Here’s Everything You Missed At The 2017 ARIA Awards
All the glitz and glamour and dicks.
Last night, the who’s who and who-the-fuck-is-that of the local music industry gathered at Sydney’s Star Casino for the 30th annual ARIA Awards.
As usual, there were some flashy performances, some gross dick flashing, and an awful lot of pointy trophies given out. Sydney’s Gang Of Youths emerged as the big winners of the evening, taking home four awards for their acclaimed album Go Farther In Lightness, including for Best Rock Album and Album Of The Year.
It was a long night and a lot went down, which is why we’re wrapping it up for you all in one place.
A.B. Original Reminded Us Why It’s Good To Be Uncomfortable
Hip-hop duo and all round legends A.B. Original used their acceptance speeches to call out the ongoing racism in Australia.
“Change doesn’t come from being comfortable, it comes from being extremely uncomfortable,” Briggs said on stage while accepting the ARIA for Best Urban Release. “We made ourselves extremely uncomfortable trying to make this record…trying to upset those rednecks. They were vocal, but we just had the better album.”
“The main point of this whole record was to spark an idea and change the expectation of what an Indigenous artist could be,” he said during their second appearance later in the evening. “Because we weren’t saying we’ve gotta make it through the struggle; we said, we’ve made it, we’ve persisted, we’ve been here for 80,000 years.”
While speaking to The Guardian on the red carpet earlier in the day, they also gave triple j a shoutout for their decision to move the Hottest 100 away from Australia Day.
“I think it’s a good trajectory for the industry, and it’s also a good indication of how the majority of people feel,” Briggs said. “They’re reasonable folks who know that Australia Day is trash and we can’t enjoy the countdown that includes our songs on that day. So it was a smart thing for the Js to do, so we appreciate their step towards equity and inclusivity.”
Amy Shark Was The Feel-Good Star Of The Night
A year ago, Amy Shark was an unknown muso from the Gold Coast who’d been slogging it out for 10 years. Then, suddenly, her break came in the form of runaway single ‘Adore’.
Last night, she capped off an incredible year with wins for Best Breakthrough Artist and Best Pop Release. Needless to say, she was overwhelmed.
“My heart can’t handle this,” she said while on stage accepting Breakthrough Artist. “There were a lot of years where I was really frustrated with the industry, because I’ve been writing music for a very long time. I just wanted everyone to hear my music so bad. I guess I want to say that I was wrong, because since signing to the most amazing record label in Sony, and having the best managers in the industry with UNIFIED, I realise now that you guys are all amazing people.
“I’ve dreamt of this for a very very long time. If you’re at home watching this and you’re a struggling musician and it feels like you’re getting nowhere, just keep going.”
To top the night off, she also delivered a stark rendition of ‘Adore’. Watch it below.
— Channel 9 (@Channel9) November 28, 2017
Gang Of Youths Won Basically Everything
If you didn’t already know that Gang Of Youths are the most essential rock band in the country, you do now. The Sydney crew predictably, and deservedly, cleaned up at the awards.
“You have no idea how much it means for us to win this, because people didn’t give a shit about us for a long time. But now they do,” frontman Dave Le’aupepe said, visibly choked up on stage accepting the award for Album Of The Year.
“We’re all immigrants to this country, every single one of us,” he went on. “This country was built on a strong Indigenous people, and on the backs of immigrants. A.B. Original — thank you for making an incendiary and important record, for the brown boys. Paul Kelly, the heart of Australia beats through your music.
“We’re Pacific Islanders and we’re proud of our heritage. We’re not just big people with big voices, we are a strong people, a proud people, and we’re a loving community. We’re not just useful on the footy field. I hope this proves something.
“If you’re a young woman or a young man, or a non-binary person — or if you’re a person of colour like us. I grew up in the inner west of Sydney, and I didn’t really have a lot of money, but my parents spent the last 200 bucks they had on a guitar, and that guitar changed my fucking life. Go pick up a guitar, pick up an instrument, go get a laptop and download some software — because the world needs good artists who have something to say. To say meaningful things.”
Harry Styles Was His Goddamn Beautiful Self
Red carpet host Ash London was in the middle of an interview with A.B. Original when an almighty roar echoed down the carpet, interrupting proceedings and forcing her to sprint to find the source.
Of course, we knew who it was before the cameraman caught up to her: it was the suavely-dressed pop star Harry Styles walking up to greet a gaggle of fans — some of which had slept on bare concrete outside The Star the night before just to catch a glimpse of that perfect quiff.
Styles ended up having a pretty good night: he took home the ARIA for Best International Artist (it was publicly voted, the other artists didn’t stand a chance against his terrifyingly organised fans), and crushed a performance of his recent single ‘Kiwi’. It was also the sixth year IN A ROW that he’s won the award, having picked up the first five with One Direction.
He also took the time during his acceptance speech to give the nation a kind shoutout for the Yes result, further cementing his persona as an all round nice guy.
We’re all stans now.
Kirin J Callinan Revealed Himself To Be A Complete Dick
By flashing his penis on the red carpet. Slow fucking clap.
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Jules LeFevre is Staff Writer for Music Junkee and inthemix. She is on Twitter.