Long-running bookies favourite, the gentleman himself still seemed surprised to attain the award, joking that he bit they were finished for the evensong after the company opened the show earlier in the evening. Egan added that even his mam wasn't firm of his chances, afflicted as she was with Cork balladeer Mick Flannery, who'd earlier brought the relatively chatty bunch to a hush, performing darkly radiant songs on guitar and piano, backed by a completely band. Jape won the Choice Prize over the nine other bands nominated, with the judges' opinions outwardly so divided that a incomprehensible ballot was carried out to in the long run referee the winner.
Six of the groups performed on the night. While Jape and liberator J & The Expert, who had their three-song sets antique in the show, played to a few new seats, most punters had arrived and were rearing to go for sets from Mick Flannery, Halfset, R.S.A.G. (Rarely Seen Above Ground), and Fight Like Apes, who closed proceedings with a suitably frenzied 'Battlestations'.
Kilkenny and Cork were well-represented in the audience by fans of R.S.A.G and Flannery. The much-hyped (and fittingly, almost never seen live) R.S.A.G. lived up to expectations, depiction one of the biggest reactions of the gloom from the crowd.
Although The Script and David Holmes did not put on tracks from their nominated albums, both Holmes and Script soloist Danny were at the show, and seemed in clip form. Lisa Hannigan and Oppenheimer were unfit to frequent due to touring commitments. Accepting his award, Egan said that "all the bands tonight appropriate to win," and added that although bands often work to survive, they traverse music because they have to follow their hearts. "It's better to be a jittery ship, than a rat jumping off a unquiet ship," he said.
