Are You Ready for the Grammys?

Modern Rock  

By Kristi Kates | Jan. 20, 2018

The 2018 Grammy Awards are just around the corner, with a whole host of musicians in several different categories lined up to perform at this year’s event. In addition to performances from Childish Gambino (pictured), Little Big Town, P!nk, and Lady Gaga, you can also expect a special tribute to Broadway honoring the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Leonard Bernstein (presided over by Ben Platt and Patti LuPone.) Catch it Sunday, Jan. 28, broadcast live on CBS TV from Madison Square Garden in New York City.

At 8pm Tuesday, Jan. 30, Grammy organizers will stay busy with Elton John: I’m Still Standing – A Grammy Salute, during which many of Elton John’s musical peers will pay tribute to him at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Featured performers will include Kesha, Miley Cyrus, John Legend, Sam Smith, Keith Urban, and Coldplay’s Chris Martin, among others. Each will sing a selection from John’s discography, with that special show set to be broadcast later this year, also on CBS …

The Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park festivals have announced their heavy-duty lineups for their 2018 editions; both will take place June 1–3 this year in Nürburgring and Nuremberg, Germany. The triple threat of headliners will include electro-hip-hop-pop outfit Gorillaz, alt-rockers Thirty Seconds to Mars, and ever-popular festival fave Foo Fighters. They’ll be joined on the lineup by A Perfect Circle, Enter Shikari, Good Charlotte, Rise Against, Asking Alexandria, and more …

In other festival news (and a little closer to northern Michigan), the roster for this year’s Rock on the Range Festival has been announced, with that event taking place May 18–20 in Columbus, Ohio. Topping the bill will be Tool and Alice in Chains, with additional performances happening from Stone Sour, Three Days Grace, Machine Gun Kelly, Breaking Benjamin, and Stone Temple Pilots, who will be taking the stage with new frontman/singer Jeff Gutt, a native of Marine City, Michigan …

LINK OF THE WEEK
The new reboot of the ’90s movie Jumanji, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, is still crashing through theaters and racking up some big bucks, but also of note is the movie’s dynamic, impressive soundtrack as composed by Henry Jackman. Check it out at the Jumanji official website, jumanjimovie.com … 

THE BUZZ
Michigan’s own music awards show, The Jammie Awards, is set for Friday, Feb. 9 at The Intersection in Grand Rapids, with performances from Jake Kershaw, Yolonda Lavender, The Founding, ConvoTronics, and Major Murphy …

A performance competition at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum determined who would be awarded two spots on the roster for the Kalamazoo Fretboard Festival, taking place in early March): Jam band Cosmic Knot and country/folk artist Sarah Lynn were the winners for 2018 …

Swifties, get ready for the big show — Taylor Swift’s Reputation stadium tour is heading to Detroit’s Ford Field on Aug. 28 …

Shakira fans, however, will have to wait until Saturday, Aug. 4 for her Detroit appearance (at Little Caesars Arena), as the Colombian singer has had to postpone her prior Jan. 22 concert date due to medical reasons … and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com.