Dressed to Kilt

Andie MacDowell, Mike Myers, Kellie Pickler, Bernie Williams, Marcus Schenkenberg and Damian Woody were among the boldface names wearing tartan colors at M2 Lounge this evening, at the seventh annual Dressed to Kilt fashion extravaganza, held to benefit Wounded Warriors and Paralyzed Veterans of America. The show, which was attended by very special guests Sir Sean and Lady Connery (a.k.a. 007 and the Missus), dispensed with all of the usual poutiness that one typically sees on fashion runways and embraced glee instead, with celebrity models dancing, cartwheeling and even fiddle playing on stage. Designers from Vivienne Westwood to Comme des Garcons offered modern takes on traditional Scottish garb. New York Insider's video team was there covering the glamorous event and didn't miss a moment of the action. To receive an e-mail notification when the video episode is posted, click here.

The Past is So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

A celebrity wearing sunglasses indoors is usually trying to hide something....too many late nights out in a row, a black eye, bad Botox....but last evening, on the Lower East Side, celebrities were to be forgiven for donning dark glasses. In fact, they were encouraged to do so. Carrera, the company synonymous with big gaudy sunglasses that are all over vintage 1980s movies (as well as the faces of Gwen Stefani, Paris Hilton and Daniel Craig) took the wraps off its vintage collection at a party at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, a one-time temple turned shrine of all things cool and hip. Among the big names to pop in to see the collection—and to check out a special performance by 1980s punk icon Deborah Harry—included Taylor Momsen of Gossip Girl and actor Danny Aiello. Other attendees included model Jamie Burke, singer Dani D, rapper Lil Mama and fashion designer Patricia Field.

To see more photos—just make sure you put on your sunglasses first—click here.

The Lads from Dublin Hit Fordham

Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen, Jr., and Adam Clayton capped their week of performances on David Letterman with a surprise Friday appearance today on the campus of Fordham University, in the Bronx. News of the visit was so highly guarded that not even the school's newspaper, The Ram, was able to confirm the appearance before its press time. The early a.m. concert, aired on ABC's Good Morning America, took place on the steps of Keating Hall, a hallowed place on campus known as the Terrace of the Presidents. Performing from their just-released album, No Line on the Horizon, the rock world's most enduring and relevant band performed tracks "Magnificent," "Crazy Tonight" and lead single "Get on Your Boots," in addition to perennial crowd-pleasers "Vertigo" and "Beautiful Day." "It’s great to be here in the Bronx among our peers," yelled The Edge to the receptive crowd. "We may not be the same age, but we’re the same age group." To which one Jesuit-educated undergraduate yelled back: "What age group is that? Eighteen to fifty?" Fortunately, his clever comment was never heard by the Irishmen, lost as it was in a sea of cheering.

Sting and Co. Get Creative

The Creative Coalition brought together a constellation of stars for its inaugural ball last night, including the still-gorgeous Dana Delany (can she possibly be 52?), her fellow Desperate Housewives alumna Alfre Woodard, Anne Hathaway, Susan Sarandon, Tim Daly, Marisa Tomei, Tony Goldwyn and Heather Graham. This crew of Hollywood élite each took the stage to offer a line or two of inspirational poetry and after having earned their keep, were treated (along with ticket holders who paid up to $10,000 per couple) to a concert featuring Sam Moore, Sting and Elvis Costello. Moore (the onetime member of the duo Sam and Dave, famed for the hit song "Soul Man") has apparently buried the hatchet with Barack Obama, whose campaign he sent a cease and desist letter last year for using his music without permission. Costello didn't exactly bring the house down, but Moore has still got it and Sting, his vocal chords well-rested after the close of his reunion tour with the Police, sounded better than he has in quite some time. He even convinced Moore to join him on a duet of Every Breath You Take. The night came to a stirring close as Moore and a backup singer performed a spine-tingling version of "Amazing Grace." Only a wretch would have left the amphitheatre with a dry eye.

For more photos, click here.

Hillary: Halfway There, Livin' on a Prayer?

Soon-to-be Secretary of State Hilary Clinton hopes to see a substantial chunk of her debt erased at a fund-raiser at Town Hall Theater tonight, where Bon Jovi frontman Jon Bon Jovi (seen here in an encounter that clearly never happened) will perform an accoustic set, The concert, called "Thank you, Hillary: A Salute to Hillary Clinton" is being held with the goal of whittling down the former First Lady's remaining campaign debts, which currently stand at just over $6 million. Top-tier tickets start at $1,000 and include a photo with Mrs. Clinton. No word on whether Jon Bon Jovi will jump in the photo on request. If you're at tonight's event, let us know. We'd like to hear from you.

Family Guy Bows at Carnegie Hall

It was probably the youngest audience Carnegie Hall has hosted in years. Indeed, there was not a gray hair (or blue hair) in sight last evening as the cast of Family Guy took the stage for a live performance of two of the show's most famous episodes. Backed by a forty-piece orchestra, Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Mike Henry and Danny Smith stepped up to stage mics and brought the Griffin family to irresistibly funny life. The delicious irreverence of holding their raunchy show in such a sedate setting was not lost on the cast, who several times expressed glee over the fact. And the sold-out crowd loved every minute, infusing the hall with a raucous energy the likes of which it has rarely (if ever) seen. As psychopathic baby Stewie Griffin might aver, "First stop, Carnegie Hall. Next stop, the world!" For that matter, where will the Griffin family actually pop up next? There's no telling, but if we hear that they've booked a performance at La Scala, we'll know their plans for global domination are truly complete.

Rock World Pays Homage to Madonna

Iggy Pop singing Madonna's "Burnin' Up"? If you missed it during last night's induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, consider yourself among the fortunate. The aging rocker (who's 60, but has still got abs of steel—and he went shirtless to prove it) covered both that early Madonna hit as well as her more recent pop pleasure "Ray of Light." The wild performances (which amounted to much yelling and squirming on Pop's part and looks of mostly stunned silence on the Material Girl's part) followed Madonna's receipt of her award, which was presented by Justin Timberlake. The former *NSYNC heartthrob, who is producing her soon-to-be-released album Hard Candy, gave a gushing tribute to the mistress of reinvention, going back into the record-review archives to turn up that famed critique of Madonna's circa-1983 voice, which called it "Minnie Mouse on helium." But she's come a long way since then and her inclusion in the Hall of Fame (in her first year of eligibility no less) is well-deserved. Among the other acts to be enshrined in the Cleveland temple to all things rock were John (not Cougar) Mellencamp, The Sound of Philadelphia's Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble; The Ventures (of "Hawaii Five-O" fame); The David Clark Five; Leonard Cohen; and Little Walter. Held at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, on Park Avenue, the night attracted a bevy of boldface names, including Billy and Katie Lee Joel, Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Ed Burns and Christy Turlington, Richard Belzer, two Saturday Night Live "Weekend Update" veterans, Chevy Chase and Seth Meyers, a radiant Patti LaBelle, Damien Rice and Tracy Pollan and Michael J. Fox. Next year's ceremony will take place in Cleveland, but for 2008, anyway, it was all about New York. Fitting, considering that this is the city that gave Madonna her start. %%showphotos [setid=72157604097211551]%%

As Close as You’ll Ever Get to Bono

Having premiered at Sundance, the concert film U23D opened this week in limited release. If you've been to a U2 concert before, prepare to relive that experience times ten. If you've never seen the band play live, well, you probably have no business reading this review. The film contains without a doubt some of the most electrifying performance footage you are likely to witness. The colors are arresting, the soundtrack pulsates and a brand-new layering effect (enabling 3-D zooms and pans) puts a whole different spin on the three-dimensional experience. With the aid of 3-D specs, you'll feel as though you're on stage with...then hovering over, in back of and sometimes right next to, Bono, Larry Mullen, Jr., Adam Clayton and The Edge. Thanks to their impressive oeuvre—three decades of hits from which to choose—there's not a dud number in the bunch, from "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" to "Pride (In the Name of Love)" and "Beautiful Day." Most impressive of all, perhaps, is the reaction of the concert crowds, as seen in footage shot in South America during the final leg of the group's Vertigo tour, in 2006. As the camera flies over the heads of young, telegenic audiences in Mexico City, São Paulo, Santiago and Buenos Aires, the fans go wild. When the camera joins the crowd and the worshippers flail their arms, you'd swear they were seated just a few rows in front of you. It's as though a shock wave has hit these stadia—the crowds ripple as one organic entity while the legendary Irish performers work their way through their exhaustive set list. Needless to say, this is not your father's 3-D. Go see it now, because, alas, the showings will go on with or without you. Playing at Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side. %%showphotos [setid=72157603793506838]%%

Broadway, Aussie Style

It was a veritable variety show at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center last night, as some of the biggest acts from Australia's music scene took to the stage to strut their stuff. (Never mind the fact that most of their names mean absolutely nothing here.) The performers were vastly talented and put on a two-plus hour show that had the many Aussies in the audience going wild and the rest of us feeling very entertained, if befuddled during the periodic inside jokes. Americans lending a hand included tap dancer Savion Glover as well as John Travolta, who is the global goodwill ambassador for Quantas Airways. (see "Travolta Remembers Heath Ledger," ). Particularly impressive were: the cello performance of brothers Pei-Jee and Pei-San Ng; the hand-shadow creations of Raymond Crowe, a man who claims to be his country's only "unusualist"; the booming tribute to Paul Robeson by bass baritone Daniel Sumegi; and the Judy Garland homage by actress and singer Caroline O'Connor. If you thought that Australia's musical talent started and ended with Olivia Newton-John, last night certainly proved otherwise. %%showphotos [setid=72157603784004381]%%