Lady Antebellum w/Darius Rucker, Thompson Square
Radio City Music Hall
Thursday, March 3

Better than: Most things that can actually be described as antebellum.

Two years ago, "Need You Now" pushed Lady Antebellum, a soulful country trio with a chart-topping record and single, out of Nashville and into the pop spotlight. Quickly they were winning not just CMAs but Grammys; their music was being covered by the cast of Glee; and they were being translated into Simlish for video game soundtracks. But Lady Antebellum never sat easily under the country label, pushing the genre to the point where it begins to sound like adult contemporary and "adult contemporary" to the point where it begins to sound like a completely bullshit idea for a genre.

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Bright Eyes/Superchunk/WILD FLAG
Radio City Music Hall
Tuesday, March 8

Better Than: Oh, come on. I'm not making a Roseland Ballroom joke.

We need to talk about Nate Walcott. You long ago made up your mind about Conor Oberst, and if you've never found in-house producer/utility man Mike Mogis' way with a sighing steel guitar entrancing, then you've perhaps at least seen a Bright Eyes press photo and thought that it was nice of Conor to let his cool uncle join the band. Walcott has been a touring member, usually keyboards and such, for much of Bright Eyes' existence, and the official third man since the release of 2007's Cassadaga. Next to a songwriter that's been named one of the best of his generation (and also plenty of less flattering things), and a man that produced a beloved Jenny Lewis album, and a performer with enough charisma to join the Monsters of Folk, Walcott must often feel unappreciated. But not last night.

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Brooklyn's finest critically beloved art-rock institution are back at it: TV on the Radio have announced that their fourth album, Nine Types of Light, will be out this spring, no doubt a worthy follow-up to 2008's Pazz & Jop victor Dear Science. Plus no pesky comma issues to fuck with the typography this time.

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Robyn
Radio City Music Hall
Saturday, February 6

Better Than: Any DJ that played "Dancing On My Own" on Saturday night.

"This is the biggest crowd I've pulled myself! Ever!" squealed a thrilled Robyn at the end of the first of two encores during Saturday night's sold-out performance at Radio City Music Hall. The last time we saw the Swedish gem perform, the night turned into a screaming, dancing mosh pit. Tonight was no different.

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You may regard Conor Oberst and his ongoing Bright Eyes concern as emblematic of a pasty, Paste-addled strain of whiny indie rock, but as such they can still be wildly entertaining: Last time I saw him, Oberst was kicking the crap out of a toy piano (with help from Dave Rawlings!) onstage at Town Hall. It can be wildly amusing, generally, to watch someone take themselves so seriously. Anyway, he's coming back here in 2011 to trash some more gear.

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It's been a real We Did It sort of day, with various Internet phenoms beknighted by various ivory-tower institutions that once seemingly loomed far above them: New Simplicity leading lights Cults signed to Columbia, Das Racist and Odd Future carefully considered by the New Yorker, the world fully processing the "Jay Electronica signed to Roc Nation/declared a wizard" thing. Some of these new partnerships are going to work out great, and some will not. And while rising/sinking/rising again pop star Robyn's trajectory is way longer and way more schizophrenic, it's currently on a huge upswing: She's playing Radio City Music Hall early next year.

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Drake
Radio City Music Hall
Wednesday, September 29

Better Than: Pitbull. (And Curren$y!)

Drake isn't the best at arena-swallowing mega-hop, as evidenced by a guest appearance from Jay-Z, who casually uncorked Radio City with his verses from advice rap touchstone "Light Up" and "On to the Next One." He's not the best at leather-jacketed r&b either, as evidenced by a guest appearance from Trey Songz, who casually melted Radio City with "Can't Be Friends." He's not quite a champ at word-scrambles--see special guest Fabolous. And the star attraction didn't even incite the night's best rap-along; that distinction goes to an in absentia Lil Wayne and his "I'm Goin' In" verse. Plus, Drake's "Money to Blow" co-star Birdman took top honors when it came to cornea-smashing jewelry and head-covering star tattoos. Drake isn't the best at anything, really. But he is very good at pretty much everything.

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Is this you, perhaps? Photo by Rebecca Smeyne.

Last night, Drake played the first of two shows at Radio City Music Hall, alighting triumphantly on a New York stage after two horrifically abortive attempts earlier this year. But last night was uniformly dubbed a triumph, a coronation for the young rap star. We'll have a review of tonight's encore for you tomorrow; in the meantime, a quick user's guide for everyone else thinking about hitting Craigslist and joining in on the second night's slate of festivities. Is it worth it? You decide:

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If MGMT's stupendously bizarre new Congratulations was designed to alienate everyone, it failed miserably -- the boys just wrapped up a two-night stand at Radio City, with Tuesday's opening night documented in full by NYC Taper.

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Here we have the third leg of the big-tent rap tripod that set up over an unwitting New York City last night, joining Rihanna's sold-out MSG stand and Kanye West's secret Rosewood performance in the annals of shows you really wanted to get into but couldn't. Preceding Shawn Carter was the 2010 USA Basketball National Team, who briefly played ball on the floor; later brought the odd spectacle of Jay-Z performing "Run This Town" to Rihanna's backing track even as a few blocks south Rihanna performed the same song in duet with a recorded Jay-Z. Perhaps if you stood somewhere around the corner of 39th and 7th you could've gotten both at the same time? Half of the concert is above, the other half--in which Jay exhorts all the small children in the audience to put on earmuffs--is right here:

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