Grammys 2016

For the first time in forever, I actually sat down and intentionally watched the Grammys last night. Other than the boring pre-show interviews and the millions of commercials, it was actually damn fun. I also tried out Twitter for the first time to see what that would be like to use, and had a good time giving instant reactions to what was going on in the show.  You can see those thoughts at @dulljackmusic on Twitter.

Best Performances:

1. Gary Clark, Jr., Chris Stapleton, and Bonnie Raitt.  Freaking sick tribute to BB King.  So freaking good.  Go check it out here.
2. Alabama Shakes.  Fine, straight-forward rendition of "Don't Wanna Fight."
3. Kendrick Lamar.  Holy crap, man.  He brought that fire and didn't hold back punches. Excellent, intense, and a little overwhelming.  I wish he could do those things and still be a little more fun, but I suppose we need someone to be serious these days.
4. Lady Gaga - I enjoyed this David Bowie tribute.  Can't say I care much for Gaga in general, but I thought she tore this thing up, really hitting the different sounds and looks of Bowie while furiously trying to jam as many songs as possible into their slot.  Nice tribute.
5. Hamilton.  I would pay a large amount of money to go see this musical right now.  If they would have done the Ten Duel Commandments song, I might have bought tickets to NY last night and liquidated the kids' college funds to make it happen.
6. Adele - I would have given her higher praise if it wasn't for the jacked up piano and weird noises going on behind her that kind of jacked up the performance.  But I just love the full-on emotional way that she belts this stuff out.  You really get the feeling like she is about to break down and cry in the middle of the song.
7. Eagles and Jackson Brown - Take it Easy.  Solid rendition, although I thought they were rude to interrupt a speech to start it up.
8. Tori Kelly and James Bay - surprisingly awesome.  Kelly's voice is great, and James Bay made his song sound interesting and not soul-crushingly boring.  Well done.
9. Taylor Swift - Out of the Woods.  Well done, can't say that is my favorite of her songs, although my kids were enthralled.
10. Little Big Town's Girl Crush.  The wife surprised me on this one with a strong opinion liking this song.  I was pretty blah about it, but after listening to her take on it I recognized that this rendition was great and the song ain't bad.
11. Miguel doing Michael Jackson.  Fine.  Pretty true to the original.
12. Andra Day and Ellie Goulding.  Day has a great voice, but I couldn't get behind this mashup. Mediocre.
13. Pentatonix and Stevie Wonder.  Wish it could have just been Stevie on his own.
14. Justin Beiber and Jack U.  Beibs did just fine on the guitar by himself.  I wish they would have played the song as it normally sounds.  The rock and drum mix was pretty weak.
15. The Weeknd - I Can't Feel My Face and In the Night.  ICFMF was pretty good, but I couldn't tell if he was trying to do effects and tremolo on his voice in the "In the Night" performance or if his voice was crapping out.
16. Hollywood Vampires.  The camera work made me want to vomit, all fast cuts and slick pans, and the music wasn't all that much better.  I bet that they are all great on the guitar and whatnot, but it just felt underwhelming and contrived.
17. Lionel Richie medley.  John Legend killed it, the rest was underwhelming.  Although I kind of enjoyed watching Mark Ronson singing along in his seat behind Richie.  I bet that was kind of annoying.
18. Sam Hunt and Carrie Underwood.  Underwhelming, not a very interesting show, and Hunt's voice seemed off.
19. Pitbull.  This just felt strained, like the Grammy people decided they needed to have a Hispanic person perform so no one would tweet that GrammysSoWhite.  If Chris Martin or Kendrick Lamar had jumped on stage with a kids song that just said the word Taxi over and over, wouldn't people have destroyed it?  Why does this clown get a pass?  I did love the fact that people obviously started walking out during the performance, but seriously, couldn't there have been a better closer?

Love that Alabama Shakes went home with a stack of trophies, as I love that album.  Was disappointed that Courtney Barnett lost the Best New Artist trophy to (ineligible) Meghan Trainor.  Was surprised that TayTay won album of the year over Kendrick.  Was super excited for Chris Stapleton to win Best Country Album.  Glad to also see Jason Isbell won for top Americana album, and I'll have to check out the Steeldrivers for their win in Bluegrass.  I've never even heard of Ghost B.C.

Good night of music though!  Loved watching and look forward to doing it again next year. Does anyone know why they do it on a Monday night?