Thor vs. Scholz

The latter stages of the first Pitch Ultra Music Festival DJ competition were a feverish blur of writhing bodies, spraying champagne, throbbing electronic beats and some dude in a woodchuck costume dancing on a table.

From a stockpile of album submissions, the Pitch selected five finalists -- DJ Clockwerk (Brian Scott), DJ PDP (Patrick Kelley), Thump 'n' Thor (Brennan Shirk), Brent Scholz and Paul DeMatteo -- to perform live at Jilly's last Friday. On the line was a trip to Miami to spin at the Ultra Music Festival.

The night began with an unheralded underdog, DJ Clockwerk, throwing down a solid set, despite the fact that fans were still filtering in when Clockwerk first dropped the needle. DJ PDP held his own as well, and Paul DeMatteo closed out the competition with a performance that left no doubt why he is the city's most polished performer behind the decks. But this night really came down to two men -- Thump 'N' Thor and Brent Scholz -- and their neck-and-neck, record-to-record battle to get a packed house to shake its collective ass.

The final vote came down to the wire. But once the dust settled -- after the judging panel tallied and retallied its point totals -- the last DJ standing was Scholz. And as the champagne corks popped and Scholz celebrated his win with a victory set, fans spilled into the night in a chaotic delirium of limb-loosening drinks and body-rocking beats.