Best bits from the Grammys

It wasn't a perfect night at the Grammys... Aside from the tragic events of Saturday justifiably casting a shadow over the ceremony, almost everyone chose to play the underwhelming fourth single from their latest album. Still, there were a couple of performances worth watching over your Monday morning teabreak and, if the internet police haven't taken them down, these are they.

Adele - Rolling In The Deep
Aside from the a capella intro that said "hello bitches, my voice is all better now", Adele seemed to be exercising more control over those powerhouse vocals. Sounds like she's had some coaching... but that doesn't stop the tingles running up and down your spine for a full four minutes. It's nice to have you back, missus.



Rihanna - We Found Love
"Make some noise for Whitney," screams Rihanna, whose "we found love in a hopeless place" lyric couldn't have been more appropriate given the circumstances.
WARNING: This video also contains Coldplay.



Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - We Take Care Of Our Own
This was the show opener - a huge, string-assisted behemoth. I haven't delved into the lyrics but I'm guessing the jingoistic overtones are delivered with a heavy dose of sarcasm, á la Born In The USA. You can't beat a bit of Bruce, you know.



Bruno Mars - Runaway
This is one of those "why didn't he do Grenade?" moments. The song is nothing to write home about, but Bruno's tribute to the hyperactive funk workouts of James Brown and The JBs is hugely exciting.



Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt - Etta James Tribute
Surprisingly moving, this low-key stroll through the blues was my personal highlight from the night's proceedings.




Taylor Swift - Mean
Taylor Swift is rocking the banjo. You've gotta love a girl who rocks the banjo.

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In honour of Lady Gaga: Top Five Sax Solos

Last night, Lady Gaga released the cheese-a-licious Edge Of Glory, the latest teaser track from her third LP, Born This Way. With one hand on the irony engine, she steers a course through the choppy waters of 1980s Hi-NRG disco, arriving triumphantly at an extended, two-minute saxophone solo.

It's brilliant. It's bollocks. It's brillocks.

Lady Gaga - Edge Of Glory


Sadly, the saxophone is a much-maligned instrument. Once a hallmark of sophisticated urban cool, it's image was sullied by schmaltzy guffmeisters like Kenny G and Curtis Stigers.

Nonetheless, recorded music gives us a few truly great sax scenes (sorry) to savour. Here are five of them. After sampling them, you too will live in the hope that Lady Gaga has resurrected the instrument forever.

1) Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar
Bobby Keys is responsible for this blistering solo on record. I've no idea whether it's actually him playing with the Stones on this vinage Top Of The Pops clip, because the director decided to focus on Mick Jagger mincing around in a pink suit.

A pink suit.



2) INXS - Never Tear Us Apart
They had shaggy hair. They wore women's jeans. They were the kings of cheddar.

They were INXS, and Never Tear Us Apart was the big ballad from their career-defining LP, Kick. The sax solo comes from the lavishly-named Kirk Pengilly. Wikipedia calls it "cathartic".



3) Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
FACT: The E Street Band's Clarence Clemens has been playing a sax solo continuously since 1983. His cheeks are held together by Band Aids and string. He eats through a special tube in his abdomen, and his lips have formed an unbreakable fleshy seal around the reed of his instrument.

Born To Run features one of his earlier, more compact, 16-bar solos. The brevity does nothing to lessen it's joyous, freewheeling ebullience. If you're impressed by it, you should also search YouTube for live versions of Springsteen's Jungleland. Clemens' solo changes every night, but it's always a masterpiece.



4) Guru Josh - Infinity
Only joking.

4) James Brown - Super Bad
Totally insane. Robert McCollough's solo is not so much music as an uncontrolled release of energy. Brown famously intones "Blow me some trane, brother" as the track fades. I think McCullough has actually blown his lungs inside out.



5) George Michael - Careless Whisper
Steve Gregory - a former musician with Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones - had his work cut out with this one: It starts with the very top note on an alto sax, so you need a hell of a lot of puff to get it right. Gregory nailed it, and the iconic opening of George Michael's first solo single overtook Baker Street as the sax riff of choice.

It is improved one hundred-fold when it's played repeatedly in a mall by a shirtless man with a mullet.



The End.

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Gig review: Bruce Springsteen in a stadium

Last night, we ventured out to the Emirates Stadium (apparently it's got something to do with football) to witness Bruce Springsteen do his rock "thang". There was plank spanking, there were extended "axe" solos, there were pensioners in jeans.

It was ace.

I was brought up with The Boss as a constant soundtrack in my dad's Vauxhall Cavalier, with the consequence that I never really got into his music until I left home and was allowed to discover it for myself. I still wouldn't admit to being an out-and-out fan, mind you. Too many of Springsteen's songs plough the same over-earnest furrow and his melodies can be aggravatingly similar before he throws down one of those trademark anthemic choruses.

And, for a relative novice like me, it was the widescreen, crowd-pleasing refrains that won the night. Opener Out In The Street has a big, dumb "woah-oh-oh" bit that got everyone on their feet and Bruce milked it for all he was worth.

The 58-year-old scampered around like a man with a weasel up his bottom, striding up and down the front row, shaking hands, taking dedications, and throwing demigod poses before collapsing in fits of laughter. I see where Bono gets it from now.

Springsteen's long-term backing group, the "heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, booty-shaking, earth-quaking, nerve-breaking, history-making, legendary E Street Band!" were in fine form, too. A working example of the less is more school of rock, they only came centre stage when the music demanded - despite the fact that many of them are as recognisable as the frontman himself.

But Emirates is in a built-up residential area, so the finer points of the band's music were lost to the breeze as the sound limits placed on the PA system left them struggling to fill the stadium. For first-timers, like mrsdiscopop, the lyrics - an essential part of Springsteen's music - were barely audible.

It didn't help that it was a rather fan-orientated set, either. The only big-hitters were I'm On Fire, Born To Run, Because The Night and 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy). Which was a shame, because the previous night's audience had heard the likes of Dancing In The Dark, Glory Days and Thunder Road. The rotters.

But I'd unreservedly recommend a night out with Brucie. I've seen musicians half his age who have half of his energy, commitment and enthusiasm. A more intimate setting would be high on my list of priorities, though.



Setlist
Out In The Street
No Surrender
Darkness On The Edge Of Town
Gypsy Biker
Radio Nowhere
4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
Growin' Up
Downbound Train
I'm On Fire
Because The Night
She's The One
Livin' In The Future
Mary's Place
The Promised Land
Backstreets
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands

--- Encore ---
Jungleland
Born To Run
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
American Land

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