Respected Melbourne venue 170 Russell filled out in celebration of the industry tonight for the 2016 The Age Music Victoria Awards, with the evening's winners including King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Camp Cope, Alex Lahey and more.
King Gizz proved the biggest victors of the night in the publicly voted awards, walking away with wins across three categories. The prolific psych-rock troupe earned themselves the Best Album prize for their latest full-length, Nonagon Infinity, as well as the prestigious Best Band and Best Live Band awards — with which anyone who's seen them play will undoubtedly agree vigorously.
Also making multiple appearances were The Drones, who were named as Best Regional Act and whose incendiary anthem Taman Shud won the prize of Best Song.
Meanwhile, the ascendant indie-punks in Camp Cope capped off an incredible past 12 months by picking up the title of Best Emerging Act — again, given the achievements marking their calendar year, it's incredibly difficult to argue with that one — and, as a result, a chance to showcase at next year's BIGSOUND Festival in Brisbane, a $2000 Virgin Australia Voucher (thanks to Travel Beyond Group), some sweet Crumpler bags and an instore gig at Allans Billy Hyde.
Lahey, too, is coming off a remarkable year of achievements, punctuating it with a win in the category of Best Female Artist, while Best Male Artist was taken out by ever-stylish singer-songwriter C.W. Stoneking (against the likes of Briggs and Remi, among others). Rounding out the categories of the people were their favourite places: The Bridge Hotel in Castlemaine picked up Best Regional Venue, while the Corner Hotel and The Tote were named Best Venue for over and under 500-person capacity, respectively. Meanwhile, the institutional Meredith Music Festival won their hearts as Best Festival.
Speaking on industry institutions, long-serving Melbourne community radio station 3RRR was honoured with an induction into The Age Music Victoria Hall Of Fame after four decades of tireless dedication to lifting up the creative culture of the city and state.
Geoff King, the board of directors' chair, former broadcaster and 3RRR's first music co-ordinator, effused in a statement: "I'm really proud of the contribution Triple R has made to our musical and intellectual life, so it's great to have such a public celebration in its 40th year."
"The Music Victoria Hall Of Fame induction is a powerful way of recognising Triple R's achievements when placed alongside earlier inductees, particularly the likes of Stan Rofe and Bill Armstrong, without whom Melbourne would not have developed such a strong music scene," he said.
Along with the publicly voted categories, several industry-judged prizes were awarded on the evening, with winners in that pool including the likes of Oh Pep! (Best Folk Or Roots Album, Stadium Cake), Tracy McNeil & The Good Life (Best Country Album, Thieves), Melbourne Ska Orchestra (Best Global Or Reggae Album, Sierra Kilo Alpha), Benny Walker (Best Aboriginal Act), Kylie Auldist (Best Soul, Funk, R'n'B Or Gospel Album, Family Tree) and more.
"Congratulations to all of finalists and winners, which included some usual suspects like The Drones, Melbourne Ska Orchestra, and Kylie Auldist and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard," Music Victoria chief executive Patrick Donovan said. "And it's great to see some newer acts also picking up gongs like Camp Cope and Alex Lahey."
Camp Cope performed after the ceremony along with fellow winners Melbourne Ska Orchestra and critical darling Tash Sultana. Every ticket to tonight's event forwarded $5 to industry charity Support Act, while every nominee received a gift of a rehearsal/pre-production package from event partner and icon-in-its-own-right Bakehouse Studios.
See below for the full winners' list.
The Age Music Victoria Awards — 2016 Winners
public-voted categories
Best Album
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard — Nonagon Infinity
Best Song
The Drones — Taman Shud
Best Band
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Best Male Artist
C.W. Stoneking
Best Female Artist
Alex Lahey
Best Emerging Act
Camp Cope
Best Regional Act
The Drones
Best Live Band
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
Best Regional Venue
The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine
Best Venue (Over 500 Capacity)
Corner Hotel
Best Venue (Under 500 Capacity)
The Tote
Best Festival
Meredith Music Festival
Industry Genre Award Winners
Best Heavy Album
Be'Lakor — Vessels
Best Folk Or Roots Album
Oh Pep! Stadium Cake
Best Experimental Or Avant-Garde Act
Inland (Alex Garsden and Rohan Drape)
Best Country Album
Tracy McNeil & The Goodlife — Thieves
Best Hip Hop Album
Plutonic Lab — Deep Above The Noise
Best Electronic Act
Harvey Sutherland
Best Jazz Album
Peter Knight — Way Out West
Best Aboriginal Act
Benny Walker
Best Global Or Reggae Album
Melbourne Ska Orchestra — Sierra Kilo Alpha
Best Soul, Funk, R'n'B Or Gospel Album
Kylie Auldist — Family Tree
Best Blues Album
Nick Charles — The River Flows
Comments