photo credit: PA (taken from the NME site – http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/62327)
Last night, the biggest names in indie gathered for the annual NME bash at Brixton Academy. As usual, the night was filled with amazing one off duets (from the likes of Florence + The Machine with The Horrors), God-like geniuses and middle finger prizes for those who have blew us away in the last year.
The NME are the sigh of relief in the awards calendar – the point when you see all the bands you moan about not winning Brits being recognized. And for me, the stand out example of this was The Horrors, who took home the gong for ‘best album’ for last year’s acclaimed ‘Skying’. It’s great to see them getting the credit they deserve.
The other award I was so pleased to see went to Pulp, who received ‘The Teenage Cancer Trust Outstanding Contribution to Music’ award. After tearing apart festivals across the world with their charming and iconic back catalogue, the band thanked all those who we “still interested”.
Azealia Banks also took the ‘Philip Hall Radar Award’ after sending the internet and audience into a frenzy since the release of her single ‘212’ on YouTube, although she was ill and couldn’t make it to the ceremony. One woman who did manage to make it was Florence, who along with her Machine managed to bag the awards for ‘Best Solo Artist’ and ‘Best Single’.
Finally, NME and a host of music’s biggest icons showed their support for Noel Gallagher who this year was named as the winner of the ‘God-like Genius’ award. Noel thanked everyone for the award and added “to all those who were influenced by my music – you’re welcome”
You can catch most of the winners at a gig soon. Check out gigsandtours.com for more info.