Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammys content)

I'm half watching the Grammys, mostly to see Kacey Musgraves ( if you are a fan of good songwriting and feel like modern country music is suffering from a "bro"- verload, check her out) and saw the Imagine Dragons performance ,which featured numerous random drums all around the stage. That reminded me of this clip by Gin Wigmore, where she is stationed beside a floor tom.

http://youtu.be/3DdG5xwiavs

I know I've seen 2 or 3 other clips where drums have been up front on stands but rarely actually played. It all just makes me feel so,....feel so.....cheap!

And Kacey Musgraves won a Grammy!

Anyone have any other Grammy observations?
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

I only saw Lars find his true calling playing open hi-hat for a solid 5 minutes :)

On the stage prop thing, I think this is beginning to trend- the most recent band on SNL (Bastille) had a DW gong drum for the singer to smack at the beginning of a chorus. I think he hit it three times the whole night. Not exactly musically necessary...
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

That reminded me of this clip by Gin Wigmore, where she is stationed beside a floor tom.

http://youtu.be/3DdG5xwiavs

I know I've seen 2 or 3 other clips where drums have been up front on stands but rarely actually played. It all just makes me feel so,....feel so.....cheap!

Funny. The lead singer in my band suggested we play this, so we've been rehearsing it the last few practices. I asked her the other day if she'd like me to bring in an extra floor tom for her to bang on during that part, and she sorta laughed, and asked if it was necessary, and would anyone really care? A good buddy of mine watched the video and commented that her banging that drum was pretty hot.

I'm not sure what to think now...
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

My observation from the Grammy's is that Rock N Roll has finally died (sorry Neil). First we got the pathetic Rock Album of the year where a mediocre song by a hodge podge of musicians won because people had actually heard of some of them. The Rock song of the year was won by Imagine Dragons. Imagine F**king Dragons! I mean really, are these Grammy people even trying anymore?

I'm not necessarily looking for validation for rock music, I just wish they would find some people who actually like rock music to vote or admit that they dont care and remove it. I just hate being pandered to.

/end rant.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

I thought there were a lot of bad performances yesterday. Stevie Wonder was killing it on the Hapejji.

I did enjoy Willie, Kris, and Merle.

I feel like Paul McCartney's song was pretty strong even though you could barely hear Ringo play it sounded like all of the mics were on Abe.

Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lemar had a grammy worthy performance even though I wasn't a fan of the music. But those extra drums were over the top big time.

I heard some bad intonation, and some timing issues in the Metallica set. Also I would like to point out that having metallica play one of their songs was an awful tribute to Lou Reed.

And I probably would have liked Kacey Musgraves if it weren't for the tacky lighted boots and jackets. Also The neon cactui made me think I was in some weird country western strip club.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

I found (most) of this year's Grammys pretty entertaining actually... I thought Imagine Dragons' performance was terrible, just a man poorly oversinging/shouting into a microphone while everyone else flailed on an oversized stage setup of drums. I was hoping it would be better than the last music awards performance they had, but if anything it was worse.

Daft Punk and the gang + Stevie Wonder was a sight to see. The fake "in-studio" setup with the funky jam session feel to it plus the Daft Punk/Stevie mashup bits (much tamer than I think they probably originally intended) was really, really great.

As for Metallica, I totally agree... there were several sections where it felt like all of them were different places in the measure, particularly Lars and Kirk. James and Trujillo seemed to typically know what they were doing, and that poor kid leading them with the piano outclassing Lars' total lack of rhythm/ability by several orders of magnitude... worlds collided, and one world was totally unprepared for it. Shame, I was hoping it was gonna come together better than that.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

My observation from the Grammy's is that Rock N Roll has finally died (sorry Neil). First we got the pathetic Rock Album of the year where a mediocre song by a hodge podge of musicians won because people had actually heard of some of them. The Rock song of the year was won by Imagine Dragons. Imagine F**king Dragons! I mean really, are these Grammy people even trying anymore?

I'm not necessarily looking for validation for rock music, I just wish they would find some people who actually like rock music to vote or admit that they dont care and remove it. I just hate being pandered to.

/end rant.

I just watched a clip. I have an idea, let's make video about Radiation at Fukushima, yeah yeah and we could really make a statement with electric guitars, yeah yeah and pyrotechnics! That would be like so hardcore. Bleh, hardly rockin.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

Wow... I just watched the Metallica performance. Ugh. Maybe it was the sound on youtube, but it almost sounded like the guitars weren't even tuned to the piano correctly. I grew up firmly in the "Metallica" camp, so I'm not just sniping on them, but why did they need to perform at the Grammy's in 2014? Also, Lang Lang might be an amazing solo performer, but I feel like he was reading off the page, and not adjusting for the song. It really sounded out of place to my ears, but maybe that's because the song has been burned into my brain over the last quarter century WITHOUT A PIANO...

Also, while I'm on my soapbox, I literally had to shut the TV off after LL Cool J's monologue. It was so full of cliched, and obvious statements about "music" that I felt nauseous. My wife thought I was taking it too seriously, but I really just felt like I was starting to watch one long commercial. "Music has the power to change lives", really LL? Tell me more... "Music makes you feel emotions" Whooooooooa, that's truly a deep sentiment. Did they not hire writers at all?

The highlight of yesterday for me was Snarky Puppy winning an award for best R&B performance. They are a truly skilled, independent band full of amazing MUSICIANS, who have been slogging their way through the cultural waste-land here in the US and abroad, making their own music and finally getting recognized for it. Big win for the little guy there.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

I watched last night and I could not believe the poor performance by Metallica. If this had been my first exposure to them it would also have been my last. Plus what the hell was up with this Lorde for christ sake she was a mouse and the song performed just sucked. But then I am old.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

Garvin, regarding Lang Lang.

A lot of people like him an awful lot. I'm not one of them. I've always felt his playing was overly-scripted and lacked the ability to respond to the piece in the spur-of-the-moment, so I'm not surprised that's how he works with other musicians.

I'm not a hater. The man has talent and is a very good Pianist, I've just never liked his playing.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

My observation from the Grammy's is that Rock N Roll has finally died (sorry Neil). First we got the pathetic Rock Album of the year where a mediocre song by a hodge podge of musicians won because people had actually heard of some of them. The Rock song of the year was won by Imagine Dragons. Imagine F**king Dragons! I mean really, are these Grammy people even trying anymore?

I'm not necessarily looking for validation for rock music, I just wish they would find some people who actually like rock music to vote or admit that they dont care and remove it. I just hate being pandered to.

/end rant.

Whilst I do agree that the music awards industry is rubbish. Rock isn't "dead", it's just not in the public eye like it was in years passed. There are so many great bands around, you just have to look for them.

Unfortunately, most people grasp what's pushed in their faces the most.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

Wow... I just watched the Metallica performance. Ugh. Maybe it was the sound on youtube, but it almost sounded like the guitars weren't even tuned to the piano correctly. I grew up firmly in the "Metallica" camp, so I'm not just sniping on them, but why did they need to perform at the Grammy's in 2014? Also, Lang Lang might be an amazing solo performer, but I feel like he was reading off the page, and not adjusting for the song. It really sounded out of place to my ears, but maybe that's because the song has been burned into my brain over the last quarter century WITHOUT A PIANO... .

My biggest issue was there seemed to be zero attempt to incorporate the piano into the arrangement.

It seemed to be more of a "look how many notes I can play over Metallica." Much like someone making a cover video on youtube where they play over the original recording.

And worse, he played many "happy" sounding piano parts over what is anything but a happy sounding song.
 
Last edited:
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

I lost all respect for the Grammies when they gave "Rock Album of the Year" to Jethro Tull, when one of the other nominees was GnR Appetite for Destruction (one of the biggest selling and most enjoyed rock albums ever). The Milli Vanilla (sorry about spelling) was the icing on the cake.

However, the forums comments about the Metallica performance is enough to make me check them out on youtube.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

I'd rather hear a bad Metallica performance than a good performance by most of the other performers.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

The highlight of yesterday for me was Snarky Puppy winning an award for best R&B performance. They are a truly skilled, independent band full of amazing MUSICIANS, who have been slogging their way through the cultural waste-land here in the US and abroad, making their own music and finally getting recognized for it. Big win for the little guy there.

Now, that was something to be excited about. Snarky Puppy are an absolute powerhouse.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

I haven't seen any of the footage yet_it was during the night in the UK, but "Cut me some slack" winning a Grammy? Really? I love the Foos, I love Paul McCartney and Nirvana did it for me too, but come on, it wasn't even fit for song of the day, never mind of the year.
 
Re: Drums - the stage prop du jour (Grammies content)

Overall it was a disgrace, in my opinion. From Taylor Swift swinging her head around at the piano like an idiot (hey, Taylor..if you're going to bang your head at the piano, at least make contact and make us all happy!), to the ridiculous performance by Pink (love her but the Cirque de Soleil thing was just plain stupid) and I won't even comment on Metallica or the Daft Punk stupidity. Macklemore and Lewis and Madonna and Latifah and marriages in the aisle....SERIOUSLY??? I was cringing. Even Hunter Hayes sounded like a cross between Kermit the Frog and a goat during his performance. Horrible!

There were a few highlights though. Loved watching Ringo perform with Aronoff, Frampton, Was and Lukather. Shades of a future All-Starr band? Also, Chicago sounded AMAZING (too bad Rogin Thicke-head had to be a part of that and ruin their music with all of his crappy vocal runs). And Carol King and Sarah Bareilles sounded pretty good together. The 4 Highwayman tribute was pretty great too.

I may be just getting old but there was hardly any new artist that I thought was worth 30 seconds of my time. Even the Beyonce and Jay Z performance at the beginning was horrid and the only good thing about it was that it finally ended.

I think, for the most part, I'll stick with music from the last millenium and let all of the generation Y, Z or whatever young people listen to their computer generated, electronically enhanced "music" and be happy with it.
 
Back
Top