(Photo from www.theinfluenceofmusic.com)
Awards shows have never been my bag, but I'm glad I stopped by the Port Folio Music Awards program at the Granby Theater tonight. The ornate Granby is the right place for this kind of shindig. There's a big stage, a bright, red curtain and lots of flashing lights. Bars are readily accessible and the multi-level nature of the place makes for good sight lines. (Yes, the sound was muddy, but you can't expect perfection, right?) More importantly, though, seeing several hundred folks show up to support the local music community was gratifying.
I arrived unfashionably late, so I missed some of the early performances, including those by Rylo and Skye Zentz, who performed a version of Hall and Oates' "Maneater." (Why Hall and Oates? The night's theme was 1983 -- in honor of Port Folio's 25th birthday). What I did hear was Jackmove doing a peppy, horn-driven version of Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry" and The Influence taking a grungy stab at Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean."
The Influence, by the way, took the Album of the Year award for its CD "Pig Radio" while best DJ went to DJ Greg Again and best punk group was Jackmove. I'm hoping that eventually Port Folio will post a full list of winners. I couldn't find one online tonight.
Wandering through the crowd at The Granby I saw Annie Johnson, Bob Zentz, Jae Sinnett, Skip Friel as well as local DJ Bill Bass and Kelly Murphy, who runs the Harris Creek Acoustic house concert series in Hampton.
Like I said, I'm ambivalent about awards shows. But it was nice to see so many area musicians and music lovers gathering under one roof. In that spirit, I'll bite my tongue about this shortcoming or that flaw. It was a good night for local music -- much better than a few years ago when there was a pathetic turnout for the Nine Volt local music awards at Rogues in Virginia Beach.
2 comments:
no mas y mas? no super vacations? no ant hill? there's always next year.
Yeah, and 1888 should have won album of the year. They'll have to beef up their MySpace friends or it will never happen, though.
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