Right around the time my laptop’s battery started to die last night I realized it was really impossible to capture everything that was going on at the Highdive. Furious typing and an army of witnesses helped somewhat, but through the haze of my third beer (damn I wish there was more free Jack!) I could tell I would have to write a follow up. Here it is: Errors, omissions, honorable mentions, and a reflection on the entire night.

Errors (or Oopsies!)

Thank you to Josh Fisher for pointing out some lyrics I misheard during the Corn Desert Ramblers set. Honestly, sitting in the back of Highdive attempting to type and html for three hours straight messes with your senses. The Corn Desert Ramblers put on a great show and deserve correct documentation: The song goes… “lost all my money but a 2 dollar bill, 2 dollar bill, 2 dollar bill, and i’m on my long journey home.” My bad guys.

Omissions

I tried to insert some over-heard convos in between what was happening on stage, but unfortunately did not have enough time. Here are some highlights:

“Another water for my lady friend!”

“Snowsera sounds like a confused Emo band.”

“Michael Coulter is making me really uncomfortable.”

“Eight bottles of free Jack is clearly inadequate!”

These few were from some tattooed Heavy Metal dudes sitting next to me for a bit (sorry for the profanity). I had to write them down because it was such a hilarious difference from everyone else’s behavior:
“Cover band award? Why don’t you just shit on all of us some more?”
“That bitch on the mic is hot. I’ll give her an award or two.”
Directed at me: “Yo can I check my gmail?”

Honorable Mentions

Jon Hansen - Way to put on a great show and keep it running smoothly. That goes out to everyone involved as well.

Scurvine - It was annoying to see some rude people ditch out on your performance, but I really dug the Tegan and Sara cover! Great job.

Elle - Thanks for letting me join in on the open bar - I was afraid I would have to be an island of sobriety in a sea of whiskey. Also, I heard a lot of comments from people impressed with your work. Keep it up.

Reflection

The Local Music Awards were steeped in controversy this year, deserved or not. The discontent followed the awards to downtown Champaign, manifested in the charity show next door at Memphis on Main. I thought the absence of some great CU bands would be an elephant in the Highdive’s stage room, but I was impressed with the respect everyone paid each other (minus some of the above quotes). People traveled between both shows and I heard positive comments for each band. As soon as Scurvine was finished I headed next door and checked out the rest of the charity show. It looked like everyone was having a really good time and just happy with the support shown.
Illini Media did a great job with this year’s awards, but of course there is always room for improvement. I think a regular obsession with local music would result in a more positive response from the community. Yes, local music gets played on WPGU, the Buzz is constantly interviewing local artists, and the217 is off to a great start (Band of the Week Feature coming soon!). I guess what I think attributes to alienation is the seemingly temporary obsession with local music during the weeks leading up to the LMA’s. Seemingly is the important word. Illini Media is always looking to boost talent with exposure, but when the LMA’s are over it looks like the support withdraws as well. This is simply not the case, and if you think it is then pay attention to the new efforts being made to incorporate more local exposure. I’m looking forward to future LMA’s that will be a uniting force, not an estranging one.

check it out: Live Blog

Poorly vandalized LMA Logo

I’ve read just about every complaint people have with Illini Media’s Local Music Awards, and have also seen most of them successfully defended. The majority of beef people have with the process can be summarized at Seth Fein’s Smile Politely blog or by our own Matt Klomparens via All Shook Down. In short, the LMA’s are seen as simply an excuse for IMC to make $$ instead of as a tribute to the hard working bands of the CU scene. I will not lay down my opinion as I am currently a Buzz employee, but both sides make solid arguments. I will, however, point out that there are some great bands conspicuously missing from the nominees and the Awards Show…

Which brings me to the point of this post - whichever side of the fence you stand on, next Thursday may pose a touch choice in shows to attend.

A slew of excellent local artists will be trying to drown out the Highdive at Memphis on Main. Interestingly, proceeds will go to special charities chosen by the bands. A stab at the advertising profit made by IMC perhaps? Nonsense aside, I’m a little upset that I won’t be able to share my time between live coverage of the Awards Show and the Charity Show’s World’s First Flying Machine, Elsinore, The Beauty Shop, Zmick, and Tall Tale. Either way, both events will be fun.

The LMA Show is April 3 at The Highdive - doors 8 pm, show 9 pm (free admission)

The Charity Show is also April 3 at Memphis on Main - doors 8 pm (donations to charity accepted)

In an effort to add to the parade - of - LMA - coverage and prevalence in everything Illini Media, I will be featuring an in depth report on at least one band from each category leading up to this year’s Awards Show. My reasoning is that people will have more motivation to go if they have invested time into reading about some of the artists honored this year. The event is always fun and will really get you enthusiastic about local music if you aren’t already.

In addition to the features you can expect every day until the awards show, I will be hosting a live blog of the event featuring photos, performance reviews, and perhaps video if Youtube cooperates with me.

The show is one week from today, Thursday, at the Highdive. Admission is FREE!

p.s. whoever does the crazy moving-link boxes on the main page, try not to make stuff up like “unexpected album from The Raconteurs”. Everyone knew about it… ; )