Boston Music Awards: bear-suit-guy's identity revealed!

If you're working press at the BMAs, they hand you the list of winners when you walk in. Which usually makes for a serious anticlimax. But we can't front: maybe it was just that a bunch of bands we actually like won shit or played or bought us drinks, but this was the best year of the Avalon-era music awards. We know, big whoop: That and an undisclosed sum of money might someday get this event to break even mean something. Awards for best moments at the Boston Music Awards 2006 (held earlier this evening at Avalon) go to . . .

• Dresden Dolls, declining to appear at the podium despite winning every award ever given, including best outfits of the evening: Amanda rocking severely hot '50s airline-stewardess chic; Brian in a ratty black bear costume that resembled Dropout Bear's nappy-head cousin. Brian in the bear suit might be the best stunt ever pulled at the BMAs.
• Beat Researcher DJ C, on the decks during pre-ceremony jumpoff, spins New Kids on the Block straight up: try requesting that on Mondays at the Enormous Room.
• Lenny Darkbuster. After coaxing the dropout bear to stage dive during Gang Green's lifetime-achievement-award set, Lenny hops on the mic during "Alcohol" and nearly unplugs the bass cab in the process. Dave Tree takes this as his cue to briefly stop snapping pictures with a disposable camera from the side of the stage and put in his $.02 on backup vox, too. Security?
• Campaign For Real Time winning "local debut album of the year." That's a lot of qualification, which their album doesn't need. But the right band won, which never happens. You can tell they were the right band because Nick Z was wearing an original Anthrax Spreading The Disease tour t-shirt. In good condition.
• On the program it was clearly marked "comedy routine," but it still killed: Robby Roadsteamer storms on stage dropping f-bombs, announces an award he's nominated for, mercilessly insults the other nominees, calls the BMA's "plastic," heckles the hecklers, then absconds with the trophy, leaving his sidekick Aaron the King Wizard to deliver a hilarious (because it's true) monologue about the lack of black faces on stage -- partly at the expense of EJ Labb, the show-opening gay-white-girl rapper. "The only black people in this motherfucker are me and the bear," he screams. "Get the fuck up here, bear!" Wethinks the "comedy" departed from the script, since there was an uncomfortable pause after Aaron left the stage; eventually the Snowleopards were announced as the actual winners for local song of the year, whereupon they were handed one of the Dresden Dolls' spare trophies. For all we know, Robby's still got theirs. Recommended course of action: ban Roadsteamer from playing shows. Hire him as permanent BMAs emcee.
• Holly from Humanwine ends three decades of OTD angst by informing us that in Ireland, Carly is actually quite a common name for boys. Humanwine: our new favorite band.
• Damone, still killing shit. Synchronized headbanging game: focused.
• Bang Camaro, killing even more shit. [Sidebar: Let's say there's 30 dudes who rock like fuck. Let's say you're an editor who's going to put them on the A&E cover of the Globe. Would you pose them a) swathed in spandex, cheap hookers, and booze, in the gutter; b) swathed in leather, grabbing their crotches and fondling each others' asses, at the Ramrod; or c) in suits, holding fruity cocktails, seated at the Enormous Room. Right: "anything, ANYTHING except C."]
• Ben Sisto, still trying to be friends with people. Get over it, dude. Nobody likes you.

We're working on getting some video and lots of photos. But now we're going to bed. In case you care . . . Boston Music Award Winners 2006!

Best New Local Act: Humanwine
Best Female Singer Songwriter: Melissa Ferrick
Best Male Vocalist: Josh Ritter
Hard Rock Act of the Year: Godsmack
Jazz Act of the Year: Hiromi
Local Album of the Year: Aberdeen City, The Freezing Atlantic [God Is Going To Get Sick of Me (mp3)]
Best Male Singer Songwriter: Will Dailey
Best Americana Artist: Lucky 57s
Best World Artist: Boston Afrobeat Society
Best Female Vocalist: Amanda Palmer
Best Folk Artist: Antje Duvekot
Producer of the Year: Matthew Ellard
Best Blues Artist: Peter Gammons [not a typo]
Unsung Hero Award: Duke Levine
Local Debut Album of the Year: Campaign for Real Time
Song of the Year: Damone, Out Here All Night (mp3)
Best Live Act: The Slip
Local Male Vocalist: Jake Brennan
Local Female Vocalist: Sarah Borges
Hip Hop Act of the Year: Mr. Lif
Best Punk Act: Dropkick Murphys
Best Pop Rock Act: Dresden Dolls
Album of the Year (Major Label): Guster, Ganging Up on the Sun
Local Song of the Year: The Snowleopards, Stuck in the Middle (mp3)
Album of the Year (Indie Label): Mission of Burma, The Obliterati [Donna Sumeria (mp3)]
Act of the Year: Dresden Dolls