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......

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......

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......

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 –......

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 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! Last time she was in town she played Radio City Music Hall, the United Palace Theater and the Apollo Theater - so the MSG show may seem a bit impersonal compared to those. However, her voice,......

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? 99. December 11, 1965: The Velvet Underground play their first show, which was actually at a high school dance in Summit, New Jersey. The following year however, the Velvets became the house band at Warhol's Factory. 96. December 14, 1977: "Saturday Night Fever debuts in......

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......

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......

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......

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. The Jets have to find a defensive tackle who can fit into their......

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......

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......

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......

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). The above clip......

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......

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. For the Jets, the draft presents a quandary. Chad Pennington has hurt his shoulder twice and Patrick Ramsey does not strike fear in the hearts of defenses.......

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 Radio City Music Hall Rockettes performed to pre-recorded music as the labor dispute between the orchestra musicians' union and Radio City Music Hall management continued. Now, this is the confusing thing to Gothamist: Early stories we'd read said the musicians would actually strike and have a picket line, but it seems that musicians did show up to play, with or without a contract, only for the management to turn them away. It's clearly a......

The big cat isn't backing down! But neither is the rat, as the musicians' union at Radio City Hall decided to go on strike the night before the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. Last night's preview performance had to be cancelled, incurring the wrath of tourists who traveled to see it; Radio City Music Hall is offering to exchange the tickets for other performances. And what's more, the union claims that the Rockettes will......

- Kick this: The Rockettes are going on strike, the night before The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular begins! How's that for bargaining? - The fire at the West 15th Street parking garage caused a lot of damage - hope those car owners paid their insurance; the above photograph is from Bucky Turco whose Animal magazine offices overlook West 15th - Gridskipper gets some answers about the Blood Manor ticket mess - The......

An alert reader contributed this great this great Flickr shot of the cat on top of Radio City. Well, honestly, Gothamist thought this was a strange new breed of rat, different from the standard grey-on-its-hindlegs rat we see on the street. But then we read a Post story that explained it: It seems that Radio City Music Hall has put this cat on the marquee to counter the orchestra's union rat aross the street......

The Metro section today has a nice look at the soon-to-be-repopened Loews Paradise Theater in the Bronx. After years of neglect and mixed uses, the 79-year-old theater, "once the Bronx equivalent of Radio City Music Hall," has recently undergone a two-year multi-million dollar renovation. The gold gilding and murals have been retouched, the gargoyles, cherubs, lions and other statues have been cleaned, the sky-blue ceilings (with twinkling stars) have been repainted as thousands of......

We don't know where to begin with show recommendations this week. Emily Haines is in town with her band Metric for shows at Bowery Ballroom and Southpaw. Today Pitchfork declared the new Broken Social Scene album, on which she appears, "best new music." Broken Social Scene's new label-mates, The Most Serene Republic, are opening both shows. Then there's the Decemberists. Back in town once again, they're also playing two shows - Webster Hall tonight......

There are some important shows this week. It's your last chance ever to see Q and not U (@ Knitting Factory). Brian Jonestown Massacre (whose gear was stolen the other day) are at the very small Pianos. Steve Winwood is at the very small Bowery Ballroom. Yesterday Bon Jovi rocked the very small Nokia Theater. These shows all matter, but they're not the focus of this week's post . Instead, let's concentrate this week on......

Mayor Bloomberg lambasted the state's PACB decision to reject a plan to finance the West Side Stadium, telling New Yorkers, "We have let down America." Yes, Mayor Bloomberg was swimming in hyperbole, saying:"We've lost a little bit of our spirit to go ahead and our can-do attitude. If you adopt this kind of policy, we never would have built Carnegie Hall, we never would have built Radio City Music Hall, we never would have built......

Do you truly appreciate this city? Where else in the world does a random Monday in April present the option of Sonic Youth, the Eagles, Devotchka, The Locust, Blues Explosion, M. Ward, and the Kills? Is there anywhere 'hip'per than NYC? This week, Widespread Panic will have the hippies dancin' in the streets before sittin' in their seats at Radio City Music Hall. Those unable to score a miracle should keep on truckin' to the......