The day has finally come. The Illinois Times have posted the results to their annual “Best of” ballots. This year’s survey was longer than ever with 140 categories. This year there was a record breaking 12,000 voters. You can find the results for the Illinois Times Best of’s in this week’s issue of The Illinois Times or online in two parts here and here.

The music section in this year’s Best ofs was notably longer than it had been in previous years. This resulted in more bars, venues, and bands having the chance to get recognized. Black Sheep did win the category for “best all-ages music venue” so thank you all who voted for us! From the Illinois Times:

There was a little confusion in this category, with a strange mix of other places getting votes not generally considered “all-ages,” which really means “under-21.” But the only joint that allows all ages, all the time and features music geared toward those ages, is the Black Sheep Cafe. Besides the fact the guys running this place (it is not a cafe and does’t serve food) do all the work with no care for profit, it’s great to have a venue that doesn’t feature booze first and music second. Along with the day-to-day workings of the seven-year-old venue, the influence upon the local scene is immeasurable, as having a place to play regularly and to see other bands of your ilk allows an increase in our local band population and creativity. So thank the BSC for that, too, while we award them for having a terrific all-ages venue.

Other bands and musicians that were winners in different categories include NIL8, Our Lady, Brushville, Gypsy Collabo, Catain Geech & The Shrimp Shack Shooters, Novocaine, Hipbone Sam, and a few others. To skip ahead to the music section of the best ofs, go here.