Review: National Live Music Awards
Tuesday 29 November saw a nationwide celebration of the Australian live music industry at the inaugural National Live Music Awards. The Railway Club, Darwin played host to the Northern Territory event, featuring a number of local acts performing on the evening.
Serina Pech, who was nominated for the Live Voice of the Year, opened the evening with her upbeat acoustic folk set.
Local comedian Amy Hetherington was MC for the evening and took the stage after Pech’s set to announce the winners of this year’s awards. There were four accolades up for grabs including Live Music Event of The Year, Live Venue of the Year, NT Live Voice of the Year and NT Live Act of the Year.
Wide Open Space was the first winner of the evening, taking out Live Music Event of The Year. The festival, set within the iconic MacDonnell Ranges, showcases everything that the Central Australian desert has to offer.
Next up was Live Venue of the Year. Epilogue Rooftop in Alice Springs’ Todd Mall was named the winner amongst some stiff competition, including Discovery Darwin, The Railway Club, The Ski Club, The Chippo and Presented by Moshtix.
In another win for Alice Springs, musician Colin Lillie was named NT Live Voice of the Year. Lillie was also nominated for The People’s Choice Award and was performing live at the Basement at the National award ceremony, leaving him unable to accept the award in person.
Finally, the sought after Live Act of The Year was announced as a tie between local hardcore five piece Tapestry and Central Australian duo Apakatjah, who weave together Aboriginal traditional music with European and Indonesian influences.
After all the awards were done and dusted the live music continued. Darwin groove indie pop five-piece At The Dakota were next up, bringing the evening up a notch with their high energy set that has garnered them an enthusiastic following in the NT and also saw them nominated for Live Act of The Year.
On the decks with a DJ set was well-known producer and one half of Sietta, James Mangohig, who kept the good vibes going in between bands.
To top the evening off, Tapestry got back on stage for a live set following their win and provided further proof of why they are the Top End’s Live Act of The Year. The group have had a great year, having released their debut EP Growth in January this year to critical acclaim and have backed this up with two national tours.
Overall the evening was a diverse showcase of some of the NT’s best musicians and an apt celebration of the unique and thriving local music scene.
Chelsea Heaney | Acting Music Editor | Off The Leash | Tuesday 29 November 2016 | Railway Club, Darwin | music@offtheleash.net.au
