At front, Aquanett was among the performers at the 2008 MAMAs. Above, the MAMAs crowd. Photos by Hanna Thrasher / 209Vibe

Perhaps everything seems better after three beers. But at least to this reviewer and his belly full of Sierra Nevada, the 2008 Modesto Area Music Association awards - or MAMAs - was a vast improvement over last year’s show.

Or maybe that’s just the beer talking.

Anyway, the MAMAs were held Oct. 16 at The State Theatre in Modesto. It once again proved to be the Valley’s biggest music awards show south of Sac, as hundreds turned out to see 209Vibe - and others - present statues in 15 categories.

There certainly was a lot to like about the evening. There also were some parts of the show that needed work.

Here’s a look at the event’s highlights and lowlights through the most clever journalistic device I can think of right now: The fake 209Vibe awards for the MAMA awards!

Best move: To organizers Chris Murphy and Chris Ricci, for holding the MAMAs at the State instead of the Gallo Center for the Arts, where it was last year. The State’s intimate and relaxed atmosphere was a better fit the local music scene and made for a more enjoyable show; The Gallo is too formal for the event.

Best move, runner-up: To Murphy, Ricci and master of ceremonies Alan Sanchez, for keeping the show’s pace crisp - although at three hours plus, it was still a little too long.

Worst move: To those who left the show after Pure209 accepted the best dance promoter award. The State looked half empty when Aaron Durr was named best P3 winner.

Most deserving winner: Greg Edwards of Off the Air, who took home the best small event award. Edwards has been promoting great indie shows at the 100-or-so capacity Cafe Deva for three years, giving many local bands a rare opportunity to perform and introducing them to new fans. He and his fellow small concert promoters are one of the biggest reasons why the 209 has such an incredible music scene.

Best live performance at the show: not an Airplane and Grains of Sand (tie). not an Airplane opened the evening with a heartfelt dose of Americana that illustrated the best in local music. Grains of Sand, meanwhile, demonstrated how the scene can surprise you with its talent. The Modesto hip-hop act is underground even for the underground (total MySpace friend count: 383), but they rocked the stage with a high energy performance that was among the evening’s highlights.

Best video: Solar Powered People’s “Commercial Flight.” I despise the MAMAs’ use of video. If I wanted to watch a video, I would’ve stayed home and checked out YouTube. Still, “Commercial Flight” deserves recognition for its professional production and its incredibly creative and entertaining use of animation. Click here to watch it on YouTube.

Categories that should’ve been, but weren’t: Best hardcore act and best screamo band. The Modesto area’s hardcore and screamo bands perform often and have attracted huge followings; they deserve recognition.

(Hypothetical) best hardcore band: Oh My! Explosive.

(Hypothetical) best screamo band: A Skylit Drive.

Best irony I’m aware of: That adding the aforementioned categories would drag out the MAMAs show another half-hour, which I would then criticize.

Biggest no duh! moment: X Fest winning the best large event award. The music fest draws 15,000 people to downtown Modesto annually and is the highlight of the year for the 209’s entertainment scene; naming it best large event was a no-brainer. (Although it would have been interesting to see the now-annual Vicente Fernandez concerts at the Stockton Arena in this category.)

The fix is in? award: To Fat Cat, which won best venue. The award was accepted by MAMAs organizer Ricci, who books the venue. The crowd booed heartily when Fat Cat’s nomination was announced and when it won.

Ricci later emphasized that winner were picked entirely by fan voting. Fat Cat certainly is deserving of the award - it’s one of the area’s few mid-size venues and it hosts a variety of shows and events weekly.

Still, it looks bad. We all recognize the importance of Fat Cat and what it provides to the scene - perhaps it would be better to remove it from contention for next year’s MAMAs.

Best acceptance speech: To Suga Shane, who was named best DJ. Shane gave a speech that was both energetic and direct; in other words, it was a professional awards show speech. (Runner-up: Travis Vick, who won the best alternative/indie award and said simply, “um, thanks.”

Best addendum to a speech: Pure209’s Darrel Wilkins thanks his family for all their love and support.

Best facial hair: not an Airplane’s Nick Shattell, for his MAD bushy beard. (Runner-up: Vick’s wispy mustache. It’s OK Travis - I spent six months growing my horribly patchy beard.)

Worst backstage f--k up: To myself. After Not 4 Nothin’ left the stage I patted the lead singer on the shoulder to tell her good job and got my hand stuck in her hair. Sorry, Maria!

Worst Twitter error: Again, to myself, for the following entry in my live Twitter coverage of the event: “Saw the dredlocked guitarist from Terms of Embodment earlier. They're a phenomenal metal band check em out.”

The band’s actual name is The Tri-Star Embodiment, and you think after screwing it up in the past I’d get it right. My apologies to the band.

There was one correct item in that post - you really should check the band out. They’re phenomenal.

Worst post-show review: To Marijke Rowland, who for the second year in a row failed to mention that she helped organize the MAMAs in her Modesto Bee review of the event. It’s called a conflict of interest, Marijke.

Yes, 209Vibe regularly reviews events we sponsor, and we’re not opposed to Marijke writing about the MAMAs. Lord knows that she might be the only reporter left at the Bee after its latest round of layoffs and buyouts.

But in our reviews, we at 209Vibe always are clear about any involvement we have in the show. (See the the third paragraph of this review: “209Vibe - and others - present statues...”) It’s a matter of fairness that’s important for the reader to know.

Marijke’s review also only includes quotes from Sanchez, Murphy and Lifetime Achievement award winner Marie Gallo.

Didn’t the musicians have anything to say?