FESTIVITIES: Forget about that big shiny show-off in Rockefeller Center. Tonight the menorah and Christmas tree in Washington Square Park will be illuminated for all. Come bask in the glow of holiday, people. 6pm // Washington Square Park [W 4th St to Waverly Pl between MacDougal and University] // Free FILM: In a week-long tribute to Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini (pictured), tonight The Film Society of Lincoln Center will be screening Notes for an......

Pitchfork-approved blog darlings Tokyo Police Club have spent the last year and change transitioning from flavor of the month boy band to reputable musicians with an enviable knack for short, hook-happy hits. On Thursday night these clever Canucks will have the chance to further extend their fan base when they perform at the “Woodie” Awards; they’re nominated for a “Breaking Woodie”. Broadcast on the 24-hour college network mtvU, the award show will feature performances by......

Maroon 5 Not Terrible Anymore, Played MSG We're sure to take a bunch of flack about this, but bear with us for a sec. Maroon 5? Not so bad. In fact, at least judging by the first two singles off their latest album, they've moved past the tasteless soccer-mom rock into a legitimately perverted cocaine-sex territory (Exhibit 1: Their amazingly over the top video for 'Wake Up Call'). And that's a good thing. Combine that......

Over the weekend The Arcade Fire played a big show on Randall's Island, far far away from the Knitting Factory and Mercury Lounge (some of the first venues they ever played here). For those who made the trip to see them, the post-show transportation made for quite the afterparty. One concert goer wrote in: "10,000 people trying to get on express buses does not work - we ended up walking the Triborough back to Queens."......

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King, and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out and......

Syd Butler plays bass for Les Savy Fav, who have been a staple in any good rock n' roller's iPod since before iPods were invented. Recently he's brought his baby on stag to share in the action, and even more recently (this past Tuesday) his band released a new album, Let's Stay Friends. Tonight they play Music Hall of Williamsburg, and tomorrow Bowery Ballroom (and in October, Randall's island with Arcade Fire). Let's get this......

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: Thursday, September 6the OPERA FOR ALL Concert, with party to follow (this will showcase the......

LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA......

A couple of years ago, Bryan Devendorf (drummer for The National) documented the band's trip to SXSW for us. We enjoyed it so much, we asked him to do it again! This time he documented their recent shows with Arcade Fire right here in New York, and even addresses those security guards at Radio City. Related: NYT's article "Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog" Fake Empire.mp3 (from The National's upcoming release, Boxer.) I wake to......

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! Chicagoist had an interview with Audrey Niffenegger, whose popular book, The Time Traveler's Wife, was based in their fine city. They also had a heated discussion about Rush Limbaugh's controversial Barack Obama parody, talked about whether Uncle Julio's Hacienda is a good place to get......

Arcade Fire vs. The Venues They Choose To Play 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......

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......

READINGS: Papermag points out an interesting reading tonight for "Queens of the Kingdom: The Ultimate Gay and Lesbian Guide to the Disney Theme Parks." Authors Jeffrey Epstein and Eddie Shapiro explain how to have a gay ol’ time in Disney World. Their guide (now in its second edition) features “fairy facts,” culinary suggestions and where to find the “gay goodies” like Ellen Degeneres’s Ellen's Energy Adventure ride. Tonight’s reading is hosted by Michael Musto and......

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......

READING: FreeNYC points us to a reading at B&N; featuring Gong Show guru and possible CIA assassin, Chuck Barris: "In addition to bringing the world the Newlywed Game, the Gong Show and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Chuck Barris has now turned his attention to the phenomenon of reality TV in The Big Question, a dystopian view of what television will become in the near future.Come meet Barris and have your copy of his latest......

Are Robert DeNiro and David Bowie battling it out in a sort of festival turf war? Though both turned up at the Vanity Fair party thrown in honor of New York's Tribeca Film Festival - it seems there's some animosity in the air...or at least in the press. Bowie's High Line Festival begins on May 9th, just three days after DeNiro's Tribeca Film Festival ends. NY Mag describes the difference between the two: "The former......

Tonight Joshua Bell will be awarded the Avery Fisher Prize, given once every few years to classical instrumentalists for outstanding achievement, at Lincoln Center. Not long ago, however, one of the best classical musicians in the world...performed as a street musician. Every day we see them in the subways, street corners, and other nooks and crannies of the city. Not long ago, Arcade Fire was seen busking in Union Square! Do people really notice the......

Black Lips Trash Bowery One of the nice things about being a music fan in New York City is that you rarely have to wait very long to see a band you're recently missed. The Black Lips famously played about 6,000 shows at SXSW this year, yet despite our interest in checking them out, we managed to catch them exactly zero times (with our final chance being cut short by that whole collapsing balcony thing.)......

The much anticipated, David Bowie-curated High Line Festival has finally announced a lineup. Upon the announcement of the festival last year, David Bowie said, "I've been particularly excited about seeking out emerging artists and giving them a place in a festival that will also feature some very well-known names." In that vein, we thought there would be some lesser known bands (Todd P-style), and are surprised with the abundance of (very obvious) bigger names: Arcade......

THEATER: There’s a growing cultural phenomenon in Japan called hikikomori, in which young people (as many as 1 million) withdraw into their rooms and refuse any contact with the outside world, sometimes for years. (In America, it’s called adolescence.) The Attic, by acclaimed Japanese playwright Yoji Sakate, is about “a mysterious company that sells tiny ‘attics’ over the internet to people who want to withdraw from society. One man embarks on a quest to find......

ART FAIR: The Fountain New York Independent Art Fair aims "to reflect the avant-garde in-your-face attitude of the Dada movement." Located a few blocks of the Armory show, it presents a ton of young Brooklyn based galleries. So go check out the works they have to showcase. 11am to 7pm, through the 26th // 660 12th Ave // Free THEATER: Tearing your hair out over lousy subway service, Williamsburg’s trust-fund hipsters, or the frequency of......

Last night Rainn Wilson (aka Dwight Schrute) hosted SNL with Arcade Fire as the musical guest (if there was ever a night to wait in line for tickets...). The two converged in the Digital Short, which took place in...an office - one of the (few) funny sketches of the night. During the first song, "Intervention", Win Butler strummed a guitar that donned a Haitian proverb written in tape. It said: "Sak vid pa kanpe", which......

Pela Rocks the Merc, V-Mars Last Friday night, after snagging a standby ticket to the Arcade Fire proved impossible, the second best place to be was at the Mercury Lounge for the sold out headlining set by one of the most promising local bands we've got in this here town, Pela. We got in right before the band started up and are pleased to say that they continue to live up to every expectation......

In a recent NY Times article, Ben Sisario noted that, "In less than one square mile in Midtown, four weekday shows are taped in the afternoon: “Late Show With David Letterman,” “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report.” And “Saturday Night Live” broadcasts 20 new episodes each season." And they're all free, if you don't mind waiting in line. Possibly the most coveted of tickets is to......

The week of Arcade Fire shows at Judson Memorial Church is over, and mostly everyone who didn't have a ticket and showed up at the venue that night, got in. If you missed it, there's plenty of documentation on YouTube to entertain you until they come back in May. The above clip is of the band opening up the last night of the run in the audience (something they ended with on most other......

VALENTINE PICK: Let Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio) and Scary Mansion serenade you and your valentine tonight. Glasslands is advertising the night as a Valentine's Dinner. The venue was opened last year by artist Brooke Baxter and commercial real estate broker Rolyn Hu, who have created the perfect art-centric space/venue. 7pm // Glasslands [289 Kent Ave, Brooklyn] // Price TBD ANTI-VALENTINE PICK: It's not Valentine's Day without an "down with love"-esque sort of party.......

Early on in Arcade Fire’s set at Judson Church, someone in the crowd shouted out, “Why a church?” The room was intimate enough for perplexed front man Win Butler to hear it and respond with his own question: “Why would you even ask that? Why not?” They say there are no stupid questions, but, well, the band’s new album is called Neon Bible and features, on many tracks, church organ layered in with lyrics (available......

It is upon us, five whole nights of Arcade Fire. If you weren't one of the lucky ones to get tickets to Judson Memorial Church (we hear capacity is only around 300), you'll be happy to hear the band will be back for three nights in May. Most definitely at a bigger venue (we've been calling United Palace Theater for a while now - though nothing is confirmed as of yet). If you did get......

DISCUSSION: What is the future of alternative journalism? Find out tonight as experts Elizabeth Spiers, Jeff Koyen, Bob Cox and Roxanne Cooper tell you all about what they foresee. If you don't know who those people are, then you probably don't care about the future of alt media anyway. 6:30pm // New York City Center Studios [130 W 56th St] // $7 THEATER: In the Heights is a breezy new musical about the Latino experience......

February is just around the corner, which means a work week of Arcade Fire shows is coming up. The band played two "secret" shows in Montreal over the past week, and thanks to YouTube, we all get a sneak peak of what we might see at the church. Check out that neon bible on stage! Their new LP, Neon Bible, comes out this March. The question is, will they play a secret New York show......