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The All-American Rejects At El Rey Theatre

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THE GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 3:22 pm

Welcome to The Set List. Here you'll find the latest concert recaps for many of your favorite, or maybe not so favorite, artists. Our bloggers will do their best to provide you with every detail of the show, from which songs were on the set list to what the artist was wearing to which out-of-control fan made a scene. Hey, it'll be like you were there. And if you like what you read, we'll even let you know where you can catch the artist on tour. Feel free to drop us a comment and let us know your concert experience. Oh, and rock on.

By Julie Mutnansky
Los Angeles

There was no better way to start May than to head over to the elusive El Rey Theatre for a concert that not only hit my nostalgia nerve, but also helped support an important charity.

Lyme Light: The Concert raised funds for Lyme disease awareness and kicked off with musical guests the Lonely Wild, Aaron Embry, In The Valley Below, and Hey, King! Event coordinator and Hey, King! vocalist/guitarist Natalie London was brave enough to share how Lyme disease has affected her life. Local indie rock band Youngblood Hawke followed and headliners the All-American Rejects closed out the evening.

One thing that was unique about this show was that it was all acoustic. There's something about an acoustic show that really allows you to feel and hear each piece of music. Sporting a Coachella-inspired look, the members of Youngblood Hawke took the stage with their tambourines ready to play fan-favorites such as "Stars (Hold On)" and "We Come Running," while drummer Nik Hughes kept the beat on his mini cajon drum. Their energy left the audience dancing and enjoying the show like it was a concert in your best friend's living room.

The red velvet curtains opened to release the silhouettes of the All-American Rejects lead vocalist Tyson Ritter and lead guitarist Nick Wheeler. Usually a four-piece, Ritter and Wheeler started the show with "Dirty Little Secret," the opening track from their 2005 sophomore album, Move Along. Not wasting any time, Ritter showed his comedic side by telling a story about going camping in his grandparents' "shag carpet trailer" back in Oklahoma where the band's notorious song "Swing, Swing" was born. The song took me back to warm summer nights in Arizona and the pure innocence of a high school girl spending her nights out at rock shows.

Highlights included Ritter's ease at making fun of the people of Los Angeles and their light clapping that he referred to as "diet clapping"; the performance of "One More Sad Song," which Ritter referred to as the lucky "rabbit's foot"; and the changeover in the middle of "Gives You Hell" to the late Michael Jackson's "Man In The Mirror" that made the audience really move.

After a cover of the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind," the All-American Rejects closed the show with the Top 20 hit "Move Along" and I left feeling fortunate to have supported a great cause and traveled back to 2002 all in the same night.

To catch Youngblood Hawke in a city near you, click here for tour dates. To catch the All-American Rejects in a city near you, click here for tour dates.

Youngblood Hawke Set List:

"Stars (Hold On)"
"Pressure"
"Sleepless Streets"
"Glacier"
"We Come Running" 

The All-American Rejects Set List:

"Dirty Little Secret"
"Fallin' Apart"
"Swing, Swing"
"I For You"
"Put Me Back Together"
"It Ends Tonight"
"Gives You Hell"
"One More Sad Song"
"Where Is My Mind" (Pixies cover)
"Move Along"

(Julie Mutnansky lives in Santa Monica, Calif., where she serves as the Senior Administrative Assistant for the GRAMMY Foundation. She is a graduate of the University of Arizona and a Southwestern girl at heart. She enjoys going to concerts and taking adventures. You can follow her on Instagram@juliemut or on Twitter @juliemutLA.)

GRAMMYs

Youngblood Hawke

Photo: Shaughn Crawford

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Phil Collins ReImagined By Youngblood Hawke

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Indie pop/rock collective cover GRAMMY-winning classic "Another Day In Paradise" exclusively for GRAMMY.com
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

Indie pop collective Youngblood Hawke recently performed an ambitious cover of Phil Collins' immaculate pop classic "Another Day In Paradise" for an installment of The Recording Academy's ReImagined series at the House of Rock in Santa Monica, Calif. Linking GRAMMY history with current music makers, ReImagined is a performance-based series featuring artists interpreting an iconic GRAMMY-winning song.

"Another Day In Paradise" is featured on Collins' 1989 album …But Seriously. Authored by Collins and co-produced by Collins and Hugh Padgham (Sheryl Crow, Paul McCartney, the Police), the song earned Record Of The Year honors at the 33rd Annual GRAMMY Awards.

With a name inspired by the Herman Wouk novel of the same name, Los Angeles-based Youngblood Hawke were born from late-night musings between longtime friends, vocalist Sam Martin and multi-instrumentalist Simon Katz. Having completed two years of exhaustive touring with their previous band, Iglu & Hartly, Martin and Katz began the search for a new creative outlet. Katz's longtime friend and guitarist Tasso Smith moved to Los Angeles from Texas to join the band upon hearing the first demos, and vocalist (and Simon Katz's wife) Alice Katz subsequently joined as well. Drummer Nik Hughes and bassist Omar Ahmed rounded out the lineup.

After inking a deal with Universal Republic, Youngblood Hawke released a self-titled debut five-song EP as well as a collection of six remixes of "We Come Running" by remixers including Tiësto, the Knocks and Vicetone in 2012. Released in April, Youngblood Hawke's full-length debut album, Wake Up, features 12 infectious pop songs invoking the spirit of artists such as the Flaming Lips, MGMT and GRAMMY winners Fun., with VH1 describing the album as "chock full of shimmery, upbeat, immensely positive tracks." Catapulted by the singles "We Come Running" and "Stars (Hold On)," the album debuted at No. 58 on the Billboard 200 and No. 16 on Billboard's Rock Albums chart.

Youngblood Hawke are currently in the midst of a U.S. tour, including a performance at the Sasquatch! festival on May 26. The band also have select UK dates scheduled in July.

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GRAMMY.com Officially Launches ReImagined Series

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Interview- and performance-based series highlights contemporary artists revealing how they were personally influenced by past GRAMMY-winning and/or -recognized recordings
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

GRAMMY.com has officially launched ReImagined, a new Web series melding the legacy of the GRAMMYs with the present and future.

This interview- and performance-based series highlights contemporary artists revealing on how they were personally influenced by past GRAMMY-winning and/or -recognized songs and includes their own reimagined interpretations of the recording. Artists are able to select tracks that won in the General Field — which includes the Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist categories — or recordings inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame, a collection of many of the greatest recordings of all time, currently celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Artists participating in the ReImagined series to date include Eric Benét (Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind"), the Lumineers (Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way"), the Shins (Bukka White's "Fixin' To Die"), Tamia (Patsy Cline's "Crazy"), and Youngblood Hawke (Phil Collins' "Another Day In Paradise"). Additional performers include Alberta Cross, Milo Greene, Ivan Neville, Jake Shimabukuro, TJ Stafford, Allen Stone, and ZZ Ward.

New ReImagined installments will be added on a regular basis.

For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Twitter and Facebook.

GRAMMYs

Moby performs at the Fonda Theatre on Oct. 3

Photo: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images

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Moby At The Fonda Theatre

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THE GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 3:22 pm

By Nicole Pajer
Hollywood, Calif.

Welcome to The Set List. Here you'll find the latest concert recaps for many of your favorite, or maybe not so favorite, artists. Our bloggers will do their best to provide you with every detail of the show, from which songs were on the set list to what the artist was wearing to which out-of-control fan made a scene. Hey, it'll be like you were there. And if you like what you read, we'll even let you know where you can catch the artist on tour. Feel free to drop us a comment and let us know your concert experience. Oh, and rock on.

Moby took the stage on Oct. 3 for the second of his three-night residency at Hollywood's Fonda Theatre. The two-and-a-half-hour performance focused on the accomplished singer/songwriter and electronica superstar's latest material, as well as his extensive catalog of hits.

At 8:30 p.m. Moby kicked off his first set, running through the tracks from his new release, Innocents. Accompanying him onstage were an arsenal of top-notch musicians — a cellist, violinist, bassist, and drummer — a choir of background singers and a rotating array of guest performers featured on his album, including GRAMMY-nominated artists Skylar Grey and Mark Lanegan, Al Spx (of Cold Specks), and singer/songwriter Damian Jurado. After bringing Grey onstage for a performance of "The Last Day," Moby announced a surprise special guest.

"I would like to invite the mayor of Los Angeles and the future president of the United States, Mayor [Eric] Garcetti up," said Moby, a six-time GRAMMY nominee. "In addition to being a great mayor, he is a phenomenal keyboard player."

Dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt, Garcetti took his place behind the keyboard as Moby, who was rocking out on guitar, cheered him on.

Following a brief intermission, Moby launched into his second set with "Flower" and continued with favorites such as "Go," an acoustic rendition of "Slipping Away" and the GRAMMY-nominated "Bodyrock." At one point, Moby announced that this tour would only feature his three Los Angeles shows and joked that the crowd made up "33.3 percent of the audience" for his whole tour. The singer was playful between performances and at one point delayed the start of a song to show off one of his new guitar pedals. He spoke candidly to his fans, often asking if everything sounded alright.

Moby told the crowd that he had conducted a poll on "contemporary social media" asking fans which song they most wanted him to play and the majority vote was "Porcelain," so he dedicated the performance to "every single person in the audience tonight." He also thanked fans that traveled as far as 26 hours on a plane to catch his show, dedicating "Lift Me Up" to them and explaining that the song is popular across the globe, but relatively unknown in the United States. During "South Side," Grey joined Moby onstage to sing the part originally performed by Gwen Stefani. The set ended with "We Are All Made Of Stars," which Moby dedicated to his "favorite government institution of all time: NASA," followed by "Honey."

Screaming fans were treated to two encores featuring "Extreme Ways," "Disco Lies" and "The Poison Tree." As I left the venue and made my way toward my car, I spotted several high-profile Moby fans, including No Doubt's Tony Kanal, who high-tailed it out of the venue, resisting the urge to buy a bacon-wrapped hot dog on his way to the parking lot.

Setlist:

First Set:
"Everything That Rises"
"Saints"
"Don't Love Me"
"A Case For Shame" (featuring Al Spx)
"The Last Day" (featuring Skylar Grey)
"A Long Time"
"The Lonely Night" (featuring Mark Lanegan)
"Almost Home" (featuring Damian Jurado)
"Tell Me" (featuring Al Spx)
"The Dogs" (featuring Damian Jurado)
"The Perfect Life" (featuring Damian Jurado)

Second Set:
"Flower"
"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?"
"In My Heart"
"Bodyrock"
"Go"
"Lift Me Up"
"Slipping Away" (acoustic)
"In This World" (acoustic)
"Porcelain"
"South Side" (featuring Skylar Grey)
"We Are All Made Of Stars"
"Honey" 

Encore:
"Raining Again"
"Disco Lies"
"Extreme Ways"
"Natural Blues"
"Feeling So Real"
"The Poison Tree" (acoustic)
"The Perfect Life" (acoustic reprise)

To catch Moby in a city near you, click here for tour dates.

(Nicole Pajer is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. She has written for a variety of publications, including Billboard, Rolling Stone, Men's Journal, Hemispheres, The Red Bulletin, Emmy.com, the Honda Civic tour, Coachella CAMP, and more. Follow her on Twitter @NicolePajer.)

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Alice In Chains At The Pearl At The Palms Casino Resort

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THE GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 3:22 pm

Welcome to The Set List. Here you'll find the latest concert recaps for many of your favorite, or maybe not so favorite, artists. Our bloggers will do their best to provide you with every detail of the show, from which songs were on the set list to what the artist was wearing to which out-of-control fan made a scene. Hey, it'll be like you were there. And if you like what you read, we'll even let you know where you can catch the artist on tour. Feel free to drop us a comment and let us know your concert experience. Oh, and rock on.

By Jamie Harvey
Las Vegas

Few bands have more personal meaning to me than Alice In Chains. I've been listening to the GRAMMY-nominated rock band since I was 10 years old, and so on Oct. 26 at the Palms Casino Resort's Pearl theater in Las Vegas, I was ready to hear the songs that have been prominent in the soundtrack to my life.

Pressed up against the cold barricade, and pleased with the set I had just seen from former Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan's new bluesy rock band, Walking Papers, the lights dimmed and the sinister riff of the title track from Alice In Chain's seminal 1992 album Dirt filled the room. I've seen Alice In Chains enough times to know this was an atypical opener for them in recent years, which made this one-off U.S. show special and the kind that would provoke me to fly in from Los Angeles for.

Next came the first two tracks from Dirt: "Them Bones" and "Dam That River." Both songs transported me back in time, and I was dressed to match in a flannel shirt, long johns and shorts that were fashion du jour in the early '90s grunge era. As I sang along to the familiar words, my eyes and ears focused on the syrupy riff work of guitarist Jerry Cantrell and the driving beats of drummer Sean Kinney. 

I remember when I first heard the opening riff to "Check My Brain" — a track from 2009's Black Gives Way To Blue, the band's triumphant return after the tragic loss of original vocalist Layne Staley — which on this night represented a song of perseverance as William DuVall has successfully taken on the difficult role as lead vocalist. Next they played "Again," which always makes me laugh to hear these metal musicians singing "doot doot" at the end. 

"Voices" was the first of a few tracks performed from their latest album, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. It was followed by "Man In The Box" — the song that introduced me to Alice In Chains via the slightly creepy but infectious video that played on MTV. The highlight of the night for me was their performance of "It Ain't Like That,” the song that the band performed in the quintessential 1992 grunge-era film, Singles, which I recently revisited.

"We Die Young," the first track from their 1990 debut album Facelift, made me realize what the letters "LSMS" that were written on the front of Kinney's drum set stood for: the initials of Layne Staley and original bassist Mike Starr, the latter of whom passed away in 2011. "Hollow" is my favorite track from The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, and it wasn't until then that I realized the cool imagery on the giant LED screens positioned behind the stage was a close-up of an eyeball with a large, hollow pupil. Their performance of the acoustic song "Nutshell," which gave Kinney the opportunity to light up a cigarette behind the kit before it was his time to play again, gave me chills.

The traditional closers of "Would?" and "Rooster" signaled the show was coming to an end. Though I missed hearing my favorite Alice In Chains song, "Love, Hate, Love," it was a pleasing set for this grunge fan.

Set List: 

"Dirt"
"Them Bones"
"Dam That River"
"Check My Brain"
"Again"
"Voices"
"Man In The Box"
"Stone"
"It Ain't Like That"
"No Excuses"
"We Die Young"
"Hollow"
"Nutshell"
"Phantom Limb"
"Down In A Hole"
"Would?"
"Rooster"

To catch Alice In Chains in a city near you, click here for tour dates.

(Jamie Harvey lives in Los Angeles and is the rock community blogger for GRAMMY.com. She has attended and written about more than 500 shows since 2007. You can follow her musical adventures at www.hardrockchick.com.)