Over the past few years, mtvU’s annual Woodie Awards have been unexpectedly bloggable. But last night we couldn’t rely on Jordan Catalano picking fights since he was busy being king douche somewhere else, and Spank Rock seemed sober which meant no drinking from stilettos or jacking liveblogs, so we were left with … music? Well music plus asymmetical haircuts because remember this is all about COLLEGE. Before the show I spent some time on the indoor red carpet because it was warmer than the outdoor no carpet. It was fruitful: Chromeo promised new material will sound more like the “Momma’s Boy” than “Tenderoni,” Santogold confirmed that mtvU press release was erroneous and that she is still indeed Santogold, Vampire Weekend smiled and Palin’d as they didn’t stop to take questions from the liberal elite media, etc. Through the din of answers from guylinered bands I didn’t know, I heard the words “Dirty Projectors” and “TV On The Radio” and thought maybe things were changing. I looked up to see the lovely ladies of Au Revoir Simone. Things in fact are not changing.
But! There were some cool moments.
Lykke Li’s been known to cover Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It” while splicing it with Lou Reed’s “Wild Side,” so she ended her three-song set with that last night. And that’s when Q-Tip came out. Kamaal stuck around for three of his own (“Move,” “Vibrant Thing,” and “Gettin’ Up”) and to plug The Renaissance. Vampire Weekend did “A-Punk,” “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” and invited Chromeo and their vocoder onstage for a version of “Kids Don’t Stand A Chance”. (The Chromeo guys told me they’d recorded a different arrangement of it with VW for the single-release, out soon.) Santogold did “L.E.S. Artistes” and “Shove It” with Naeem, and was introduced by Debbie Harry. Scott’s favorite radio station in college (91.7 FM, WICB in Ithaca) won a Woodie. Moby spoke eloquently of the inspirational backstory of Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal. Mark Hoppus looked handsome and made me wonder Why, Tom DeLonge? Some group that sounded like a third-rate knockoff of a second-rate angst-in-a-hairspray-can band performed and made me wonder Why, College Youth Of America? And a big old etc.
But there were awards, and there were winners, and there are so many pics by photog Dese’Rae L. Stage to scroll through. Please enjoy.
SANTOGOLD, BJORN & LYKKE
SANTOGOLD & TREVOR ANDREW
SANTOGOLD
BJORN YTTLING
LYKKE LI
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
VAMPIRE WEEKEND & CHROMEO
CHROMEO
AU REVOIR SIMONE
MOBY
MOBY & EMMANUEL JAL
PARAMORE
ASHER ROTH
MARK HOPPUS
KID SISTER
THE COOL KIDS
A-TRAK
SPANK ROCK
ZOE KRAVITZ
THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS
DEBBIE HARRY
This year’s winners:
- Woodie of the Year (Artist of the Year) – Paramore
- The Breaking Woodie (Best Emerging Artist) – There For Tomorrow
- Left Field Woodie (Most Original Artist) – Chromeo
- Best Video Woodie – Motion City Soundtrack “It Had to be You”
- The Good Woodie (Greatest Social Impact) – Jack’s Mannequin’s “Dear Jack Foundation” – Established by lead singer, Andrew McMahon, a leukemia survivor, this group raises money and awareness for cancer research.
- Performing Woodie (Best Tour) – Atmosphere
- College Radio Woodie (Best Campus Radio Station) – 91.7 FM, WICB Ithaca College
- Best Music on Campus Woodie – The Bride Wore Black
The Woodies air on mtvU starting 11/19, and there’ll be a half-hour “Best Of” on MTV and MTV2 on 11/22.
[All photos by Dese'Rae L. Stage]
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Congrats WICB, the Station for Innovation
Is everyone wearing the same black jacket? And who invited All-American Rejects?
lulz paramore and all american rejects
I think this event is funny because its like an award show for the B List of music acting like the A list. Not saying that the B list isn’t better but some of these people seem outta place at an award show.
WHY THE FUCK DID SANTOGOLD (or do I mean “Santi”) not win ANYTHING!?
That is a shame. Paramore is balls.
I went on quite the adventure when I clicked on the Catalano link. I entered a world of unparalleled lameness, where hobbits are rendered frozen by the hands of the Grand-Douche. A land where droves of misguided eschelon members run to the defense of this terrible creature. A land where honest bloggers who fight the good fight are subjected to rapid ejection and mangled digits. It was quite a journey.
i was at the woodies last night, everyone put on a mediocre performance…vampire weekend played “kids don’t stand a chance” with chromeo which was sick, and lykke li was surprisingly good, but for the most part nothing really, really great
is the dude from felicity in paramore?
that was my same reaction! I actually scrolled back to see it again.
but paramore and the all american rejects? ok then….
soo little girls were the only ones who voted………
This made me feel really old. I didn’t even know who lots of these people were.
From the comments, I suspect that may be a good thing.
Once again Debbie Harry looks absolutely beautiful
Your picture of Au Revoir Simone(au_revoir_simone1.jpg) isn’t the full band. It is a picture of 2 members of the band (Annie Hart on the left, Erika Forster on the right) but the girl in the middle is not a member of the band. The picture is missing Heather D’Angelo, the third member of the band. Not sure who the girl in the middle is.