In our continuing series on “An Inside Look At…..” which means anything I am lucky enough to get the Wayne’s World “All Access Pass” to, this week we will focus on the 2010 Grammy Awards. The show garnered its biggest ratings since 2004 – American Idol heights with 28 million viewers. I attended the rehearsals on Saturday and I knew something special was in the wind. This was spectacle pure and simple. With the music industry sales in a long downward slide (blame it on illegal downloads if it makes you feel better), and most of what we get from singles oriented artists being disposable with little or no shelf life, the record industry got just what it needed by a big rush of adrenalin, with the assault lead by some incredibly talented women with absolutely amazing productions. From Lady Ga Ga teamed with Elton John on their “monster mash-up” opening number with a mind blowing set that channeled Metropolis and Modern Times, to Beyonce’s emotion packed medley – and that was just the opening numbers. Pink followed with what I thought was one of the most awe-inspiring performances I have witnessed in all my years; suspended almost to the rafters of the cavernous Staples Center on purple velvet fabric, she was then dipped into a large pool of water then lofted back up to the top while spinning creating a pinwheel of water that rained onto the elegantly dressed crowd below (my wife was in the audience and she said almost everyone of the main floor got at least a sprinkle). As remarkable as Beyonce’s performance was, it was almost as if Pink was saying “Take that Dreamgirl.” The only downside was the others that had to follow. I felt particularly bad for Taylor Swift who really struggled to hold her own with Stevie Nicks. During Saturday’s run through, Taylor was having so much trouble that they cleared the room (for the media at least) as they tried to deal with her uncertain pitch. It sounded as if they were using some sort of electronic pitch correction but the actual Grammy performance on Sunday suffered just as bad, plus it unfortunately sounded even more “electronically enhanced.” To be fair, Taylor is a talented songwriter that has really struck a chord with her following, to the point that the Grammy voters awarded her the top prize “Album of the Year.” Stevie Nicks has so much more experience (as did most of the other performers) that it’s not a fair comparison and Taylor will no doubt improve her vocal qualities as the years go by.
That reminded me of the 2001 Grammy Awards I attended. U2 was at the top of their game and they absolutely blew the roof off the place with a powerful yet melodic version of “It’s a Beautiful Day.” Poor In Sync was no match and not only was their performance unforgettably lackluster, but it sounded as if some of the vocals where actually prerecorded (the band broke up a little while after that but at least Justin Timberlake proved he had the goods). I thought to myself at the time, “There’s nothing like a great live band.” I also thought then as I think today – the true stars that stay on top have worked so hard on all areas of their craft – songwriting, performing, execution and emotion. Jeff Beck has been revered as one of the greatest guitarists of all time which he proved again at this awards show with his tribute to Les Paul on Paul’s classic “How High the Moon.” If you got it, you got it no matter what you attempt.
Which brings me back to the spectacle. Today’s artists know that to keep a listener’s or viewer’s attention, you’ve got to wow them. But that’s not so different from great rock artists in the past. Jerry Lee Lewis would take an axe to his piano, Jimi Hendrix burned his axe, and the Who destroyed practically everything on stage – and that was every show! Think about a Kiss show or David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars tour where it actually seemed like Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust came form another planet. For years, the Stones thrived on huge stage productions as did U2. I can go on and on but you get the picture. True, great bands came along like the Clash and Nirvana who disregarded the spectacle and replaced it with a stripped down show supported only by raw emotion. But that’s the beauty of the ying and yang of the music industry. Right now, people are talking about Pink, Beyonce, Lady Ga Ga’s costumes and Eminem, Drake and Lil Wayne’s profanity laced ending performance for quite a while.
And that’s a good thing for the music industry and there ain’t anything wrong with that.
