By the time the Recording Academy of Arts and Sciences' Grammy awards took to the Staples Center stage last night in Los Angeles, a week of parties and events (both officially related to the show and not) had already flooded local venues—and continued late into the night after the ceremony wrapped. Vintage themes, innovative step-and-repeats, and dramatic stage backdrops for live music ruled at the affairs, which were hosted by Essence, Spotify, T-Mobile, Delta, and more.
Here's a look at some of the best decor, design, entertainment, staging, and other ideas from Grammy award parties.
A striking visual centerpiece of the event was a huge illuminated gramophone, not unlike the Grammy award statuette itself.
Immediately following the show, the Recording Academy’s official after-party took over a space the size of three football fields within the Los Angeles Convention Center. Among the team of producers for the Recording Academy was Branden Chapman, who said: "With more than 600 catering and service staff, 400 production team members, 200 security agents, 60 dancers and acrobats, five featured performances, and hundreds of hours of planning, it is a daunting yet rewarding task to mount the largest and most complex awards show after-party annually.” Angel City Designs executed the event's Roaring '20s design and decor.
Vintage cars were among the props used to illustrate the '20s theme. The vehicles sat within buffet setups from Along Came Mary, whose stations had themes like New York Italian, Chicago steak house, Atlantic City Boardwalk, Los Angeles Brown Derby, and San Francisco Chinatown.
Boyz II Men, Ciara, and DJ Michelle Pesce entertained the crowd, which got moving on a sprawling black-and-white checked dance floor.
Towers of balloons lent a vintage aesthetic to the Recording Academy's affair; a balloon drop punctuated Boyz II Men's performance.
Oversize Deco-style artwork covered the walls and gave the massive space a more intimate feel.
Rounding out the ‘20s theme were costumed entertainers, dancers, and acrobats throughout the room. Working fountains dotted the party space.
Adjacent to the main party area, the MasterCard Jazz Lounge had a more subdued feel with a distinctly different supper-club-like look. The space featured performances by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and members of the Grammy Camp Jazz Session.
Acts including Miley Cyrus, R. Kelly, Imagine Dragons, and Pharrell Williams all took the stage at the star-mobbed Recording Academy and Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton—where the number of big-name performances rivaled those on the Grammys stage the following night.
Emeli Sandé, DJ Kiss, and DJ Rashida all entertained at Essence’s Black Women in Music event at 1 OAK, where light-up lettering added drama (and branding) behind the stage set.
DNA Events produced and designed the magazine's event, where a black-and-white chevron pattern created a bold design look against golden tones.
A logo-inset black arrivals carpet sprawled in front of the event's color-blocked step-and-repeat area.
Delta, the Grammy awards' official airline, hosted a party at the Soho House to fete the week. The theme was “in the clouds,” and producer MKG transformed the venue with a look and feel to match. Celadon & Celery provided chic and abundant white florals—evocative of clouds—in keeping with the ethereal theme, and furniture and staging came from Classic Party Rentals. This year's buzzy performer Lorde entertained with a 30-minute set.
At a pre-Grammy party hosted by Spotify and AtomFactory with music exec Troy Carter, Stoelt Productions created a full projection mapping installation in Spotify's offices. Abstract imagery combined with sponsor logos displayed on a structure reminiscent of stacked boxes throughout the evening, apropos for an event intended to be about the convergence of technology and music.
At Spotify's event, logo step-and-repeats weren't just for arrivals backdrops—but for buffets, too.
The Grammy Foundation Legacy Concert was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, with Visions Lighting decking the alfresco area in rainbow-hued lighting.
Elite Productions International designed the floral decor—done primarily in purple blooms placed at angles and varying heights for visual interest—for the reception areas and performers' greenrooms.
Warner Music Group’s Grammy after-party at the Sunset Tower Hotel featured a made-for-Instagram illuminated dance floor.
T-Mobile presented Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for a sold-out crowd at the Belasco Theater, and 300 fans also got the chance to see the intimate performance through T-Mobile’s social media giveaway.
A photo booth offered props like boas and top hats in T-Mobile's signature hot pink.
Nielsen hosted a pre-Grammy party at the Mondrian Los Angeles—a first for the brand. John Legend was the headline performer at the new Herringbone venue within the hotel.
Lettering to spell out the Nielsen brand name decked a wall of greenery as an arrivals photo backdrop.
Friends 'N’ Family, hosted by AAM founders Mark Beaven and Andy Kipnes, celebrated its 17th annual pre-Grammy event for top music industry executives. The event found a new venue this year, at the Park View Hotel, and partnered with VH1 Save the Music. Live musical performances included Iggy Azalea and many more.
At the Friends 'N' Family event, Sound Factory L.A. handled the sound and Ultimate Lighting the lighting. BMF Media and Big Time Affairs produced, with PR from Evolutionary Media Group.
A deep roster of iconic ‘90s hip-hop acts—including Dr. Dre, Eminem, Diddy, Ice Cube, Nas, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Redman and Method Man, Cypress Hill, Busta Rhymes, Pharcyde, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Fab Five Freddy—performed at the Belasco Theater for the Beats Music launch party with production by NVE: The Experience Agency.
Billboard hosted multiple events during Grammy week: At its London West Hollywood after-party with Citi and Bud Light Platinum, produced by Mac Presents, the event's hashtag was unmissable from the moment of arrival. A custom photo booth in the event's rooftop party space also allowed guests to take a series of photos to create an animated GIF they could easily share to their social networks; the GIFs were displayed on a water wall behind the pool to add an interactive visual component and increase chatter around the #billboardparty hashtag. And Stoelt Productions produced the Billboard Power 100 pre-Grammy event for the trade at the Emerson Theatre earlier in the week.
Ringo Starr attended the Recording Academy's Special Merit Awards ceremony and nominee party, which honored the Beatles. 15/40 Productions produced the event at the Wilshire Ebell, where nods to the Fab Four were littered throughout the night's visuals.
Patterned amber lighting and Grammy award gobos cast a warm glow over the Ebell's alfresco party space.
Ne-Yo and Malibu Red celebrated their partnership for the sixth year running with "Midnight Brunch" at Lure in Hollywood, where glowing orbs hung overhead.
Masked servers passed drinks amid the crowd.
