Bowie, Moby, Merchant and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Play for Tibet House; The Rev. Vince is a Bootleg Gospel Tom Waits; Meet Godfrey Cheshire!

Yes. The Year of the Iron She-Snake will not come into the world quietly. It will make its presence known at Carnegie Hall (157 W. 57th St. at 7th Ave., 247-7800 for tickets to the concert only, 807-0563 for fancier benefit tickets), where the Tibet House organization is throwing its 11th Annual Benefit Concert this Monday. The concert, also called The Great Miracle Prayer Festival by Tibet House officials, features David Bowie, Moby, Natalie Merchant and Philip Glass.

Tickets range from $30 to $80, which may seem a bit steep, but remember: in addition to those marginally talented white artists, Pakistani star Rahat Fateh Ali Khan will be there to blow your mind with his qawwali singing. I've heard this guy and he's just as good as his deceased uncle, one-time Pearl Jam collaborator Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Tibetan flutist Nawang Khechog will also bust out some tunes for you, and the Drepung Gomang Monks will chant their prayers to horns, flutes, bells and drums, with costumed animals onstage.

Great Miracle Prayer Festivals of the past have seen impromptu musical pairings of East and West?how precious is that? You really couldn't put a price on watching diminutive car-hawker Moby get blown off the stage by an actual singer like Rahat. Hey, it's the Year of the Iron She-Snake: I wouldn't be surprised if a towering serpent of pewter rose from the floorboards, coiled itself into the great ceiling of Carnegie Hall and blessed us with flecks of its precious seed-skin. The fun starts Monday at 7:30.

...The latest guy (after Horton Heat and Billy) to capitalize on the kitsch value of reverends is Rev. Vince Anderson, who plays at Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg (709 Lorimer St., betw. Frost St. & Richardson Sts., 718-302-3770). Pete's is a trek, situated almost under the BQE; you'll have to direct a cabbie over the Williamsburg Bridge, make a sharp left on Union Ave. and take a right at Richardson St. to get there. But it's worth it?the people in the bar are not only as cute as the cast of MTV's Undressed, they come in the same ratio of orientation: two straight girls for every gay guy. There are girls who look like Liv Tyler, girls who look like Claire Danes and girls who look like that one you had a crush on in fifth grade. The uh, men in the place all look like they're trying to grow their first beards.

In this environment, Rev. Vince flourishes. He's like a bootleg gospel Tom Waits (if Tom Waits didn't take himself so seriously)?a rotund man with a dark goatee who gets onstage in a preacher getup and plays honkytonk piano. He's backed by his "Love Choir" of drums, bass, trombone and sax. In between songs, he hits on women and tells stories.

"So I take her shoes off, and she has just the nastiest, smelliest feet I've ever seen," goes one of them. This one started with him smoking crystal meth and meeting a girl on the subway. "And then, swear to God, just as I'm putting my tongue between that crusty big toe and that other toe right next to it, she sprouts fairy wings and flies out the window. And I'm going, 'Goodbye, crystal meth girl! Goodbye!'"

Rev. Vince sings in a voice critics might eventually call "gravelly"; right now it's more "pebbly," like any of us would sound doing Nighthawks at the Diner. But his songs, especially "Satan Hates You" and "Funny Day" ("It was a funny day/The day I fell in love with that bitch") have potential. He and his 13 Piece Love Orchestra will play this Friday at Westbeth Theater (151 Bank St., betw. West & Washington Sts., 741-0391), opening for Vic Thrill. If you miss that, or if you prefer to see the Rev. in a more intimate setting, he's at Pete's Candy Store every Sunday. No cover, drinks are pretty cheap and the show starts at a respectable 10 p.m.?a nod to those who don't need to work Monday morning.

...Stocked with locals age 25-40 and sprinkled with low-level entertainment lawyers, bookers and promoters, Mr. Biggs Bar & Grill runs a pretty terrific karaoke night every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday in Hell's Kitchen (596 10th Ave. at 43rd St., 246-2030). It isn't trendy, so the people aren't that attractive, but the beer is standard-priced and the immense book of karaoke songs will keep you occupied for hours. It's a bare-bones system; once you select a tune, the screen gives you a teensy video clip and then words appear for you to butcher. But you know that song, the one you always thought you could handle, the one you would hum when you tried jogging? Mr. Biggs has that one.

For the men, tastes are diverse?everything from Bob Dylan to Tony Orlando. Women pretty much just want to sing "You Oughta Know."

...Recently departed from New York Press, film critic Godfrey Cheshire is introducing a movie at the American Museum of the Moving Image (35th Ave. at 36th St., Astoria, 718-784-0077) this Saturday. It's The Go-Between (1971), a romantic period piece starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates. The movie won the Cannes Film Festival award (the "Palme D'Or," isn't that cool) when it came out, but since then most people have forgotten it. Godfrey, however, digs the screenplay by Harold Pinter and the long landscape shots.

"You might be able to get it in video stores, but you really ought to see it on a screen. It hasn't been seen that way in New York for a long time," he says. Before The Go-Between starts, Godfrey will talk about it for 15 or 20 minutes. After it ends, you'll get to see The Girl from Chicago and Touch of Evil. So, all you people who wrote angry letters about his dismissal: this is your chance to stop whining and buy Godfrey some drinks. Starts at 2; admission to the museum is $8.50.