APRA Awards @ SydneyConvention Centre (22/06/10)

Tue 22nd Jun, 2010 in Gig Reviews

“I don’t know why you’re giving me this award, but I’ll take it anyway…”
So began the first of two video speeches given by Luke Steele at the APRA Awards, which he still managed to dominate despite being on the other side of the planet.

Far more fun than the ARIAs and with 80% less Jessica Mauboy, the APRA Awards offered the industry the chance to celebrate a year of brilliant Australian music. Steele, who picked up two awards as part of Empire Of The Sun’s continual obliteration of the charts, sent his second broadcast from a bath after winning Dance Work of the Year.

“It’s nice to win especially against the Vegemite of Australian music – The Presets,” he joked. Meanwhile, Art vs Science, in the first official performance of the night, covered EOTS’ We Are The People, a move drummer Dan Williams later admitted was quite nerve-wracking – “it’s not an easy song to do.”

The set-up of the APRA performances, in which local heroes each cover a Song of The Year nominee, offered some refreshing surprises that proved the best voices don’t always come from the people rolling in royalties.

Local singer-songwriter Washington, who entered the ceremony on the arm of Bluejuice’s Jake Stone, opened the night with a brooding and tantalising version of AC/DC’s classic It’s A Long Way To The Top, which host Jonathan Biggins described as “Ravi Shakur meets Angus Young.”

Katie Noonan, with her new band The Captains, offered a downtempo dub take on country music star Troy Cassar-Daley’s Big Big Love, while Urthboy similarly ripped apart and rebuilt Kate Miller-Heidke’s Last Day On Earth.

Arguably the biggest hype came from a new performance by Basement Birds; two parts Eskimo Joe, with added Josh Pyke and Bob Evans to taste. Their stirring take of Sarah Blasko’s haunting All I Want showcased each of their individual talents, as well as some stunning four-part harmonies that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a Bon Iver record. Keep an eye out for this supergroup; unlike many of the others floating around this country, they have the skills to last.

Eskimo Joe, having also won best Rock Performance and Most Played Aussie Work, thanked APRA for sending them cheques “so we can buy Audis” and commended the camaraderie of the Aussie rock scene (“there’s not a lot of one-upmanship”) before ribbing Chris Cheney of the Living End with a hearty “Sucked in!”

The Temper Trap, who justifiably won Song Of The Year for their brilliant Sweet Disposition were hooked up to the awards via video-link. Luckily, they happened to miss Operator Please, who all but destroyed the track moments earlier with a woeful, half-time and badly pitched performance that had many audience members visibly blocking their ears. Currently on tour in Germany, Temper Trap’s mums hit the stage to receive the award for their sons. Lorenzo’s mother, overjoyed, told her son “I’m keeping this in my lounge room forever!”

The night closed with a sterling performance from Ted Albert Award
winner and Australian Legend Jimmy Little, who teamed up with members of the Church for their 1980s hit, Under the Milky Way. Past 70 and still going strong, Little probably offered the best advice of the entire evening; “Even if you didn’t receive an award, you should be proud of contributing to the world of music, which has the ability to touch everyone.”

Check out the photos from the awards