Once the initial chaos of CMJ had passed, which mostly revolved around trying to get a pass with my name and the correct company that I work for on it, mine was a week relatively free of hysterics. There were not too many surprise guests, ridiculous cover songs, annoying security encounters, or outrageous drunks. I wasn’t barred from entering shows, kicked in the face, or arrested, and I didn’t leave the venues soaked in beer, blood, or someone else’s sweat. Despite all of this, it was still pretty fun, and it still definitely had its moments. Here are five of them, in no particular order.

Seeing the 1990s play an exclusive afternoon show in the famed Village Underground with their new bassist Dino. This was right after, mind you, the crowd stood affixed to the television screens around the bar watching the two finalists of the Nintendo Wii ping-pong competition fight it out for first prize. Hmm.

The Maccabees‘ live KEXP performance. The band sounded good, but the dramatics of the guitarist Felix White, who had apparently entered the studio insisting he couldn’t even touch his instrument because of a severe infection in his hand, were what made this so great. Once on air, he proceeded to play absolutely fine, though between songs he would double over in pain and grimace intensely. It was either a display in human perseverance and dedication to art, or um, extreme wussiness.

The wonderfully generally unaffected audiences at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. No matter what happened, they hardly seemed impressed. Jump onto the floor excitedly: we will just look at you. Yell out for a hometown reception: we will clap a little. Bring an excited fan on stage and then shove him into the crowd: we will watch him fall. Ouch, Brooklyn, ouch.

KRS-One and Immortal Technique commenting on Kanye West’s choice of “tight red pants” at the 2007 BET Awards at the State of Hip Hop panel. Let’s just say they weren’t big fans.

Jon Pareles.