The Pool Parties have Begun! Last Sunday marked the first of many epic Sundays this summer at McCarren Pool. Despite some crazy weather all afternoon, with beautiful sunny stretches interrupted by apocalyptic monsoons, the skies stayed clear for the Hold Steady's headlining set. While there are persistent rumors about an eventual pool renovation, which would relocate these free parties, this summer will go off as planned. Upcoming shows include sets from The Breeders, MGMT, Liars,......

Pearl Jam Goes On You've gotta hand it to the Pearl Jam fans. They are REAL, and likely one of the most hardcore and dedicated fan bases in America. To many, Pearl Jam is merely the "other" Grunge band, but they're one of the most successful and influential bands of the last two decades. And despite their mopey reputation, Vedder and crew really seem quite content these days. They were really into it on stage......

The Lion's Den, which has hosted everyone from Ben Folds to jamband fan-faves Disco Biscuits since they opened in 1990 -- will be shutting their doors at the end of the year. And come January 2nd, they'll reopen...as a 345 capacity venue called Sullivan Hall. (Fear not explorers, the secret passageway to The Sullivan Room will most likely still be intact.) Why change the name? Maybe they want to leave their dank past behind,......

Texas is thawing, the Northeast is freezing, and a sort of natural order seems almost restored to the Ist-A-Verse. Almost. Londonist HQ—that is to say, the city of London—was battered by heavy winds, making it a bad time to be a twelve-meter (nearly forty-foot) tall snowman. Still, not everyone decided to keep warmly covered. Meanwhile, back indoors, the Big Brother racism is now causing all kinds of headaches for international diplomats, and Londonist got into......

- A man helping a friend (who was on crutches) across the street was hit and killed by a car - The six men who are suspected of beating a man to death in Chelsea may be connected to other robberies - Now it can piss off weekenders: Amtrak loses power again - You know how The Sopranos' Vito lost a lot of weight this past season? Well, now there's a disagreement over how......

LAist has so much fun this week! They go to E3, where they overhear the timeless remark "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid." Is that a promise? They also give us this week's best CDs and make us realize that LA is the best place to use Zillow. Ah, Houstonist. They're biking to work, that is, if they can figure out how to get there. That's right, Mapquest says "Houston had the......

- Randy put together the great diagram above showing the areas of the Greenpoint Terminal Market damaged by the fire. - City landlords are looking to raise stabilized rents by 8%, blaming fuel costs - Nice one: If you're going to have someone drive expensive art from Florida to NYC, make sure he's not an ex-con who might drive away with the van - Police are looking for a man pretending to be a......

Torontoist throws down the gauntlet and challenges all comers: pillow fight, bitch. They also stand up for a fellow blogger taking heat from the TTC and welcome city-wide WiFi. SFist can finally admit it: It's possible that Bary Bonds juiced. Is Bay Area artist (tempted to put quotes around that) Thomas Kinkaid "kinda crappy" or "explosively crappy" or does he just like marking territory? SFist wonders. Technology comes in the form of new Mac goodness......

The WSJWE has landed. People have been rumbling about it for months now. Dow Jones employees have been upset about the extra hours and extra employees it requires. The New York Times has been reorganizing itself to make way for its arrival (can't you hear the Grey Lady thinking "hmmm, why don't I move Maureen to Saturday, then they'll buy us too. And Times Select, let's do that the same weekend, that'll steal their......

Sara Dobbs, Actress/Singing Waitress...

[Photo by Couirey Eckmayer] Morning Theft, fresh off the bus from Boston in 2003, have been desribed as Pearl Jam meets Travis, Nirvana meets the Cure, the Pixies meets Radiohead...you get the point. But these guys have their own sound. And it sounds good. They're the band who has been (not so) silently brooding in the corner of the indie rock scene. They're loud. They're catchy. They're pensive mood rock. Gothamist (and pretty much......

Once upon a time, in a college town in the Pacific Northwest, four young men formed a band. They chose a name (the title of a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band song that appeared in the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour), made a few records, developed a local and regional presence, and unglamorously toured the country in that grueling, indie, young twenty-something kind of way. They worked hard and remained modest, cultivating a following and garnering......