Last night, Lisa Loeb stepped out of a cab in front of Highline Ballroom with an orange guitar case slung across her shoulder, her hair pulled into a low ponytail, and her eyes hidden behind her iconic black-framed glasses. She is petite with a somewhat soft voice, and speaks thoughtfully and intelligently, like the smart, quiet girl in your college literature seminar. In 1994, Loeb was the first artist to have a number one single in the United States while not signed to a recording contract. Almost 20 years later, she is still plugging away and making music, and in January she released a new record, No Fairy Tale. We walked to Chelsea Market before her show at Highline, and caught up over coffee about what it means to be '90s female pop icon, eyewear, children's music, and having to play "Stay (I Missed You)" over and over, and over.

See also: Guess What Year These Lisa Loeb Photos Were Taken

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Better Than: Having to head to SXSW or Coachella to see them.

When did people stop dancing at shows? Everything about Savages' searing set last night at Bowery Ballroom called for some type of visceral, full-body reaction from the audience, and that call was barely heeded.

It wasn't the band's fault. The group gave the type of live show that's filled with the kinds of loud noises and distortion that feel like they're puncturing your lungs while attempting to manually increase your heart rate. It was post-punk discordance that gave bite without sacrificing the punch.

See also: The Best Shows at SXSW This Year

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Better Than: Watching The Departed on loop while shooting Jameson in your apartment on St. Patrick's Day.

It might as well have been at a sporting event. Chants of "let's go Murphys [clap clap clap clap clap]" and waves of amped attendees in black and gold jerseys egging each other on and fighting to get closer to the stage were all just a natural part of the experience.

But this was not a sporting event. Instead of balls, bats, or hoops, there were newsboy caps, a bagpipe player wearing a kilt, and green. Lots of green. At least one item of clothing on 80% of the audience members had been colored a different shade of it because last night might as well have been St. Patrick's Day. It was five days too early, sure. But it was a Dropkick Murphys show. Close enough.

See also: The Ten Best Concerts in New York This Week, 3/11/13

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Last night I saw KISS and Morrissey perform live back to back shows. I came out the other side a changed man. A man who, because he'd just seen KISS and Morrissey back to back, questioned whether or not he even was one. I don't know anything anymore. Except this: I wanna Rock 'n' Roll all night, and party ev-a-ree day is like Sunday.

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By Drew Millard
Better Than: Watching Waka Flocka shop for shoes.

Gucci Mane came onstage at Irving Plaza last night.

GUCCI MANE CAME ONSTAGE. AT IRVING PLAZA. LAST NIGHT.

I don't know another way to stress the importance of seeing Gucci Mane come out onstage at this point other than making the font bigger, and I don't want to do that. Instead, I'll say this: Waka Flocka concerts are already experiences of near-religious implications, the type where people speak in tongues and throw snakes at each other and shit. Flocka is the best at a very specific brand at rap, one where energy and charisma are foregrounded, and the only brush strokes worth even making are the broad ones. In other words, yeah, the dude screams a lot. But when the legendarily elusive man who spawned Waka Flocka Flame appears onstage? That's when things get taken to a whole different plane of hyperbole.

See Also:
- Live: Waka Flocka Flame Gets Up Close And Personal At The Bowery Hotel
- Waka Flocka Flame Is Yelling at You for a Reason
- Gucci Mane Goes Abroad
PHOTOS: Waka Flocka Flame and Gucci Mane at Irving Plaza

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Flatbush Zombies

Better Than: Watching the Internet.

Boilerroom.tv has become a sort of voyeuristic dream party for DJ nerds over the last year or so. Proudly self-branded as "the world's leading underground music show," the website is sponsored by a handful of lifestyle-branded music partnerships - Red Bull Music Academy, Red Stripe Make Sessions, Warehouse Project - and solicits dance-friendly labels and musicians to curate very intimate, invite-only parties with often mind-blowing lineups. The shows are streamed live and at times, result in an Internet party where DJs and partygoers inside the venue and those at home chat via Twitter and forums as the sets play out. Last night, we were a part of the lucky group that made it inside Boiler Room's NYC stop, where Flying Lotus, Questlove, Just Blaze, and Flatbush Zombies (among others) played at a tiny warehouse venue tucked under the WIlliamsburg bridge. And while we were in the thick of it, chances are you would have seen more if you were watching at home.

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By Kai Flanders

David Byrne and St. Vincent
Williamsburg Park
9/29/12

Better than: ... hoping against hope that a Talking Heads reunion tour will happen.

Criticizing David Byrne is difficult. It's not just that he's such a seminal artist to a lot of people, nor that he's prolific and brainy: publishing the book How Music Works through McSweeney's and giving TED talks in addition to consistently releasing music, never mind this little thing called Talking Heads. It's the fact that he's so completely earnest. In a time when irony is more common than reverb, it's hugely refreshing that Byrne isn't frivolous about what he does, that he is constantly attempting instead of snickering. Even when he misfires, you never feel slighted.

See Also:
- David Byrne and St. Vincent Get Together At The Beacon
- David Byrne Puts The Whole World Under The Highline
- Live: St. Vincent

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From Barclays Center site

See Photos From Night One: Hello Brooklyn: Jay-Z's First Night at the Barclays Center

Jay-Z
Barclays Center
9/29/12

Better Than: Seeing Jay-Z on the third night at Barclays Center.

Brooklyn has quickly become New York City's most popular borough, amassing a cult-like following (and real estate exodus) from celebrities, out-of-town transplants and the twentysomething set. Natives might balk at the concept of a borough du jour, but it's undeniably cooler to live in Brooklyn versus even comparable neighborhoods elsewhere in the city. At a cursory level, the cache is essentially just a marketing ploy that in many regards can be traced back to Jay-Z; the borough's most famous brand ambassador has steadily name-checked his hood in every pop culture permutation possible since the inception of his career.

See Also:
- Hello Brooklyn: Jay-Z's First Night At Barclays Center
- Jay-Z After Party with Talib Kweli and Young Guru
- Meek Mill - 40/40 Club - 9/26/2012

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Photo from Meek Mill's Instagram

Meek Mill
40/40 Club
Wednesday, September 26

Better Than: Schlepping up to Inwood for a random Jay-Z sighting.

Jay-Z is hip-hop's reigning master of synergy. Just days before he christens the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with a string of sold-out concerts, the rapper hosted the release of basketball video game NBA 2K13 at his 40/40 Club last night. As the game's executive producer--a nebulous title at best--Jay was billed as the host, which translated into him holding court with former frenemy-turned-colleague Nas and DJ Clue‪ in the sports club's V.I.P. section while sipping D'USSE Cognac‬ (a brand he just so happens to be the new spokesperson of). For no apparent reason other than because he can, Jay also plugged his Roc Nation signee/ Maybach Music Group affiliate Meek Mill as the event's entertainment.

See Also:
- Live: Rick Ross And His Crew Pack The Backyard At Alife
- Jay-Z's Rockawear Line Plans "Occupy All Streets" Shirts
- Best (and Only) Place To Get Armadale Vodka

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Adam Lange

Doomtree with F. Stokes
Gramercy Theater
Thursday, February 16, 2012

Better than: Getting flooded out at the Bowery Ballroom and canceling the show completely.

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