new york city MUSIC

The Virgin Mobile Festival of 2009 is indeed happening but this time...it's free! Virgin Mobile USA announced yesterday that they will host their year's festival at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland on August 30th for FREE. Previous Virgin Mobile Festival ticket buyers will be given first dibs on the 35,000 free tickets and then the rest will be released to the public to snatch up. FreeFest is a generous move made by Virgin Mobile USA to give back during the touch economy and promote donations to homeless youth agencies from coast to coast as part as the RE*Generation charity by the company. Dan Schulman, CEO of Virgil Mobile USA stated, " Instead of focusing on layoffs or the state of the economy, we want to focus on concrete ways to provide assistance to those in need. People need outlets to both lend a helping hand and to escape and relax, for free, even if just for one day. We want to throw some good news in the mix" This year's acts include...

The official schedule for L Magazine's first annual Northside Festival has finally been posted! To make things even more awesome, the infamous Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, BK will be closed down for street traffic 12PM-9PM Saturday June 13th! For those of you who don't already know, Northside Festival is a four-day indie art and music festival kicking off on June 11th-14th in Williamsburg and Greenpoint Brooklyn. According to L Magazine "...it is, as we've grown accustomed to saying, a four-day celebration of the independent music and art scene that thrives here in New York City, with live music being held at nearly every venue in the area (including some that haven't even opened yet), and art events at some of the most relevant galleries in the neighborhood." Additionally, L Magazine has teamed up with the Williamsburg Gallery Association to open up the doors to some of the greatest exhibitions in the area. With rooftop BBQs, late night shows, and a SXSW...

TAKING BACK SUNDAY  RELEASES NEW SINGLE OFF FORTH-COMING ALBUM, “NEW AGAIN” This weekend, Warner Bros. Records artist,  Taking Back Sunday , is dropping a brand new single on MySpace  “Everything Must Go.” The new album, aptly titled  “New Again”  due to the new band member, hits the streets on June 2nd, 2009. The newly rejuvenated group is excited to emerge with their new guitarist Matt Fazzi on board and a fresh new sound as a result. “We kicked around a bunch of different titles, but [New Again] always remained at the top of the list, and that’s because it really does feel like a new band,” says lead vocalist,  Adam Lazzara . And when it comes to the newbie, Lazzara can’t wait for the fans to get to know Fazzi, “His drive to get out there and play for people is just where it was with our first record; it’s like that energy, it’s like we bottled it. He brings an excitement and a fearlessness to working on music that really makes us feel even more so that we can do anything and still...

The NYC Musical Saw Festival has been approved by the Guinness Book of Records, and will try to break a current word record for the "Largest Musical Saw Enemble" . The currently record comes from Poland and stands at 27 musical saw players playing together. Sawists are welcome to come and be a part of the record breaking attempt on July 18th, at the annual NYC Musical Saw Festival. The Guinness World Record attempt will begin at 2PM at Trinity Church located at the corner of 37th Street and 31st Avenue in Astoria, Queens. Admission is $10.00 and all are welcome to come check it out! For more info head over to: www.MusicalSawFestival.org Checkout the video below of last year's Musical Saw Festival in NYC

Lollapalooza (August 7-9th 2009) has finally announced this year's lineup. Some of the most surprising acts include: Tool, (newly reunited! ) Jane's Addiction, Depeche Mode, Beastie Boys, and Snoop Dogg. Some other acts I'm excited about: Animal Collective , The Decemberists , Coheed and Cambria , Santigold , and The Raveonettes . Click here for the full lineup! For those of you who prefer electronic, and dance music, you can look forward to acts like MSTRKRFT, Hercules and Love Affair, Simian Mobile Disco and Boys Noize among others spinning at Perry's. Lollapalooza is a yearly music festival in Chicago, Illinois. This year's three-day festival will take place at Grand Park. I'm kind of bummed that neither Radiohead nor Rage Against the Machine will be performing this year. Nevertheless, Lollapalooza is going to be an awesome three days of some of the best music in the industry.

Coachella 2009 music festival starts today in Indio California. For all you New Yorkers who couldn't make it over to the West Coast this year, dont fret! Several performances at the music festival can be streamed live online courtesy of AT&T here The full Coachella lineup and set times can be viewed here . Coachella is an all-ages, three-day music festival featuring artists and bands from a variety of genres ranging from indie rock to dub and folk to hip-hop. Some of this year's biggest acts include Paul McCartney, M.I.A., The Cure, The Yeah Yeah Yeah's, and Vivian Girls. Stay tuned for the Coachella 2009 wrap up of the top rated performances.