Happy New Year to those who read this article seven hours late, and happy preparation for the new year to those of you reading it today. Right now most of the music world's attention is on Times Square for another night of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, featuring performances from Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line and Idina Menzel. Midtown's main tourist attraction has long been the headquarters for the American celebration of another year coming to close but this isn't the only time big name musical acts have stopped by. Here are five other musical events you may have missed in the last year as you were clawing your way toward the Bubba Gump's location for lunch.
01) The Premiere of Michael Jackson's "A Place With No Name"
Michael Jackson was one of the biggest performers in modern music history. Period. That doesn't mean a new collection released years after his death will be the commercial smash promoters had hoped. Xscape did fairly well considering the market, moving 157,000 copies during its first week despite generally disparaging critiques. MJJ Music/Epic Records figured they could still squeeze more sales out of the already sour fruit by launching the music video for second single "A Place With No Name" at Times Square, an area featuring the largest crowds of people on Earth willing to spend money on stupid things.
02) The Midnight Moment
Speaking of music videos versus actual musicians (we'll get to them soon), Times Square also played host to a less corporate display of music videos during 2014. The project involves having every electric sign at the site, and there are a lot of them, all show the same image for just a few minutes when midnight strikes. It was a rotating showcase from month to month but a few featured music videos (and not big name, Top 40 performers, interestingly enough). It started during March with Björk's video for "Mutual Core" (a song that dates back to Biophilia, although the video itself dates to 2013) and Antony and The Johnsons had the pleasure of displaying its "You Are My Sister" every night during December. Except tonight, we imagine.
03) Erykah Badu
Wait, you mean you didn't notice Erykah Badu performing in person at Times Square? Don't worry...that was kind of the point. The R&B vocalist went to the landmark one evening to demonstrate how tough it is to make it as a busker. She stood in the square and sang to the passerby and gathered a grand total of $3.60 in donations. And it's not like she was trying to fool anyone. Although the performer wasn't wearing one of her signature wraps, she did enter the area in the huge hat (which, for the record, she's been rocking way longer than Pharrell Williams has) and her jewelry probably indicated she wasn't any ol' street musician. Still, not many people stopped long enough to notice as she didn't have a sign that read "Four-time Grammy winner." Some advice however: Subway stations are the place to be if you want at least a brief moment of attention.
04) The CBGB Music & Film Festival
As you might be able to glean from the name of the film festival in question, the name it shares with one of the most legendary venues in the city's history, many of the films featured at the CBGB Music & Film Festival deal with music. One such film at this year's event was Are We Not Men?, an official documentary for iconic post-punk act Devo, who performed at Times Square accordingly. Another exciting act to make an appearance was Jane's Addiction, which was celebrating the 25th anniversary of its debut album Nothing's Shocking as part of a somewhat celebration (the album was released during 1988).
05) World AIDS Day
Promoters for World AIDS Day had to be somewhat concerned after Bono suffered serious injuries during a biking accident at Central Park. He and U2 were due to perform at Times Square as part of the event's flagship event and now the group found itself sans a vocalist. The good news is that in New York you can always find a replacement and the result was an event that was perhaps even more exciting for fans (no offense Bono...we like intriguing plot twists). Bruce Springsteen appeared to helm "Where The Streets Have No Name" and Coldplay's Chris Martin took the mic for "Beautiful Day." The event wasn't even announced until five hours before the show, and those who responded in a timely manner also got to catch performances from Carrie Underwood and Kanye West. When your parents ask you why you're always on Twitter, this is why.
