An MTV channel devoted solely to the college audience, mtvU hosted its fourth annual “mtvU Woodie Awards” last Thursday at Roseland Ballroom in New York City, allowing college students from across the country to voice their opinions on this year’s best music. The Mirror got the chance to attend the Woodie Awards and give you the inside scoop.
Gym Class Heroes, Boys Like Girls, Say Anything, The Academy Is and Guster are just a few acts that took home awards Thursday night. The winners were presented awards by an all-star list of artists, such as Fall Out Boy, Talib Kweli, Tom Delonge of Blink 182, fame, and Annie Lennox.
This year was also the first year the “Best Music on Campus Woodie” award was presented, recognizing the top unsigned college act in the country. With over 1,700 college bands submitted, Duke University’s “Stella by Starlight” won the award, along with a $5,000 cash prize and priceless industry exposure. Check out their myspace page to find out more about the band and listen to some of their music. In my opinion, they probably were not the most deserving. I guess the majority of college students just have crummy taste in music. The Woodies are more than just awards, though. The show also gave the audience of college students a night of great live music by some of the biggest up-and-coming bands of the year. Lupe Fiasco opened the show, and with the help of surprise guest Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, they performed Lupe’s new single, “Superstar.”
Next up on the stage was Canadian indie-rock group Tokyo Police Club, followed by experimental rapper Spank Rock, who put on the most entertaining set with his hits “Loose” and “Rick Ruben.” Rock was joined on stage by a group of beautiful dancers, who were then joined by college students pulled from the crowd to dance alone on stage. Possibly the most entertaining moment was when Rock, who clearly had a few drinks, spent the rest of the night in the crowd chatting it up with audience members and cheering on the rest of the acts.
Never heard of them? Well, me neither, but I suggest that you start to check him out. He may dress and look like a wannabe Flava Flav, but the man sure does know how to put on a good show.
The Academy Is hit the stage later in the night, right after winning its first mtvU Woodie. The Chicago act played its newest hit “Everything We Had,” backed up by a 12-piece string selection comprised of students from the Juilliard School of Music. Academy followed up its hair-raising slow jam with its fast paced hit “We’ve Got a Big Mess On Our Hands.”
The night was brought to a close with indie sensation Rilo Kiley. The band got the crowd going with “Money Maker” and “Breakin’ Up,” both off its new album “Under the Blacklight.”
Aside from the amazing live music, there was nothing more fun than seeing some of the biggest names in the music biz hanging out at the bar getting plastered.
I recommend that all music fans to try to get their hands on tickets for next year’s festivities.
If you’re feeling upset that you missed out on all the excitement, you can watch the entire night on mtvU on Thursday at 8 p.m.
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