Celebrate Brooklyn just solidified that they have the best summer lineup for outdoor concerts this year. Their benefit shows (which mean you have to buy a ticket) include M. Ward, Sigur Ros, Dirty Projectors, and now Wilco, who just announced two nights in the park. more ›

Wilco's excellent return-to-form album, The Whole Love, is finally being released next week—but like us, you've probably already heard a stream of texture-rich album (and if not, it's streaming in its entirety on NPR). The band, who is playing Central Park tonight and tomorrow, made their way to the Late Show with David Letterman last night, and performed a 60+ minute show for web broadcast. You can watch the whole thing below (setlist after the jump), including standout takes on spiky new single "I Might," the jaunty lovelorn "Whole Love," and the two-part "Art Of Almost," which climaxes in a blistering guitar frenzy. more ›

To celebrate Labor Day weekend, Wilco will be streaming their newest album, The Whole Love, three weeks before its release date! The stream, which will be available on their website TODAY only for 24 hours starting at 1 p.m. ET, is “a reward for your labors, ours, and those of our forefathers/mothers.” Head here to Wilcoworld.com to listen now! more ›

Stephen Colbert endorsed Barack Obama earlier this week, (even though he'll still be voting for McCain) and he managed to nab one of Barack's earliest R&R endorsers to play the Report last night. Stephen chatted with Jeff Tweedy before the song, exchanging pleasantries before accusing him of being a socialist for giving away an MP3 on the his website. The band played an exclusive song, debuting "Wilco, the song" (like Joe, the Plumber) which sounded almost too good to actually be a gag song, despite inserting Colbert’s name into the lyrics. The band'll be back in town in December with Neil Young at The Garden. Watch the clip from last night here. more ›

In between campaign stops for March 4th primaries, Hillary Clinton put on a happy face about the recent Saturday Night Live skits that aired during the show's return last week, adding that "it's so nice to be a fashion icon at my age" (video here). Last night the SNL troupe was at it again with an opening skit that mirrored last week's. As Clinton (Amy Poehler) faced off with Obama (Fred Armisen), it became less clear who SNL might be supporting; their Fauxbama is pretty lifeless: more ›

Brendan Canty is the drummer for Fugazi, the rightly revered D.C. post-punk band whose page on the Dischord Records website still states "1987 - present." The group hasn’t played together or released an album since their phenomenal seventh LP, The Argument; in 2002 they embarked on what is looking increasingly like a permanent hiatus. Like his bandmates, Canty has been consumed by various other creative projects: he’s produced albums for Ted Leo and The Thermals, among others; recorded and toured with Bob Mould; composed soundtracks for film and television; directed Sunken Treasure, Jeff Tweedy's live concert documentary; and helmed an eccentric rock DVD series called Burn to Shine. Started in D.C. in 2004, each DVD is shot on a single day with a lineup of bands who each get two takes on one song in a house slated for demolition. Canty will be at The Kitchen Wednesday night to perform live soundtracks to Brent Green’s distinctive stop motion animation films; other musicians on the bill include Jim Becker (Califone) and Fred Lonberg-Holm (Wilco, Freakwater). The 8pm show is sold out; tickets for the 10pm show are still available. more ›

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! more ›

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. more ›

We never realized exactly what a force Manu Chao was live until experiencing him ourselves at Sasquatch several weeks ago. The man has the power to move people. To incite hysteria and completely dominate his entire audience. It is something any music fan should experience at least once in their life, because there is really nobody else like him performing today. Earlier this week, He did two nights at the Prospect Park Bandshell to a crowd that more resembled a soccer stadium than a rock concert. There was chanting and singing and air horns and flags, but none of that could beat back the rain, which poured down in buckets towards the end of the second night, drenching the fans and creating a lovely mess. Few would argue that after a hot night of dancing, there could have been no perfect release. Check out some more incredible pics (like the one to the left) over at Brooklyn Vegan. more ›

While we couldn't make it down this year (a bit festivaled out between SXSW and Coachella and Sasquatch so far this year), Bonnaroo kicked off last night with a couple local favorites warming up the early arrivers. The National, Langhorne Slim and Apollo Sunshine among others took the stage for the Thursday night festivities. Much much more on the way for the rest of the week, including hometowners Sam Champion, El-P and The Hold Steady. If you're stuck in NYC this weekend as well, relive our full coverage of the hippie/hipster fest from last year here, here and here. Also, stream the current fest at AT&T Blueroom. (Photo via EW's flickr.) more ›

There has been much to-do about the anti-establishment efforts of The Arcade Fire at their recent Radio City concert, urging the fans to rush and outnumber the security guards keeping the aisles clear. What was overshadowed was that this is perhaps the best live band touring right now, and they were absolutely at the top of their game this week, playing each of these shows as if it was the last they'd ever do and merely asking the fans to react with an equal enthusiasm. While the debate will continue as to whether the band should have toned their calls to riot down a smidge, or why they were even playing a sit-down theater tour in the first place, what shouldn't be lost is that these guys seem to get better and better as their popularity grows. The inevitable MSG show their next time around is sure to be quite the spectacle. more ›

will survey the panorama of “typography, graphic design and global visual culture” that has evolved since Max Miedinger unveiled the bedevilingly sleek Helvetica typeface fifty years ago. more ›

THEATER: It’s Friday night, and what better way to cut loose than an evening of interactive theater – set in plague-ravaged New York City! In All Fall Down, a savage battle rages for the dwindling supplies of the vaccine, but soon a question arises: "Is the cure worse than the disease?" Theatre Recrudescence vows to explore our “post 9/11 hysteria with elements of carnival, clowning and rock and roll.” (All Fall Down is in previews, so there are no reviews; we'll have to take them on their word that the show “includes the audience, but doesn't embarrass them.”) - John Del Signore more ›

Tonight we'll definitely be heading over to the second show of the series, which will feature Andrew Bird. They're calling it a violin recital, which is cute, but we bet he'll even whistle a little! Joining Bird will be the duo A Hawk and a Hacksaw and pianist Steven Beck. more ›

THEATER: Mime-bashing never goes out of style, but don’t you wonder what stories an off-duty mime could tell you? In “It Goes Without Saying”, actor and mime Bill Bowers takes audiences along a hilarious and heartfelt tour from his Montana childhood (“not exactly a hotbed of mime”) to the rough and tumble life of a mime on the streets of Times Square. The 75-minute tell-all, which the Times calls “zestful and endearing”, received a “rapturous response” when it premiered at the Rattlestick Theater last fall. - John Del Signore more ›

Gothamist is feeling a bit under the weather today, literally and figuratively, so we'll just get straight to it, if you don't mind: more ›

If there's one week that folks might be at a loss for things to do in the city, this is the week. You might think not a creature was stirring, but how many times do we have to tell you? This is New York. The kids are definitely nestled all snug in their beds. What to your wondering eyes should appear this week? Take a look.... more ›

What a disaster yesterday was. After prominently featuring the Cloud Cult show at Knitting Factory last week, it ends up the show was never actually happening. If you bought tickets, contact Knitting Factory and/or Ticketweb and get your money back. The good news: we wouldn't have been able to talk about Cloud Cult on Gothamist otherwise, so hopefully you discovered a great new band (still haven't listened?). 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 ›

You can buy Falling Off The Bone here at Comedy Central's shop or at Amazon, where you can hear some clips. And Gawker Stalkers say he's easy on the eyes. Todd can be seen at Fez tomorrow night (part of Stella) and at the Gotham Comedy Club on Friday and Saturday.
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If you were like Gothamist Saturday night and stayed out too late at some bar on Ave C then you also missed the Austin City Limits that aired with Wilco and Bright Eyes. You also forgot to TiVo it. Luckily, it's airing again at midnight this Friday. So stop reading and go set your DVR's now. more ›

Last night Gothamist headed down the street to Pianos for the Tinkle show. We figured it was worth our 6 bucks to hear Todd Barry makes fun of blogs. So we got right up there and sat in the front row. We laughed, we drank, we even cried a little (that dude from LA was not funny.) And a few hours later we ended up with a bottle of Donald Trump cologne (smells like money!) and a secret Wilco show. We'll let the pictures tell the story... more ›

Gothamist doesn't really like New Years Eve, it's overhyped and too expensive. So short of suggesting you just stay at home here's a little list of things you could do to ring in '05. more ›

Enough about the Pixies already. No need to mention them in this column. They're awesome, they're in town, they played on Letterman last night. Enough said. more ›

Still haven't ironed out your New Years Eve plans yet? It's okay, we think that holiday is over-rated anyway. We suggest you gather some good friends, resolve in '05 to buy tickets before they sell out and get over to one or more of the following shows: more ›

Wyld Stallions of the future, the band that brings us all together, but, alas, life is not Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and Wilco are still a (relatively) unknown band. more ›

For a change, the best shows aren't in the smallest clubs. Let's start with the larger rooms: more ›

Hani Khalil, Law Student more ›

Tonight the Knitting Factory and the Onion are having a listening party for Wilco's . Of course, you could have been downloading the album off the Internet for the last three months, and the band's website was streaming the entire album well before its release. But...if you haven't heard it or just want to show up to get a handful of flyers and a free button, the event starts at 7pm. While you're there, there will be a band called Kash playing at the Tap Bar. Kash features Kelli Scar of the band Moonraker. She has an incredible voice and is well worth checking out. more ›