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Making Backup Tracks
No invitation? You have other ways to spot Grammy's stars
By Steve Dollar
Steve Dollar is a freelance writer.
February 21, 2003
When the Grammys are handed out Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, there will be more celebrity skin and P.Diddy-style posturing since - well, since at least the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
It's a grand, showy occasion for the city, which not only prides itself on staging these sorts of sweeping, glittering media moments, but badly needs some of the psychic balm the Grammys can offer amid daily bulletins regarding duct tape. The music industry itself is in need of some cheering, too. Business is not what it used to be, even though the ceremony will reflect the chart-busting successes of such relatively new arrivals as Avril Lavigne, Ashanti and Norah Jones. So expect lots of frivolity this weekend amid the jitters, some perhaps because of them.
Want to be a part of it, even if you're not on any of the lists for invitation- only events? Here are some ideas.
Bono will be celebrating, for instance. Of course, Bono will be celebrating. When does Bono not celebrate? Rock's papal emissary is the man of honor - indeed, he is "person of the year" - at a tribute and silent auction thrown by MusiCares, the academy's charitable arm, which assists down-on-their-luck musicians. Now, the average U2 fan will not be at the Marriott Marquis hotel tonight to honor Bono. But you could hit neon-drenched Times Square in late afternoon, scope out the hotel (on Broadway between 45th and 46th streets), pay a visit to The View lounge on the 47th floor, sit with a drink and watch for rock royalty to perhaps pop in. The Times Square area is fairly thick with entertainment figures about any day of the week, as both CBS and MTV have studios there. (Given the frequency of concerts and the teenage mania associated with "Total Request Live," the city could easily rename part of it Carson Daly Plaza).
So, if you don't catch a glimpse of Bono or one of his Super Friends at the Marriott Marquis, there's a reasonable chance you might glimpse someone else amid the throngs on the sidewalks roughly between 43rd and 45th streets. (Out-of-town celebs can often be found at stylish hotels such as Hudson, W and Royalton, too.) The Bono bash is but one of many Grammy- related festivities listed on the awards' Web site (www.grammy.aol.com/ 45grammys/fest.html), though - just to make things more complicated - not everything there actually exists. Links encouraging fans to follow the New York Music Trail, for example, lead not to any special tour, but rather an annotated list of New York music sites (such as the Apollo Theater and the punk-rock mecca, CBGB). Were you an industry insider, however, who wanted to revel in the fact that the Grammys now boast a category for Native American music, you could join the Oneida Nation celebration of American Music Saturday night at the Times Square Studio, at 1500 Broadway, where the best and brightest acts in the genre will perform. Spin and Vibe are among the co-sponsors, which guarantees a veneer of the hip. And as it's also a benefit for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, at least a couple of Long Island's own brothers Baldwin (Alec, Daniel, William and Stephen) are expected to be there to accept a check for their mother's fund - and ensure added star-gazing potential for avid celebrity trackers on the outside looking in. The Jumbotron outside of Times Square Studios will broadcast the check ceremony to passersby.
Anyone who can afford $150 can get a seat at MTV's Rock the Vote party. The 10th annual event, which will honor the late activist Patrick Lippert, will also salute such socially conscious rock and rap stars as Alanis Morissette, Chuck D and Peter Gabriel. Entertainers actually performing include Vanessa Carlton, Robbie Williams and the Flaming Lips. The Roseland shindig gets under way at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. An after-party, hosted by the rock music magazine Blender, will be headlined by an all-star band - Camp Freddy - featuring Billy Morrison of the Cult, Donovan Leitch and Matt Sorum of Guns N' Roses, and Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction). While celebrants dance to the ghost of hard rock past, they can count on a Moby sighting (tickets: www.rockthevote.org/pla).
You could go celebrity scouting on the cheap at one of the plentiful old Irish bars that encircle the Garden, and watch the white limos roll up along Seventh Avenue and 31st Street. But it might be more fun to lounge at nightspots where Grammys favorites might alight before or after the show.
The Whiskey Bar at the Paramount Hotel (235 W. 46th St.), is a can't-miss proposition. Typically crowded with more supermodels-in-training than most trendy troughs commanded by glinting doormen, the Whiskey would seem to be irresistible.
Chelsea's celeb-friendly Cutting Room is another good bet. The bar (19 W. 24th St.) co-owned by "Sex and the City" and former "Law & Order" star Chris Noth frequently throws parties for the likes of Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock. But it's also a hit with the boys from the late-show house bands, the kind of musicians who make their better-known peers feel comfy in public. The well-cushioned English gentleman's club furniture doesn't hurt, either.
And though there's no guessing if she'll stop by, there will surely be celebrating at The 55 Bar (55 Christopher St.) if multiple nominee Norah Jones scoops up, say, a best new artist Grammy. The no-frills jazz hangout looms large in legend as the spot where the young singer was discovered. If nothing else, it's a reminder that the distance between plucky anonymity and media saturation often is stunningly short.
Couch potato options abound all weekend, of course, for those who prefer totally reliable celebrity viewing. Tomorrow, a Grammy preview show is set for 7 p.m. on WCBS/2. Sunday promises Grammy pre-shows at 6 p.m. on E!, and 7 p.m. on WCBS/2, VH1 and MTV, plus the Grammy Awards Show at 8 p.m. on WCBS/2. Monday, E! plans Grammy highs/lows at 7 and 10 p.m.
Copyright ? 2003, Newsday, Inc.
Making Backup Tracks
No invitation? You have other ways to spot Grammy's stars
By Steve Dollar
Steve Dollar is a freelance writer.
February 21, 2003
When the Grammys are handed out Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, there will be more celebrity skin and P.Diddy-style posturing since - well, since at least the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
It's a grand, showy occasion for the city, which not only prides itself on staging these sorts of sweeping, glittering media moments, but badly needs some of the psychic balm the Grammys can offer amid daily bulletins regarding duct tape. The music industry itself is in need of some cheering, too. Business is not what it used to be, even though the ceremony will reflect the chart-busting successes of such relatively new arrivals as Avril Lavigne, Ashanti and Norah Jones. So expect lots of frivolity this weekend amid the jitters, some perhaps because of them.
Want to be a part of it, even if you're not on any of the lists for invitation- only events? Here are some ideas.
Bono will be celebrating, for instance. Of course, Bono will be celebrating. When does Bono not celebrate? Rock's papal emissary is the man of honor - indeed, he is "person of the year" - at a tribute and silent auction thrown by MusiCares, the academy's charitable arm, which assists down-on-their-luck musicians. Now, the average U2 fan will not be at the Marriott Marquis hotel tonight to honor Bono. But you could hit neon-drenched Times Square in late afternoon, scope out the hotel (on Broadway between 45th and 46th streets), pay a visit to The View lounge on the 47th floor, sit with a drink and watch for rock royalty to perhaps pop in. The Times Square area is fairly thick with entertainment figures about any day of the week, as both CBS and MTV have studios there. (Given the frequency of concerts and the teenage mania associated with "Total Request Live," the city could easily rename part of it Carson Daly Plaza).
So, if you don't catch a glimpse of Bono or one of his Super Friends at the Marriott Marquis, there's a reasonable chance you might glimpse someone else amid the throngs on the sidewalks roughly between 43rd and 45th streets. (Out-of-town celebs can often be found at stylish hotels such as Hudson, W and Royalton, too.) The Bono bash is but one of many Grammy- related festivities listed on the awards' Web site (www.grammy.aol.com/ 45grammys/fest.html), though - just to make things more complicated - not everything there actually exists. Links encouraging fans to follow the New York Music Trail, for example, lead not to any special tour, but rather an annotated list of New York music sites (such as the Apollo Theater and the punk-rock mecca, CBGB). Were you an industry insider, however, who wanted to revel in the fact that the Grammys now boast a category for Native American music, you could join the Oneida Nation celebration of American Music Saturday night at the Times Square Studio, at 1500 Broadway, where the best and brightest acts in the genre will perform. Spin and Vibe are among the co-sponsors, which guarantees a veneer of the hip. And as it's also a benefit for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund, at least a couple of Long Island's own brothers Baldwin (Alec, Daniel, William and Stephen) are expected to be there to accept a check for their mother's fund - and ensure added star-gazing potential for avid celebrity trackers on the outside looking in. The Jumbotron outside of Times Square Studios will broadcast the check ceremony to passersby.
Anyone who can afford $150 can get a seat at MTV's Rock the Vote party. The 10th annual event, which will honor the late activist Patrick Lippert, will also salute such socially conscious rock and rap stars as Alanis Morissette, Chuck D and Peter Gabriel. Entertainers actually performing include Vanessa Carlton, Robbie Williams and the Flaming Lips. The Roseland shindig gets under way at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. An after-party, hosted by the rock music magazine Blender, will be headlined by an all-star band - Camp Freddy - featuring Billy Morrison of the Cult, Donovan Leitch and Matt Sorum of Guns N' Roses, and Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction). While celebrants dance to the ghost of hard rock past, they can count on a Moby sighting (tickets: www.rockthevote.org/pla).
You could go celebrity scouting on the cheap at one of the plentiful old Irish bars that encircle the Garden, and watch the white limos roll up along Seventh Avenue and 31st Street. But it might be more fun to lounge at nightspots where Grammys favorites might alight before or after the show.
The Whiskey Bar at the Paramount Hotel (235 W. 46th St.), is a can't-miss proposition. Typically crowded with more supermodels-in-training than most trendy troughs commanded by glinting doormen, the Whiskey would seem to be irresistible.
Chelsea's celeb-friendly Cutting Room is another good bet. The bar (19 W. 24th St.) co-owned by "Sex and the City" and former "Law & Order" star Chris Noth frequently throws parties for the likes of Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock. But it's also a hit with the boys from the late-show house bands, the kind of musicians who make their better-known peers feel comfy in public. The well-cushioned English gentleman's club furniture doesn't hurt, either.
And though there's no guessing if she'll stop by, there will surely be celebrating at The 55 Bar (55 Christopher St.) if multiple nominee Norah Jones scoops up, say, a best new artist Grammy. The no-frills jazz hangout looms large in legend as the spot where the young singer was discovered. If nothing else, it's a reminder that the distance between plucky anonymity and media saturation often is stunningly short.
Couch potato options abound all weekend, of course, for those who prefer totally reliable celebrity viewing. Tomorrow, a Grammy preview show is set for 7 p.m. on WCBS/2. Sunday promises Grammy pre-shows at 6 p.m. on E!, and 7 p.m. on WCBS/2, VH1 and MTV, plus the Grammy Awards Show at 8 p.m. on WCBS/2. Monday, E! plans Grammy highs/lows at 7 and 10 p.m.
Copyright ? 2003, Newsday, Inc.
