Music
Although, he probably doesn’t like me spilling his secrets, I’ve got something to divulge about What’s Up! Magazine editor Brent Cole. No, this isn’t going to be anything salacious—I wouldn’t infringe upon my decade-and-a-half friendship with Cole in that way, but is something that is merely curious.
Every year, a few weeks before the annual What’s Up! Awards shows, Cole, usually by phone, but sometimes via the worldwide web, utters this sentence, “I’m pretty sure no one is coming to the awards show this year.”
How a man who has been throwing this particular party for more than a decade could believe such a thing is always beyond me. But, rest assured, this is no posturing in the interest of having his ego stroked. Cole is dead serious when he says this. Dead serious, and totally insane.
As anyone who has attended any of the What’s Up! Awards shows is well aware, the risk inherent in this entertainment outing isn’t that the room, in this case both the Jinx basement and the Wild Buffalo, will be empty, it’s more that if one doesn’t arrive early—and I mean 8pm early, not 10pm “early”—one won’t be able to get in at all.
The reason for this is simple: since its inception, each and every What’s Up! Awards show, regardless of date or venue, has sold out. Indeed, in terms of annual events, the awards show proper and its all-ages pre-awards counterpart are the music-scene equivalent of a sure thing. Unless, of course, you’re Cole in the midst of a pre-show anxiety delusion.
Although many things involving our music scene are as complex as only a community populated by creative and innovative people can make them, the secret to the What’s Up! Awards ongoing success is beautifully simple: it’s a great show—one of the best shows of the year, really—year in and year out. After all, where else can you see such an array of local music in a packed room crackling with benevolent energy and general goodwill?
And, of course, there’s the matter of those golden beer cans and the awarding thereof. Yes, we all know it’s not a Grammy, and such contests as the What’s Up! Awards have little sway in the world outside Bellingham, but that doesn’t change the fact that winning a What’s Up! Award still feels like a pretty big deal. I speak from experience on this point—and I didn’t even win mine via a vote of my peers, rather it was awarded to me thanks to the Cole’s largesse and the creation of a special “Appreciation Award” several years ago. Still, it felt pretty great to get one—and I can only imagine how it feels for bands who win them based on their actual musical achievements.
As for the nuts and bolts of the shows themselves, the whole shebang kicks of Fri., Jan. 27 with a show in the Jinx basement. The show, hosted by WhAAM, will feature the talents of Learning Team, Triceracorn, and Bowlcut, as well as the long-awaited, much-anticipated return of Rookery. Since this show is all-ages, it’s not only a great opportunity to check out a whole bunch of local music, but should you also find yourself in possession of a person who is underage, by bringing them, you can do your part to ensure that the music scene that What’s Up! has been covering for nearly 15 years exists into perpetuity.
But it’s Sat., Jan. 28 when the party really gets started. The locale: the Wild Buffalo, which, with its expansive nearly 500-person capacity, is almost too small to contain the revelry that happens within. On the entertainment docket this year will be the Bad Tenants, Sugar Sugar Sugar, No-Fi Soul Rebellion, Lamppost Revival, Falling Up Stairs, and So Adult. Entertaining crowds between sets will be the Dirty Bird Cabaret and DJ Postal, and IG88 will be on hand for a special guest set. Cole has even managed to add the singularly skilled and entertaining ladies of Femme Uke to the list of performers, to make for a jam-packed evening of musical entertainment. As always, Poops will be on hand to emcee the party, and presenters will include familiar faces from the music community (including yours truly).
In years past, I’ve lobbed wild guesses as to who I think the winners in the various awards show categories will be. Sometimes I’ve been correct, other times, I’ve been way off the mark. This time, I’m not going to hazard any guesses except to say that the winners will most likely be found among either the various performers, or the attendees. Since that broad stroke covers just about everyone in the music scene, it seems my prediction this year is wholly correct. Should you require the specifics, well, you’ll just have to come to the show. But get there early. Because despite Cole’s anxieties regarding the matter, something tells me people—and lots of them—will, in fact, show up.
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