As a publicist, I’m constantly inviting writers to concerts, so it’s a nice change when situations are reversed and a writer invites me to a show, and it’s even better when the writer is Time Out NY’s Jay Ruttenberg and the show includes a set from one of my favorite bands, The Fiery Furnaces.

When he’s not busy writing for TONY, Jay edits the fantastic Lowbrow Reader, and last night’s event (officially called The Lowbrow Reader Variety Hour and held at the amazingly altruistic Housing Works Bookstore) celebrating the new issue.

The night started off with banjo antics from Peter Stampfel and the Ether Frolic Mob, followed by an amazing reading from Gilbert Rogin, and music from Larkin Grimm. I loved comedian John Mulaney’s set (wish I could find a YouTube clip of his routine on ‘Law & Order,’ which cracks me up), but the Furnaces were the real highlight of the evening.

I was sitting about four feet from the stage and snapped this picture as Jay was introducing Eleanor and Matthew.

Seeing the Friedberger kids play with just Matthew’s acoustic guitar was amazing, and so wildly intimate. It felt like a family reunion almost, but the only people who were actually related were the performers themselves. Their set focused mostly on material from their new album ‘I’m Going Away,’ which all sounded great (especially “Cut the Cake”), but they also played one of my old favorites “Teach Me Sweetheart” from ‘Bitter Tea.’

Here’s hoping there’s another Variety Hour in the works!

One of my favorite parts of ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch‘ – Stephen Trask’s brilliant gender-bending rock musical, starring/directed by John Cameron Mitchell – is the sing-along during “Wig In a Box”: the words come up on screen, and you can’t help but oblige Hedwig and belt out along with her, “I put on some makeup/turn up the eight-track/I’m pulling the wig down from the shelf.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kySwhkpY4I]

I saw ‘Hedwig’ again on Saturday night at the 92Y Tribeca, where they hosted a sing-along screening of the film much to my delight. “The Origin of Love” and “Wicked Little Town” sound even better with a theater full of folks singing along with you, and the heartbreaking saga of Tommy Gnosis and Hedwig is all the more, well, heartbreaking (and heartwarming).

The screening was part of a series at 92Y Tribeca, which will host regular sing-alongs of your favorite movie musicals roughly once a month (sorry kids, ‘Labyrinth’ and ‘Purple Rain’ have already happened). Next up: ‘The Little Mermaid’ on July 18. Buy your tickets now and start learning the words to “Under The Sea.” I’ll see you there.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBb4cjjj1gI]

I know this might be old news (heehee) to some of you, but since I first watched this about a week ago (thanks Bob Boilen), I can’t stop singing it, and I feel compelled to share it with as many people as possible. While I love the angry gorilla (Donkey Kong is in his crew!), the best part is Katie Couric.

Ira Glass and Mike Birbiglia

Last night I attended the This American Life live taping at NYU, which was “beamed via satellite” to movie theaters across the country. I listen to TAL religiously, so seeing regular contributors Starlee Kine, Mike Birbiglia and Dan Savage (of Savage Love fame) in person was a true thrill. Oh, and Joss Whedon was there, too, singing – yes, singing – some of the DVD commentary for his fantastic Internet musical ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.’ Each act made me laugh hysterically, and I cried like a baby during Dan Savage’s devastatingly touching story about his mother.
If you’re a fan of This American Life, or if you’re a fan of having a good time, I highly recommend going to the encore presentation on May 7 at a theater near you.

And if you missed Ira Glass on the Colbert Report on Wednesday, check it out here:

Last Friday, I saw Of Montreal play the third and final show of their stint at Music Hall of Williamsburg and I’m still recovering. (As you may recall, they’re on of my favorite bands ever.) I may be prone to hyperbole, sure, but this was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen, thanks in no small part to opener Janelle Monae.

Janelle has worked with Outkast, which isn’t surprising- she kind of sounds like a female Andre 3000 and has equally impeccable style. On stage, she dances like she’s possessed by James Brown, too. She rocked. She also painted onstage (generously giving the still-wet piece to an audience member), which was an unexpected oddity that worked surprisingly well (I mean, she was opening for Of Montreal, so that was pretty tame compared to the shenanigans they pull during shows).

Anyway, the pictures I took of Janelle don’t really do her justice, so this is from Brooklyn Vegan:

And then it was time for Of Montreal. I think I snapped this shot during their first song while performers presented a bizarre Christmas morning scene. The whole set was a top notch, A+ concert experience, but it was a dream come true to hear them play “Requiem for OMM” during the encore.

Better still, though, was when they brought Janelle back out to sing David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream”. I don’t have any pictures of that, sadly. I was too busy singing myself hoarse.

After seeing Shemekia Copeland’s killer performance on David Letterman a few weeks ago, I knew she could put on a fantastic live show, and her set last Thursday at the Highline Ballroom definitely didn’t disappoint. I loved “Born a Penny” and “Broken World” from her new album ‘Never Going Back,’ and Shore Fire’s Diana D’Angelo and I got to snap a quick photo with Shemekia after her set.

Shemekia also got the chance to say hi to Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson of The Roots, who were gearing up for a show right after hers.

I love Of Montreal. I also love interior decorating and the new trend of wall decals (I have these ones up in my apartment). So when I saw the awesome pictures on Pitchfork today of the special edition wall decals that come with the new Of Montreal album ‘Skeletal Lamping,’ I cried a little. From happiness.

Nice styling with the Eames chair, too. The special ‘Skeletal Lamping’ CD package deal comes with the album, the lantern, 9 buttons, a tee shirt, a tote bag, wall decals, stickers, downloads galore and more.

Mmm, so best. I’m super excited for their concert at Roseland on October 10. Who else is going?

‘August: Osage County’ is fantastic. I saw it last night and was absolutely amazed. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that a Pulitzer Prize-winning play was actually good (outstanding, actually), but I was a little intimidated by the 3.5 hour running time at first. Last time I saw a play that long it was ‘Hamlet,’ and, well, that doesn’t really have a whole lot of laughs in it.

Not that ‘August: Osage County’ is a comedy – it is often hilarious though. All I’ll really say about the plot is that it’s about a family with two problematic parents and three daughters. That’s totally an oversimplification, obviously, but since I have two sisters, I love watching that dynamic on stage and screen (see also: ‘Playing By Heart,’ a totally underrated movie, and ‘King Lear’).

Anyway, go see this play. It’s really great.