Columnist Spencer Patterson: Grammys still can’t seem to pick up rhythm

Spencer Patterson

Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 | 8:42 a.m.

Spencer Patterson covers music for the Sun. His music notes column appears Fridays. Reach him at spencer@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-2309.

Theoretically, the Grammys should be the best awards show on television.

You won't see Dennis Franz acting at the Emmys or Martin Scorsese directing with an Oscar in his hand, but you can catch Bruce Springsteen, Eminem and the Dixie Chicks playing actual music on Sunday's 8 p.m. Grammy telecast on CBS (Channel 8).

Yet despite their built-in advantage, the Grammys always come off as a second-rate event, hardly more consequential than the Billboard Music Awards or MTV's Video Music Awards.

In large part, the Grammys' failure stems from its confusing category breakdown, 104 awards altogether.

It has Album of the Year and Record of the Year, which sound like the same thing, but apparently aren't. Record of the Year is actually an award for the best song, which leaves me wondering exactly what Song of the Year recognizes.

There are also a bunch of categories about "performance," such as Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. These sound like awards for top live acts, right? Wrong.

In Grammyspeak, "performance" is the same as song -- I mean record.

I also question whether it's necessary to break music down into so many sub-genres. Pop Instrumental, Pop Vocal, Rock and Alternative could easily be combined into Best Rock/Rop Song and Best Rock/Pop Album categories.

Fewer Grammys would make each award more significant. You think there would be Oscar pools if they gave out Academy Awards for Best Actor in an Action Movie, Best Actor in a Comedy and Best Actor in a Drama?

The Grammys also suffer because their live appearances seem so unnatural. Wedging four minutes of No Doubt between a Robin Williams presentation and a commercial for cold medicine hardly makes anyone feel as if they're witnessing music history.

How about this for a radical idea: Hand out an Artist of the Year award and have the winner play a short live set to cap the show.

Sure, you might lose some viewers at the end of the night, when the Springsteen fans turn off the Nelly concert. But in the end, music would rule the day, and the event would be remembered for something other than 1988's laughable Jethro Tull victory in the Heavy Metal category.

Thankfully Sunday's edition will feature an all-star tribute to late Clash frontman Joe Strummer. Without that, the 2003 Grammys would be about as meaningful as ESPN's self-congratulatory ESPY Awards.

Music notes

Still waters: If you attended either of last weekend's two Phish shows, you probably noted the distinct lack of a security presence inside the Thomas & Mack Center.

Though event personnel were present, they positioned themselves primarily in the concourse area, with many stationed near the exits.

That policy -- which stood in sharp contrast to most local venues' insistence on more invasive security forces -- reflected a clear familiarity with Phish and its fans on the part of T&M officials.

On most nights, the Phish scene does a fine job policing itself, and this was no exception, with no serious injuries reported among the consecutive sold-out crowds of 18,000.

While the T&M gets high marks for its peaceful approach inside the arena, however, it could have used additional personnel outside.

Saturday night concert-goers where forced to stand in one massive, disorganized line stretching from one end of the parking lot to the other. Restroom facilities were hard to find for those waiting in line, and Phish began its show at 8:20 p.m., with many still standing outside with tickets in hand.

The venue does deserve credit for opening doors earlier on Sunday in an attempt to alleviate the long lines, and for providing more portable restrooms on night two.

Road trip?: Event organizers have announced the lineup for this year's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, scheduled for April 26 to April 27 at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, Calif.

Among the acts on the bill: the Beastie Boys, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age, Badly Drawn Boy, the Donnas, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, the Music, Jack Johnson, Sonic Youth, Primal Scream, Thievery Corporation, Dirty Vegas, Ben Folds, Johnny Marr and the Healers, G. Love and Special Sauce, Tortoise and Ben Kweller.

Tickets for the two-day festival are $140 and go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. They will be available by phone at 474-4000, at ticketmaster outlets or online at ticketmaster.com.

Quick hits

A look at a few of the shows scheduled to hit Southern Nevada in the next week:

Los Lobos are back in Las Vegas to play the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay -- their third different local venue in the past year -- at 7 p.m. today. The band, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, played the Thomas & Mack in May and the Stratosphere in October. Quetzal opens. Tickets are $35 to $40.

Funk master James Brown plays the Dallas Events Center at Texas Station at 8. Brown, who celebrates his 70th birthday this year, rebounded from a widely publicized meltdown at Blue Note Las Vegas in 2001 with a strong set of music at the House of Blues last October. Tickets are $29.95 to $62.50.

The House of Blues hosts the Pretenders Saturday at 7 p.m. Led by veteran singer/guitarist Chrissie Hynde, the band released its first album for independent label Artemis, "Loose Screw," in November after 20 years on Warner Bros. The All Mighty Senators open. Tickets are $40 to $60.

Hard rockers Queens of the Stone Age kicks off a 27-city tour Saturday night at 8 The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel. The band released breakthrough album "Songs for the Deaf," with its Grammy-nominated hit "No One Knows," last August and is set to participate in this year's Lollapalooza tour. Turbonegro opens the sold-out show.

Collective Soul, one of the most successful rock bands of the late 1990s, plays a one-off show at Rain in the Desert at the Palms at 8 Wednesday night. Most famous for such hits as "December" and "Shine," the band has received less-than-stellar reviews for its last two albums. Tickets are $25 to $40.

On sale

Parrot Heads prepare. Jimmy Buffett returns to town for an April 26 date at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, his first Las Vegas appearance since September 2000. Tickets are $65 to $200 and go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday at the MGM Grand box office, at ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 474-4000 or online at ticketmaster.com.

Australian rockers The Vines play the House of Blues on March 28 with British opening act The Music. Tickets are $17 to $22 and go on sale tonight at 5 at the House of Blues box office, by phone at 632-7600, online at hob.com or through ticketmaster.

Tickets for singer/comedian Stephen Lynch's March 15 performance at Crossroads in the House of Blues are $10 and on sale now at the House of Blues and through ticketmaster. Local guitarist Shawn Eiferman opens.

Country star Alan Jackson visits Star of the Desert at Buffalo Bill's in Primm on April 26. Joe Nichols opens. Tickets are $45 to $65 and go on sale 10 a.m. Saturday through ticketmaster.