Hot, Right Out of the Box

The second-annual GO Music Awards are history. Meet your winners.

The second-annual GO Music Awards were just as much fun as the first time around, and we owe it all to the bands, the fans and the music-making man. Thank you for making and supporting local music. Here, now, is a recap of our Best Band showcase at Rock’n Ribs, as well as an up-close look at the awards decided online by you, the GO reader. Epic.

Here’s a quick recap: Beginning in January, Springfield music fans were invited to nominate their favorite local bands and artists in nine categories. We counted the votes (literally by hand), and assembled a final ballot, on which you voted to the tune of almost 800 ballots cast, which we counted, again by hand, with a little help from Excel. In all, 40-plus bands were recognized.

Click here to read about the winners in the Fan Vote Categories

Click here to read our Editors' Picks

But the top five finishers in one category, Best Band, were invited to perform at the GO Music Awards at Rock’n Ribs. They rocked the stage, and the decision was then the hands of our judges. The lineup was a hybrid of styles, songs and sounds that had never been heard on a single stage in Springfield. But the bands did have one thing in common: Each had the crowd on its feet.

Here are the results of our Best Bands showcase at Rock'n Ribs:

Photo Kevin O'Riley

Winner: Hotbox

Hotbox is made up of four lifelong musicians, but little was known about them when they started piling up Best Band nominations. They drew the first performance spot—a tough gig, since the Rock’n Ribs crowd tends to get more dance-prone only as the day goes on—but made the most of it. The clincher came when lead singer/saxophonist Rick Shortt and guitarist Robby Scrivener jumped off the stage and performed backbreaking (literally) solos at crowd-level. For their efforts and energy (one judge called them “the most prepared”) they won the love of the crowd, our judges and a $250 cash prize.

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Runners-up:
(In performance order, not order of finish)

Trash Angels

Following the Hotbox formula of playing high-energy music to pump up the crowd, the Trash Angels’ biggest-of-the-day fan base wasn’t quite enough to put them over the top. (One angry fan e-mailed us, declaring shenanigans. Whatever.) Lead singer Tiffany René was the day’s only female performer, which was well-received, too.

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McGill

With a 50 percent-new lineup and an abridged name (last year they played as The Fall of Everett McGill), Jason McGill’s group won praise from the judges for having the slickest individual instrumentals of the day, particularly on guitars (lead guitarist Waggo McGill ripped out a face-melting “Star-Spangled Banner” opener). Our only repeat band from 2007, those in the know say this incarnation of McGill is a drastically improved group. Will they shoot for a GMA trifecta? Stay tuned.

Watch McGill on YouTube
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Sweetwater Abilene

Sweetwater, the most critically acclaimed of the five Best Band finalists, wins the Hard Luck Award for 2008, suffering through two technical issues—a broken bass drum pedal and a broken string on J.R. Top’s sweet-ass guitar. The problems were noted by the judges, though the group wasn’t penalized. Also noted by judges: high energy songs like “Going To Toronto” and Top’s songwriting (one judge underlined the words “most original band” on his ballot). Sweetwater’s reputation almost carried the day—but not quite.

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The Verbs

For most fans, The Verbs were probably the biggest unknown in the field. No longer. And while their smooth harmonies and pop-rock sounds were probably the most record-friendly among the bands—they were also lauded for singing all-original songs—a few instrumental quirks and a relative lack of bravado may have served to knock them down a notch or two. Clearly, though, this band is one to watch on the Springfield scene.

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