Music

Please Enjoy All The Times The Pointy ARIA Award Nearly Impaled People

On the plus side, they've also been used to shuck oysters.

by Jared Richards  5 November 2018
ARIA Awards Injuries

Want more Junkee in your life? Sign up to our newsletter, and follow us on Instagram and Facebook so you always know where to find us.

One of the prevailing images of Australia overseas is that we are a country of danger: one of ferocious fauna, fuck-off spiders and an unforgivable, harsh landscape.

And maybe they have a point: looking at our pointy ARIA Awards — essentially an impaling device — it’s clear that the Australian psyche is one which flirts with death. Which invites many, many questions, but the most pointed of them was posed by Zan Rowe on Twitter last night: has anyone ever injured themselves on their ARIA award?

Think about it: those silver pyramids are scary pointy. Add into that a few celebratory champagnes at the awards, and you’ve got a recipe for one memorable piercing. And as the replies poured in from Australia’s music industry, it was clear that to win an ARIA can be a bit of a bloodbath.

Most famously, in 2016, one of Northlane’s ARIAs was behind their manager Julian Marshall’s trip to the hospital: while he was transporting their awards, one fell and pierced his foot.

Elsewhere, the award’s been at the centre of many near-disasters: unconfirmed rumours abound about several incidents with Tex Perkins back in the day, while Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson confirms he’s come “very very very very close” to a Hot Fuzz-style death.

And, much like any instrument the camera focuses on in a Final Destination film, the ARIA award has proven to be a ominous potential source for destruction, waiting patiently on shelves and mantle pieces. Montaigne’s ARIA has almost destroyed her friends, including one of Junkee’s own writers. In defence, Montaigne pleads the fifth.

Perhaps the award’s chaotic energy can be harnessed for good. Then again, the temptation for evil is too strong. With great award-recognised power comes great responsibility.