WAYWARD SON
Beggars Banquet: Our 2008 awards ceremony was classy, sassy and drunk.

“Is there a Reach here? Is there a Reach … around?”

A firm clasp of brotherly love was given to the Kansas City and Lawrence music scenes this past Sunday night at the 2008 Pitch Music Awards. Hosted by the charming, ambidextrous David Wayne Reed — mastermind behind the above quotation — DJ’d by Bobby Keys, and attended by some 700 musicians and their friends and family, the event was an overall joyous, positive and acceptably rambunctious experience, not at all like last year’s hilariously perverse debauch.

For many, the lingering image of last year’s fête was Ryan Mattes of the Last of the V8s bloodied from a self-inflicted bottle wound, with a belt around his neck and his dick hanging out. This year, the audience may remember instead the sight of Kim Anderson — who has become a stone-cold fox all of a sudden — lashing her strawberry-blond hair in the limelight at the Uptown Theater as her band, Flee the Seen, closed the show with a gut-punching performance.

I’ll reveal more memories of the night as they trickle through the haze of my near-devastating hangover. In the meantime, here’s a partly annotated list of the winners.

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By MICHAEL FORESTER

Click on our beautiful presenters to see what went down at the Uptown last night.

Dead Girls Ruin Everything accept their Pop award. By Michael Forester.
Congratulations to the bands, DJs, rappers, men, women and children who received trophies at last night's awards show at the Uptown Theater. The photos still haven't come in yet, so check back for those later. In the meantime, here's a list of the winners, followed by a list, after the jump, of the number of votes each nominee received.

Avant/Experimental
Bacon Shoe

Blues/Soul
Ida McBeth

Country/Bluegrass
The Last Call Girls

DJ: Dance
Nomathmatics

DJ: Hip-Hop
DJ Sku

Folk/Americana
Pendergast

Hip-Hop
Reach

Indie Rock/Pop
The Republic Tigers

Jazz
Snuff Jazz

Live Act
It’s Over

Metal
Hundred Years War

New Act
Expassionates

Pop
Dead Girls Ruin Everything

Punk
We’re Fucked

Rock
Roman Numerals

All-Star Award
Tech N9ne

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Edited and shot by Zac Eubank of Skinless Productions

Pitch Music Awards August 17th Uptown Theatre from Zac Eubank on Vimeo.

See you Sunday.

By JOHN KREICBERGS
In allegiance with Patchchord.com

It's Over

In this video: Roach of It's Over talks about the band calling it quits. It's Over plays "Angela."

Click More for videos of Nomathmatics, Bacon Shoe, Pink Socks and Barclay Martin.

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Click the photo of Allen Epley for a slide show of this past Thursday's 2008 Pitch Music Showcase starring the Roseline, the Noise FM, Kiko De Gallo, the Jen Say Kwahs, Tactic, the Life and Times, Expassionates, Lights & Siren, the Beautiful Bodies, some partygirls and a beer shark.
BY RICHARD GINTOWT

And click the photo above of Chris Wagner for a Showcase slide show starring Namelessnumberheadman, Bacon Shoe, Bent Left, the ACB's, Hundred Years War, Fourth of July, the Life and Times, Nomathmatics, American Catastrophe, Pendergast, the Belated, It's Over, Pink Socks, the Rich Boys and the Beautiful Bodies.
BY MICHAEL FORESTER

By the way, we apologize to the bands whose performances we didn't get photos of. No artist, performer, ensemble, drill squad or glee club was intentionally omitted from the photo list, and everyone was fair game. It was just ... a wild night.

By JASON HARPER

Don't know about you, but I had a G-G-GOOD time last night. If you saw me at any point, you know this to be true. Here are some photos what I made. Check back on Monday for way better shots from professional photo makers Forester and Gintowt.

Tap on photo with magic pointing hand for slide show.

When you wake up tomorrow, this man's voice should be on your radio.

That's Ira Flatow (pronounced flay-toh), host of NPR's Talk of the Nation Science Friday, which airs on 89.3 FM KCUR from 1 to 3 p.m. tomorrow. (And oh my God! Winnie Cooper will be on the show tomorrow! Nerd heaven!)

I like to name my hangovers after whichever NPR personality is on the radio when I wake up. Most days, I get merely Bodined. This morning, thanks to a friend who won a VIP party at a certain downtown complex that will not be identified, I was thoroughly Krasked. I'm glad I went out, though. It makes me not wanna get trashed tonight so that I can toss empty beercans at all the performers at tonight's Pitch Music Showcase with a higher degree of accuracy.

Today is also the last day you can vote online for your favorite musicians and ensembles (pronounced ahn-soml).

I will have some sort of short report up here in the next 12 or so hours, but be sure to come back to the Wayward Blog on Monday for stupendous and magical photography, videography and maybe a little wordography about the showcase.

See you tonight!

P.S. We'll have a Billy Bob Thornton interview up tomorrow morning as well for your reading pleasure. His band, the Boxmasters, plays Knuckleheads tomorrow night. Rock!

The countdown has begun for next week's Pitch Music Showcase -- the 34 bands, $5 affair you've been hearing about that is going to rock you into a coma. Schedules have been printed up and are already making their rounds 'round the city, but I wanted to announce that there have been a couple of lineup changes.

First, download and print this year's Handy Pocket Guide.

Then, go and find a Sharpie marker and scribble in the following changes.

WESTPORT BEACH CLUB
8 p.m. Rockesh Namelessnumberheadman

MCCOY'S
9 p.m. Dri The Noise FM

We're sorry Dri and Rockesh won't be able to make it, but we heartily and enthusiastically welcome talented newcomers the Noise FM and fantastic old comers Namelessnumberheadman to the show!

We'll keep updated if the schedule changes further.

Follow the jump if you want the instant gratification of seeing the whole lineup in black and white. It's going to be a hell of a night, for sure.

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The $5 wristbands for the music showcase (August 7!) will be available at all the showcase venues, but if you want to get yours before the other kids, you can buy 'em online at the link below. And for a limited time, we're giving out 2 free movie passes to Cinemark Palace on the Plaza with each wristband purchase. Nifty. We're also selling shirts for $5 online. No bonuses with shirts other than the covering of your hairy chest.

Buy a wristband.

Buy a cool-lookin' T-shirt.

The voting is live, folks. Click here to enter your info (so we know you're real) and vote for your favorite band.

Here's a quick list of the nominees.

On page 11 of today's issue of The Pitch, readers will find a glorious and diverse list of all the bands and artists who have received nominations in this year's Pitch Music Awards.

You know the competition will be great and the showcase will be titanic, so write this down now:

Pitch Music Showcase
Westport
29 bands for $5
August 7, 2008.

NOTE: As of this post, our online voting page is still in the works. We apologize for the delay; it should be up by the end of the week.

Vote HERE.

Follow the jump to see a complete list of this year's nominees, which were chosen largely by Pitch contributors, with a little outside help from our friends in the scene, such as your mom. What, she didn't tell you? Maybe it's because you never call her!

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