If righteous indignation isn’t the reflexive reaction for most folks when watching the Grammys, it’s probably at least their preferred mode of viewership. Because really, no one watches music-award shows to see good work rewarded, to see pop’s biggest and best stars shine their brightest, and certainly not to be exposed to any previously unfamiliar artists for the first time. Mostly, we just want to know what people are gonna be complaining about on Twitter the next morning — if we’re not already there bitching ourselves.
With that in mind, we’ve created a primer for the areas of potential annoyance to watch out for at this year’s ceremonies — some of which we believe will happen, some of which we know for a fact will happen, all of which we’re betting will draw the public’s ire from Monday night well into Tuesday morning.
1. Taylor Swift’s opening performance. For an artist up for seven statues, honoring a year that was almost unquestionably the most successful of her career, Taylor Swift feels strangely like an afterthought at these awards. It doesn’t help that 1989 is 15 months old, nor that it feels like she was already half-honored for it at last year’s awards (where lead single “Shake It Off” was nominated for Record and Song of the Year), nor that she’s already delivered kickoff performances at the AMAs and the VMAs during this album cycle, nor that public sentiment largely turned against her over the course of her endless, globe-trotting victory tour. Throw in Taylor’s sporadic live pitchiness, and you’ve got a Grammys that’s guaranteed to get people snickering from its opening minutes.
2. LL Cool J, yet again. James Todd Smith is on his way to becoming the Bob Hope of the Grammys, with this year marking his remarkable fifth straight ceremonies as host. If this surprises you — even if you’ve watched all five of those years — that’s probably because his role as host is a negligible and altogether unnecessary one, the former hip-hop heavy (and current NCIS: Los Angeles star) reduced to pitching CBS’ purposefully unexciting programming and letting fans at home know what hashtags they should be using. Only so many “Really, don’t call it a comeback” jokes left to make at this point.
3. The Weeknd’s Fifty Shades theme winning Best R&B Song. “Earned It” isn’t a bad song, though no way was it one of the Weeknd’s best of the year: The only reason it should have been nominated over “The Hills” or “Can’t Feel My Face” would be some dubious distinction-ing about the Fifty Shades waltz being more Authentically R&B in its string-swept melodrama. In any event, it shouldn’t beat Miguel’s “Coffee” or D’Angelo’s “Really Love” — two of the period’s best by any measure — and maybe not underrated ballads by Tyrese or Jazmine Sullivan, either. But the song’s (and Fifty Shades’) mainstream omnipotence will out.
4. Meghan Trainor beating Courtney Barnett. This is almost unfair to poor M-Train, because if there was ever an Honored-to-be-Nominated artist in this category, it’s Courtney Barnett, whose singular, low-key brilliance and utter lack of mainstream hits make her about as anomalous a fit for the historically fluky Best New Artist award as we’ve had this century. Still, a lab-designed BNA expectant like Meghan Trainor is never gonna be the people’s champ, regardless of other nominees, and even Barnett herself is likely to forget Trainor’s name as quickly as she learned it, so you can expect plenty to be incensed on her behalf.
5. The tribute to Lionel Richie. Nothing against 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year honoree Lionel Richie and his vast catalog of (moderately) timeless hits. But in a year suddenly overflowing with music-legend death — David Bowie, B.B. King, Glenn Frey, and Lemmy from Motörhead are all scheduled tribute recipients, and you have to figure they’ll somehow account for Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire as well — having a who’s who of Top 40 MOR (Demi Lovato, John Legend, Luke Bryan, and, you guessed it, Meghan Trainor) pay homage to a pop great that’s alive and well feels wildly unnecessary.
6. “Glory” winning Best Rap Song. Speaking of Legend, his and Common’s pandering Selma anthem — which feels like it came out six Grammys ago at this point — is, somehow, still eligible at this year’s ceremonies. It’s facing some much-worthier competition from Fetty Wap, Kanye West, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar (whose nominated “Alright” actually became the modern-day civil rights anthem “Glory” so desperately wanted to be), but betting against this song at a gala where they give out shiny statues as reward for good performance would just be foolish at this point.
7. Tori Kelly and James Bay’s duet. If there’s a moment that’s just gonna stump the Internet from this year’s Grammys, it’ll almost certainly be this duet between two Best New Artist nominees, presumably neither of whom were quite famous enough to carry a performance by themselves. The two will be performing a mashup of their hits, but outside of fans of theirs and regular listeners to Adult Top 40, there might not be a ton of viewers familiar with either’s songs — neither artist has yet cracked the top half of the Hot 100. Kelly’s not too bad, and she proved at last year’s VMAs that she has the pipes to make a middling song a memorable performance, but Bay is gonna remind a lot of people of another British James B., who unleashed his similar braying on an unsuspecting American public a decade ago.
8. Lady Gaga missing the point. Five years ago Lady Gaga would have been just about the perfect choice to key a David Bowie Grammys tribute: She’d show up wearing a fluorescent Ziploc bag and with her face hidden under a veil of pig entrails, she’d sing some Klaus Nomi-operatic version of “Fame” that segued into a spoken-word recital from the China Girl’s perspective, and she’d close by giving birth to the planet Mars. But this Gaga — post-Tony Bennett Gaga, post-Super Bowl Gaga, post-Diane Warren Gaga — she’ll probably wear a tasteful black cocktail dress, sing a ballad version of “Changes” with only piano accompaniment, and stretch the final “I can’t trace T-I-I-I-ME!!!” to 27 syllables. Pass.
9. Alabama Shakes winning Album of the Year. Sound & Color isn’t a bad album — it’s not even a boring album, not like how people that haven’t heard it probably think it is. But it’s not a critically lionized, culturally unimpeachable work like To Pimp a Butterfly, and it’s not a chart-conquering, era-defining blockbuster like 1989 (or even the Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness), which means that if it wins, a lot of people aren’t gonna know what to do with it. And for the record, the Shakes fit the Album of the Year mold better than any of the other nominees: An NPR-friendly, rock-soul hybrid who have a powerhouse lead vocalist and actually sell records? If Kendrick beats them, it’s gonna be a much bigger upset than people realize.
10. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis doing… something. They’re not listed nominees, performers, or presenters — a cursory CTRL + F for them on the Wiki page for the 2016 Grammys returns zero reults. But if you’re betting that America’s loudest hip-hop duo will not be heard from, somehow, on this night — the night of Kendrick’s possible Grammy redemption, and just a couple weeks before the release of This Unholy Mess I’ve Made — you better pray that those dudes get stuck north of the border during All-Star Weekend.
Spin
https://www.yahoo.com/music/ten-things-2016-grammys-gonna-134200349.html
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BIG MUSIC FESTIVAL POISED FOR BUENA VISTA COULD BECOME ANNUAL EVENT
BUENA VISTA — Chaffee County commissioners appear poised to OK a four-day music festival expected to draw 20,000 people to a ranch outside Buena Vista. If approved, Madison House Presents and AEG Live hope to make the festival an annual event in the upper Arkansas River Valley.
“I don’t see having challenges we could not overcome,” Chaffee County Commissioner Dave Potts told a packed community center in downtown Buena Vista on Tuesday. “I have faith in Madison House that is well earned that they can do what needs to be done.”
Boulder-based Madison House Presents proved its mettle in August with the two-day Gentlemen of the Road concert that drew 20,000 people to Salida.
“I hate to sound like I’m pushing this thing, but we really had no problem with this. There’s really not a lot of negatives to talk about,” said county sheriff John Spezze. The sheriff and county emergency medical services last summer billed Madison House more than $80,000 for county overtime, communications and medical services.
Still, Spezze said he would not sign off on a concert that involved “bands that are notorious for problems.”
Organizers are not ready to disclose headliners for the Aug. 4-7 festival, but promised bands that would attract a wide range of ages. If the county commissioners approve the festival at their next meeting in early March, a festival lineup would be ready a few weeks later.
We know we are the new kids on the block and we also know if we are not good community members we won’t be doing this again,” Madison House Presents president Jeremy Stein said, explaining that his team will soon begin community meetings to hear resident concerns.
Of the roughly two dozen residents who spoke at the meeting, most were supportive. But about 10 residents were very opposed to the proposal, which got its first public airing Tuesday.
Neighbors of the 274-acre ranch developer Jed Selby bought in early 2014 were irked they didn’t have more advance notice. They raised concerns about traffic, noise and said 19,000 people camping for three nights in their backyard will disrupt their lives.
“I do not question Mr. Selby’s right to develop his property as he sees fit. We all have that right. I do question the impact of this on his neighbors,” said Susan Klinsing, whose rural neighborhood borders the potential festival grounds. “This is surrounded by people who moved to this community and moved to the mountains to get away from the crowds and the noise. Now it’s following us.”
Supporters cited Buena Vista’s tourist-based economy and the need to embrace all visitors.
The festival promises a big economic bump. Sales tax collections in August last year in Salida reached a monthly all-time high, surpassing $509,000 and eclipsing July collections for the first time. Salida’s lodging and restaurants sales tax revenues alone climbed more than 30 percent over August 2014.
“This will be a windfall for me,” said Thomas Liverman, who wants to expand his Lettucehead Food Company grocery inside the festival grounds.
“We need this. My employees need this,” said Lenny Eckstein, whose Deerhammer Distilling Co. has made whiskey on Buena Vista’s Main Street since 2011. “I think this will be amazing for our town.”
Unlike last year, festival organizers are planning to contain all festivalgoers inside the venue.
Last year, Madison House hosted smaller music events in downtown Salida, which blocked off an area around its river park for beer drinking and concerts.
This time,Madison House Presents and AEG Live propose to schedule acts to 1 a.m. on Thursday and Sunday, and 2:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, essentially keeping people inside the festival grounds for the entire night.
The idea is to keep from overwhelming Buena Vista, which is roughly half the size of Salida. If even a couple percent of festivalgoers rally in town, that’s enough to fill the town’s bars and restaurants.
“We have to be cognizant of what this town can handle,” Madison House Presents’ festival director Michael Sampliner said.
Selby said he’s keenly aware of Buena Vista’s capacity, especially for new development. When his family acquired the sprawling series of meadows flanking Cottonwood Creek in the shadow of the towering Collegiate Range, a previous developer had sketched as many as 715 homes on the property.
Selby’s bustling South Main community, on the town’s former dump on the banks of the Arkansas River, has more than 50 homes and commercial buildings. He was reticent to seed more homes at the ranch, but, he said, “it’s too big to do nothing.”
Last summer he started talking to Madison House and AEG about hosting a festival.
“We have been scratching our heads on how we can preserve this property,” said Selby, explaining how hay production in his meadows also fits the grassy needs of a camping festival. “We can occupy it one weekend a year and that allows us to keep the farm operational. This has the potential to actually preserve what is really is. It is the best Colorado has to offer.”
Several people who support the festival questioned its timing.
Buena Vista is busy in early August, with most of the town’s modest hotels already full. The Gentlemen of the Road festival worked because it was later in August, when region’s bustling summer season is waning.
“There’s a lot of room to grow in the latter half of August,” said Greg Felt, whose Ark Anglers fishing outfit has had an office in Buena Vista since 1999. “Those first 10 days of August are the busiest on our calendar.”
Bill Dvorak, who owns a whitewater rafting expedition company in the valley, said most rafting outfitters would be able to assist with shuttling festivalgoers if the date was pushed back to later August.
“To try and do this event at the peak of the season doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Dvorak said.
Ken Krehn, a homeowner near the Selby property, didn’t hide his contempt for the plan.
“We are already bursting at the seams in summer,’ Krehn said. “We are going to pump 20,000 more people in here … is just ridiculous.”
Madison House’s Stein told the gathering he was very amenable to moving the festival dates in future years, but this year it cannot be changed from the Aug. 4-7 weekend.
“This year, our back is against the wall,” he said. “There is a lot to be said about moving this to the shoulder season.”
By Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or @jasonblevins | The Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_29524221/big-music-festival-poised-buena-vista-could-become