By Sarah Farid
“I’m Drunk! But you all know that,” roared British mini-rapper Lady Sovereign. She had just been dragged out of the bleachers where she was dancing and making faces at the audience. “Who’s dunk in here?” she asked. The crowd cheered in acknowledgement.
The frat party that was the “mtvU Woodie Awads” came complete with clichéd college characters such as; “Drunk Guy Who Is Pissed Off at Everything,” “Drunk Girl Who Is Overly Excited About Everything,” and of course “Drunk Girl Who Is Passed Out On The Floor While Everyone Is Leaving.”
Taped at Roseland Ballroom in New York City, the third annual “Woodies” is the only awards show honoring the music voted best by the college audience.
The premise of the event was a bit humorous: college students worshiping artists who most likely dropped out of school and artists are performing for people who will most likely have jobs much more difficult than theirs in the future. One artist who acknowledged this was Tom Delonge of Angels and Airwaves, “we are fond of people who want to learn, because we don’t want to do it ourselves,” he said.
Most of the artists agreed it was important to support the college music scene. Travis McCoy, the vocalist for Gym Class Heroes, who along with his band-mates dropped out of college to peruse music, said “I feel people don’t care about college kids, and they really should.”
“I wish we had this kind of thing when I was in college,” said Charlotte Cooper, the bassist for the British rock trio The Subways. “Everyone can watch it together at the same time” she said about mtvU, “it’s quite a communal thing.”
Imogen Heap started the show with an ethereal rendition of her hit “Hide and Seek.” The English artist is nominated for “Left Field Woodie;” which is the category for artists who defies the typical genres. When asked how she would categorize her own music Imogen Heap said she would create a new genre called “Eclectica.” In that case she was wearing a typical “Eclectica” outfit, a full skirted red dress, glittery gold shoes, with a Marie Antoinette hair-do adorned with flowers and feathers. Elaborate, but at least she seemed like she was happy to be there.
Beck on the other hand, showed up glassy-eyed and reluctant to answer questions during the press line. He performed early in the program, which lead many audience members to leave early. He played “Nausea” and “E-Pro” on stage, while a band of marionettes replicated his and his band’s every move on a jumbo screen.
Gym Class Heroes performed “The Queen and I,” complete with an actress dressed as a queen, acting out the lyrics. After, they performed “Cupid’s Chokehold,” with William from The Academy is joining them for the final chorus.
TV on the Radio closed the show with two songs “I Was a Lover” and their current hit “Wolf Like Me.”
The show will premiere on mtvU on November 2nd at 8 p.m. and be simulcast on-air and online.
“It was a sick show,” said senior Jake Kindberg. Yes, it certainly was a momentous event for the lucky college students who got to see their favorite artists perform for free. That is of course, if they were capable of remembering it the next morning.
