What unexpected hijinks await us at this year's Flagpole Awards Show? Bikini-clad men on stilts? A crazed stage-crasher wielding a googly-eyed spoon wand? It's all happened before, and you never know what to expect next… except, of course, that a few lucky bands will go home with the glorious, glowing new award designed by Dana Jo Cooley. After a month of voting, you, our readers, have chosen the best Athens bands across 20+ categories, and on Thursday the winners will finally be announced. As part of the celebration, we've got an incredible lineup of performers who will have the rare opportunity to perform on the beautiful and historic Morton Theatre stage. We snagged brilliant of Montreal violinist and songwriter Kishi Bashi right before he takes off on a huge national tour. We got new Athens resident Ike Stubblefield, the Hammond B3 organ master who has played with everyone from The Temptations to Eric Clapton. And we also invited some of our favorite rising stars to play a few songs—The Viking Progress, Grass Giraffes, Cicada Rhythm and Like Totally!—each of whom snagged nominations in this year's show (folk, upstart, upstart and live act, respectively).

Our host for the evening is local comedian Caleb Synan, the brains behind monthly Flicker comedy series OpenTOAD and the host of this year's LaughFest. With Kenosha Kid returning as our perennial pit band, the evening should be filled with non-stop entertainment. You can also expect a bunch of special guests to help present awards to our winners. These include former Flagpole award winners and performers Reptar, comedian and musician Mat Lewis, beloved Flagpole scribe Jeff Tobias and few more surprises. You'll also get a chance to meet our brand new music editor, Gabe Vodicka, who will begin his reign following AthFest. He'll also be backstage Tweeting the winners as they are announced, so go ahead and follow @FlagpoleMusic if you want to be kept in the loop that way.

Think of the show as a warmup for your ears before the marathon that awaits them this week! Tickets are $10 at the door, $8 in advance and just $5 with an AthFest wristband. See you there!