Doc (Arthel Lane) Watson, bluegrass legend and master of the flatpicking guitar technique, died at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center on May 29, 2012. Doc had fallen earlier in the week, and was undergoing treatment; he was 89 years old.

Doc Watson had lost his vision due to an eye infection before the first grade. He lived in the Deep Gap, North Carolina region, and bought his first guitar from Sears Roebuck with money he made from cutting down chestnut trees (and selling them to a tannery). He lived through the folk revival of the 1960s, and received the National Medal of Arts from U.S. president Bill Clinton in 1987. So in other words, the guy is pretty much a legend.

His refined technique helped usher in the era of guitar as a lead instrument, for better or worse. Doc Watson's Gallagher guitar is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, TN.

view full location details...

"Back in Philly we be out in the park
A place called the plateau is where everybody goes"

view full location details...

Back when the Beastie Boys had their G-Sons Studio in Silver Lake, CA, Spike Jonze came over to check things out. Mike D, MCA, and Jonze went out to some thrift stores, a K-Mart, and this wig and beauty supply store. They bought a bunch of wigs and started to play around. By the next day they knew they were on to something...

They used the wigs (and the clothes) in the Spike Jonze-directed "Sabotage" video. For the video, they were all supposed to grow mustaches, but only Ad-Rock (the actor) ended up growing a real po-po 'stache.

At the 1994 MTV Video Awards, "Sabotage" was nominated for five different categories and lost in all of them.

view full location details...

Soul singer Patti LaBelle, rock group Korn, and pop-punk band and All Time Low had live performances that were released as DVDs recorded at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

The jam band O.A.R. recorded their live album, 34th and 8th, at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

view full location details...

Located in the Manhattan Center Studios building on West 34th Street, the Hammerstein Ballroom was originally constructed in 1906 by Oscar Hammerstein as the Manhattan Opera House. Oscar wanted to create an alternative to the more expensive Metropolitan Opera, and his plan was evidently successful (he was paid $1.2 million by the Metropolitan Opera to stop producing operas for ten years). This opened the door for vaudeville performers to use the ballroom.

From October 28-29, 2001, the Beastie Boys hosted a New Yorkers Against Violence concert. The fundraiser was created in response to the events of September 11, and the it was the first time the Beastie Boys had performed live since the Tibetan Freedom Concert of 1999. The B-Boys shared the stage with the Strokes, the B-52's, Afrika Bambaataa, Mos Def and the Roots, as well as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion over the two days. The proceeds were donated to the New York Women's Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the NY Association for New Americans.

view full location details...