Final musings on the IE Music Awards
Although last year's IEMA hosts were hilarious, Martin Brown provided his own sardonic British sense of humor between sets last Thursday at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium. The event producer/organizer said nobody else wanted to take it on, so he did. And a fine job at that.
I thought it was interesting that most bands got up to 10 minutes to perform onstage.
The attendance should have been larger, considering the better location and reasonable price.
Brown plans to move back to Europe permanently, but will still oversee the SoCal awards shows remotely via the internet. Having done the OC event for many years, he's got it down to a science now.
Volodja Balzalorsky, the Best International winner, is a violinist and professor of music in Europe. I believe Brown said he was from Slovenia. Other entries came from the U.K., Australia, Puerto Rico.
Young violinist Antonio Pontarelli was originally scheduled to perform live since he won last year, but couldn't make it because he had late college classes at USC.
Teenage native America flute player Evren Ozan won again for Best Out of County and seemed to win over some females in the audience with the soothing instrumental tune, "Jacaranda."
I didn't realize when I wrote the IEMA wrap up that Groove Session, the hippie-centric jam band who got a standing ovation, hailed from Ontario.
After longtime Riverside ska band The Skeletones presented an award, Brown said "maybe The Skeletones can perform next year." I think it would be a good idea to have them or another IE music institution, Voodoo Glow Skulls, as a "special guest." Maybe it would draw more people.
Was anyone there? What did you think?