Billed as “music’s
biggest night,”
the 2007 Grammy
Awards Show at Staples Center in downtown LA was a lot of fun.
While most
people spend hours hunting down photos and gossip about the performers
at the event (use the links to the left for that), its always important
to remember what it really is-one of the biggest and best LIVE gigs in
the world that is put on annually. I mean, think about it...what would
the ticket price be for a night of music with The Police, Beyonce, Mary
J. Blige, John Legend, Christina, Jon Mayer, Earth Wind and Fire, Red
Hot Chili Peppers, Gnarles Barkley, Ludacris, Justin Timberlake, and
the Dixie Chicks? Well, I’ll tell you-the bad seats are 125.00, and the
good ones are about a grand. And the party cover charge is 200.00, but
hey, its about as much star power as you can cram into three hours, and
this year’s show had some great (as well as awful) moments.
One of the
best things about the Grammys
live performer roster is the diversity-country artists have to sit
through and listen to rappers, R&B sensations are forced to listen
to solo acoustic artists, and the presenters are a who’s who of present
and past winners whose very presence is worth the ticket price.
Rather than tell
you about every single performance, I’ll just point out some of the
memorable spots.
The Police.
After all this time, Sting’s voice is holding, and to hear it ringing
out in the arena to 19,000 people was powerful. The Police were on the
left side of the stage which was actually two stages with a couple of
moshpit style audience areas close to each full of screaming fans, plus
a stairway up to the podium area where presenters made the
announcements.
I was
disappointed they chose “Roxanne” as
the song to perform since I enjoy Sting’s solo version of it better,
but it was cool.
Stevie Wonder. Stevie came up for a
presenter moment and showed his command of language and showmanship as
he talked about the award he was going to present. During his speech
towards the end, Stevie was overcome with emotion as he talked about
his mother having passed on, and I could tell he was pretty upset about
it.
Beyonce. I have to confess
that I have never paid much attention to this artist because of the
huge amount of hype, pictures, and drama associated with her in the
media. As a musician and producer, I am skeptical of slick studio
records and I know from using ProTools in the studio that you can fix
just about anything including a frog croaking and turn it into a hit
song (see William Hung in Wilkepedia.)
I was pleased as Beyonce came out by herself
with no band or track playing and sang the first verse to her song A
capella-then proceeded to get stronger and more powerful with every
line. Her pitch and diction was outstanding, her ability to work that
large of a crowd with ease was highly evident, and her result was she
brought me to tears she was so good. This is one of the most important
tests which the Grammys Live provide to an
artist-how good are you with no computer performing live in front of
19,000 with 20 million watching you on TV? She blew me away.
Corrine Bailey Rae, John
Legend, Jon Mayer trio.
This
seemed like an unlikely trio at best, and it was. Corrine has a
pleasant voice, but the song wasn’t much, and Jon Mayer’s guitar was
too loud and out of tune with John Legend’s keyboard and Corrine’s
acoustic guitar. John Legend sang the second part of the medley, and
his voice was strong and sounder much better than I’ve heard it
on his albums. His piano work was just comping, I didn’t hear him take
a solo or play anything exciting.
The worst part of the
trio was the Jon
Mayer segment.
He sang a blues a la BB King style that was completely forgettable. For
a Grammy winning artist, I am disappointed that this guy has just no
excitement in his act-it is pleasant and vapid and never made me feel a
thing other than triggering my mind’s trove of guitar players that sing
blues and play it at a much higher level-Robben Ford, BB King, Jonathan Blake, Prince. I’m happy
someone young, white and cute is carrying on the blues, but its too bad
it can’t be someone with more strength and guts to his music.
In fact, male energy
in most of the male performers was surprisingly low this year as the
only male performer at the gig with any testosterone was Ludacris. Justin, Mayer, and
the whiny new folk guy all were so in touch with their feminine side,
that I was sure the Dixie Chicks had threatened to
beat them up backstage if they got out of line. Even the Chili Peppers sounded weak and low
energy near the close of the show as the large amount of confetti
shooting out over the crowd could not hide how boring they were live at
this gig. The album is a lot better.
Mary J. Blige has been a longtime
icon in the music industry with a lengthy career filled with ups and
downs (peaks and valley is what she called it during acceptance
speeches). I had lost interest in her music during her latest valley
period and was thrilled to see her come out and sing even stronger than
Beyonce near the beginning of the show. She teamed up with Ludacris,
Earth Wind and Fire (with Philip Bailey singing great two octaves
higher than humanly possible) and did a fantastic song from the new
Ludacris record. Earth Wind’s Verdeen Brown was smoking on the
groove and the story line of the rap while common was interesting
because of the high quality of the live presentation. The only thing
that could have been better was if Christina Aguilera’s mic had been able
stand up to the power she sent its direction during “Its A Man’s World.”
Truly the Grammys make a strong point
in the music industry at this event asking the question of its nominees
“how good
are you live?” which is the true
test of any recording artist now that today’s technology can make
anyone sound good.
2007
Grammy Awards
THIS
IS A REVIEW
of
the live show at Staples Center February 11 2007
By
Rob Mullins
Recording
Academy Voting Member LA Chapter N.A.R.A.S
Head
of Rob Mullins Privatelessons Programs
Member
IAJE
Best Live
Moments
-
1.The Police-Roxanne
-
2.Beyonce-Song from Dreamgirls
-
3.Mary J. Blige-vocal performance
-
4.Ludracris, Mary J. Blige, Earth Wind and Fire-group towards end of show
Grammys on
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