Crank up the volume for Loud Music Awards

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This article was published 27/09/2024 (725 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Considering the volume of the music, people in Manitoba were always too quiet about metal, hardcore and punk for Dag Aymont’s liking. So in 2021, the longtime musician and concert promoter from Portage la Prairie decided to hold up a megaphone to help amplify the noise by co-founding the Manitoba Loud Music Awards.

That first year, the awards brought a COVID-capacity crowd to the Bulldog Event Centre on Main Street for three nights, handing out 18 awards, including performance awards for vocalist, guitarist, drummer and bassist of the year, along with videographer, photographer and several band-of-the-year honours.

The awards later added recognition for Studio of the Year and Engineer of the Year, which go along with awards for Ambassador of the Year, Upcoming Band of the Year and Tribute Band of the Year to give a wide-ranging sample of the province’s loud-music scenes.

Only Manitoba artists or members of the scene are eligible to be nominated for awards, and Aymont says in order to qualify they must have been active in the preceding year.

This year’s show at the Park Theatre on Saturday will be the biggest yet, with songwriter of the year and podcast of the year bringing the categories up to a total of 21. If the fan voting, now closed, is any indication, Aymont says it’s clear the awards show is picking up steam. During that first year, about 3,100 votes were cast; this year, 33,627 were tallied.

Of course, the awards night, set to be hosted by Jeremy Williamez, would be nothing without some loud music, so the event committee — Denny Ferguson, Mike Dearman, Brett Naskrent, Maddie Ditchfield and Keith Proulx — has brought in some ringers. Local talent including the Haileys, 2023 Album of the Year, Metal Band of the Year and Single of the Year winners RamsKull and 2022 Rock Band of the Year Sansregret will take the stage. The School of Rock opens the all-ages show.

Calgary metal five-piece Osyron and Montreal’s Voivod are co-headliners for the awards show, which kicks off at 6 p.m., with doors at 5:30. Tickets ($35) are available from the Park Theatre box office and website as well as loudawards.com.

“It’s a good way to celebrate and acknowledge the hard-working musicians within our scenes in Manitoba,” says Aymont, a 2022 winner for Bassist of the Year whose Badlands Promotions operates in Portage la Prairie, Winnipeg, Brandon, The Pas and Lethbridge.

Some acts have become perennial MLMA contenders; along with three-timers RasmsKull, there’s four-time winners the Murder Birds, two-time Female-Fronted Band of the Year winners Indigo and two-time Studio of the Year champs Studio23. In 2023, Matt Cory won for vocalist of the year, rock band of the year and guitarist of the year.

ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com

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