2006 Golden Statuette Parachute Awards
I've just returned from Parachute Christian Music Festival at Mystery Creek, Hamilton. The main reason I went along this year was to help man the Iconz stand in the Global Village (missions) tent. The second reason was to catch up and hang out with old friends. And thirdly, maybe to listen to some bands. Truth be told, I didn't think the lineup was that crash-hot this year.
DIGRESSION - Isn't it odd how we say lines like "Truth be told ...", and "well, to be honest ...", and "to tell you the truth, I think ...", as if we lie all the time, but just this time we've decided to be honest?!
So with the proviso that I did not listen to every single band performing this year ... [drum roll please] my votes are in and here are my Golden Statuette Parachute awards for 2006.
Best Debut Artist: Lieutenant Funk. For a change I didn't actually listen to any Debut bands this year, but a few mates raved about these guys. Comments like: "tight", "funky", "interacted well with the crowd", and "cute lead singer and hot base player". May be a band to look out for next year.
Most Pleasant Surprise: Shooting Stars. This acoustic duo of Ben Claxton and Dave Barr (also part of Mumsdollar) delighted me with their great songs and harmonies. Plus they're very endearing.
Best Mainstage Act: Delirious?. No surprises here. These guys presented a suite of new songs (new for me) with passion and enthusiasm. Delirious? know how to present a cohesive show, not just standing there and playing music.
Most Memorable Moment: The Napoleon Dynamite guy doing the Napoleon Dynamite dance in the Late 80s Mercedes show. Very unfortunately I wasn't there but those who were said it was great. A certain high school teacher at Kingsway College, Orewa, said the dance has made his year.
Best Rap/Hip Hop Set: Rapture Ruckus. This guy has improved and wore a cool black jacket during his Mainstage show. Though it's a pity there isn't much competition in this category at these Awards.
Best Seminar: I didn't go to any. Someone else will have to present this award for me. Oh, I did go to the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll seminar for a few minutes. Yawn. Tell us something we haven't heard before - sex bad (unless married, then sex good), drugs bad (full stop), rock 'n' roll is great but the lifestyle more difficult than people think. We left for the Clean Comedy Show instead.
Dumbest Excuse for a Headline-Act Band: The Valley. I didn't hear anyone who took these guys seriously.
Best DJ: A double-award here, totally skewed because I'm not that clued up on the electronica scene. Firstly George Bates cos I hung out with him recently and he is a very nice guy, and secondly Steve Styrus who looks like he stepped out of The Matrix - suave, tempered, sharp dresser, and a smooth ballroom dancer. Oh hang on, wrong awards ceremony! His DJing is highly enjoyable. A small gripe here - the DJs now stop at midnight because of noise restrictions. So because I usually prioritise the other bands, I couldn't dance to electronic thumps, clangs and whistles as much as I'd like to.
Best Takeaway: The banana, chocolate icecream, ice and water slushie. The day was so hot and my throat so dry that I cold-burned my palate. Oooohhh, it huurts, but it's so GOOOD. I had to stop myself from breaking out in groans of ecstasy with every slurp.
DIGRESSION - "Ecstasy" is a hard word to spell and needs some concentration. Exkstasi? If one was actually in ecstasy, it would be impossible to spell.
Best Worship Band: The Parachute Band. Sure, they're a Hillsongs clone, but they do it so well. And the songs they perform pull at my soul strings.
And that concludes this Golden Statuette Parachute Award ceremony for another year. I'm off for a decent shower. [mutter mutter Parachute give the girls lots of shower areas but the boys have to queue grumble grumble] Seriously though, Parachute Music do a very good job at organising this event every year. Sorry I won't dole them out extra cash to promote NZ CCM, though they asked plaintively every 15 minutes, but I will give them kudos for being very world-savvy yet God-focused in what they do.
DIGRESSION - Isn't it odd how we say lines like "Truth be told ...", and "well, to be honest ...", and "to tell you the truth, I think ...", as if we lie all the time, but just this time we've decided to be honest?!
So with the proviso that I did not listen to every single band performing this year ... [drum roll please] my votes are in and here are my Golden Statuette Parachute awards for 2006.
Best Debut Artist: Lieutenant Funk. For a change I didn't actually listen to any Debut bands this year, but a few mates raved about these guys. Comments like: "tight", "funky", "interacted well with the crowd", and "cute lead singer and hot base player". May be a band to look out for next year.
Most Pleasant Surprise: Shooting Stars. This acoustic duo of Ben Claxton and Dave Barr (also part of Mumsdollar) delighted me with their great songs and harmonies. Plus they're very endearing.
Best Mainstage Act: Delirious?. No surprises here. These guys presented a suite of new songs (new for me) with passion and enthusiasm. Delirious? know how to present a cohesive show, not just standing there and playing music.
Most Memorable Moment: The Napoleon Dynamite guy doing the Napoleon Dynamite dance in the Late 80s Mercedes show. Very unfortunately I wasn't there but those who were said it was great. A certain high school teacher at Kingsway College, Orewa, said the dance has made his year.
Best Rap/Hip Hop Set: Rapture Ruckus. This guy has improved and wore a cool black jacket during his Mainstage show. Though it's a pity there isn't much competition in this category at these Awards.
Best Seminar: I didn't go to any. Someone else will have to present this award for me. Oh, I did go to the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll seminar for a few minutes. Yawn. Tell us something we haven't heard before - sex bad (unless married, then sex good), drugs bad (full stop), rock 'n' roll is great but the lifestyle more difficult than people think. We left for the Clean Comedy Show instead.
Dumbest Excuse for a Headline-Act Band: The Valley. I didn't hear anyone who took these guys seriously.
Best DJ: A double-award here, totally skewed because I'm not that clued up on the electronica scene. Firstly George Bates cos I hung out with him recently and he is a very nice guy, and secondly Steve Styrus who looks like he stepped out of The Matrix - suave, tempered, sharp dresser, and a smooth ballroom dancer. Oh hang on, wrong awards ceremony! His DJing is highly enjoyable. A small gripe here - the DJs now stop at midnight because of noise restrictions. So because I usually prioritise the other bands, I couldn't dance to electronic thumps, clangs and whistles as much as I'd like to.
Best Takeaway: The banana, chocolate icecream, ice and water slushie. The day was so hot and my throat so dry that I cold-burned my palate. Oooohhh, it huurts, but it's so GOOOD. I had to stop myself from breaking out in groans of ecstasy with every slurp.
DIGRESSION - "Ecstasy" is a hard word to spell and needs some concentration. Exkstasi? If one was actually in ecstasy, it would be impossible to spell.
Best Worship Band: The Parachute Band. Sure, they're a Hillsongs clone, but they do it so well. And the songs they perform pull at my soul strings.
And that concludes this Golden Statuette Parachute Award ceremony for another year. I'm off for a decent shower. [mutter mutter Parachute give the girls lots of shower areas but the boys have to queue grumble grumble] Seriously though, Parachute Music do a very good job at organising this event every year. Sorry I won't dole them out extra cash to promote NZ CCM, though they asked plaintively every 15 minutes, but I will give them kudos for being very world-savvy yet God-focused in what they do.
posted by Andrew | 9:22 PM
3 Comments:
Andrew - you're IcoNZ? Which unit are you with? Did you get a good response this year? Last year was a good year for new IcoNZ units starting up, so it would be good to have more going this year.
More on topic...I didn't bother with Parachute. Apart from Day of Fire and Anberlin, there was pretty much nothing there that was enticing. Not for a couple of hundred dollars in travel, food and tickets anyway.
Whakatane, based at the Baptist church in town. The response was okay but apparently not as good as last year. I kept costs down with the half-price ticket and cooking my own food most of the time. But I blew my budget on the cheap CDs at the Manna tent!
That's good that there was a favourable reaction. A pity it wasn't as good as last year, but I suppose that depends on who is there. These things take time to build, as well. Once word travels that IcoNZ is a god thing, it should take up a bit of its own promotion by way of word of mouth. Hopefully our (as in the BBNZ Website team's) planned juicing up of the IcoNZ website over the coming year may help entice one or two possibles as well.
I remember Stu telling me that the Whakatane unit had a great reception in terms of boys in attendance. Still going strong?
I can understand the issue with the cheap CD's. When a CD I want is full price I am very cautious about not picking up another on the way, but if I find two I am interested in that are marked down (say) $5-$10 each then I usually end up buying both. Silly profligacy for me, but it must fire some crossed neurons somewhere in the brain.
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