Sentimental Journey : Fans Brave the Rain to Cheer for Grammy Favorites

Neither rain, nor fog, nor hulking buses blocking their view stayed music fans from their time-honored rituals as the hour approached for Tuesday night’s 34th annual Grammy Awards show.

Several hundred people stood and swirled behind blue police barricades along West 51st Street, erupting periodically in shrieks as a parade of stretch limos inched past, pausing to drop off their passengers at the stage door of Radio City Music Hall, site of the televised extravaganza.

The vocal chorus, ranging from prepubescent shrill to mid-30s baritone, rose from the rain-soaked asphalt canyon of Rockefeller Center.

With the show itself still hours away, those arriving were mostly “roadies” or lesser lights of the music industry, but the faithful standing in the cold, unforgiving drizzle were undeterred.