Favorite Grammy performance?

[Ckevperry]

As always...a whole lot of bad singing with few truly interesting performances.

My pick is John Mayer. Comes out with just his guitar....his pitch was good....nice little acoustic break. It was coffee house alright, but far better artistry than most everything else that went down.

[cajonezzz]

Originally posted by Ckevperry
As always...a whole lot of bad singing with few truly interesting performances.

My pick is John Mayer. Comes out with just his guitar....his pitch was good....nice little acoustic break. It was coffee house alright, but far better artistry than most everything else that went down.

I think he was lip syncing....looked and sounded to me like the exact same show...ad libs n all that was on the other nite on VH1.
I could be wrong. anyone working that show?

[e-cue]

I only saw up to Coldplay. Ditto on Mayer. Great sound, great performance. I thought Faith Hill suckled the nads of 20 mumified elephant balls.

[Tim L]

I saw about 15 minutes of it. Missed what I wanted to see (Simon and Garfunckel(sp)... didn't think they'd open) but caught the 'All Star' "London Calling". Considering that's all I saw, that's my fav'.

[dave-G]

Recovering from a nasty flu, I actually watched the whole thing.
(something I don't think I've ever done before)

I agree that Mayer was good, and in fact, his record has some very cool songs on it. Coldplay ... good. .. However, overall it was a shuddering experience to hear what the world sounds like without Auto-Tune™. Most of the performers not named Taylor, Garfunkel or Jones seemed to really be missing it last night.

Other highlights/observations:

I know this is sacrilege, but during Springsteen's performance, I wondered what I always wonder about him: why does the prince of New Jersey sing contriving the vocal affectation of a Texan?

I liked how Erykah Badu looked, complete with Buckwheat-in-a-headlock armpits, and I actually appreciated that she insisted on a teleprompter rewind so she could give Alan Lomax his proper introduction. Mr. Lomax deserved the recognition.

The 50% of the N'Sync BeeGees tribute that was in-tune or based on chords that made sense was actually kinda ok, but I hate myself for thinking so.

The London Calling/Joe Strummer tribute was bizarre. Silvio Dante/Little Steven shouldn't have been there, Bruce looked like he could have pulled a neck-tendon just trying to "feel" the song, and it seemed that Grohl and the No Doubters, who were probably tots when the song originally came out understood it better than the others who were actually "there".

.. oh, and I hope we're all in "agreeance"(sic) that Mr. Limp.. er Durst.. shouldn't try to lead any poliical discussion groups anytime soon.

The show itself was a mess, with mics being muted in the middle of performances, off-mic sounds of stage-crews shifting sets, and no comedic host to counterbalance all the cringeworthly introductions and improvisations ("can I grab your ass again?") . . . . . I don't know who mixed the audio, but that's gotta be one of the biggest logistical nightmares imaginable in the realm of mixing. Probably took 10 years off several people's lives. My sympathies...

All told, a sociologically fascinating evening of Toob. In the end, had Norah Jones not won so much, I'd have probably ended the evening in an existential crisis over my chosen career.

-dave

[alphajerk]

didnt watch it... too much crap for me to take in one dosage... or multiple dosages.

[Tim L]

Originally posted by dave-G
... I liked how Erykah Badu looked, complete with Buckwheat-in-a-headlock armpits...

... The mental immage that conjured up was down right frightening...

[chessparov]

Sorry that I missed Simon and Garfunkel too.
I enjoyed "London Calling", James Taylor, and
Norah Jones too. Mayer has a good voice, however,
he mumbled so much I think it had to be a "true" live
performance. Tough choice, I'd have to go with
"London Calling" as that's one of my favorite songs.
Besides, we cant' diss Silvio too much, otherwise Tony
Soprano will be after us.

Kid Rock deserved honorable mention as he surpassed
my (modest) expectations when he sang with Sheryl
Crow. Odd how wimpy Sheryl sounds when she's recorded
on stuff like "I wanna soak up the sun" compared
to her singing live. (didn't like their song though)

[NathanEldred]

Originally posted by e-cue
I thought Faith Hill suckled the nads of 20 mumified elephant balls.

Damn that's HOT!!

[NathanEldred]

Originally posted by chessparov
Odd how wimpy Sheryl sounds when she's recorded
on stuff like "I wanna soak up the sun" compared
to her singing live. (didn't like their song though)

Yeah, 400 tracks of layered BG voxs will do that.

[RKrizman]

My fave was James Taylor and YoYo Ma. I also liked London Calling, and thought Norah Jones was endearingly nervous as she hurried through her song.

-R

[Ckevperry]

Originally posted by chessparov


Kid Rock deserved honorable mention as he surpassed
my (modest) expectations (didn't like their song though)

He was concentrating so much on his singing maybe thats why he only changed chords every 12 bars...

[sonic dogg]

I thought the 'chicks' were allright...at least there wasnt any 'autotune' on em...nice to see them singin through ksm-32's..john mayer was good too..nice acoustic sound...james taylor too, could have used a bit more yo-yo...faith sounded like she was tired and didnt have a good monitor mix...missed simon and that other guy...missed no doubt....thought the skater grrl was terrible...cute but really awful singer....the orchestra was very good until coldplay came on with em...could you see the violinist right behind the drummers big cymbal flinch everytime he hit it?!!the clash tribute had no guitar mics on did it?....sheryl crow was okay and kid rock was good...but he kept lookin down to make sure he was on the right chord.....i actually thought that emminems song went the best as far as sound..i was surprised he had a live band...i still dont like him as a person...as an artist hes okay....overall it was a producers nightmare ending up in aproducers headache maybe ending up in a producers suicide...good thing robin williams wasnt the host.....manic

[Bob Olhsson]

I don't think most of the folks using the earphones could hear. The bit with the kids singing with floor-boxes was a dead give-away because they were the only ones really singing in tune!

I suppose I was most impressed by Springsteen although I'm not particularly a fan of his. Some of the stuff was so bullsh!t that I began wondering if I really wanted to stay in the record business.

[Kris]

I caught bits and pieces... did you guys see the camera shot of Aretha Franklin, right after the No Doubt performance? She was definately NOT impressed...:eek:

[Jax]

IMO, from worst to better:

- Nelly (really sucks... plus disturbing walls of video fire and real fire considering what happened in RI)

- Avril Lavigne
- Faith Hill
- Various soul singers and 'N Sync all sucked, plus I don't like the BeeGees, but it was cool for them to give the award to Barry Gibb's son
- Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock (when were they on key with eachother?)
- John Mayer (BORING music)
- No Doubt
- Dixie Chicks shouldn't mess around with "Landslide", they don't have passion like Stevie Nicks, they're COUNTRY singers
- Vanessa Carlton (mediocre but at least she has a good, unique voice, too much fawning and cutesifying her own voice, though)
- NY Symphony "West Side Story" (cheesy music but well performed... undoubtedly the best musicians in the house)
- Simon and Garfunkel (Simon was flat quite a bit)
- Cold Play
- James Taylor (whose music is fairly boring) and YoYo Ma (who made the song worth listening to, but was barely mic'd)
- Eminem with Roots (not bad, I liked when they kicked in the DMC riff)

- Norah Jones

All in all a very forgettable experience. Not unusual for the Grammies. I hope I'm doing something worthwhile next year at this time.

[Jax]

Originally posted by Kris
I caught bits and pieces... did you guys see the camera shot of Aretha Franklin, right after the No Doubt performance? She was definately NOT impressed...:eek:

She looked like wtf was that? lol

When Aretha sang briefly from the podium, that was the best sound with the most feel of the whole night.

[tunesmith]

Grammys were a mixed bag, I thought...

Some obvious let downs and groaners that I won't tredge through, since all the previous posters seemed to have adequately summed our feelings.

A few thoughts with that already said.

Eminem was compelling as always... I was dissapointed with the Roots until the last 16 bars when they really hit it. That was a jolt of much needed electricity. It struck me that analog and digital are odd bedfellows. We digital guys lose sleep trying to get an analog sound, all the while creating music that cannot possibly be reproduced live. Oh well...

Vanessa reminds us what valuable inventions Autotune and the L2 were. John did well but seemed a little stiff and rushed. Didn't embarrass himself, he just didn't bring his good stuff last night. A killer artist though... watch for him in 10 years. And then JT ambles on the stage and it was like slipping into your favorite T-shirt fresh from the dryer. I love that guy... a classic.

The Boss was cool but I am worried about him getting nodules. The voice is a precious instrument, don't forget.

When Norah won (this was #4 or #5) a friend commented that she didn't really have a personality. It hit me that while she wasn't the most exciting marketing campaign on the screen, but she was one who brought her stuff and brought it well, who was a class act and SHE KEPT ON THANKING HER PRODUCERS, ENGINEERS, AND FELLOW MUSICIANS.

We could certainly do worse, boys and girls.

Peace out...


The Nelly / Kelly Rowland was certainly the worst thing I have ever forced my poor eyes to witness. What poor ****** had the bright idea to CHOREOGRAPH a Dilemma / Hot in Heeerrrre remix? They should be forced to teach 8th grade band for a year as penance for such drivel.

[Steve Smith]

I got back to the hotel just as the boss hit the stage.. he rocked as allways IMHO. Em and the Roots was way cool for me, the band was tight, and thank god they let go at the end, I loved the whole tension/release aspect of the way they did the song. I second Norah for actually remembering the folks who made the record, and she mentioned my man Kevin Briet TWICE..

Alliah sucked beyond compare, It was nice for Aretha to kick ass in only 7 letters ( and Mrs Jones was all too star strcuk at her and bonnie.. way cool)

I thought the London Calling thing was super cool, although I am bummed to have missed JT and some of the others in the first half...

[CrazyBeast]

Originally posted by dave-G
Recovering from a nasty flu, I actually watched the whole thing.
(something I don't think I've ever done before)

I liked how Erykah Badu looked, complete with Buckwheat-in-a-headlock armpits, and I actually appreciated that she insisted on a teleprompter rewind so she could give Alan Lomax his proper introduction. Mr. Lomax deserved the recognition.

The 50% of the N'Sync BeeGees tribute that was in-tune or based on chords that made sense was actually kinda ok, but I hate myself for thinking so.

The London Calling/Joe Strummer tribute was bizarre. Silvio Dante/Little Steven shouldn't have been there, Bruce looked like he could have pulled a neck-tendon just trying to "feel" the song, and it seemed that Grohl and the No Doubters, who were probably tots when the song originally came out understood it better than the others who were actually "there".

.. oh, and I hope we're all in "agreeance"(sic) that Mr. Limp.. er Durst.. shouldn't try to lead any poliical discussion groups anytime soon.

The show itself was a mess, with mics being muted in the middle of performances, off-mic sounds of stage-crews shifting sets, and no comedic host to counterbalance all the cringeworthly introductions and improvisations ("can I grab your ass again?") . . . . . I don't know who mixed the audio, but that's gotta be one of the biggest logistical nightmares imaginable in the realm of mixing. Probably took 10 years off several people's lives. My sympathies...

All told, a sociologically fascinating evening of Toob. In the end, had Norah Jones not won so much, I'd have probably ended the evening in an existential crisis over my chosen career.

-dave

I didn't see the show, and now I don't feel like I needed to. What a hilarious and (I'm sure) right on post...

Cheers!

[joeq]

My favorite Grammy "performance" was the acting job done by the 25-30 "kids" wearing the same black t-shirt who "rushed the stage" and pogoed to Avril Lavigne with such "enthusiasm" and somehow managed to not get escorted away until the song was over.

wonder how much they got paid...

[drew]

Originally posted by Ckevperry
Re: Favorite Grammy performance?

uh........the end credits?

[David R.]

I only caught bits and pieces. Simon and Garfunkle, although great to see them together, were not very good. Their timing and Simon's pitch were off. Looks like they still hate eachother. They never looked at eachother. Even after the performance. When I am trying to get tight with another singer, I watch their mouth. These guys never looked.

It's the same at the Central Park concert.

Faith Hill, for a great singer from a small town, she looked like a bad hootchie from a big city who couldn't sing.

James Taylor was good, but Yo Yo was not loud enough.

Nore Jones I liked.

[7rojo7]

is anyone here familiar with San Remo in Italy? Sounds like you could be all talking about that. Here it lasts for a whole week and nobody (nobody) except Tom Jones performs live.

[THEMIXFIX]

Anyone know who did the mixes for the show, and which remote truck was used for the Broadcast audio?

[Remoteness]

Effanel Music handled the music mix with John Harris and Jay Vicari (or his brother, I forget) mixing.

Randy Ezratty handled the 5.1 mix via Joel Singer's OnSite Recording truck.

All Mobile Video handled the video and TV audio duties. I don't remember who mixed the TV audio.