(NSFW – lyrics) (Continuous autoplay)
Via Slate. This performance seems to deserve mention on a political blog somehow.
(Lady Gaga’s tribute to David Bowie, on the other hand… I’m not a Bowie expert, but her overarching effect was “trying too hard”, which is pretty much the opposite of David Bowie.)
Ruckus
Well now, she isn’t Bowie is she?
Trying too hard? Did she have someone throwing flaming knives or something along that line?
Was she trying to be Bowie? Didn’t think so.
Brachiator
Her performance was too frenetic and ceased to be tribute when it became a parody of itself.
Even Bowie’s son tried to be kind, while also tweeting, in effect, WTF?
But the entire show was a bit of a shambles. The performance of the opening of “Hamilton” (and that acceptance speech!), and Kendrick Lamar’s electric performance were highlights.
sharl
Zinsky
I thought the Lady Gaga medley of Bowie tunes was lame, as well. Even though I am a late middle-aged man, I thought Taylor Swift killed the opening number, “Out of the Woods”. But the highlight of the night was Bonnie Raitt and Gary Clark, Jr. riffing on B.B. King’ “The Thrill is Gone”. Pure blues heaven! Bonnie is a national treasure.
evap
My friend Susan Archie won her third grammy! For best boxed or special limited package (she’s a designer) for “The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records, Volume Two (1928-32)” Go, Suepie!!!
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
I find myself distressingly attracted to way-too-young Taylor Swift in that spangly jumpsuit.
geg6
Gaga’s heart was in the right place but, as a gigantic Bowie fan, I was not impressed. I thought Lionel Ritchie made the people paying tribute look like amateurs. Taylor was ok. I can’t say how much I love Bonnie Raitt. The Weekend was just amazing. Hits and misses, as always. And sorry country fans, all of them sucked donkey balls.
Wag
Whoever chose a largely white band to cover Master Blaster, the band made that black power masterpiece look more like Rhodesia than Zimbabwe. It sounded great, but the optics were way off.
gogol's wife
Hamilton was great! I wish I could see it . . . .
Paul in KY
@geg6: Saw Lionel at Bonnaroo a couple of years ago. What a show!!
laura
Hollywood Vampires cover of Ace of Spades in tribute to Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister!
jake the antisoshul soshulist
“LA, Hollywood, and the Sunset Strip
Is something everyone should see
Neon lights and the pretty pretty girls
All dressed so scantily
When they play their music, that hard rock music
They like it with a lot of flash
But it’s still that same old back beat rhythm
That really kicks ’em in the….”
Pretty much sums up the Grammys.
I do agree about the highlight being the tribute
to B. B. King. I am glad I got to see him perforn,
though not in his prime.
I have been a fan of Bonnie Raitt for
a long time. I even remember that
she dedicated her first album to the
people of North Vietnam.
And I thought even the Z Z Top
wannabe did a decent job in the
tribute.
Starfish
@Ruckus: She got a Bowie tattoo on her side and posted it on Instagram.
Shana
@Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class: You and my husband.
I thought the Hamilton opening song was great. It’s the first time anyone who hasn’t been able to see the show could see what it’s really like. One nit, the staging is so great and uses the whole stage so well that you missed it with all the close-ups. Nice to see the faces up close though. So, conflicted….
MCA1
Agree with all the critiques above re: Lady Gaga’s tribute, and I wasn’t much of a Bowie fan. Too many clips of songs, too frenetic, turned into almost more of a parody.
Kendrick Lamar was very powerful. I’ll bet a lot of people who don’t listen to rap or hip hop heard him for the first time last night and thought “Wow, that guy’s no joke.”
It’s funny how at a mash-up, cavalcade live act bonanza like the Grammy’s, where they try to let both of the moment acts and actual legends have time in the spotlight, you can see the real talents just blazing through all the wannabes. Like when Andra Day was crushing it and then got derailed by the vastly inferior Joey Lauren Adams. Sorry, Ellie Golding. Or how pathetic Justin Bieber looked compared to just about everyone. John Legend was the only one who could hold a candle to the guy he and a bunch of others were trying to pay tribute to. The country guy singing with Carrie Underwood was horrible.
During the B.B. King tribute, I was surprised to see Chris Stapleton up there, primarily because he’s country but also because he’s the classic Nashville songwriter who finally got a record deal – a very good songwriter, but not a session guy, who’s got no instrumental reputation. So, he started off and Mrs. MCA1 said “He’s pretty good” and I said “Yes, but wait until Gary Clark starts playing.” And when he did, she said “Ohhhh. Wow.” Frankly, I thought that was a disservice to Stapleton – he’s very talented, just not as a blues guitarist.
JustRuss
I only caught about 10 minutes of the show. Unfortunately, that included Adele’s performance. I like her work, but dear god, dial it back a little. I guess there were some technical issues with piano, so kudos for working through that.