SF Weekly Music Awards 2008: The Heavenly States, Lyrics Born

Last night at Ruby Skye we had the pleasure of attending the 2008 SF Weekly Music Awards. Amidst the free food, wandering crowd, and sporadic MCing of the various awards, The Heavenly States and Lyrics Born both managed to deliver solid sets of tunes and add some local musical flavor to the event.

The Heavenly States played a set that drew primarily on their latest record, Delayer. The last time we saw these guys live we hadn't really heard the record. This time around, it was great to hear the tunes with a bit of context and familiarity.

The set was absent of any of the record's slower material, and instead kept rock on the brain. "Lost In The Light" delivered on its single-material catchiness, and "Morning Exercise" was loaded with heart-on-the-sleeve passion.

Perhaps the most surprising moment of the band's set was a completely earnest cover of Fergie's "Glamorous". To our ears, the band's version completely blew the original out of the water, and in doing so managed to rob it of any irony, intended or otherwise. Our only gripe: lead singer Ted Nesseth mentioned the cover was "available" - where Ted, where????

We don't go to a ton of hip hop shows, but from what we saw last night Lyrics Born is doing them right. He really drew the crowd in, and had everyone dancing. What's more, he was backed by an awesome live band, with a minimal amount of sample-driven content. Our recommendation: don't miss him next time he's out and about.

That's all for your SF Weekly Music Awards until next year, you can check out the winners at All Shook Down...

Many more photos available at the HAD Archive