Unless Ashton Kutcher is punking the media again, it appears Jay-Z and Beyoncé may be getting married after all. The Daily News is reporting a celebration is planned at the couple's NYC apartment tonight; either Jay-Z is celebrating his $150 million deal with Live Nation, or the two are finally tying the knot. While sources are mum, word is that Diddy was invited over to the apartment along with some other close friends tonight; Beyoncé's......

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.......

Irving Plaza is Officially (and Inexplicably) Rebranded On the night Lily Allen played her first post-bloghype show in New York, the ad wizards at Live Nation decided to officially rename the place The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza and drop some fake pseudo-hippie nostalgia to an already otherwise storied venue. It's an embarrassing and senseless stunt thought up by past their prime marketers in an attempt to make a consistent nationwide brand under the......

Van Halen is back, and will rock the city. At least, those are the rumors that accompany news the band is hitting the road for the first time in 20 years with original lead singer David Lee Roth. We suppose if Mick Jagger is still at it - Roth can probably still "jump" at the age of 53 (though we hope he leaves the assless chaps at home). With Genesis, Rage Against the Machine, The......

CYHSY album pre-released While Gothamist's initial reactions to the album are mostly mixed amongst the staff, one of the most discussed and intriguing points so far is the sound quality of the opening and title track, "Some Loud Thunder." Quite frankly, it sounds like it was streamed off a myspace page at 16kbps and rerecorded onto a used blank tape. This was however, 100% intentional, so they say. Some sort of digital postmodern homage to......

We interviewed co-owner of Luna Lounge Rob Sacher in 2004, and he told a little story about Elliott Smith (who wrote his album XO at the bar at Luna). The story starts out, "Before I knew who Elliott Smith was, I knew him as this very quiet guy that had discovered the bar (at Luna) and would stay there till closing or near closing most nights, writing constantly in a journal with some kind of......

With 2006 coming to a close, there's a lot to look forward to in the new year. Some expected highlights: Museums: The New Museum on Bowery will be opening. Yes, it's another oddly shaped building that will stick out amongst the old lighting and restaurant supply shops in the area, but we're all for more art downtown. This museum will be bringing more of the uptown art world, below 14th. Venues: This year we saw......

During CMJ, everything becomes a venue - from a living room to an abandoned storefront. During the rest of the year, Todd P keeps that sort of thing going on. And in the more "legit" world of venues, new ones are popping up everywhere. Maybe some clubs can't make it in the city, but others are thriving. The New York Times reports that in the next few months as many as five new spaces will......

We honestly didn’t expect to love internet sitcom The Burg as much as we do. “Making fun of hipsters…so original,” we thought. But you know what, it’s a really good show, and it “works” somehow. With music by local bands playing in the background, the show is a great snapshot of Brooklyn (even if it’s a small, hilarious, thumbnail photo). The latest episode (the third one so far) is up now and has the characters......

Yesterday was one of the first shows of the summer at McCarren Park Pool. We headed over there to check out the venue, and of course the show. We'll have a review up of Les Savy Fav later on, for now we wanted to give you a look at what the venue is like incase you didn't get over there. The venue was huge. Housing a dodgeball court, a slip and slide, a stage, an......