(Photo: Vincent Pelly Photography)

At the Mercury Lounge last Tuesday, we tried to get a hold of one of the bands that would later take the stage (Max Power, Stone Hedge and the Fry Daddys in that order) at Wall Street Rocks, a nonprofit battle of the bands that brings employees from the financial, technology, and entertainment industries together to raise funds for charities that support America soldiers and first responders, but we were told that they “were probably drinking somewhere.” So we chatted up James Macedonio, one of the six founding members of the organization.

“You would be amazed by how many people who work in finance turn in their keyboards from the offices for guitars and basses once they get home to their families,” he told us. “The thing is, you wouldn’t know if you were sitting across from a Morgan Stanley or a rocker.”

It was easy to believe the second band consisted of financial types; their name, Stone Hedge, was a dead giveaway. They stormed the stage with AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” followed by two original songs. They left the stage sweating after another AC/DC song, “Girls Got Rhythm,” a song that sparked someone to try to start some moshing. But after a quick burst of energy to the front of the crowd, they realized it just wasn’t going to happen.

The Fry Daddys were composed of RBS, UBS, and BNP Paribas employees. Starting with “Sympathy for the Devil” by Rolling Stones and then songs by Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen.

Tuesday's competition was merely the beginning. It was the first of four rounds, the next three of which are being filmed for what a co-founder of Wall Street Rocks, Leslie Kirby, hopes will be a TV show. “This is the grass roots of us doing a real talent show that we could sell ultimately to reality TV,” Ms. Kirby explained. At the final show in December, a big name guest band will be playing as the follow-up act to the winning Wall Street Rocks group, but Ms. Kirby would not reveal who.

“I want to set up a whole entertainment business for nonprofit, and then give it all away,” Ms. Kirby said. “We want to find talent, hold fundraisers and give money to the charities who really deserve it. That is the goal.” Wall Street is the focus this year, but next year the group plans to expand. “We are looking at talent in the military and we are going to do two live concerts."

The audience contained several characters, in addition to the suits. Clad in black leather gloves with large chrome stalagmites sticking out from the back of her hands, rocker Madame Mayhem, was seen posing in front a poster for the event. Madame Mayhem will be a guest performer at the next round of the competition in August.

We got the chance to speak with Max Power, who revealed that their nighttime rocker lifestyles often emerge during the daytime. “It’s tough to hide that rocker side of us. It will just come out,” the band members explained.

In the end, it was later announced that Stone Hedge took the night and has the chance at winning the whole shebang later this year.

Constantine Maroulis, with Spider-Man goodies in hand. (Andrew Toth/PatrickMcMullan)

While we attended the screening of The Amazing Spider-Man last night, we'll leave the movie to the critics at The Daily Bugle. However, the afterparty, thrown by the Peggy Siegal Company and the Gerber Group at Lilium? We were on that like Peter Parker is on the Spider-Man beat.

“That movie was amazing! Andrew Garfield is so good as Spider-Man!” independent film director Ry Russo Young told us over the lively music that filled the modest-sized Lilium lounge. We barely had time to agree with her before being separated in the crowded space. However, we did see her talking with director, actor and producer Alex Karpovsky, an actor on the HBO series Girls with Lena Dunham. (Ms. Dunham and Ms. Young co-wrote Nobody Walks together, which was recently screened at the BAMcinemafest.)

We asked Smash’s Jaime Cepero about his preferred superhero. “Spawn has to be one of my favorites. Spawn is just a BAMF,” Mr. Cepero told us, referencing a subversive internet acronym (Google it). However, before we could even stare at the looping video of a pair of lipsticked lips sensually licking up pomegranate seeds that played above the bar, we heard  Twilight star Chaske Spencer’s deep voice behind us. Mr. Spencer told us that now that he is finally done with Twilight, he is working with his new production company on some indie projects.

Actor, singer and American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis was moving a little slow due to a huge protective boot he had on his right leg. “No, I was not playing superhero,” he laughed. “I was actually playing softball at Yankee Stadium. It had always been my dream to play at Yankee Stadium and I got to do it for a charity fundraiser, but I rolled my ankle. But the boot helps and it matches my pants!” He lifted it slightly to show us. “Kinda Spider-Man style right?"

The boot certainly did not stop Mr. Maroulis from snagging up three of the Spider-Man action figures that were floating around the room. His girlfriend, model Ashley Haas, who he met in a bar down the street from the theater where he performed in Rock of Ages, laughed at his antics. Mr. Maroulis admitted to us that he has yet to see the movie version of the play, despite making an appearance in it.

The party was still going strong when we left. As we were leaving we overheard Miss USA Olivia Culpo mention that it must be nice to swing from building to building like Spider-Man. Well, Ms. Culpo, it certainly would beat the subway.

Last night at Union Square Cinemas for a screening of The Amazing Spider-Man, we caught up with celebrities on the red carpet and queried, "Who is your favorite superhero?"

Surprisingly, no one went with Aquaman. But here's who they did say.

The event was also attended by several politicians including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and the other grand marshals, Chris Salgardo, the president of Kiehl’s, and New York City’s first legally married same-sex couple, Phyllis Siegel and Connie Kopelov. Click through our slideshow for snaps of them and dozens of others of supporters.

Luke Donald and Ralph Lauren. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty)

Last night, Ralph Lauren hosted the opening of the first RLX Golf shop on the top floor of his flagship store at 867 Madison Avenue, and celebrated the achievements of the world’s number one golfer, Luke Donald.

The design scheme for the new store, despite being jam-packed with partygoers, could be appreciated for its stark contrast from the rest of the store (sleek, contemporary black-and-white of a Manhattan penthouse, compared to the calm elegance of a town house in Connecticut).

Champagne in hand (we like to keep it classy, even though the official drinks of the night were from the full label-rainbow of Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky), The Observer approached Mr. Donald, who, for the first part of the evening seemed to be wearing Mr. Lauren’s arm around his shoulder as an accessory. Mr. Donald had just arrived from Chicago for a fundraiser for The First Tee, a charity that aims to mentor young people through golf. Mr. Donald, in his British accent, told us exactly why he supports the charity. “When I was a kid, I was given some opportunities at a young age to play a course when I was younger than what was really allowed. I was very fortunate with that.” Mr. Donald and Mr. Lauren both stood in front of a limited edition shirt, which was on sale at the event with all proceeds going to The First Tee.

As we sought some temporary relief from the crowded room, Mr. Donald could be seen loosening the collar on his three-piece suit, trying to cool down before he begrudgingly buttoned back up.

While browsing through some suits, we were approached by Tom Kallish, founder of Tommie Copper, a clothing line to help those with arthritis, who called over his friend, GQ publisher Peter Hunsinger. Mr. Kallish, as he chose a tan suit from the racks, told us, “Might as well double-up and shop while I am here.”

There was no escape from the heat, except on the third floor, seemingly the only place where the air conditioning was working. One attendee remarked to us that she needed to sit down. “It is like the subway upstairs!”

Eventually the heat forced us out, too. We accompanied sportscaster Bryant Gumbel and his wife Hilary Gumbel for the elevator ride, and he shared with us his method for coping with the sweltering temps: "I stay inside, and play golf in shorts."

Whoopi Goldberg at the City Council Pride celebration at the Cooper Union.

After a performance by Raven-Symoné, Kimberly Marabel and Aléna Watters of a song from the Broadway musical Sister Act, comedian, actress and entertainer Whoopi Goldberg stepped up to the podium last night at Cooper Union’s Great Hall to emcee the annual City Council Pride celebration.

Ms. Goldberg remarked how she still found it hard to believe that Ms. Symoné was actually grown up, no longer the child star from the Disney Channel. Ms. Goldberg kept the crowd laughing, making jabs at her age (she stated how Susan B. Anthony had spoken in the Great Hall, and how she had been her date) and taking political swipes. She made a disgusted face as she mentioned New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and declared, “Chris, you won’t be there much longer.”

Ms. Goldberg handed the microphone over to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who, recently married herself, emphasized that this year's Pride Week was special as it marked the first since New York passed the Marriage Equality Act.

Ms. Quinn handed out proclamations to those who have fought for equality and made the LGBT community safer in New York, including the first public proclamation of the NYPD’s revision of its Patrol Guide to treat transgender people equally. This includes the right for a detained person to be searched by officers of the gender with which one identifies.

Also receiving a proclamation but unable to attend the event, director Dee Rees, whose film Pariah centers on a young women’s struggle to accept her sexuality, joined via a pre-recorded acceptance speech.

The third set of honorees were Hermes Mallea and Carey Maloney, co-chairs of the LGBT initiative at the New York Public Library. They announced the launch of a book drive to provide LGBT young adult novels to New York’s public schools that, as Speaker Quinn noted, would help many youth find refuge in a library.