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“Listen Up Awards 2025” @ Cohoes Music Hall, 3/23/2025

By Stephanie J Bartik on March 24, 2025

Xperience Monthly and Mirth Films presented the 4th annual Listen Up Awards at Cohoes Music Hall yesterday, and man … it gets better every year.

With much thanks to New Scotland Spirits and the rest of the sponsors, it was an incredible Sunday afternoon celebrating our local talent, “pure and easy” (with a nod to the Neighborhoods). No judges… you get the most votes, you win. And we had more than 90,000 votes this year!! Thank you to all of you for caring and taking the time to express your opinion. What a scene we have.

Another longstanding Listen Up Awards tradition – last year’s winners are the this year’s live performers, and Embe Esti (2024 Reggae/World Music winner) and The Hauntings (2024 Punk winner) delivered absolutely killer performances.

Always the first place to properly honor our local legends, the 2025 Listen Up “Hero Awards” went to cherished icons:

Greg Bell (promoter extraordinaire, a true tastemaker without making a fuss about it)
Fear of Strangers (In another stratosphere. Put Albany on the map, and still reverberating today)
Duane Beer (Trauma School Dropouts, Plaid, Blase DeBris, and so much more. And the stories….)
Jimmy Barrett (Beat Shop impresario, Kaleidoscope helmsman, Lawn Sausage. As he said ,”You know it’s all about the music, right?”)
Luke McNamee (The best saxman, and the best human being, you will ever meet)
China White (If you play heavy music, and you’re from anywhere around here, then you owe a debt to these guys. And you know it)

The rest of the awards: