I decided while watching the Grammy's last night to recap all 23 (!!!!!!) performances from the Grammy's. I decided to do this because, well I needed a better first entry than the Motley Crue show review, and I think this is the first time the Grammy's got a lot of things right. Hit the jump to see all the reviews and videos from every performance.
• U2 (Get On Your Boots) – It was U2. Plain and simple. Don’t know if it was just me or what, but it sounded horrible. I could barely hear Bono’s nasally voice and the bass was pretty none existant. Kind of a boring way to start off the night if you ask me.
• Al Green, Justin TImberlake, Keith Urban, and Boyz 2 Men (Let’s Stay Together) – Good, minus the part where Boyz 2 Men barely sang. I have to say I am a fan of Boyz 2 Men and the fact that I could barely hear them is unfortunate. Other than that, really cool to see Al Green performing. Especially since he was a last minute addition to the performance lineup b/c of the Chris Brown assault of Rihanna. Thank god for battery? Yea sorry.
• Coldplay, Jay-z (Lost, Viva La Vida) – Loved the simple piano rendition of Lost ft. Jay-z though it was cut short to the start of the overplayed, in my opinion, Viva La Vida. Even though i think the bands have to play the song they are nominated for, I would have rather seen a performance of the newest single “Life in Technicolor II” or even "Lover's In Japan."
• Carrie Underwood (Don’t Even Know Your Last Name) – Looking extremely leggy, the all grown up American Idol winner from 2005. Good performance for a 26 year old woman who sings about hooking up with someone that she doesn't know their last name. OH and being Americas sweetheart.
• Kid Rock (Amen, All Summer Long, Rock n Roll Jesus) – I was actually surprised to find myself bobbing my head to the song “Amen,” thinking why am I doing this to Kid Rock, then I realized that it didn't sound like him at all, cause he broke into his two other singles and I was actually wanting him to stop and sing “Bawitaba.”
• Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus (Fifteen) - The life of a fifteen year old is clearly hard, especially when Miley Cyrus sounds like she is going through puberty. You can borrow my razor if you want sweetie. Fortunately for Taylor Swift, she actually wrote the song, sang it beautifully, and will have the last laugh in the end because her dad is not Billy Ray Cyrus.
• Jennifer Hudson (You Pulled Me Through) – It is hard to say anything bad about Jennifer Hudson because of the tragedy she and her family have gone through the past year, but............ I have to say it was a bit hard to understand what she was actually singing. Moving performance nonetheless, seeing her cry on stage, the choir with her, and the standing ovation.
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• Jonas Brothers, Stevie Wonder (Burning Up, Superstition) – First of all, I find it offensive that Stevie Wonder is singing background vocals to the Jonas Brothers, BUT IS ABSOLUTELY KILLING IT! As for the Jonas Brothers, well I commend them on doing as well as they have. But that’s it. Stevie Wonder singing Superstition puts a giant smile on my face and makes me think that the 3 pre pubescent boys running around him are just backing.
• Katy Perry (I Kissed A Girl) – I feel like I have a personal connection with Katy Perry (not in that way). Back in 2006 when I was Music Director for Grossmont Colleges radio station, KGFN, I got a personal package from a one, Katy Perry. In it was a letter from her saying, "Andrew, I would be so jived if you would play my first single, "Ur So Gay," from my self-released debut album..." etc. I threw it away. Jokes on me.
Estelle Feat. Kanye West - American Boy (Live)
by wonderful-life1989
• Kanye West ft. Estelle (American Boy) – Killer flat top mullet. Glad he is performing an older song and not the auto tune infused “Love Lockdown” OH, and killer gloves.
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• Kenny Chesney (Better As A Memory) – Country music is definitely not my favorite genre of music. That being said, I respect Kenny because my mother says he is the most gorgeous man on the earth. Props to you sir.
• M.I.A., Kanye West, T.I., Lil’ Wayne, Jay-Z (Paper Planes, Swagger Like Us) – First off, I want to say I almost missed the whole performance cause I was trying to adjust my yellow A/V cable trying to get color back. But I do have to say I enjoyed the performance. M.I.A. was due today, and still did that awesome job. Felt like the song was cut short a little bit though. The whole collaboration was very cool and was my favorite performance up until that point.
• Paul McCartney ft. Dave Grohl (Saw Her Standing There) – My girlfriend and I are watching this and she asks “Who are these other two guys?” I reply with, “I’ll you what they are, They are STOKED!” Honestly, this now became my favorite performance of the night. Paul McCartney has just made me even more excited for Coachella. Dave Grohl, as always, sounded amazing on the skins, and was my favorite part of the whole night because of the shit eating grin he had on his face the whole time.
• Sugarland (Stay) - As I said earlier, not the biggest country fan. But I can definitely appreciate a good voice and attractive woman doing those vocals (even if she does weird stage moves).
• Adele ft. Sugarland (Chasing Pavements) – I have to say, 19 was by far one of my favorite releases of 2008. For a 20 year old to sound like she does is absolutely mind boggling. Even though she got 4 nominations, I still think “Chasing Pavements” was an extremely underplayed single, and the whole album in general was under appreciated. Congrats to her.
• Radiohead ft. USC Marching Band (15 Step) – Apparently Thom Yorke has swagger. And apparently, Colin, Ed, and Phil have been replaced by 30 college students who will never speak about anything else besides performing with Radiohead. Honestly, I felt like I was missing something with the performance. I liked it and everything but, I don’t know. I’d like to know if the reason the band came in is because the other guys couldn’t make it. But hey, it’s Radiohead, can’t complain.
• T.I. and Justin Timberlake (Dead and Gone) – Definitely a decent performance for a song I had never heard. Justin Timberlake is kind of untouchable at this point. T.I. just barely getting out of a 30 year sentence on gun posession, not so much. Best part was the breakdown with the dudes drumming on buckets.
• Smokey Robinson, Jamie Foxx, Neyo, and Duke Fakir (Reach Out, I Can’t Help Myself) – This is the music I grew up on. Especially the Four Tops because of my Grandma. Earlier I said Paul McCartney was the best, well not anymore. They all sounded amazing.
LINK HERE (CANNOT EMBED)
• Neil Diamond (Sweet Caroline) – Neil is looking GOOD! Now this man has swagger. Glad he got his number one spot on the charts and glad I got to stand in my living room clapping, yelling, and waking up my mother. So Good, So Good, So Good!
VIDEO NOT AVAILABLE B/C OF COPYRIGHT WONDERS
• John Mayer, Keith Urban, B.B. King, and Buddy Guy (Hey, Bo Diddley) – Classic and awesome tribute to a massive contributor to Rock and Roll. With some legends in their own right playing. No not Mayer or Urban. Though, “Your Body is a Wonderland” still gives me chills. Wait. What?
• Lil’ Wayne ft. Robin Thicke, Alan Toussaint, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Terrence Blanchard (Tie My Hands) – One of the more serious songs on Lil’ Waynes ridiculous album, Tha Carter III. Definitely proves to me that Lil’ Wayne can actually do some decent Hip Hop. Very cool tribute to New Orleans.
• Robert Plant & Allison Krauss ft. T. Bone Burnett (Rich Woman, Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)) – Seeing Robert Plant on stage singing does two things for me. Makes me happy that he can still sing. And makes me mad that he will never perform with Led Zeppelin again. Another great song from a really good album. Plus Allison Krauss sounds and looks really good. Robert Plant described the music best, spooky and eerie. Love it.
• Stevie Wonder (All About the Love Again) – Fuck Hilton, Delta Airlines, the voiceover girl, John Cosette Production, AEG Ehrlich Ventures LLC, and CBS for ruining what would have been one of the best Grammy’s in a LONG time by cutting off Stevie Wonder. An amazing song nonetheless for the 30 seconds that I saw.
All in all, I was really impressed with the Grammy's this year. It is the first time I have truly enjoyed watching the Grammy's and agreed with I would say about 70% of the winners of the awards. For the full list of awards (cause it's not only album of the year) go here.
Let me know what you think about this first entry of mine in the comments. Thanks for reading!
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