Rock Local: the Pitch Music Awards Ceremony

​Ad Astra Arkestra was missing something. 

Blinking under the bright lights of the Uptown, the band accepted its award for Best Experimental Act at the Pitch Music Awards Ceremony last night; but they couldn’t find somebody they wanted to thank. Where was she?

“She’s drunk!” a crowd member volunteered.

“That’s the right answer!” roared Mike Tuley into the mic. “We’re all drunk!”

If there’s an annual theme to the Pitch Music Awards Ceremony — besides celebrating Kansas City’s local music, that is — there is only one other contending option: alcohol.

For twenty bucks, Kansas City scored the following: a free Pitch lighter (yes!), lots of drunken band kids, and an open bar. It’s like a wedding, without a bride to offend: you can smoke, cuss, show your tattoos and repeatedly scream the names of Lawrence punk bands without consequences. (Weird Wounds, anyone?)