The Plug Awards - Pluses And Minuses
I was lucky enough to attend the 3rd Annual Plug Awards tonight in NYC at the cavernous Terminal 5. Wait, you’ve never heard of the Plug Awards?! Well in case you (and pretty much anyone else outside of New York City actually) need a recap, it’s basically a big awards show celebrating independent music. This year’s show was hosted by Patton Oswalt and featured performances by Bats for Lashes, White Denim, The Forms, Dizzee Rascal, Jose Gonzalez, and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Check out my rant, and a few notes from Matt, after the jump.
+ Nick Cave - A living legend in his own right, it was awesome to see him perform to a crowd that was basically only there to see him. Granted he played a fairly short set, but despite his age, he was still smashing around the stage with as much passion as he had in his early days. [Matt] Seriously, the man is amazing to watch.
+ Patton Oswalt - Pretty funny guy. [Matt stepping in] I really wanted some stand-up from the man. The best line was when he compared the actual Plug Award to a David Lynch designed butt plug.
+ White Denim - They opened the night and played a mere two songs. Once they finished, the guitarist yelled, “Thanks for the exposure!” and then walked off stage. Hilarious.
+ St. Vincent - Annie Clark is just so damn cute and has the voice to back it up. I saw her perform at the Knitting Factory during CMJ last fall and her set was unfortunately marred with technical problems. Tonight however, she was spot on and even though she only played a 3 song set, it demonstrated that not only is she a fantastic singer, but has the musical prowess to back it up. [Matt] Blah.
- Dizzee Rascal - I just can’t get into him. Maybe it’s because of his accent or that his delivery is just kind of monotone. Someone standing next to me burst out laughing about a minute into his set, thinking it was a joke.
- The Forms - Boring boring boring. [Matt] Agreed.
- The Awards - Clearly no one was there to see the awards being presented/announced and no one really cared when they did. Pretty much none of the bands showed up to accept the awards. [Matt again] I don’t know how they can make that work but I must say this is what the most organized year so far.
- Terminal Five - Sure, it’s the hip new thing to complain about how much Terminal 5 sucks, but honestly, the sound there is awful. Way too much bass and it overrides everything else. Very annoying. [Matt] It was kind of hard to hear Nick Cave because it was so loud.
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Nick Cave ruled the show. they needed to give some more time for Patton!
your write-off of the forms is a little harsh. not their best show, and certainly not an accurate presentation of how they usually are on stage–which is rocking. i think your complaints of terminal 5 sucking had a lot to do with their off-sound. go to their show at the bowery in a few weeks for a better representation.