The 1999 Klammies
@ The Folly Theater
April 10, 1999 |
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By Nick Spacek
The 1999 Klammies at the Folly Theater in KC had to be one
of the most pleasant evenings I've ever experienced. I got to see several bands that I
hadn't yet seen and meet some of the more, shall we say, "interesting" people I
have had the pleasure of meeting since I joined Synapsis.
The awards portion of the night, which was interspersed
with musical acts, was much like any other awards ceremony. The hosts, Johnny Dare of KQRC
98.9 "The Rock" and Harris Faulkner of WDAF TV 4, had the typical back-and-forth
banter going on. It was rather humorous, though. Especially funny was watching Johnny hold
back all the comments you could just see he wanted to let loose. I personally would have
actually preferred it if he had let a few of those comments fly - he doesn't hold back on
his morning show, and that's one of the reasons for its popularity.
The magic tricks, provided by Charlie Myrick, were actually
a nice addition to the show. Granted, the way they were worked into the actual hosting by
Dare and Faulkner was a bit ham-fisted and obvious, but it was still a nice diversion.
Speaking of diversions, I have to give a big hand to the Klammie-girls for their
remarkable ability to wear lovely dresses and walk the way they did. No, seriously, the
girls were quite lovely and poised, and did a nice job of assisting the award presenters.
Oddly enough, the Klammie-girls were the best-dressed
females at the ceremony. One would have expected that more of the beautiful women we are
blessed with in our music scene would have gone a bit more formal. While they were all
looking nicely dressed up, no one was really attempting to steal the spotlight. It's kind
of strange that we had an easy time picking out the "best-dressed man," but
we're still scratching our heads over who should win "best-dressed woman."
I must say, however, that there was a wide variety
of outfits on display... Leather pants, a rainbow of hair colors that aren't commonly
found in nature, leopard prints, more tuxedos than I had expected. Not to mention the fact
that your boys from Synapsis were all suited up and looking damn smooth.
The performances were just as incredibly diverse as the
apparel. As Jason is concentrating more on the review contingent, I'll just make a few
comments here on the acts that particularly struck me. The Malachy Papers did a phenomenal
job of providing intermitent music, and transition tunes. Their avant-garde jazz was a
pleasant way to segue from presenters to hosts, and vice versa. Happily, they didn't try
and play any of the songs nominated, like the bands in many other awards ceremonies. They
also really helped set and keep the mood of an "awards ceremony" - which could
have just become a strange local music show where everyone wore formal-wear, sat through
the performances, and no one smoked inside. Okay, maybe that's stretching it a bit.
Eldar Djangirov (an 11-year-old piano prodigy) blew me
away. He was accompanied by Gerald Spaits on bass and David Basse on drums. I was quite
impressed by his abilities. However, what impressed me most was not the fact that he
played the piano so well, but rather what he chose to play. Rather than performing the
typical classical pieces that are selected to over-emphasize a prodigy's skill, Djangirov
played two boogie-woogie jazz pieces that were very toe-tappin' and fit very nicely into
the Kansas City atmosphere of the evening.
Shae Jones' performance was quite impressive, vocally, but
the stage dancers' choreography was pretty typical. Jones sang to pre-recorded music while
the two male and two female dancers got their groove on. What failed to impress me was the
fact that the dance routine was the same damn thing I see with every R&B act. Nothing
too special, but it was at least a nice contrast to the other performances.
Alexi Lalas' band, Nectar Drop, was decent - if nothing
special. Lalas, who plays soccer for the Kansas City Wizards was clearly added to the
billing for the effect his name might bring to the ticket sales, but it left me slighly
annoyed that a sports star who decided to start a rock band was chosen to play this
gig, especially due to the fact they weren't even nominated. I would have rather seen
another band from one of the nominated catergories that wasn't represented - like ska,
punk, or reggae. This also would have added a bit more variety to the event, rather than
yet another rock performance.
All in all, despite a clear emphasis towards rock, the show
was really good. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, while taking in all of the bands and the
awards being presented. There were some truly funny moments during the award
presentations, but there weren't any real emotional ones. The ceremony was lacking in that
particular sentiment, but that was also clearly because most of the award-winners weren't
very surprised. However, no one (save the voters) can be faulted for that. I have a
feeling that next year, this thing is going to really blow up, and make a statement about
this area that hopefully other parts of the country will pick up on.
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