Live from LA

This past weekend, I flew from Illinois to California for The 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards. Meeting Los Angeles for the first time, I approached the city with a certain curiosity and made space for the feelings of enchantment soon met by the old-Hollywood styled signage and the velvet-clad, hidden bars soundtracked by 7 inches. My flight touched down into a slightly cool, jacket-permitting LA morning; I called the January weather beautiful and gave myself away as a Chicagoan - “You’re not from here, are you?”

Through a comedy show in WeHo, a sunset viewing from Griffith Park, a walk around Highland Park, and many dinners, family, friends, and family-friends embraced me into their west coast worlds. I immediately recognized a consistency among them that I attributed in relation to LA - an entrepreneurial confidence to embark on any endeavor which enticed them; an acknowledgement of collaboration and creation because we can. Maybe I was looking for it, but I did see it.

After a day, I began craving solitude, so I ventured through the Secret Stairs within Silver Lake where I smelt the sweetest of air; the flora that surrounded me only exists in conservatories back home. Later that morning, I took to Downtown Los Angeles. A cafe, a Murakami book, my journal, the districts, vegan donuts, and little Tokyo kept me there through the early evening.

Later, sitting in the nausea-provoking traffic through the hills, my impatience rose so I flipped my feelings by examining the attributes of my favorite cities. This evolved into a mental quest to pinpoint all of my living desires in an environment and to, one day, find a place that ticks all of them off. I have come up with this: my ideal city has an accessible and efficient public transportation system, a plethora of nature, diverse neighborhoods, extreme vegan-friendliness, walkability, space in and between properties so that I can grow food-bearing plants and sit outside, culture, acceptance of other cultures, a variety of cafes, colorful music scene, all four seasons (but never gets too hot or too cold), communities, eastern influence (yoga, acupuncture, TCM), and is safe enough so that I don’t feel nervous walking alone at night. I hope this isn’t too much to ask, let me know if you know of anywhere like this.

Karsen, my best friend of many years, joined me around midnight on Friday as we pulled up to the road of our Pasadena Airbnb just minutes following each other. After a coyote sighting, we shined our phone flashlights and cautiously made our way down the long driveway that approached our tucked away guest house. Even though we both admitted exhaustion upon seeing each other, we somehow stayed up until 4 am.

The next morning we embarked upon a day spent between Venice and Santa Monica. We began with a very delicious and satisfying brunch complete with juice shots. It was followed by coffee for Karsen and Mexican hot chocolate for me as we strolled through the shops and markets of Venice. En route to Santa Monica, we cut through the roads and to the beach so that we could walk along the coast. The Pacific along with my strangely lacking circulation left my toes cold and numb but, otherwise, I felt very warm and light.

We played in the park when we reached Santa Monica’s beach, and then we headed to the pier. Once we attained cotton candy and played a fair game, the chilliness of the evening air set in and we headed inland. Within the Promenade, we embarked on last minute preparation and accessory scouting for the GRAMMYs. We walked around for a long time and then brought food back to our Airbnb for late-night dining as we watched That 70’s Show.

GRAMMY day arrived and we took our time getting ready. We did our hair, nails, makeup, and I even added some alterations on my dress. Around noon we were very sparkly and ready to leave. We arrived at LA Live and headed to the Microsoft Theatre for the Premier Ceremony; this was my favorite event of the day. It felt very organic and in this sense reminded me of a grade-school award ceremony - except everyone was in ball gowns and tuxedos and there were music icons everywhere. Additionally, this portion of the day didn’t have assigned seating, so we were able to get up close to the stage. Karsen and I ended up right near Finneas who took home many awards that night - some in hand with his sister, Billie Eilish. The separation of the different award clusters were marked by some beautiful performances from Angélique Kidjo and Nicola Benedetti.

I also favored this event because it was heavily composed of award acceptance speeches, which are one of my favorite parts of the GRAMMYs. To hear the gratitude of those I’m familiar with along with the stories of those unknown to me, live, was very humanizing. I also find this to be even more special as the GRAMMYs are the only peer-to-peer nominated award; these musicians are being voted on and recognized by those in their field, many of them whom are also present at the event.

Within these speeches was wisdom formed by each artist’s creation insights and philosophies. I also noted just how many GRAMMY winners thanked God. I believe in God in the sense that I believe in the universe, and it prompted mental discourse among my understanding of faith in relation to creativity and trust within the universe. Still sorting through this.

Throughout Sunday, I saw familiar faces that I work with in Chicago along with some that I’m only familiar with through headlines. Nonetheless, there was a consistent energy and universal understanding I felt among the people within each venue. Everyone was a music person and, therefore, we were equal.

After the Premier Ceremony concluded, we merged into the wave of people heading into the iconic Staples Center. Upon arrival, we hunted for food before taking our seats for the 5PM GRAMMY Awards Telecast. This was quite a sight as everyone was in fancy dress while scarfing down nachos and burgers. Suddenly, the vendors started closing and we were asked to take our seats, as the show was about to begin.

In the past, I have used the word “surreal” when faced with realized manifestations. Life is real and I am experiencing life, so I am attempting to stop doing this. It was, indeed, real, and I felt very proud to be there - last year Karsen and I streamed the GRAMMYs while sitting on a couch, and now we were at the Staples Center! I’ve worked for the Recording Academy for over a year now, and I feel very lucky to be able to contribute to the music community that everyone at this organization works hard to preserve, foster, and celebrate.

The show kicked off on a solemn note, which is truly the only way to begin when the news of Kobe Bryant’s death dawned upon all of us while present in both his city and basketball court. He was beautifully integrated into all of the Recording Academy’s memoriam tributes of the night. Through all of the show’s lows and highs, host Alicia Keys graciously guided the crowd.

Between awards, many performances accompanied by magical production took the stage. Featured artists include those who musically impacted my childhood, such as Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers, to artists I see as current visionaries, like Tyler, the Creator and Billie Eilish. The variety of music I was presented with, old, new, familiar, and unfamiliar, truly commemorated it as a multi-genre and multi-culture music celebration.

Highlights like Aerosmith’s performance along with tributes to Nipsey Hussle and Prince alluded to the eclectic acts that were showcased. Again, the peer-to-peer aspect comes into play here - the Telecast was like a concert for some of the world’s most impactful musicians created by some of the world’s most impactful musicians.

“Music’s Biggest Night” was incredible. In hand with the rest of my time in LA, it was abundant with new perspectives and excitement. Above all, it was so meaningful to tangibly interact with the music community that the Recording Academy has created.

- SJ