Live Review: WAM Song Of The Year Awards 2016

Seemingly the only few people left in Fremantle headed down to the stunning warehouse B Shed on Saturday night, given the AFL Derby and triple j's One Night Stand in Geraldton, but it was a solid night nonetheless. Kicking off with a VIP function with food and drinks provided, the WAM Song of the Year (SOTY) Awards attracted an eclectic mix of Perth musicians, judges, industry alumni and guests.

After a traditional Welcome to Country by Barry McGuire, the night officially began as the Experimental, Jazz and Electronic award-winners were announced, before Katie J White took to the stage and grooved her way through songs like River, which, coincidentally later won the Blues/Roots category. Indigenous rapper Beni Bjah performed his tune Survivors accompanied by a didgeridoo and traditional Indigenous dancer and absolutely ripped it up with this one. An honest and refreshing track about the more sinister side of Australian history, he later took out the prestigious WAM SOTY Grand Prize and became the first Indigenous artist to ever win this award.

Four-piece rock band Rag n' Bone drew the largest crowd of the night, beginning with a small group of individuals, eventually swelling to 20-odd people of all ages jumping and dancing away — an odd juxtaposition to the still-seated rest-of-the-room behind them. Later, when Rag N' Bone won the Rock category, this dedicated entourage gave the biggest applause of the night and as a local band, who wouldn't want such a dedicated group of friends supporting them like this? High fives.

Finishing off the night with the Pop award (the winner being Joni In The Moon) and the Grand Prize, it was an achievement of a vast array of people to get it to this point. The high quality of talent seen across every category is testament to the Perth music scene; consistently of a world-class standard every year, and a night like Saturday was a fitting opportunity to recognise just that.