Live Review: WAM Song Of The Year Awards Party

Props to WAM; the B Shed would have left a few question marks above peoples heads, mainly due to having no idea where or what the venue was, but the crew managed to do a bang up job in putting it all together – a real cool, old school vibe with a bar, and a food truck outside with a glorious backdrop of the Fremantle harbour. The night was about acknowledging the fantastic efforts of some of WA's most talented bands of the previous year, with awards spread out across 16 categories and an eventual grand prize winner announced at the end of the night. As people filled into the venue, DJ John Safari warmed everyone up with tunes ranging from smooth, slick beats to brass-based party grooves, and WAM CEO Mike Harris welcomed everyone in, acknowledged the land and invited local comedian Alex Manfrin to the stage to introduce himself as the MC for the evening. He continued to invite award presenters to the stage, with the Experimental Award going to The Intenso Band for their song, Earthquake; the Jazz Award to Trisk for Charon; and the Electronic Award going home with Kucka for Unconditional.

Lilt took to the stage as the first band performers for the event, vocalist Louise Penman quietly expressing that they weren't used to playing in front of so many people. The band certainly won over some new fans with their minimalist electronic thumps and an incredible performance from Penman, who wowed the unexpecting crowd with her belting notes. The awards continued soon after – Rag N' Bone took away the award for the Punk/Hardcore category for Wood & Wire; Coin Banks scored in Urban/Hip Hop for Someone; the Outstanding Indigenous Award went to The Merindas for Ready To Love; and the Folk Award was won by Winter's Mile for Tell My Lover.

Grace Barbe got the more ambitious in the crowd up and grooving along to her (and her backing band's) eclectic mix of reggae and pop, and all of a sudden it was time to sit down again for another round. The crowd toward the front of the room were particularly vocal in their support for the next few awards, mainly due to those in question being parents and family members of a bunch of talented kids, nervously waiting to hear the result of the Schools 14 & Under Award – a visibly delighted Charlotte Viney took it out for her song Hurricane, while Mike Waller's Seasons won in the Schools 15–17 Years category. Ruby Boots took out the Country Award for Wrap Me In A Fever; Codee-Lee won the Outstanding Regional Award with Ain't Got Time For That, while Morgan Bain scored the Blues/Roots Award for Hold On.

The good thing about 20-minute sets is that bands only have time to smash out their very best tracks, and Methyl Ethel seemed to just that, bringing up a mini crowd at the front of the stage for a dance in the process. Their soothing, dreamy blend of pop had any around the room paying strong attention, and it was only five minutes after they finished that they were back up on stage to accept the Pop Award for their track Rogues. Grace Barbe, who performed earlier in the night, won the World Award for Fatige; Tired Lion took home the rock award for I Don't Think You Like Me; and Chaos Divine won the Heavy/Metal award for Soldiers. Anticipation heightened for the announcement of the Grand Prize, which was a song selected from all the winning songs – in the end, Kucka took home the big one for Unconditional, which has seen unmatched national success over the last 12 months, and was a very worthy winner. DJ John Safari took to the decks soon after the thank you speeches, allowing everyone to truly relax and enjoy the rest of what had been a hugely successful evening for WA local music. Here's to 2015!