Good morning! Last night: the Grammy Awards! I probably should’ve watched the show, seeing as last year’s was the most enjoyable Grammy ceremony since, well, ever. Instead, I’ll be Tweet-sourcing today’s roundup, courtesy of @citypapermusic. A few highlights:
- Lady Gaga AND Elton John? Be still, my beating heart. #grammys
- And the winner of Song of the Year goes to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.” They liked it so they put… an award on it. Ba-zing.#grammys
- Beyoncé covering mid-angsty, pre-nude Alanis Morissette? I’m so happy. #grammys
- This year is apparently big for masks, weird make-up, and epaulets. #grammys
- STEVIE NICKS. And Taylor Swift. But STEVIE NICKS. #grammys
- Love MJ as much as the next person, but 3-D glasses seems kinda weird. #grammys
- And there comes the emotional sucker-punch from the kids. DAMN YOU. #grammys
- I feel cooler just for watching Drake, Lil’ Wayne and Eminem perform. It makes me want to slip into skinny jeans and a white tee.#grammys
- Taylor Swift just won “Album of the Year.” That was perhaps the most genuine look of surprise I’ve ever seen on a winner’s face.#grammys
Also: David Malitz on Taylor Swift’s offkey Grammy performance. Cosign!
– Nick Nichols, the booker and co-owner of Metro Cafe, died recently. The Blisspop blog has a short tribute:
Nick gave countless DC DJs our first gig and believed in DC music. Metro Cafe was an incubator for the DC indie dance scene, the first venue to host Mousetrap, BLISS, Panic, and countless other events. RIP Nick. Thank you for believing in us. I hope you’re at peace.Nick gave countless DC DJs our first gig and believed in DC music. Metro Cafe was an incubator for the DC indie dance scene, the first venue to host Mousetrap, BLISS, Panic, and countless other events. RIP Nick. Thank you for believing in us. I hope you’re at peace.
– The Arlington-based theater company Firebelly Productions has closed, DC Theatre Scene reports. It had not staged a play since its production of Hamlet last summer.
– This year’s RealScreen Summit, an industry event for documentary filmmakers, has essentially barred the press from covering it, WaPo reports. The event, held at the Renaissance Washington Hotel, begins today.
– Bill Watterson, the J.D. Salinger of the comics pages, gave the Cleveland Plain-Dealer his first interview in 20 years. I can’t find a link to the interview that works, so here’s what WaPo‘s Comic Riffs blog has to say. Rhode, what do you think? UPDATE: Here’s the Watterson interview.
– An endorsement! I saw Exit Clov and True Womanhood play at the inaugural concert of the Mansion at Strathmore‘s Friday Night Eclectic series, and it was pretty great time. (Full disclosure: I’m friends with the latter band.) For starters, the space is intimate yet august—-so, not the first place you’d normally go for forward-thinking indie rock. There was art to browse and artists with whom to chat, an indoor fountain (note to Velvet Lounge: get one), and really, really cheap alcohol. The massive PBR banner would’ve felt out-of-place, but it basically completed the evening’s highbrow-lowbrow vibe. The series continues every Friday through April 2. This week’s show features the culture-hopping Latin septet Gato & the Palenke Music Co. Other shows feature hip-hop (Incwell), go-go (Mambo Sauce), folk rock (Justin Trawick), and more. So, erm: eclectic indeed.