Thursday night kicked off one of the coolest shows in town, the fourth annual MTVU Woodie Awards. Hosted in the Roseland Ballroom, one of New York’s hottest venues, the night left everyone star struck and wanting more.
The show kicked off with Lupe Fiasco’s latest single ‘Superstar,’ with Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump backing with power vocals. MTV camera’s slide around the ballroom capturing the waves, screams, and middle fingers of the crowd below.
After Lupe’s hit was over, Q-Tip strolled on to stage, handing out the award for Woodie of the Year to Gym Class Heroes. The Woodie of the Year award honored the artist who made the biggest mark on the college music scene over the past year.
After Gym Class Heroes show last year at Stony Brook University and non-stop radio rotation, they seemed to have set themselves apart from the other nominees of Lily Allen, The Shins, and Amy Winehouse (Common was the other nominee, but I think he outdoes every on this list).
The Woodie of the Year was then followed by a performance from the Tokyo Police Club, who was also a nominee for the upcoming The Breaking Woodie award. Their performance fell short of Lupe’s, but the audience was into it, and they rocked it with some decent guitar play.
The Breaking Woodie was given to Boys Like Girls over the Tokyo Police Club and several others, for their very modern rock sound that seems to always get radio play (check out their hit ‘Cheer on It’).
The ‘Woodie’ award that MTVU gives out evolved from the indie tradition of giving wooden records out to artists to leave their mark on the music scene.
Seeing artists like Guster (who would later drop their award on the stairs after accepting the Goodie Woodie) and The Academy Is’hellip; accept awards, the hammer and piece of wood they were given seemed to give as much confusion to the winner as excitement.
Highlights from the rest of the show were appearances by Tom Delonge and Dave Kennedy (of Blink 182 and Angels and Airwaves fame), Annie Lennox, Keenan, Motion City Soundtrack and Talib Kweli.
Spank Rock, an upcoming artist, put on a show that rivaled the opening act when he performed his hit ‘Rick Rubin,’ and let several audience members on stage for a huge dance party. His six dancers and band members fed off his energy, especially after he switched costumes between songs and pulled off some ridiculous dance moves.
Other live performances included The Academy Is’hellip; which seemed to follow the same style as Tokyo Police Club in sound, but their appeal to the audience (countless female fans) was undeniable. You could feel the power of a rockstar that night, controlling the crowd, controlling you in a way you didn’t realize.
The show that Academy Is… lit up the place and the faces of countless females. The lead singer looks like a gangly unkempt college student from first impression without knowing who he is.
Once he got on stage, you could see a completely different persona. When he stood on top of the stage lights and stretched is arms out, he was king of the universe, and it seemed as though no one could take their eyes off of the stage.
From the looks of it, MTVU’s guest list may not have been as star heavy as other music awards, like the CMA’s that played this week. But by the end it proved to the perfect mix for what was the perfect show.
