LOS ANGELES (Shortlist Website) - Though multi-hyphenate rock-rap-whatever group N.E.R.D. may have won the second annual Shortlist Prize for Artistic Achievement in
Music on Tuesday (Oct. 29) at the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, the buzz before, during, and after the show didn't focus much on the award winners.
Even frontman Pharell Williams seemed a little indifferent to winning, and who can blame him -- despite his claim that the award was "a dream come true," the prize (a $3,000 shopping spree at Guitar Center and a similar prize from Tower Records) was laughably minor compared to the enormous diamond ring Williams wore.
The distraction wasn't all due to Williams' ice, though. Since the nominees for the award included the Hives and Bjork, and the "listmakers" (the music biz elite that chooses the winner) counted Beck and Mos Def among their ranks, the preshow talk wasn't on the announced performances of Shortlist nominees Cee-Lo, DJ Shadow, and N.E.R.D., or who was actually going to win the award, but rather on the promise of an all-star superjam that was to end the show.
Even during the oddly-paced show, which also included two unannounced, short-and-subdued sets from nu-soul singer Cody ChesnuTT and a reading from journalist Toure' featuring soul-singer shout-outs from Mos Def, the crowd seemed to only be interested in finding out who was actually closing the night.
Cee-Lo and his band were high-voltage onstage, but the audience seemed to be wholly unfamiliar with his OutKast-ish material (though that might have changed had he played his Trick Daddy collaboration "Dro' in the Wind"). Shadow's technical set showed off his DJ wizardry, with the help of a few well-placed video cameras, but the energy didn't move much further than head-nodding bewilderment. And Williams actually had to beg the audience to dance during his truncated N.E.R.D set. After inviting Mos Def, the Root's ?uestlove, and ChesnuTT onstage, he barreled into the audience during the set-closing "Rock Star," which inspired a bit of pit-smashing, but not much real excitement.
So, when the curtain opened for the encore to reveal a dream team all-star garage band composed of the Hives' Howlin' Pete Almqvist and Mike Vigilante Carlstroem on guitar, punk legend Mike Watt on bass, and moonlighting drummer Pete Yorn, the crowd went crazy - and with good reason. Not only were those musicians rocking out, but the band was fronted by garage godfather Iggy Pop.
The band tore through three of Pop's crash-and-burn classics with the loosey-goosey attitude of a just-formed fivesome at a junior high talent show. Pop spasmed and posed while Almqvest and Carlstroem executed not-quite-planned jumps and kicks, and the band's unrehearsed noisiness was off-put by their considerable this-only-happens-once energy. After a night of subdued restlessness, the one-off supergroup's punk rock butt-kicking was just what the audience ordered.
The organizers also announced plans for a Shortlist in Fiction, the details of which should be forthcoming.
