Results tagged “radiocitymusichall”

If you haven't yet seen Andrew Bird live, then you've got a pretty easy decision to make regarding your Thursday night plans: He'll be performing at Radio City Music Hall with his stellar three-piece band, and tickets are still on sale! Of course, if you've already had the Andrew Bird live experience, there's no deciding necessary: to see him once is to be blown away and left wanting more, so you've already got tickets burning a hole in your pocket. We've pretty much exhausted all our superlatives when it comes to Bird, whose voice, violin, guitar, glockenspiel, and virtuoso whistling combine—often simultaneously—to create a sublime, almost unclassifiable pop-Americana soundscape. His most recent album, Noble Beast, is just further proof that Bird's compositional gifts are an embarrassment of riches; but the only proof you'll need, should you remain unconvinced, will be presented in its entirety Thursday night at Radio City, Q.E.D.

Saturday night Radio City Music Hall housed a lot of big names for a benefit concert for the David Lynch Foundation (which "provides funds to teach students how to meditate so they can change their world from within"). Lynch hosted the show, and although the evening was billed as Paul McCartney & Friends, USA Today reports that the Beatle didn't show up until three hours into the affair. Once he did, however, he played a lengthy set (watch "Can't Buy Me Love" below).

Following the release of Red Hot's Dark Was the Night double-disk compilation, word has arrived that a live show will now take place commemorating it. Hosted at Radio City Music Hall on May 3rd, participating musicians will include Dave Sitek, Dirty Projectors, Feist, My Brightest Diamond, The National, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings plus many more. Heads up: tickets go on sale this Friday. Meanwhile, filmmaker Vincent Moon (the man behind the lens of all those gorgeous Take Away Shows), recently stopped by a loft in Williamsburg to film The National, Dirty Projectors and Yeasayer each performing their songs from the compilation. The first one being released is the National, which you can watch below (look for the others later this week on Pitchfork, which the performance was filmed for):

Is this even surprising? The Daily News reports that the April 4th reunion of surviving Beatles Paul and Ringo sold out in record time, and now organizers are apologizing to angry fans who can only find tickets through scalpers for inflated prices (up to $9,000!). The performance is part of a benefit for the David Lynch Foundation, and the director of the organization told fans, "We were alarmed [to see] that tickets were listed on the scalping sites days before they went on sale." The 1200 remaining tickets (after a fan club pre-sale) were available through Ticketmaster starting Monday at 11 a.m., and allegedly sold out in nine seconds (the Vegas show sold out in 7). Tickets can now be found on eBay and Craigslist, as well as the aforementioned scalper sites.

The remaining Beatles will be regrouping for one night only this spring to headline a benefit concert in NYC. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will take their two-man act to Radio City Music Hall on April 4th in the name of the David Lynch (yes, that one) Foundation, which "provides funds to teach students how to meditate so they can change their world from within." Rolling Stone points out this is right up their alley, or at least it would have been decades ago when the Fab Four traveled to India to visit with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Discussing the benefit, McCartney touched on his meditation practices, saying “In moments of madness, it has helped me find moments of serenity." Joining them in the transcendentalfest are Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Moby and many more (including appearances by Russell Simmons and Laura Dern). Tickets on sale starting March 9th.

On February 27th and 28th, David Byrne (avid cyclist, friend of Gothamist) took to the Radio City Music Hall stage, but it looks like not everyone was dazzled by the performance (which included an amazing dance with tutus). Did Byrne get burned by the NY Times? The musician points out on his own blog that "the reviewer, Jon Pareles, loves the Bush Of Ghosts album and has some kind of nostalgia for those days. We all know music snobs who like to remind everyone that they heard so and so back when they were really good. This, however, is the same reviewer who leveled charges of 'cultural imperialism' against Bush Of Ghosts in his Rolling Stone review back in the early 80’s." Apparently Pareles doesn't like gimmicks (really?), but maybe he needs to loosen up—this looks like fun!:

     

This morning the Radio City Rockettes kicked off their Christmas Spectacular at the Empire State Building. The four who did the honors (Brittany Marcin, Nikki Williams, Kimmi Louwsma and Laura Danielski) were all on hand to turn the building green, white and red in celebration of their holiday show's opening night. (This also ended the four-night political run the ESB has had.) Can you believe it's already time to get the sexy Santa outfits out of storage?

Jack Moelmann, the retired Air Force colonel and organ enthusiast, soaked up his $118,182.44 spotlight at Radio City Music Hall over the weekend. The NY Times reports on his performance, which took place Saturday after Moelmann laid down some serious cash to make it happen. The Times reports on his time behind the famous Wurlitzer organ, saying "His hands and feet were a blur at the console of an instrument with 4,000 pipes, the longest the length of a small sailboat, the shortest the size of a No. 2 pencil that had been back to the sharpener once too often." In the end, with the show not being close to sold out ("the orchestra level was about a third full"), he lost money...but he fulfilled his dream, and he got a standing ovation at Radio City Music Hall.

Jack Moelmann is making a name for himself, at least for one night at Radio City Music Hall. 1010Wins says the 67-year-old retired Air Force colonel has always wanted to play the Wurlitzer organ at the venue, which was installed in 1932. On his website he says, "I believe the stage is the largest in the world being some 144 feet wide (a city block)...there are two identical consoles which make up the organ, one on either side of the stage literally a city block apart both of which control the same organ components."

Are Americans misogynistic? Elton John thinks so, and he thinks it may be hurting his friend Hillary's shot at the Oval Office. He addressed the problem to over 5,000 Clinton supporters at Radio City Musical Hall last night, saying, “I’ve always been a Hillary supporter. There is no-one more qualified to lead America. I’m amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some of the people in this country. And I say to hell with them... I love you Hillary. I’ll be there for you.”

Another Will Ferrell sports flick will inflate this weekend, capping off a nationwide “Funny or Die” promotional tour that brought him to Radio City Music Hall Sunday night. The movie is Semi-Pro, which stars Ferrell as Jackie Moon, owner of the 1976 Flint Michigan Tropics, a team in the maverick ABA basketball league. To keep his career alive against all odds, Moon initiates off a series of increasingly desperate publicity stunts to attract fans – behavior that does sound awfully familiar.

Maybe you've received a flier to see a show at Radio City Music Hall called Chinese New Year Splendor, which is promoted as a holiday celebration of China’s diverse cultural riches. But mixed within the traditional Mongolian dancing, orchestral music and Buddhist parables are dramatizations of the Chinese government’s oppression of Falun Gong, a qigong-based spiritual practice that is banned in China. And the show’s political content is prompting audiences to walk out by the hundreds.

The tree is lit, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular is another tradition back for a 75th season. The well-seasoned Rockettes steal the show from Santa every year, and have quite a history -- they were originally called The Roxyettes and originated in...Missouri:The group was started by Russell Markert in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri as the "Missouri Rockets". In 1927, Samuel Roxy Rothafel discovered them and brought them to New York City. They...

MOVIE: The Brooklyn Independent Cinemas series (which takes place the first and third Monday of every month) delivers two shorts tonight. First up is Nevel is the Devil, where "a supervisor at a consumer product testing lab interrogates two suspects of a devilish prank." The second is The Last Romantic, which follows Calvin Wizzig, a poet, around New York in hopes of getting published. Watch the trailer here. 7pm // Barbes [376 9th St, Park...

1) Features about the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, in anticipation of this year's Radio City Christmas Spectacular. The NY Times looks how performances from the 1930s and 1940s inspired this year's show while Newsday notes on the technology being used. Both focus on the amazing synchronized dancing. 2) Starbucks has decorated its stores with Christmas decorations and has started to use Christmas/holiday themed cups. Cajun Boy in the City also counts Josh Grobin...

What better way to brighten up a Monday morning than with Björk tickets? The Icelandic singer is back, and playing Madison Square Garden on September 24th. Tickets are on sale here, but we have two pairs to give away!

Blender has a list of 100 Days That Changed Music, and not surprisingly a good amount of them took place in New York. Here are a few, see any missing?

The nicer the weather gets, the busier we get across the Ist-A-Verse. But we like being busy. Here's a peek at what we've been up to since last week!

Last night Arcade Fire and The National played their third New York show of the week, and the first show of the inaugural High Line Festival (which kicked off at Radio City Music Hall). David Bowie, co-founder and curator of the festival and Arcade Fire's #1 fan, was in attendance but didn't perform with the band as expected. He also didn't announce the kick off to the festival - nor does he seem to know what the High Line actually is. Ah, rock stars.

As we get closer to the kick-off of the much anticipated High Line Festival, let's take a closer look at what's to come, and at the man who co-founded and curated the whole thing, David Bowie. The eleven days of music, film, art and comedy starts Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall. Who else to play the first event at the inaugural festival than Bowie-beloved Arcade Fire? Pair 'em up with Brooklyn's The National and you've got a lineup that already beats most out there.

The NFL Draft starts at noon today and the local teams will have to wait a long time to pick. With the Giants at 20 and the Jets at 25, we probably won’t see a local team pick until well after 4pm. The time may benefit both clubs, because each has very distinct needs they need to fill today and tomorrow.

• Who could forget the bloody sock of Curt Schilling during game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series? Certainly not Red Sox fans and maybe not Yankee fans. To refresh - Schilling had ankle surgery after game 1 of the ALCS to stabilize a tendon in his right ankle. He returned in game 6, winning that game. Boston won the series and went on to win its first World Series in 86 years. On Wednesday, during a Red Sox-Orioles game, Gary Thorne, a former broadcaster for the Mets who currently works for the Baltimore Orioles, said Doug Mirabelli told him the bloody sock was actually a ruse. Thorne said, "It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR." Mirabelli denies ever talking to Thorne and Schilling also denies that the blood was fake. From Schilling's blog: "It was blood. You can choose to believe whatever you need to, but facts are facts. The 25 guys that were in that locker room, the coaches, they all know it. In the end nothing else really matters. The people that need to believe otherwise are people with their own insecurities and issues." Schilling is even willing to bet $1 million with anyone (proceeds going to charity) that the blood on the sock hanging in the Hall of Fame is real (the original sock was laundered or is missing). So...how many "blood"-covered socks will there be at Yankee Stadium tonight when the Red Sox are in town?
• First, the NFL Draft moves from The Garden after 10 years and now the Draft may move out of New York City for good. The move from The Garden in 2005 was because of a dispute with Cablevision, owners of The Garden, who sued to stop a new stadium for the Jets on the West Side. After a year in Jacob Javits, the Draft is now in its 2nd year at Radio City Music Hall, ironically a Cablevision owned property. After next year, however, the NFL may change cities entirely. Cities that have approached the league to host the draft include: San Diego, Chicago, Cleveland and Canton. How exciting! Last time we checked, New York City has one thing those other cities can't offer - an insanely high concentration of media outlets. Sure, ESPN would travel anywhere to cover the 2-day event, but last we checked, the national morning shows based in New York have a greater reach than WEWS Cleveland.

The much anticipated, David Bowie-curated High Line Festival has finally announced a lineup.

Taking time out of his usual schedule running NYC and counting his money, Mayor Bloomberg appeared on MTV in (a taped segment) to hype the MTV Video Music Awards, which are back in NYC this year. Yup, that's why it's messy around Radio City Music Hall and that's why all these celebrities and "celebrities" (LC from The Hills, we're talking to you) are in town. Famous New Yorkers are asked who they think will win the Video of the Year Award - Pat Kiernan of NY1, Wendy Williams, the Naked Cowboy, Donald Trump. As Newsday points out, the Mayor was flanked by the "several young members of his staff" (like Ed Skyler?) and threw his support behind Shakira in a faux-deliberation in front of a computer:

"As mayor of New York, this really is a tough one. I could go with Christina; she was born in New York... I could go with Madonna; she made it big here in New York... I think I'm going to have to go with Shakira. Those hips don't lie."

Jay-Z performed a rehearsal show on Saturday night at Nokia Theater, prior to his Sunday night Radio City Music Hall Show (which sounds like it was amazing). Both celebrating the 10th anniversary of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt. There were plenty of cameras in the audience, apparently most being used to videotape parts of the show (likely because any sort of flash would have reflected off a Jay Z's sequined shirt).

Beware if you're walking anywhere near Radio City Music Hall Saturday, because the streets are crowded with excited NFL fans awaiting the 2006 Draft. And the drama for tomorrow morning: The Houston Texans are not going to pick Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush as the number 1 pick, opting to sign defensive end Mario Williams instead. It's all about the combine! Which has now set a frenzy for the number 2 selection slot - and the NY Jets, who have the number 4 pick, are in the hunt to move up and sign Bush. Of course, the team that does have the number 2 pick, the New Orleans Saints, say they are happy to sign Bush: In other words, if any other team wants him, they'll have to pay up. The pros of signing Bush for the Jets: Curtis Martin is getting old and has a year or so left of playing; also, Bush is an exceptional talent. The cons: Giving up additional pick(s), when they need them - the Jets need to fill holes on both sides of the line.

The annual right of passage that is the NFL Draft takes place tomorrow at noon in historic Radio City Music Hall. Fans can get a jump on the draft today at noon at the Winter Garden, or you can try and get tickets for the actual event tomorrow.

After 15 days of striking against Radio City Music Hall, Radio City and the American Federation of Musicians reached an agreement that will bring the live music back to the Music Hall tonight. Mayor Bloomberg's negotiator, Frank Macchiarola, helped the two sides reach an agreement that affected the first two weeks of the Christmas Spectacular. Alas, there will be ladies kicking to live music for all to see this holiday season! We're not sure if the giant inflatable rat has been at Radio City for the whole strike, but no more! Wanna know a dirty little Gothamist secret? We've actually never seen the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. Are we missing anything?

show up to play, with or without a contract, only for the management to turn them away. It's clearly a game of one upsmanship in the eyes of the media, who can resist the synchronized loveliness of the Rockettes. Musicians are trying to get a raise (they make $133 per show, with overtime if they perform more than two shows; there may be six shows a day) while management says they get what amounts to benefits and pay for a year while only working 10 weeks of a year. We expect the Mayor to arbitrate on Election Day Eve morning, for an extra bump in the polls.