THE 2ND ANNUAL ROCK CITY NEWS AWARD SHOW
at The Country Club

By Al "The Limo Man"

Once again this event was a resounding success. An array of great performances complimented a show that from top to bottom represented the very best of the hard rock music scene in L.A. The door counted almost 1500 people at the event. That will help take the show to the next level as far as next year is concerned.

The show opened with a good performance from MADAREUS, a three piece group that sounded great for a band of this size.

Next up was HUMAN DRAMA. These guys were excellent. They have been working hard to make it for so long. I really respect their continued perseverance.

At around 9:30pm SUCTION hit the stage. They may have been the highlight performance of the night.

Following them was 57 CROWN. Jerry was singing for them. This was really a surprise! In between all of these performances was a variety of presentations. Comedian Rosalee presented the Best Songwriting award. She also did probably the most misunderstood comic performances of all time. When TORIE TYSON got her award she flubbed her acceptance speech.

DIANA MILLER co-hosted with me most of the show. Her cleavage kept distracting me though. However, she looked pretty hot in her lovely green dress.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN did a much shorter performance than their slot allowed for. I have no idea why considering how tough it is to get quality stage time in this town. Plus, I made a small joke about the singer's pointy nose. Maybe he got upset.

Next up was an excellent performance from LOVE REVIVAL. They had star power and great songs. The Best Guitar Player presentation was great. I am so happy Gibson chose to give away a couple of guitars. It made this category special.

PHANTOM BLUE went on about 11:15pm and let me tell you, they were the best performers at this show. Vocalist Gigi is a genuine star. She has tremendous stage presence. She looked so hot it was unreal. There were guys drooling everywhere. There were also some girls drooling too. She is good because she instinctively knows how to work the crowd. She also has a great figure and true rock and roll charisma.

Then there was SLACK BABBATH. What a performance these guys gave. The lighted pentagram was one thing, but the S&M routine was something truly amazing to witness. The half naked girl on all four getting continually whipped by the tattooed bald guy is something that none of us will ever forget. The crowd seemed to really enjoy them. I went insane during their performance myself. I enjoyed them. I didn't particularly like the acceptance speech given by the band member that handled their award for Best Tribute Band. Saying "Hail Satan" with a bad attitude can cause havoc in your life. He was bummed out because the Fire Marshall wouldn't let him light anyone on fire on stage. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

Once again SLOTH got Best South Bay Band. I wish that they would get a little more active again on the local scene. The Best Heavy Metal Band presentation was done by a guy who swears that there is a group of business people out there trying to revive KNAC and get in on 97.1's frequency. I have just two words for that idea: FAT CHANCE!

AMERICAN GOTHIC did a wonderful impression of dead guys on stage. Their performance was good though. The vocalist of this group is quite a showman.

GHOST DANCE and REVLON RED were good, but by the time they played, the room was mostly vacated. Even COUNT SMOKULA retired to his coffin after his presentation. He got some hilarious interviews with some of the attendees on video. If you were one of them you will want to see this stuff. Keep that new recorded material coming to the magazine for next year's event. I will help Ruben once again to make sure that we have another great show. See, you there!