The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held this past Sunday night, February, 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The Grammys, which is commonly referred to as music’s biggest night, drew an impressive 39 million viewers, the show’s second largest audience ever, according to Bloomberg Business Week. Although the award show is a chance for the music industry to recognize work done throughout the previous year, for the ticketing industry, wins and performances at the show serve as a good indication of how the proceeding year’s ticket sales will fare.
“We saw a bump in ticket sales last year, but this year we may see an even bigger bump,” said Randy Cohen, CEO of Ticket City, regarding performers and winners of Sunday night’s Grammy telecast.
Adele won six Grammys, including song and record of the year for “Rolling in the Deep” and album of the year for “21.” At the awards ceremony she sang her signature song, “Rolling in the Deep.” The rendition marked her first public performance since she cancelled her tour in October 2011 due to vocal cord damage. The consequent surgery resulted in a prolonged healing process during which Adele was not allowed to sing or even to speak. Her highly anticipated performance met with wide-spread approval. According to music critic Greg Knot of the Chicago Tribune, Adele, “did not disappoint nor was she disappointed.”
Talks of Adele touring later in 2012 are nothing more than rumors at this point, but based on the warm reception she received Sunday night, if Adele were to tour, it would be a hit.
Surpassing many major-label artists including Death Cab for Cutie, Foster the People, Radiohead, and My Morning Jacket, up-and-coming folk rock band Bon Iver won Best New Artist award along with Best Alternative Rock Album for “Bon Iver.” Spearheaded by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, the band rose from its grassroots origins in Wisconsin to be nominated for best new artist along with record and song of the year for the single “Holocene.” Bon Iver is touring in Australia and New Zealand through March. The band returns to the United States in April, where they’ll play a few shows on the west coast and make stops at Coachella and New Orleans Jazz Fest.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band earned the honor of being the first performer of the night. The rock legend kicked off the show with “We Take Care of Our Own,” a new song from Springsteen’s forthcoming album, “Wrecking Ball,” that is set to be released on March 6, 2012. Once the album is released, Springsteen and the E Street Band are starting an extensive “Wrecking Ball” tour beginning on March 18, 2012 in Atlanta, GA, and ending in Helsinki, Finland in late July 2012.
“It was a great event, Bruno [Mars] and Adele heated things up and there are orders already going through. People are pumped up, even for Glen Campbell,” said Cohen.
Glen Campbell, the famed “Drugstore Cowboy,” had one of the night’s most memorable moments as he brought the audience to their feet with his performance of “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Prior to Campbell taking the stage, contemporary country stars The Band Perry and Blake Shelton paid tribute to the legend with renditions of two of Campbell’s other big hits, before joining Campbell for a rousing conclusion to his performance.
Of course, Glen Campbell’s high energy performance was slightly bittersweet because it represented his goodbye to the music industry. Campbell shared his confirmed diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in June of 2011, after suffering from short term memory loss for the past few years.
To celebrate his work and legacy in country music, Glen Campbell is currently on tour for the last time in his career. His last show is April 29, 2012, at the Orpheum Theatre in Wichita, KS, but before that final show he’s playing a list of arenas and theatres across the country. Based on the audience’s reaction from Sunday night’s performance, it seems natural to predict that the demand for tickets to Campbell’s last shows will increase.
Another fan favorite, The Beach Boys, also took the stage this past Sunday night, with the American rock band’s performance being similar to that of Glen Campbell’s. Prior to The Beach Boys taking the stage, the band was first honored with a tribute from Maroon 5 and Foster the people, and then the band, led by their three surviving co-founders, took the stage to play their landmark hit “Good Vibrations.” The Beach Boys’ performance at the Grammys marked the first time the band performed together in more than two decades.
Steve Gorman of Reuters Los Angeles called the rendition of “Good Vibrations” an “an upbeat highlight.”
The Beach Boys’ performance served as an appetizer for the 50th Anniversary reunion tour50th Anniversary reunion tour the band is planning for later this year. As TicketNews previously reported, original Beach Boys Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine original Beach Boys Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine, will be joined this summer by newer band members Bruce Johnston and David Marks to celebrate the band’s golden anniversary.