Lucian's Saturday Afternoon Bash

A SHOW OF TALENT: The place to be this morning of Grammy weekend was the tiny Lure club tucked away in Hollywood, where UMG majordomo Lucian Grainge welcomed a VIP crowd of several hundred for lunch and to show off the combined roster of impressive talent since the EMI acquisition. Distribution ruler Candace Berry ushered people to their seats at the tables, which boasted Samsung tablets providing info on the artists, though unfortunately, not for us to keep. Grainge offered a brief intro and reiterated his pledge: “We stand for artistry and development," while Rick Rubin wandered the room in T-shirt, shorts and sandals. Performers, each doing two songs, included Imagine Dragons, The Voice winner Cassadee Pope (Republic Nashville), Emeli Sande, Churchill (A&M/Octone), Florence + the Machine (complete with harpist), Chrisette Michele (Motown), Ellie Goulding, Little Big Town, Def Jam "All Gold Everything" hip-hop phenom Trinidad James and OneRepublic, with only Neon Trees missing in action when their flight was canceled. Top reactions went to Sande and Flo, who brought the crowd to their feet. Mayer Hawthorne DJ’ed as folks filed into the afternoon sun. Stay tuned for more. (2/9a)