By GREGG KIRK
January 1994, Big Shout Magazine

By all accounts, the 1993 Delaware Valley Music Poll Awards ceremony was as much of a success, if not more so, than last year’s over-the-top bash.

When you mix the ingredients of out-of-town and local celebrity presenters, seven popular local music acts, 1,200 or so attendees, and an hour-long VIP party with free booze and butlered hors d’oeuvres, all at the Trocadero in Philly, it’s not hard to see why.

For the organizing committee who put the whole thing together — Dave Simons from the Khyber Pass/Trocadero, Sherri Bonghi from Star Farm Music, Carol Schutzbank from Carol L. Schutzbank Productions, and myself (Gregg Kirk) from this magazine — the night did not bring with it the same terrifying rush as last year of wondering if things would spin wildly out of control. Instead, we had the confidence of having thrown one of these things before.

For the average nominated band member and audience member, the night was a culmination of four months of nominating, balloting, and showcasing. The music poll had kicked off in early August when the first nominating ballot appeared in Big Shout. After collecting two month’s worth of write-in ballots from the general public, the committee weeded out the most-nominated artists and added a few nominees of their own. It was in October that the final ballot appeared not only in this magazine, but in Splatter Effect, The Real News, and Splat Magazine, and they were also available in loose form throughout a handful of area venues.

In November, the thing began to pick up steam. Like last year, the balloting became fast and furious when several of the bands nominated in a dozen or so categories were invited to showcase at participating clubs in Delaware and Philadelphia. As it drew closer to the November 24 deadline, the ballots virtually flooded in. When the dust settled, Joe Brevoort (our hapless intern here at Big Shout) had counted more than 2,800 ballots, no less than twice that of last year’s record-breaking total of 1,200.

It was shortly after 8 p.m. when organizer Carol Schutzbank took the stage and welcomed everyone to the night’s festivities. At this point WPST DJ and the first scheduled emcee Eddie Davis had not been spotted, so the job was split between co-emcees WXPN DJ Elise Brown and Mark Fried of BMI. No one was the wiser, and after this initial false start, the ceremony lurched into gear when the first performer of the night, Ruder Than You, blasted into a brace of ska songs.

After a handful of awards were given away, it seemed a foregone conclusion that the ceremony was hurtling toward success. The Trocadero was packed to the gills, and nervous energy filled the air by the time the Low Road took the stage and played two of their own compositions.

Shortly after Anthrophobia finished a blistering two-song set of powerhouse material, I waded through the crowd to a reception of back slapping and hand shaking. One band member gushed that the ceremony seemed like something on MTV, and several audience members concurred that the whole thing seemed classier than last year. Go figure. It appeared a year of planning had paid off.

Not to sound schmoozy, but the biggest single highlight of the night had to be the performances by all of the bands. Maybe it was the thrill of playing on a large stage or the charge of performing to a celebrity-filled, captive audience, but whatever the case each group — Ruder Than You, Anthrophobia, the Low Road, Go To Blazes, Suddenly Tammy!, The Roots, and the Dead Milkmen — blazed like it was their last performance.

But there were a few other highlights as well. Rodney Anonymous from the Dead Milkmen stomped onto the stage to give away the award for “Best LP/EP,” and in some sort of affected cartoon accent muttered, “I say we give half the awards to Suddenly, Tammy! and the other half to the Low Road and call it a night.” And as he began to give away the award and spokesmodel and award-presenter Natassia sashayed onto the stage with the trophy, Anonymous quipped, “I loved you in The Crying Game,” to which Natassia replied by hiking up her skirt and exposing a moon to the audience. You see, Natassia is a transvestite. Did Tom Larsen know this when he flirtatiously kissed Natassia’s hand after accepting the “Best Blues Artist” award?

A few awards after this, Mike Leonard gave the longest and most entertaining acceptance speech of the night when his band, Caterpillar, staggered onto the stage to accept the “Best Single” award. In an incredulous and beer-soaked voice, Leonard shouted, “You gotta be bullshitting me. You people actually voted for us? You’re INSANE! You’re fucked up. No way. What’s the matter with you? You’re fucking kidding me!”

Mark Fried from BMI did not miss a beat. As Leonard and company were directed backstage, he deadpanned, “The next fucking award will be for ‘Best Live Performance.'”

Other highlights occurred behind the scenes, literally. What the general ceremony goer could not see was the network of activity backstage. Band members, performers, presenters, and hangers-on mixed in a swirling mass that somehow production organizer Sherri Bonghi managed to keep under a semblance of control. As each award was accepted, the winners were briskly escorted backstage into a little room where photographer Stephanie Jennings snapped their winning expressions at the moment of impact.

As the night waned and as the free Rolling Rocks flowed like a river backstage, some winners became more enthusiastic than others. After Crossbone Pie accepted the “Best Thrash Artist” award, they failed to go backstage so they had to be wrangled from the audience and brought back individually. Once there, lead singer Kevin McNamara became overwhelmed by the moment and hugged me several times and told me that he loved me. As the band members were corralled in the tiny photo room, they grabbed whatever passerby happened to be in the vicinity to pose in the picture with them. Because of this, the room was crammed with 10 or more people and it didn’t take long for Stephanie’s photo backdrop to be wrenched from its posts. Within minutes it was dusted off, rigged back up with duct tape, and ready for another shoot. It was that kind of night.

Other than this slight mishap, there where no major gaffs, causalities, or injuries to report. Most who left the ceremony that night had smiles on their faces and presumably warm spots where their hearts should be. The pervasive feeling was that of community, and talk of unifying the Delaware Valley’s music scene was perhaps the most common theme of awards presenters and winners alike.

When the night was over, one thing was for certain — it seemed that a tradition had been set, and everyone in attendance at this year’s event will expect nothing less of next year’s bash. Here’s to the 1994 Delaware Valley Music Poll.