The welcome trend of artists playing their entire albums through live in concert has spread to the country world. Lucinda Williams was in town this week for five (relatively) intimate shows at Irving Plaza and Town Hall, each featuring one of her five albums. Lucinda didn't stop at just recreating her past work -- after a short intermission set by up and coming singer/songwriter Fionn Regan, she'd come back up for another set of old and new jams while joined by some friends of hers. And at that, what went from a rather sedate and straightforward show erupted into a grand ol' hoedown, with all sorts of dancing and singing and goofing around. Perhaps the highlight on the night we went was seeing 80-something year old Charlie Louvin up on stage well after midnight, not only keeping up with the party, but stopping the room in its tracks with a stunning rendition of 'When I Stop Dreaming.' What a show, what a party. more ›

TIP: Starting tomorrow Opera-For_all begins the first of three nights of performances. For cheap! The New York City Opera is selling tickets to every seat in the house for just $25. Over the course of "opera season" 50 or more seats in the front orchestra will be priced at just $25 as well. As for this week, here's the sched: more ›

MUSIC: It's been a while since we've heard from Laura Veirs (pictured). Tonight she's back with her backing band, The Saltbreakers. Opening up the show are the always enjoyable Charles Bissell (of The Wrens) and Lake. Related: Want to be a temporary 5th Wren? more ›

Last Friday The Wrens headlined a benefit show for Planned Parenthood, celebrating the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. The band played their usual Meadowlands-heavy mix of old songs, and made an announcement that it would more than likely be their final show supporting their now nearly 4 year old album. They will be working on putting together something new this summer. It's always a treat to see the Wrens live, who for our money is one of the best straight-up rock acts around these days, but even more so in an intimate club such as the Knitting Factory. Speaking of which, perhaps nudged along by the Bowery Presents recent power play to control the live music scene in NYC, The Knit gave a serious makeover to their main room, significantly upgrading their sound system and adding a fancy new array of animated stage lights for the performers. As if it wasn't already one of our favorite local venues, (um, 2 years of Movable Hype?) it now has even further separated itself from the midsize club pack by creating an environment that has the bands looking and sounding that much better than ever before. The ball is now back in Bowery's court to see if any of their many new venues will step up to match this level of quality, or will they rest on their laurels as being the go-to venue empire. We'll have to wait and see. (More pics like the one above here.) more ›

Today is officially the first day of CMJ! Starting this afternoon and going strong through the weekend, every music club in the city is going to be jam packed with hours upon hours of the hottest up and coming bands from all over the world. Seeing that we'd expect your regular Gothamist reader won't be equipped with a $500 badge, we decided to highlight some of the standout free events this week. While you will still be able to get into nearly all the night showcases by paying at the door, many of these bands will be playing for free anyway while they're in town. more ›

THEATER: Both the Fringe Festival and the wildly successful, but once Fringe-y, 24 Hour Plays are celebrating their tenth anniversaries this year, so why not do it together? Starting tonight, some of the original cast members and plays from the series that proved that a gimmick (conceive, write, rehearse and perform a play in a day) can produce fresh theatre, reunite in five totally different sets of five. - Mallory Jensen more ›

It's CMJ week in NYC. Arcade Fire, Devendra Banhart, Lady Sovereign, Feist, Nouvelle Vague, Doves, The Wrens, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cursive, !!!, Wolf Parade, The Hold Steady, Brian Jonestown Massacare... we can't even begin to list everything going on. Why should we? CMJ's listings reveal everything you need to know. Further inspection of CMJ.OhMyRockness.com lets you in on even more. The CMJ archives at BrooklynVegan will clue you in even further, and Central Village's itinerary has more than enough to keep you busy. Instead we'll focus on a few select non-CMJ shows happening during CMJ. more ›

Today is a red letter day in the emerging field of, um, digital secret keeping date-related cool free stuff. If you're a fan of Wilco, then please, read on. If you're not, either become one like a good little music fan or skip the next paragraph. more ›

Gothamist readers, summer (if you want to call it that) is almost over. The season of free, outdoor concerts--many of which were ruined due to rain--has passed. Time to go back indoors, into the clubs, for the best music in the city. The week ahead looks fairly decent. Sure beats the Olympics. more ›

Gothamist has missed far too many sold out shows to know that buying tickets ahead of time is imperative. In that vain, every other week we'll make it a point to update you with a list of shows we think may sell out. This way you can buy tickets ahead of time and avoid that last minute Craigslist surfing. more ›