Grammy Lammy Ding Dong
I usually avoid the Grammy awards telecast like the plague. Few of the nominees or performers interest me. I watched most of the show this year, however. It was...uninspiring, to say the least. A few observations:
- There seemed to be 5-minute commercial breaks every 10 minutes
- Justin Timberlake definitely doesn't do it for me (although he somehow has developed cred with indie-types).
- I've listened to the latest Dixie Chicks album a fair amount, mainly because Minnesotans Dan Wilson and Gary Louris co-wrote most of the songs with the gals. While I enjoy hearing the Wilson and Louris influence, it's only a decent album. After all the crap they went though for daring to make an anti-Bush joke, it's nice to see them be recognized by their peers. When they won for best country album (ironic, because it was the country fans and radio stations that boycotted them in response to the "unpatriotic" statement they made) Natalie Maines said "That's interesting. To quote the great Simpsons, ha-ha!" (with the proper Nelson Muntz inflection)
- I was most interested in seeing The Police play, but didn't realize they were going to lead things off. I caught the video on YouTube, and they sounded decent. I thought it was a little odd that thy came to the front of the stage for a bow after playing a single song, but I guess they're excited (at least Andy and Stewart) to be playing together again.
- The Red Hot Chili Peppers finished things off, and I was reminded why I haven't given a crap about the band since Blood Sugar Sex Magik. They played some lame poppy rock ballad that was painful to hear. Flea's wardrobe was at least amusing. They had a hand-written sing proclaiming "Love to Ornette Coleman."
Here's The Police playing "Roxanne." I liked Sting's little jump at the end. I'd like to see them when they tour, just to check out Stewart Copeland's mad drum skills, but i don't think I'll be shelling out $50-$100 for an arena show.
