At last year’s MTV Video Music Awards, performer Britney Spears had the considerable misfortune of following Beyoncé’s masterful Lemonade medley performance. This year’s VMAs had the misfortune of simply lacking Beyoncé or a Beyoncé-caliber moment – or even a Spears moment, for that matter. Nevertheless, the raucous evening, held inside the Forum in Inglewood, California, produced plenty of fodder to kvell, kvetch and tweet about: from Kendrick Lamar’s absolute domination to host Katy Perry’s iffy jokes to a touching Chester Bennington tribute to the thunder-stealing return (sort of) of Taylor Swift.  Here, Rolling Stone recaps the night’s highs and lows.