Renée Geyer and an all-star cast of Victoria’s finest musicians told the story of Australian soul to a near capacity crowd last night at the inaugural The Age Music Victoria Awards at Billboard, with Renée playing a 45 minute set of her greatest hits and delivering a passionate rendition of ‘It’s a Man’s Man’s World.’
A thrilled Geyer said, “This award means so much - it is a career-topping milestone and I’m thrilled to be the first female solo inductee to The Age Music Victoria Hall Of Fame.”
Nominees for Best Album, Big Scary, opened the night with a 30 minute set, warming the crowd up with their stunning psychedelic pop sound. Other highlights of the night included 2013’s Best Soul, Funk, R’n’B and Gospel Album Genre Award winner Kylie Auldist and Lance Ferguson together on ‘Stares and Whispers’; Linda Bull covering Paul Kelly’s ‘Sure Got Me’, and a stunning duet from Saskwatch vocalist Nkechi and Henry Wagons. The EG Allstars rocked steadily along with special guest vocalists Dan Sultan, Daniel Merriweather, Remi Kolawole, Talei Wolfgramm and Ella Thompson, and Archie Roach’s ‘Heal The People’ brought the house down.
This year The Drones won big twice, capturing City of Melbourne award for Best Band as well as the RocKwiz award for Best Live Band; and Paul Kelly also bagged two trophies with The Age EG Best Album for his ‘Spring and Fall’ album, and Select AV’s Best Male Artist Award.
Adalita topped off a huge year with a well-deserved win for The Music’s Best Female Artist Award and newcomer Hiatus Kaiyote won the BigSound &Travel Beyond Best Emerging Artist Award, which includes flights and accommodation to Brisbane’s BigSound Conference and a slot in a high-profile showcase in addition to a very cool looking trophy.
The Mountain Goat award for Best Venue went to Melbourne’s fine Corner Hotel, and Crumpler’s Best Festival award went to Meredith Music Festival, with Aunty Meredith sending a telegram of thanks to the award’s presenters.
This year, the two new regional award categories that were introduced for public voting - Best Regional Venue and Best Regional Act - attracted fierce competition and interest with the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine winning the award for Best Regional Venue and everyone’s favourite sister act Stonefield winning Best Regional Act.
Editor of The Age ‘Shortlist’, Martin Boulton, said “The state of Victorian music is in rude health when a genuine star of the industry in Paul Kelly is still delivering career best albums and this year's Best Emerging Artist award has gone to Hiatus Kaiyoye, who couldn't attend only because they're blowing away audiences overseas.”
“On a night when Renée Geyer was recognised for her enormous contribution to the music industry, we've also seen some of Victoria's best talent on show.”
Music Victoria CEO, Patrick Donovan said, "Congratulations to all of the winners and inductees. The ecstatic response from the crowd and 80,000 plus votes from the public illustrates that Victoria’s world class soul scene deserved its own night and that a Victorian contemporary music awards was long over due. Bring on next year."
The Age Music Victoria Awards 2013 winners are:
Best Album – presented by The Age EG
‘Spring and Fall’ – Paul Kelly
Best Band – presented by City of Melbourne
The Drones
Best Song – presented by APRA
‘Riptide’ – Vance Joy
Best Male Artist
Paul Kelly
Best Female Artist – presented by The Music
Adalita
Best Emerging Artist – presented by Travel Beyond / Bigsound
Hiatus Kaiyote
Best Live Band – presented by RockWiz
The Drones
Best Venue – presented by Mountain Goat
The Corner Hotel
Best Festival – presented by Crumpler
Meredith Music Festival
Best Regional Act
Stonefield
Best Regional Venue
Theatre Royal, Castlemaine
The Age Music Victoria Hall of Fame
Michael Gudinski
The Age Music Victoria Hall of Fame
Renée Geyer
