I thought the Whalies awards show Saturday night in the Hygienic Art Park was basically just a helluva lot of fun. More importantly, the musicians and fans — and there was an impressive number of folks in attendance who seemed to have no particular connection to the artists — had a Large Time.

All credit to Sean Murray and Rich Martin and everyone involved. Dudes: you pulled it off. You, too, Meghan Killimade and WailingCity.com and Barb "Red Carpet" Neff.

Musicians: who knew y'all owned nice clothes?

Actually, I was the biggest slob there. But then, I don't own nice clothes. One person did take note of my apparel and remark, "You must be the only person in the world that owns a Nektar t-shirt." Hmm. I doubt that, Rick says petulantly.

Anyhoo: a lot of deserving acts won Whalie trophies and a lot who deserved awards didn't win. That's the way of awards shows universally. (I would go on a limb and say a few of our Whalie victors spent more time voting for themselves than practicing their instruments — but that's okay, too.)

Thing is: no one that I could see was particularly worried about winners and losers. It was a night to celebrate area music — and the pleasant integration and interaction between artists from various styles and genres was something that would never have happened here even two years ago. To me, that was the ultimate triumph of the evening.

Were you there? Any favorite moments?