Lady Gaga is coming to town, but before you participate in that HBO-documented debauchery, catch Ween and the Walkmen, new indie darling Darwin Deez, Interpol, and Crystal Stilts make their way to a music hall near you. Les Savy Fav, Lou Reed, and the Church round out this week's Gig Guide.

For some, this week marks the start of Fashion Week, a time when "front row" means sitting stiffly next to editors and celebrities as a barrage of waifs cascade down a lit runway. For music lovers, "front row" this week will mean getting sweated on by The National, Huey Lewis and the News, and Theophilus London. Here's the best of the week's musical acts.

Lia Ices makes an entrance, Rhett Miller and Prince return (again?), while the Hundred in the Hands, Woods, and The Suzan round out the week's cant-miss shows.

The Decemberists play a couple of gigs to show off their shiny new album, White Lies performs at Highline Ballroom, Peter Bjorn and John throw a late-night throw-down at The Rock Shop, and Real Estate sidles up to Andy Rourke of The Smiths at Union Hall -- my list this week's not-to-be missed indie shows.

By now, you've probably seen or heard about Kanye West's incredible rant at the Bowery Ballroom last night. Well, we want to show it to you again, from our perspective, since, you know, we were there, albeit barely. At this point, verbal diarrhea is a welcomed staple at Kanye shows, but last night was extra special. Probably because he hasn't tweeted in almost two weeks, West was feeling extra generous with headline-grabbing statements like "Taylor never came to my defense in any interview." At one point, it felt like the almost ten-minute rant wouldn't end, and we certainly didn't want it to. But perhaps West's most shocking statement came when he announced the projected first-week album sales of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. His magic number? 600,000. Really? That's it?

"Fuck the Bowery Ballroom." That's the only thought that went through my head as a one hour wait quickly became a grueling, nearly four hour wait on Delancey Street, before last night's Kanye West show, which I managed to score a ticket to. And this morning, after barely making it in for the beginning of West's set, my sentiment stands. Fuck the Bowery Ballroom. I don't know how the organizers of the event expected things to unfold, but they certainly didn't anticipate the debacle that was trying to get into the Bowery Ballroom. And that was the problem.

In a few hours, I'll be at the Bowery Ballroom, watching Kanye West take the stage for a sort of surprise, sort of secret show. It was announced this morning, and tickets went on sale at noon. Somehow, I managed to get one for the asking price of $100, and have been deciding all day on what exactly I should do with it. If I go, I get to see a true musical genius at the peak of his powers, the day after his masterpiece got released, performing for a crowd about 100 times smaller than he's used to. If I decide to sell, I can probably be at least $400 richer than I was this morning. I think Kanye himself said it best: No one man should have all that power.

The Kanye West media takeover continues, and right now, there's absolutely no end in sight. Kanye's fifth album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, finally hit stores on Monday, earning the ever-elusive 10 rating from Pitchfork. When the album leaked last week, Rolling Stone gave it a generous 5-star endorsement. Tonight, Kanye will put on a not-so-secret show at the Bowery Ballroom to perform the album in its entirety. For those of you who weren’t lucky enough to outsmart Ticketmaster at noon today, you’ll read all about the fantastic guest appearances and theatrics tomorrow. In the meantime, check out Kanye and Jay-Z's leaked track, “That’s My Bitch.” The Q-Tip produced song, which features La Roux’s Elly Jackson, surfaced yesterday, and then again this morning without the annoying tags.

Unless you follow Teyana Taylor, you probably missed the news: Kanye’s playing a show at Bowery Ballroom tonight and tickets are $100 a pop. By now you might have heard the collective groan coming from NYC as Ticketmaster reportedly sold out in under a second (tickets went on sale at noon). However, if you happened to be one of the lucky few that nabbed a ticket, you have some serious wardrobe planning to do—this is sure to be a high-profile performance with lots of celebs on tap. After the jump, check out our version of Kanye’s infamous red suit, and have fun tonight, you lucky jerk.

Party: Carmen Kass hosts cocktails and hors d'oeuvres to celebrate the launch of beyond7boutique.com with Reet Aus. Time: 5PM-8PM Perks: Music by The Misshapes. More: Dear Carmen Kass, I love you. You could be hosting craptinis in your grandmother’s basement and I would be more than thrilled to go. Also, can we be friends? Thank you for having us, Holly.