Metro.usMyMetro Events http://www.metro.us Sun, 19 May 2013 18:16:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Summer Music Preview: Hottest tickets for summer concerts http://www.metro.us/newyork/entertainment/2013/05/09/summer-music-preview-hottest-tickets-for-summer-concerts-3/ http://www.metro.us/newyork/entertainment/2013/05/09/summer-music-preview-hottest-tickets-for-summer-concerts-3/#comments Fri, 10 May 2013 01:06:17 +0000 Pat Healy http://www.metro.us/newyork/?p=148442 Taylor Swift is one of the highlights in this summer's concert calendar. Credit: Getty Images Taylor Swift is one of the highlights in this summer's concert calendar.
Credit: Getty Images[/caption] Whether you’re tailgating before the show or rocking out inside the venue, summer concerts are a ready-made soundtrack that is just awaiting your participation to build memories. Here are the biggest and best bets for your concert dollar. Hot 97 Summer Jam While we usually use this space to lightly make fun of a concert bill, there’s just so many great acts on here that we need to use all of the space to tell you who’s playing: Wu-Tang Clan, Chris Brown, Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, Miguel, Wale, Fabolous, A$AP Rocky, French Monatana and Joe Budden! June 2, MetLife Stadium Paul McCartney Ellen DeGeneres once introduced Sir Paul at the Grammys by saying, “The next performer needs no introduction.” True to her word, she left the stage and let it be for one of the last living Beatles. We’d like to do the newspaper equivalent. June 8 and 10, Barclays Center One Direction If seeing the New Kids/98 Degrees/Boyz II Men show bummed you out, go see a boy band that includes actual boys. June 28 and 29, Nikon at Jones Beach [related tag= "Nick Lachey"] Bruno Mars Bruno Mars has turned his “Unorthodox Jukebox” into a 1980s time machine, which works out just fine for his opening act, Fitz and the Tantrums, who have also set the dial for the 1980s with their brand new “More Than Just a Dream.” Wear your neon jams and join them. June 29, Barclays Center Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z: 20/20 World Tour Arguably the biggest tour of the summer, it remains to be seen how Jay-Z and JT will split the stage on The 20/20 World Tour. We can only hope that there are 20 songs from each artist, rather than a staged recreation of the best moments of ABC’s most popular investigative journalism TV show. That said, it would be awesome if they did that for the first few shows and then switched it up by the time they got here. July 19 and 20, Yankee Stadium Americanarama Festival of Music For a genre that takes itself a little too seriously when at its worst, these three giants of Americana prove that a sense of humor is necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff. By calling their tour Americanarama, Bob Dylan, Wilco and My Morning Jacket are having a good ole time. July 27, Nikon at Jones Beach Justin Bieber Who would have thought at this time last year that the Justin Bieber tour would become the equivalent of the Rolling Stones' 1972 tour in terms of rumored debauchery? We can only hope he’s still around for his own 50 and Counting tour in 2060. Aug. 2, Barclays Center Beyonce Beyonce was going to release a new album this year. Remember that? Seems like she might not have remembered either, as Mrs. Carter sets out on the Mrs. Carter Show World Tour before her new songs have even hit the market. It’s kind of like when it’s the end of the school year, and absolutely all of your friends are psyched to be done with exams, but you’ve still got one left that you totally forgot to study for. But in this case, Beyonce can just say, “I’m Beyonce, I don’t have to take the final.” Aug. 3, 4, 5, Barclays Center Under the Influence of Music Tour Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky, B.o.B. and Trinidad James are a stellar lineup, but we have to wonder: Now that marijuana is pretty much totally legal, when are musicians going to stop giving their tours titles with little winking references to weed? Aug. 6, Nikon at Jones Beach Kenny Chesney One thing that has not changed in America for the past 100 years: Cowboys are still really good at herding large groups of mammals into confined open-air structures. Eric Church, Eli Young Band and Kacey Musgraves round out this rootin’-tootin’ bill. Aug. 10, MetLife Stadium]]>
Taylor Swift is one of the highlights in this summer's concert calendar. Credit: Getty Images
Taylor Swift is one of the highlights in this summer’s concert calendar.
Credit: Getty Images

Whether you’re tailgating before the show or rocking out inside the venue, summer concerts are a ready-made soundtrack that is just awaiting your participation to build memories. Here are the biggest and best bets for your concert dollar.

Hot 97 Summer Jam
While we usually use this space to lightly make fun of a concert bill, there’s just so many great acts on here that we need to use all of the space to tell you who’s playing: Wu-Tang Clan, Chris Brown, Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, Miguel, Wale, Fabolous, A$AP Rocky, French Monatana and Joe Budden!
June 2, MetLife Stadium

Paul McCartney
Ellen DeGeneres once introduced Sir Paul at the Grammys by saying, “The next performer needs no introduction.” True to her word, she left the stage and let it be for one of the last living Beatles. We’d like to do the newspaper equivalent.
June 8 and 10, Barclays Center

One Direction
If seeing the New Kids/98 Degrees/Boyz II Men show bummed you out, go see a boy band that includes actual boys.
June 28 and 29, Nikon at Jones Beach

Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars has turned his “Unorthodox Jukebox” into a 1980s time machine, which works out just fine for his opening act, Fitz and the Tantrums, who have also set the dial for the 1980s with their brand new “More Than Just a Dream.” Wear your neon jams and join them.
June 29, Barclays Center

Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z: 20/20 World Tour
Arguably the biggest tour of the summer, it remains to be seen how Jay-Z and JT will split the stage on The 20/20 World Tour. We can only hope that there are 20 songs from each artist, rather than a staged recreation of the best moments of ABC’s most popular investigative journalism TV show. That said, it would be awesome if they did that for the first few shows and then switched it up by the time they got here.
July 19 and 20, Yankee Stadium

Americanarama Festival of Music
For a genre that takes itself a little too seriously when at its worst, these three giants of Americana prove that a sense of humor is necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff. By calling their tour Americanarama, Bob Dylan, Wilco and My Morning Jacket are having a good ole time.
July 27, Nikon at Jones Beach

Justin Bieber
Who would have thought at this time last year that the Justin Bieber tour would become the equivalent of the Rolling Stones’ 1972 tour in terms of rumored debauchery? We can only hope he’s still around for his own 50 and Counting tour in 2060.
Aug. 2, Barclays Center

Beyonce
Beyonce was going to release a new album this year. Remember that? Seems like she might not have remembered either, as Mrs. Carter sets out on the Mrs. Carter Show World Tour before her new songs have even hit the market. It’s kind of like when it’s the end of the school year, and absolutely all of your friends are psyched to be done with exams, but you’ve still got one left that you totally forgot to study for. But in this case, Beyonce can just say, “I’m Beyonce, I don’t have to take the final.”
Aug. 3, 4, 5, Barclays Center

Under the Influence of Music Tour
Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky, B.o.B. and Trinidad James are a stellar lineup, but we have to wonder: Now that marijuana is pretty much totally legal, when are musicians going to stop giving their tours titles with little winking references to weed?
Aug. 6, Nikon at Jones Beach

Kenny Chesney
One thing that has not changed in America for the past 100 years: Cowboys are still really good at herding large groups of mammals into confined open-air structures. Eric Church, Eli Young Band and Kacey Musgraves round out this rootin’-tootin’ bill.
Aug. 10, MetLife Stadium

The post Summer Music Preview: Hottest tickets for summer concerts appeared first on Metro.us.

]]>
http://www.metro.us/newyork/entertainment/2013/05/09/summer-music-preview-hottest-tickets-for-summer-concerts-3/feed/ 0
Are the Grammys really music’s biggest night? http://www.metro.us/newyork/entertainment/2013/02/11/grammys2013/ http://www.metro.us/newyork/entertainment/2013/02/11/grammys2013/#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2013 03:42:23 +0000 Pat Healy http://www.metro.us/newyork/?p=110568 Let's get together and feel all right One of the fun things about the Grammys is watching these famous people interact with and address each other. Here are our favorite moments from last night, where stars called each other by name. Host LL Cool J tries out a hip-hop nickname on Taylor Swift: "I'm happy to say that my friend T-Swizzle has already won an award." Adele calls J. Lo her good luck charm Neil Patrick Harris introduces fun.: They're so awesome that they might want to change the period in their name to an exclamation point. Kelly Clarkson learns a little something about new R&B: "Miguel, I don't know who the hell you are, but we need to sing together." And the Grammy goes to... The awards portion of the show were mostly what people expected. At least they were what we expected. In our Grammy predictions story on Friday, we correctly forecasted two thirds of the night's biggest winners. We called it that Gotye would win Record of the Year and that fun. would win Song of the Year, but in what was a surprise win of sorts, Mumford & Sons won Album of the Year for "Babel." Below is a complete list of winners.

Record of the Year

“Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye, featuring Kimbra

Album of the Year

“Babel,” Mumford & Sons

Song of the Year

“We Are Young,” fun. and Janelle Monáe (Songwriters: Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost and Nate Ruess)

New Artist

fun.

Pop Solo Performance

“Set Fire to the Rain (live),” Adele

Pop Performance, Duo or Group

“Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye, featuring Kimbra

Pop Instrumental Album

“Impressions,” Chris Botti

Pop Vocal Album

“Stronger,” Kelly Clarkson

Dance Recording

“Bangarang,” Skrillex and Sirah

Dance/Electronica Album

“Bangarang,” Skrillex

Dance Recording

“Bangarang,” Skrillex and Sirah

Traditional Pop Vocal Album

“Kisses on the Bottom,” Paul McCartney

Rock Performance

“Lonely Boy,” the Black Keys

Hard Rock/Metal Performance

“Love Bites (So Do I),” Halestorm

Rock Song

Dan Auerbach, Brian Burton and Patrick Carney (“Lonely Boy,” the Black Keys)

Rock Album

“El Camino,” the Black Keys

Alternative Music Album

“Making Mirrors,” Gotye

R&B Performance

“Climax,” Usher

Traditional R&B Performance

“Love on Top,” Beyoncé

R&B Song

Miguel Pimentel (“Adorn,” Miguel)

R&B Album

“Black Radio,” Robert Glasper Experiment

Rap Performance

“___ in Paris,” Jay-Z and Kanye West

Rap/Sung Collaboration

“No Church in the Wild,” Jay-Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and The-Dream

Rap Song

“___ in Paris,” Jay-Z and Kanye West (Songwriters: Shawn Carter, Mike Dean, Chauncey Hollis, Kanye West and W. A. Donaldson)

Rap Album

“Take Care,” Drake

Urban Contemporary Album

“channel ORANGE,” Frank Ocean

Country Solo Performance

“Blown Away,” Carrie Underwood

Country Performance, Duo or Group

“Pontoon,” Little Big Town

Country Song

Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins (“Blown Away,” Carrie Underwood)

Country Album

“Uncaged,” Zac Brown Band

New Age Album

“Echoes of Love,” Omar Akram

Improvised Jazz Solo

“Hot House,” Gary Burton and Chick Corea

Jazz Vocal Album

“Radio Music Society,” Esperanza Spalding

Jazz Instrumental Album

“Unity Band,” Pat Metheny Unity Band

Large Jazz Ensemble Album

“Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You),” Arturo Sandoval

Latin Jazz Album

“¡Ritmo!,” The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band

Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance

“10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),” Matt Redman

Gospel Song

Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell and Warryn Campbell (“Go Get It,” Mary Mary)

Contemporary Christian Music Song

Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman (“10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),” Matt Redman)

Gospel Album

“Gravity,” Lecrae

Contemporary Christian Music Album

“Eye on It,” TobyMac

Latin Pop Album

“MTV Unplugged Deluxe Edition,” Juanes

Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album

“Imaginaries,” Quetzal

Regional Mexican or Tejano Album

“Pecados y Milagros,” Lila Downs

Tropical Latin Album

“Retro,” Marlow Rosada y La Riqueña”

Americana Album

“Slipstream,” Bonnie Raitt

Bluegrass Album

“Nobody Knows You,” Steep Canyon Rangers

Blues Album

“Locked Down,” Dr. John

Folk Album

“The Goat Rodeo Sessions,” Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile

Regional Roots Music Album

“The Band Courtbouillon,” Wayne Toups, Steve Riley and Wilson Savoy

Reggae Album

“Rebirth,” Jimmy Cliff

World Music Album

“The Living Room Sessions Part 1,” Ravi Shankar

Children’s Album

“Can You Canoe?,” The Okee Dokee Brothers

Spoken Word Album

“Society’s Child: My Autobiography,” Janis Ian

Comedy Album

“Blow Your Pants Off,” Jimmy Fallon

Musical Theater Album

“Once: A New Musical,” Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti, artists; Steven Epstein and Martin Lowe, producers; Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, composers/lyricists

Instrumental Composition

“Mozart Goes Dancing,” Chick Corea (Chick Corea and Gary Burton)

Instrumental Arrangement

“How About You,” Gil Evans (Gil Evans Project)

Producer of the Year, Nonclassical

Dan Auerbach

Producer of the Year, Classical

Blanton Alspaugh

Remixed Recording, Nonclassical

“Promises (Skrillex and Nero Remix),” Skrillex, remixer

Classical Instrumental Solo

“Kurtág & Ligeti: Music for Viola,” Kim Kashkashian

Classical Vocal Solo

“Poèmes,” Renée Fleming (Alan Gilbert and Seiji Ozawa; Orchestre National de France and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France)

Contemporary Classical Composition

“Hartke, Stephen: Meanwhile — Incidental Music to Imaginary Puppet Plays,” Stephen Hartke (Eighth Blackbird)

Short Form Music Video

“We Found Love,” Rihanna and Calvin Harris

Long Form Music Video

“Big Easy Express,” Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show

 ]]>
 

Katy Perry, pictured here with some guy who used to play music a lot but hasn't much lately, (John Mayer? Is that his name?). Anyway, Perry was the main attraction, almost breaking Grammy dress code laws.

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) Marcus Mumford seemed just as surprised as we were that Mumford & Sons' "Babel" won album of the year.

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) Wiz Khalifa and Miguel turned in a great duet, and then announced the winners of a country music award. What? Honestly!

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) Beyonce got to get some face time with all of her favorite stars.

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) Justin Timberlake decided to draw influence from "Diamonds & Pearls"-era Prince, huh?

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) fun. seemed to have fun performing last night.

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) Taylor Swift also seemed to have fun, kicking off the Grammys and rocking out to every performer when the camera found her. Our favorite moment was watching her sing along to the Lumineers.

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) And she apparently touched Lena Dunham the wrong way and made the "Girls" star do a monster face at her.

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) Chris Brown and Rihanna are indisputably together. Really? There's nothing that anybody can do to stop this?

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) Sting and Bruno Mars share a duet of Bruno Mars' latest song, which pretty much sounds exactly like a Sting song. Then they partook in a tribute to Bob Marley, which didn't sound anything like Bob Marley.

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) This girl was on fire, yes, but when Alicia Keys performed with Maroon 5, it didn't quite gel.

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES) Beyonce found time to chat with Adele during the ceremonies last night.

(CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)

To varied effect, the Grammys continued with its tradition of pairing young musicians with legends. This works well on playlists when you want to make a local act seem on par with stadium-filling rock stars, but the problem with doing it year after year in live performance is that it cheapens the innovative approach into novelty.
The formula did work occasionally, such as when the Black Keys augmented their usual bare bones duo sound with Dr. John and the wall of horns that is the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The tribute to The Band, featuring Alabama Shakes, Elton John, Mavis Staples and multiple Mumfords was a hit too.

But elsewhere, the jams were disjointed and uncomfortable, as with Alicia Keys and Maroon 5 doing “Girl on Fire” together. And Elton John added little more to Ed Sheeran’s Song of the Year-nominated, “The A Team” than giving host LL Cool J a chance to make a joke at a young Twitter who needed to look up #sireltonjohn.

While it is admirable that the Grammys attempt to bridge musical gaps, there are some valleys that are just too wide. Miguel and Wiz Khalifa delivered one of the early successful pairings last night with a brief mash-up performance of the former’s Song of the Year-nominated “Adorn.” But having them announce the winner for Best Country Solo Performance made no sense.

Let’s get together and feel all right

One of the fun things about the Grammys is watching these famous people interact with and address each other. Here are our favorite moments from last night, where stars called each other by name.

Host LL Cool J tries out a hip-hop nickname on Taylor Swift: “I’m happy to say that my friend T-Swizzle has already won an award.”

Adele calls J. Lo her good luck charm

Neil Patrick Harris introduces fun.: They’re so awesome that they might want to change the period in their name to an exclamation point.

Kelly Clarkson learns a little something about new R&B: “Miguel, I don’t know who the hell you are, but we need to sing together.”

And the Grammy goes to…

The awards portion of the show were mostly what people expected. At least they were what we expected. In our Grammy predictions story on Friday, we correctly forecasted two thirds of the night’s biggest winners. We called it that Gotye would win Record of the Year and that fun. would win Song of the Year, but in what was a surprise win of sorts, Mumford & Sons won Album of the Year for “Babel.” Below is a complete list of winners.

Record of the Year

“Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye, featuring Kimbra

Album of the Year

“Babel,” Mumford & Sons

Song of the Year

“We Are Young,” fun. and Janelle Monáe (Songwriters: Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost and Nate Ruess)

New Artist

fun.

Pop Solo Performance

“Set Fire to the Rain (live),” Adele

Pop Performance, Duo or Group

“Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye, featuring Kimbra

Pop Instrumental Album

“Impressions,” Chris Botti

Pop Vocal Album

“Stronger,” Kelly Clarkson

Dance Recording

“Bangarang,” Skrillex and Sirah

Dance/Electronica Album

“Bangarang,” Skrillex

Dance Recording

“Bangarang,” Skrillex and Sirah

Traditional Pop Vocal Album

“Kisses on the Bottom,” Paul McCartney

Rock Performance

“Lonely Boy,” the Black Keys

Hard Rock/Metal Performance

“Love Bites (So Do I),” Halestorm

Rock Song

Dan Auerbach, Brian Burton and Patrick Carney (“Lonely Boy,” the Black Keys)

Rock Album

“El Camino,” the Black Keys

Alternative Music Album

“Making Mirrors,” Gotye

R&B Performance

“Climax,” Usher

Traditional R&B Performance

“Love on Top,” Beyoncé

R&B Song

Miguel Pimentel (“Adorn,” Miguel)

R&B Album

“Black Radio,” Robert Glasper Experiment

Rap Performance

“___ in Paris,” Jay-Z and Kanye West

Rap/Sung Collaboration

“No Church in the Wild,” Jay-Z, Kanye West, Frank Ocean and The-Dream

Rap Song

“___ in Paris,” Jay-Z and Kanye West (Songwriters: Shawn Carter, Mike Dean, Chauncey Hollis, Kanye West and W. A. Donaldson)

Rap Album

“Take Care,” Drake

Urban Contemporary Album

“channel ORANGE,” Frank Ocean

Country Solo Performance

“Blown Away,” Carrie Underwood

Country Performance, Duo or Group

“Pontoon,” Little Big Town

Country Song

Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins (“Blown Away,” Carrie Underwood)

Country Album

“Uncaged,” Zac Brown Band

New Age Album

“Echoes of Love,” Omar Akram

Improvised Jazz Solo

“Hot House,” Gary Burton and Chick Corea

Jazz Vocal Album

“Radio Music Society,” Esperanza Spalding

Jazz Instrumental Album

“Unity Band,” Pat Metheny Unity Band

Large Jazz Ensemble Album

“Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You),” Arturo Sandoval

Latin Jazz Album

“¡Ritmo!,” The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band

Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance

“10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),” Matt Redman

Gospel Song

Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell and Warryn Campbell (“Go Get It,” Mary Mary)

Contemporary Christian Music Song

Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman (“10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),” Matt Redman)

Gospel Album

“Gravity,” Lecrae

Contemporary Christian Music Album

“Eye on It,” TobyMac

Latin Pop Album

“MTV Unplugged Deluxe Edition,” Juanes

Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album

“Imaginaries,” Quetzal

Regional Mexican or Tejano Album

“Pecados y Milagros,” Lila Downs

Tropical Latin Album

“Retro,” Marlow Rosada y La Riqueña”

Americana Album

“Slipstream,” Bonnie Raitt

Bluegrass Album

“Nobody Knows You,” Steep Canyon Rangers

Blues Album

“Locked Down,” Dr. John

Folk Album

“The Goat Rodeo Sessions,” Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile

Regional Roots Music Album

“The Band Courtbouillon,” Wayne Toups, Steve Riley and Wilson Savoy

Reggae Album

“Rebirth,” Jimmy Cliff

World Music Album

“The Living Room Sessions Part 1,” Ravi Shankar

Children’s Album

“Can You Canoe?,” The Okee Dokee Brothers

Spoken Word Album

“Society’s Child: My Autobiography,” Janis Ian

Comedy Album

“Blow Your Pants Off,” Jimmy Fallon

Musical Theater Album

“Once: A New Musical,” Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti, artists; Steven Epstein and Martin Lowe, producers; Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, composers/lyricists

Instrumental Composition

“Mozart Goes Dancing,” Chick Corea (Chick Corea and Gary Burton)

Instrumental Arrangement

“How About You,” Gil Evans (Gil Evans Project)

Producer of the Year, Nonclassical

Dan Auerbach

Producer of the Year, Classical

Blanton Alspaugh

Remixed Recording, Nonclassical

“Promises (Skrillex and Nero Remix),” Skrillex, remixer

Classical Instrumental Solo

“Kurtág & Ligeti: Music for Viola,” Kim Kashkashian

Classical Vocal Solo

“Poèmes,” Renée Fleming (Alan Gilbert and Seiji Ozawa; Orchestre National de France and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France)

Contemporary Classical Composition

“Hartke, Stephen: Meanwhile — Incidental Music to Imaginary Puppet Plays,” Stephen Hartke (Eighth Blackbird)

Short Form Music Video

“We Found Love,” Rihanna and Calvin Harris

Long Form Music Video

“Big Easy Express,” Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show

 

The post Are the Grammys really music’s biggest night? appeared first on Metro.us.

]]>
http://www.metro.us/newyork/entertainment/2013/02/11/grammys2013/feed/ 0