The 56th Annual Grammy Awards and Performances on Review

Thursday, January 30th, 2014 by Rachel

This year’s Grammy Award Ceremony was pretty spectacular. Most would be surprised that it was even an award show. Over the course of nearly 4 hours, 82 winners took home awards, but the viewers at home were shown 10 of those 82. The rest of the evening’s broadcast was musical performances. But I really can’t complain. Here are some of the high light performances in my opinion, in no particular order. The performance rooster was stacked and action packed. The Grammys opened with Beyonce and Jay-Z performing a single of her recently dropped, self-titled album “Drunk in Love.” It was killer. Between her rotating stage and their flawless vocal performance, their understated performance allowed their talent to shine and it was a great way to start the show. The  next stand out performance was just as grand, but it a more spectacular way.

Katy Perry performed her hit “Dark Horse” from her 2013 album Prism with Juicy J. Her spooky set and amazing acrobatic choreography were incredible. Plus she sounded great and it was awesome to hear trap music being able to command the stage.  She was a real crowd pleaser, and when Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons performing a mash-up of M.A.A.D City and Radioactive, in crisp white outfits and stellar drums, people swooned. They murdered their performance and it ended the way a typical Color Run does.

The mother of all mothers, the most amazing collaboration to grace the stage of the Grammys, Daft Punk, Pharrell, Niles Rodgers and Steve Wonder with their Get Lucky Medley. It was all sorts of amazing and perfection. Another awesome collaboration took us back to the roots of country as Merle Haggard, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Blake Shelton took the stage. They all sounded great and the performance felt heart-felt. Plus it was awesome that they sang “Momma, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys.”

P!NK (shout out to our shared home county, Bucks, PA) was simply wondrous. She shows up Cirque du Soleil with her aerial-acro! She went on to share the stage with Nate Ruess from FUN. and the duo performed their Grammy nominated song, ” Just Give Me a Reason.”  Where as Lorde delivered a very understated performance. Lorde performed her Grammy award winning “Royals” of her debut album, Pure Heroine. Her finger tips were dipped in black and she did her cool, weird dancing. I liked it. And when she won her surprise and appreciation was sweet and genuine. Her staccato performance was followed by a heart-warming performance by country newbie, Hunter Hayes.

John Legend was simple and beautiful. His performance of “All of Me” was elegant and his beautiful wife was in his line of vision the entire time, making everyone watching jealous of her. While when Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr took to the stage, we were given everything you can ask for from a Grammys performance. It was upbeat and fun, and Paul’s piano was awesome.

The last, but certainly not least, performance that was note-worthy, was that off Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, featuring Mary Lambert and Madonna. The performed “Same Love” while Queen Latifah officiated the marriages of 33 couples of all genders, races and sexual orientations. It was quite beautiful to watch and a pretty incredible feat. It was inspiring to watch 33 couple share their love with us. Mary Lambert was simple fantastic and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, who took home four Grammys including best new artist, were awesome.

Posted in Music, News | No Comments »

Staff Picks: Kait’s Top Albums of 2013

Tuesday, December 17th, 2013 by Kait Connaughton

Disclosure – Settle – 

Before 2013, electronic music was a rare find in my iTunes. This year, however, has been rather kind to the deteriorating genre (although I can’t say the same about EDM culture) with explosive releases from Daft Punk, James Blake, Pretty Lights, and my favorite of the year, Disclosure. Made up of two UK bloaks who just happen to be brothers, Disclosure debuted their first album Settle in June 2013 and needless to say, I have not stopped listening since. If you are not listening yet, you are doing yourself a disservice; that’s how strongly I feel about Disclosure.

Suggested Tracks: “Latch,” “Help Me Lose My Mind,” “Boiling,” & “What’s In Your Head”

(more…)

Posted in Music, News | No Comments »