Monday, February 12, 2007

Grammy '07

"We are the Police and we're BAAACK" is not the most creative way to announce your comeback. A better way to do it might have been to not play "Roxanne" and surprise the hell out of everyone. But Sting sounded strong, Copeland seemed to have lost none of his drumming chops (though he now resembles Jerry Springer) and Andy's battered Telecaster still produced that sound. (Jamie Foxx's profound observation after Police's performance: "this goes to show the power of collaboration is HAWT".)

Gnarls Barkley's rendition of "Crazy" was *insanely* brilliant. Has any band in the history of pop ever performed in an airline pilot uniform?

Rick Rubin is God but the Dixie Chicks put me to sleep. As did the unconvincingly fake "country" tribute to The Eagles and Bob Wills. Playing a tired, note-for-note cover of "Hotel California" and - YAWN- "Desperado" is not a tribute. It's karaoke. Did the Grammy organizers (and Carrie Underwood) know that Bob Wills wrote "Sittin' on top of the world"? Not just any song, but "Sittin' On Top of the world", ok? You want to pay a tribute to that great man, why not get someone who can really sing? Like Christina Aguilera. She did JB proud.

Mary J.'s inspirational epic-song-duet with Ludacris and little girls marching out with candles in their hands magically transported me to Hallmarkland.

Uh, "Hello". Hello?

As expected, Chili Peppers played a solid gig. Just like AC/DC, they have a sound and a formula and they are faithful to it. Besides, they showed their love for Ornette Coleman and that's what good bands do. Expose their fans to new ideas.

The Grammy Dude's speech was only slightly less interesting than John Mayer's performance. But thanks to such moments, I was able to catch most of The Simpsons, King of the Hill and Family Guy.

Where is the Soy Bomb guy when you need him?

2 comments:

MockTurtle said...

Didn't watch it, but you really think that Christina Aguilera did JB proud? That's not what I got from the review that I read.
It claimed;
"The late Godfather of Soul was remembered with a performance by Christina Aguilera that managed to hit all the wrong notes, even while staying pitch-perfect."

and

"She has an undeniably good set of pipes, but it seemed somewhat sacrilegious to honor the Soul great with a singer bereft of the stuff."

km said...

MT: That would have been my verdict too a few years ago. She is definitely an over-the-top vocalist. But somehow, in the context of JB's song, her singing felt just right.