A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:
Mark Lindberg of Minneapolis:
1 David Crosby Tribute, Writer's Block with David Fricke, SiriusXM. The Rolling Stone contributor draws upon his decades of engagement with Crosby to curate a masterful list of songs that Crosby loved, adding insights and stories reflecting his fearless and outspoken nature.
2 An Evening with Bono in Conversation with Jon Meacham, Washington National Cathedral. Bono has been everywhere, promoting his new book, "Surrender." However, this Pulitzer-winning historian wasn't about to let Bono get off as easy as the others. Meacham teased out details ranging from Bono's negotiations with Condoleezza Rice on AIDS funding to Bono's recent love for AC/DC's "Highway to Hell." Funny, engaging, interesting, and a cappella verse of "Miracle Drug," to boot.
3 Semisonic, First Avenue. Though these local favorites seemed to lack the energy of their shows five years ago, the boys were clearly glad to be back, enjoying home-field advantage in front of a packed house. New songs interspersed with old faves suggest it isn't quite closing time for Wilson, Munson and Slichter.
Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:
1 President Joe Biden takes a stand on fees for tickets. First he mentioned it in his State of the Union, then in a statement the next day he urged Congress "to prohibit excessive fees, require the fees to be disclosed in the ticket price and mandate disclosure of any ticket holdbacks that diminish available supply." Taylor Swift certainly got the government's attention when it comes to the way Ticketmaster rolls.
2 Lizzo brings perspective to the Grammys. First, she made meaningful comments on the podium, acknowledging Prince for inspiring her to make "positive music" and nodding to Beyoncé as "the artist of our lives." Then the morning after, Lizzo tweeted: "The last time a Black woman won Record of the Year was Whitney Houston for 'I Will Always Love You'… I don't take this lightly."
