Who interjected what? I only watched highlights on youtube. What did I miss?
" The only comment I have is that I really liked Beyonce’s speech on “unapologetic art”. What with all the noise some people made about her song “Formation”, it sent a clear message: I’m not sorry and I have no regrets. "
Since you brought up Beyonce , which I presume you were referring to above statement …
I didn’t watch either her performance during Super Bowl halftime , or the Grammy , but I think you knew what that meant…
Many people share my feelings about entertainers using their fame to promote various hot button topics and political beliefs.
With Adele, I don’t think it was her voice, there were major problems with the sound, I was shocked how bad it is. I have seen plenty of live performances by her, including some informal ones, and they sound great, she is one of the few pop stars that don’t need autotune to sound credible (and yes, folks, performers at the Grammy’s are using it, I guarantee it, and they also use it at their concerts). The lighting stank as well, I don’t know what genius thought to have the camera pointing right at the lights like that.
As far as politics and music goes, it is historically inaccurate to claim that music or arts and politics don’t mix, outside bubblegum pop , a lot of music was/is inherently political, and always has been. Beethoven’s third symphony was a political gesture,the 9th symphony with the ode to joy was political, the Marriage of Figaro had a hard time being produced because its book is politicial in nature, Finlandia by Sibelius was an act of rebellion, and so forth.The funny part is usually when people talk about not wanting to see politics with music, it is because they disagree with the political stance of the performer, the same people who grumbled about rock musicians speaking out against Vietnam or whatnot were the same people who had no problem with Frank Sinatra speaking his mind on candidates (and yes, folks, he did it in concert). The same people today who would complain about Beyonce or Kendrick Lamar using their music to push political points, would have no problem with an artist who pushed blind patriotism or defended going to war, as for example some country artists are likely to do (or the case of the Dixie Chicks, who went the other way, and got pounded for it).
I have heard this in the classical music world from some, and it cracks me up, because as I wrote above, even staid, stodgy old classical music is full of all kinds of revolts and political points, polyphany as done by Bach was considered by more than a few in the Catholic hierarchy of the time a shot across the bow of their beliefs…and Bach was otherwise considered an ‘old fart’ by many, inclusing his kids:).
I’m not a music person so who knows if this makes sense or not but I read online somewhere that the piano mic that Adele would hear fell into the piano and was resting on the strings. So, she was basically flying blind without hearing the accompaniment - worse I guess all she heard was the sounds coming directly off the strings.
That is what the sound engineer said, she probably was relying on an earbud with the piano sound, and if that was garbled would be hard to sing in tune. Like I said, having seen plenty of genuine live clips of her singing, including some where she was singing on the spur of the moment, I don’t think her voice was the problem.
@musicprnt, you are exactly right about Adele. After she appeared on SNL last fall, someone posted audio of her voice only to document how spot on she really is. Since her new album came out after the deadline for 2016 Grammy nominations, I expect her to be back next year to collect some hardware and, hopefully, get the chance to perform without the sound problems.