A who's who of the Queensland music industry gathered last night in style at a glittering Brisbane Powerhouse to celebrate the state’s finest artists at the annual Queensland Music Awards.
Local rock gods – as evidenced by the number of eager fans queuing for selfies – Violent Soho were the major winners, scoring two gongs: Song of the Year and the Rock Award for their song, 'Like Soda'.
Violent SohoThe night was also a celebration of female talent with a slew of winners. Amy Shark showed everyone why she is LA-bound, taking out the Pop Award from an all-female field, and dropping jaws with a polished yet emotional performance of her winning track, 'Golden Fleece'.
Amy SharkDoolie’s win in the Schools category for 'Pristine' was quickly followed by an otherworldly performance by Ayla, who also went on to win the Regional Award for her song 'Waiting'. Other awards went to rising stars Dana Hassall who won the Country Award and Sahara Beck who received the Folk / Singer Songwriter Award.
Brisbane collective Astro Travellers collected the award for the Urban category for their 'Move Actively' song and then performed later in the evening. While Brisbane trio Standby Empire won the Electronic/ Dance category for 'Tenderness'.
Standby EmpireAnother star of the night was Luke Daniel Peacock, who took out the Indigenous category, as well as the prestigious $10,000 Billy Thorpe Scholarship supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
Luke Daniel PeacockThis year’s awards were hosted by triple j’s Gen Fricker, whose tongue-in-cheek style brought an offbeat energy to the ceremony. Indie-psychedelic supergroup The Belligerents set the scene for the night early with a cranking rendition of 'In My Way'. While Indigenous award-nominee Emily Wurramura’s earthy and honest performance of 'Black Smoke' gave the night one of its more reflective moments.
The BelligerentsBrisbane four-piece Blank Realm collected the Album of the Year award for their acclaimed release 'Illegals In Heaven', and promptly broke it on stage.
Blank RealmNew categories recognised the commercial success of Queensland artists, at home and abroad: globetrotters Sheppard received the Export Achievement Award; Jarryd James’ 'Do You Remember' was the Highest Selling Single by a Queenslander in 2015, while The Veronicas self-titled album took out the Highest Selling Album Category.
AvaberéeAvaberée, Joe Agius (The Creases) and Deena were judged by the public to be the worthy winners of new Bank of Queensland People’s Choice awards that provide emerging artists a financial kick-start to their career.
Joe AgiusKudos to the recently retired Courier-Mail journalist Noel Mengel, who was this year’s recipient of the Grant McLennan Lifetime Achievement Award. His words have created a greater public understanding and awareness of the Queensland music industry for many decades.
Noel MengelQMusic’s Executive Officer Joel Edmondson said: "Time and again, the Queensland Music Awards prove that Queensland produces some of Australia's most talented and exciting musicians. Although there can only be one winner in each category, the depth of talent that the QMAs have unearthed this year is staggering.
“The format consistently proves that opening the application process to the general public creates a space for unknown gems to shine. This year was also a great chance to create new ways of celebrating the commercial success of Queensland musicians around the world.”
All Images Supplied by QMusic.
