Neither rain, nor sleet nor dark of night
FOR LIVING
Neither rain, nor sleet nor dark of night…
Once postponed awards show goes off as planned at Tradewinds
Correspondent
Photos courtesy of Joseph Cullity One of the evening’s big winners, Nicole Atkins, performs during the Asbury Music Awards show at Tradewinds last week.
Jersey Shore-area rockers, writers, promoters and various hangers-on braved a blustery and rainy Sea Bright night Aug. 28 to honor their favorite music scenesters at the 10th annual Asbury Park Music Awards, held this year at The Tradewinds Niteclub.
Founded in 1992 and still organized and co-produced by Scott Stamper of The Saint — Asbury Park rock institution and home to the stars — the Asbury Music Awards have become a long-standing tradition for the area’s indie-, rock-, punk-, funk-, jam-, and etc.-band community.
My wife and I arrived about a half-hour late, a good strategy for an awards show, we reasoned — late enough to be stylish, but not too late in case there’s a buffet. I mumbled something at the door about press passes, the First Amendment, and full-coverage-plus-one, all the while throwing Hub Editor Lindsey Siegle’s name around until they fitted us with a series of colorful plastic ID wristbands and set us loose inside the Tradewinds’ sprawling, rocker-filled nightclub floor. We ordered a couple of cocktails and made our way around the room, stopping at the booths along the back wall to check out some fashionable T-shirts (and grab some promo stickers) from Getto Gear, a cool Point Pleasant-based clothing store and one of the evening’s sponsors.
It was a night for the best and brightest (judging by some of the stylish sunglasses being worn at this nighttime event, the very brightest) of the Asbury Park-area music scene to get together, listen to some bands, and see some awards get handed out to the hardworking people that make the scene happen every day, all year long, on the local club circuit.
Kriz Oehme, not to be mistaken for Wile E. Coyote, was one of the presenters the Asbury Music Awards show at Tradewinds last week.
Like the big nationally televised music award shows, the AMAs feature celebrity presenters, performances by some of the evening’s nominees, and shiny, music-themed trophies for the winners. Unlike those out-of-touch-with-the-rock, big-corporate fluff-fests, however, the performances here are the real thing — no lip-synching or vo-corders allowed.
It is clear to this reporter that, had he tried that MTV nonsense here, Justin Timberlake would have had the stuffing knocked out of him by some of the most prestigious musicians, singers, DJs, and rock journalists on the Jersey scene today.
Hosted by Al Muzer from The Aquarian Weekly and local promoter Lenny Lounge, the night featured award presentations by some of the Jersey music scene’s premier personalities. Presenters included, but were not nearly limited to rock journalist Bob Makin (East Coast Rocker); legendary bassist (Urchins, Spiral Jetty) and Artist Amplification founder Andy Gesner; local poet, singer (Wellbaby), and "Super Genius" Kriz Oehme; promoter and 2002 Battle of the Bands director Dan Fulton (JerseyShows.com); Web photo-journalist Joe Cullity (a great guy from a great Web site, NJCoast.com), who let me use his photos for this article; and Bobby Strange (also from NJCoast.com), introduced as "the Susan Lucci of the AMAs" for allegedly being nominated seven times in as many years at the AMAs without taking home any awards.
Highlights from the evening’s live performances included an energetic, correct-to-form delivery of punk-ska from an outfit called Sprout; Last Perfect Thing checking in with a driving, stop-and-start, cymbal-crash indie-emo set; a clever-sweet solo acoustic set by one of the evening’s big winners, Nicole Atkins; the Latin-driven, dance-floor-filling jams of De Sol; and the post-hardcore, creamy, melodic mope-metal of Madjul.
It was a great night of performances, awards, and elbow-rubbing with the local music scenesters. I’m really looking forward to next year’s 2003 Asbury Park Music Awards — I hear there’s already a big buzz around Bobby Strange…