After My Bloody Valentine’s killing at Roseland earlier this week, we’re not sure there’s much music worth seeing or that we’d even have the capacity to hear it after such a brutal sonic barrage. But no matter ... the show must go on, particularly when they are birthdays to be had.

It’s the Echo & the Bunnymen’s 30th Anniversary, folks. So how old do you feel now? We hope not too old to make it out to Radio City Music Hall for the band’s only U.S. appearance this year. On Wednesday, October 1, the Bunnymen—otherwise known as the original Coldplay—will perform the entirety of their classic 1984 album Ocean Rain in the company of a 10-piece orchestra.  read more »

The big dogs of publishing might have Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club, but the little ones have indie rock. Unclear when the flirtation became a marriage, but the benefit concert held Sunday night at Beacon Theater for 826 NYC, the McSweeney’s-sponsored reading-and-writing program for kids, seems a good indication that independent literature and independent music are happily locked in a warm, wordy bear hug.  read more »