fry and enough sophistication and acumen to ensure that grown-ups are constantly diverted as well, making this a well-nigh perfect family entertainment.” – John Del Signore more ›

We remember Z100 fondly. It was our morning listen for much of elementary school, and for better or worse, has stuck to the same broadcasting formula for all this time. The annual Jingle Ball is a fun tradition, if for nothing else, as a convenient year end recap of all the biggest pop hits of the year we might have missed. Getting all these names together for one night only is no easy feat. They had your Fall Out Boys and Backstreet Boys, Alisha Keys and Avril Levine, Timbaland's bizarre soft-rock crossover protégées and many more. They all got a slot to perform their one hit wonders to the obsessed, shrieking masses. The biggest story coming out of the concert may have been the state of Ashley Tisdale's schnoz, but the music itself was a perfect storm of mainstream glitz that just seems fitting for this crazy season. (pic via Z100.com) more ›

THEATER: As Steve On Broadway notes, Chicago’s stellar Steppenwolf Theater Company, which launched the careers of Gary Sinise and Little Johnny Malkapee, is back on Broadway for the first time since 2001, when their production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest won the Tony for Best Revival. This time they’ve delivered playwright Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County, and after reading today’s rave reviews, you can count on more Tonys flying back to the Windy... more ›

EVENT: Earlier this year Holly Hunter encountered an interesting situation with an interviewer for a news station (we highly recommend watching the YouTube video of this). She discussed her tv series Saving Grace at the time, and she'll be doing the same tonight at the Paley Center (old Museum of TV and Radio). There will be a Q&A as well as a screening of one of the episodes. 6pm // The Paley Center for Media... more ›