As the 55th annual Grammy Awards neared their conclusion Sunday, the Black Keys were rolling toward a banner night. The Nashville-via-Ohio rock duo had won three Grammys, with guitarist Dan Auerbach picking up an additional award for producer of the year.
Another rock band, fun., picked up two major awards: best new artist and song of the year for “We Are Young.” In accepting the awards the band reflected on its long climb to recognition over more than a decade. “But we’re old,” they cracked.
Australian artist Gotye won record of the year for “Somebody That I Used to Know,” as well as two other awards.
Also picking up three awards in the early going were Jay-Z and Kanye West. Newcomer Frank Ocean won a pair of Grammys. And now for a few of our own award winners from the night’s nationally televised performances, speeches and other tomfoolery:
The saints go marching in: The Black Keys stormed down the streets of Treme, rocking up “Lonely Boy” with a jazz band and Dr. John in ceremonial, feathered “Night Tripper” head dress.
What, no explosions? Face it, everyone was waiting for something to blow up, a bunch of dancers in bondage gear to come strutting into view, or something equally outrageous in the middle of Rihanna’s performance. Instead the singer actually sang, and the intimacy of “Stay” made it among the night’s best and most refreshingly glitz-free performances.
Obligatory Sting sighting: The former Police singer strutted his bass during Bruno Mars’ performance. He’s not up for any awards, but as the official Grammys mascot, Prince reprised the song “Walking on the Moon,” apparently still upset it wasn’t nominated in 1980.
Revenge of the nerds: Though fun. often comes across as just another bland pop-rock band in the tradition of Train, matchbox20 and Hootie and the Blowfish, at least they have a self-deprecating sense of humor. In winning song of the year for “We are Young” over some strong competition, fun. singer Nate Ruess acknowledged, "We are not very young" and guitarist Jack Antonoff thanked "our families” who “let us live at home" for 12 years.
Best promotional plug: Justin Timberlake paved the way for his new album by fusing a ‘40s Cotton Club vibe, with the musicians and backing singers arrayed behind him on a Duke Ellington-style band stand, and then brought out Jay-Z, while channeling some Michael Jackson falsetto.
Least likely acid head: Taylor Swift got her surrealism on as she opened the broadcast by recasting her single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” as a kind of Little Bunny Foo Foo/Alice in Wonderland fantasia. Somewhere Lady Gaga was cackling. It sure put a new spin on Swift’s ultra-earnest, ultra-confessional singer-songwriter persona. Could a meat dress be next?
Country time machine: Last year it was electronic dance music, so this year the Grammys took a hard right and went for some Nashville twang as they presented a series of country entertainers. Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley may have been playing new tunes from their recent albums, but they weren’t that far removed from vintage ‘70s-style country-rockers.
Soul lives: Dapper Miguel, on bended kneed, crooned “Adore,” even with the distraction of Wiz Khalifa, who seemed greatly under-utilized in one of those duets-that-didn't work.
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Live Grammy Awards updates from the LA Times:
9:40 p.m. (Central time): Record of the year is Gotye's "Someboday That I Used to Know" featuring Kimbra.
9:39 p.m.: Hunter Hayes, proof that being cute and young doesn’t mean you can sing. Moving on.
9:38 p.m.: The Lumineers write every song as a crowd sing-along, and its breakout hit, “Ho Hey,” is no different. The new artist contenders were one of the year’s bigger success stories. Singer Wesley Schultz likes to stalk the crowd as he sings, and here he was confined to the stage, but the band’s communal effect was evident. Its success was definitely foretold by Mumford & Sons, but I find the Lumineers less insistent in their arena-folk.
The Lumineers had the honor of introducing Jack White, whose “Blunderbuss” is up for album of the year. White’s “Blunderbuss,” with only 466,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan, is actually the lowest-selling album of the year contender this year. It deserves a wider audience than that, as it’s a scattershot collection that touches on all facets of rock ‘n’ blues history. White offered two drastically different takes here tonight -- the more melodic “Love Interruption” and the vicious “Freedom at 21” -- complete with two different bands.
Then the big upset happened. Pep-rally pop band Fun. took best new artist, besting local R&B artist Frank Ocean. With Ocean having been one of the year’s biggest stories (covered earlier in this post), he seemed like a lock for new artist, yet Fun., buoyed by its massive hit “We Are Young,” took the prize.
"I didn’t think we were going to win this one, gotta be honest,” said singer Nate Ruess, as the camera showed a stoic Ocean. Then Ruess made it clear he hadn’t done any prep in case his band won. “I gotta pee so bad,” he said.
Grammy Awards: Fun. wins best song; Black Keys perform
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Grammy Awards: Fun. wins best song; Black Keys perform
