The music scene was alive and kicking in Sacramento this past weekend. Saturday’s Sammies Block Party presented by the Sacramento News and Review was held at the R Street Corridor. Adam Saake and Tais were masters of ceremony and did an excellent job for this venue that has been hosted by the Crest Theatre the last few years.

On Sunday another awards event was held at the Tropicana across from the Arden Fair Mall. Various awards were given in different categories. Several bands took the stage with Dance Gavin Dance closing out the show.

A packed house rocked for several hours on Sunday night as favorite Sacramento area bands played to the delight of the packed house at the Tropicana during the 2010 Sac Shows Local Music Awards. The event started off as a red carpet gala as nominees and guest musicians entered the Tropicana.

This was an all ages show and the Tropicana was split into 2 rooms. One side was for the under 21 age group and the other side, the Awards room, was for those over 21. The stage was in front of both sides of house. The under 21 side looked like it was standing room only and bouncing energetic waves of people moved from one side of the room to another.

One performer was also an award recipient and that honor went to Arden Park Roots. They played an incredible show and got both sides of the Tropicana on their feet. Their energy remained in the club for the rest of the evening.

The 2nd Annual Sac Shows Local Music Awards winners were announced in between live music sets. Several groups took the stage during the event including Green Audio, Jonny Craig, Arden Park Roots and Dance Gavin Dance with Jonny Craig joining them. The Dance Gavin Dance set ended the evening with a very energetic performance.

Some of the award winners were:
Screamo/Post Hardcore - Batten Down Your Heart
Metal/Hardcore - Carcerys Vale
Indie/Acoustic - Autumn Sky
DJ - DJ Eddie Edul
Roots/Reggae/Funk - Arden Park Roots
Punk - The Secretions
Pop - Hero's Last Mission
Rock - Track Fighter
Special Hall of Fame Award to the Deftone's Chi Cheng
People's Choice Award - Above the City

Long thank you speeches were not the norm and a couple of the more memorable ones were given by Autumn Sky who excitedly jumped on stage to accept her award and in the excitement of the moment almost forgot her purse on stage. Danny Secretion’s advice to those who love music and have the passion to share it with the world was quite appropriate in saying “If you’re going to play music play it from the heart don’t play it for the dollar”. Finally, it was great to see Dave Buckner from Papa Roach come on stage to present an award.

The last act of the evening was the ever popular Dance Gavin Dance with their former lead singer, Jonny Craig, joining the band on stage. The Sacramento music scene continues to grow and inviting local bands to play at shows of this caliber it will, I believe, eventually explode on to the national scene. The bands that played on Sunday night were inspired when the audience showed their appreciation. The audience’s energy inspired the artists performing to dig deeper into their musical souls and bring out their best. The live music at this show was fantastic and it will be interesting to see what local area performers will play next year.