Copyright thespinoff
The big night honouring the best in New Zealand songwriting took place in Ōtautahi last night. Alex Casey was there. To interpolate Fazerdaze’s Silver Scroll-nominated ‘Cherry Pie’, there were high spirits in those Christchurch skies last night as seemingly the entire music industry crammed into the Isaac Theatre Royal for the 60th year of celebrating local songwriting. Despite all the grim headlines this year – less local music being played on radio, less local music being streamed and the terrifying growth of AI artists– the room was buzzing with a feverish jubilation. Fellas in tight jeans and blazers did finger guns to each other, while other innovative creatives tried to figure out how many cans of Pals a single person can carry at once (the answer is six). That was just the first of many triumphant wins witnessed over the course of the night, which also included ‘Kei Whati Te Marama’ winning the Maioha award, and Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper winning best original music in a series for The Gone S2. Beloved country act The Warratahs were inducted into the New Zealand music hall of fame, and Marlon Williams and KOMMI won the big prize of the night for ‘Aua Atu Rā’. The rest of us won something too – small boxes of chicken and chips with a curiously spicy sauce were handed around at halftime and enjoyed by everyone from Paul Goldsmith to Bic Runga. Beyond the big gongs, here’s everything else you might have missed from a raucous night at the Silver Scrolls. The night was Ōtautahi strong It wasn’t just because the city was hosting this year – Ōtautahi was all over the ceremony like sauce on $2 rice. Three out of the five Silver Scroll nominees were Canterbury strong (Marlon Williams, Fazerdaze, There’s a Tuesday) and dozens of local musicians popped up to perform including Ben Woods, Holly Arrowsmith, Ryan Chin and Phoebe Vic. Hosts Stacey Morrison and Jed Parsons, both from Ōtautahi, paid homage to the tight-knit community throughout. “I’m not saying we’re interbred,” said Morrison. “But when I found out I was working with Jed, of course my cousin says ‘oh yeah, I went out with his brother’.” There was an extremely mild roast of the artists “There’s a Tuesday?” said Parsons. “There’s heaps actually – one every single week.” There were many thrilling looks I could talk about the bold primary colours that leapt out of the mostly black-clad crowd, like Music 101 host Kara Rickard’s brick red power suit, or alt pop star Emily Browning’s electric blue, yellow and red bow ensemble, or Tiki Taane’s resplendent ruby waistcoat. I could also talk about the autumnal tones as seen in Anthonie Tonnon’s olive green turtleneck, Bic Runga’s caramel two piece, or Marlon Williams in head-to-toe forest green. All these classy colour moments, and yet nothing beats Anika Moa and her turquoise Crocs. “We’ve got an incredible security guard here tonight, she’s wearing Crocs and her name is Anika Moa,” said Morrison. At half time, I found Moa in the foyer and snapped a pic of them in all their glory. “Once you turn 40 you stop giving a fuck,” said Moa. Wilhelm scream < Devlin yell A couple of times over the course of the evening, the hosts had to fill time while they sorted out the stage behind the curtain for the next performance. These moments brought about impromptu crowd singalongs of ‘Not Many’ and an extremely off key rendition of ‘Bathe in the the River’, but the best of all of these padding improvisations came early on. When Parsons noted that Callum Devlin of Hans Puckett, The Weed Eaters and the now-infamous Music Awards Yelling was sitting in the crowd, he demanded another guttural howl be set free. Devlin obliged, perhaps doubling his duration on the last one, and soon we were all yelling up the heavens together. Still sounded better than ‘Bathe in the River’ tbh. There were buzzy musical arrangements As is tradition for the Silver Scrolls, all the songs nominated for the top prize were reimagined by fellow artists throughout the course of the night, with this year’s lineup overseen by music director Delaney Davidson. Memorable moments included the roof nearly flying off when the potent quartet of Ria Hall, Tami Neilson, Phoebe Vic and Tusekah belted Jess B’s ‘Power’, a rapping Julia Deans pairing up with MC Tali on Mazbou Q’s ‘Torque’ and a deeply abstracted rendition of There’s a Tuesday’s ‘Margo’ featuring Paul Ubana Jones. It was a bit like Triple J’s Like a Version, except if everyone had taken the pill that Bradley Cooper took in Limitless. Poli-poli-poli-politicians With so many politicians in the house (Paul Goldsmith, Chlöe Swarbrick, Steve Abel, Duncan Webb, Rueben Davidson) there were a fair few – ahem – shout outs during speeches. An early “boo” from the darkness at the first mention of Goldsmith and an enormous cheer for Swarbrick soon got a gentle growling from Stacey Morrison (“we’re not biased here”), but it was clear the horse had already bolted. “God bless governments that support the arts,” Tami Neilson said at one point, making a winky sign of the cross. “To the arts and culture minister, much love,” said Marlon Williams, who revealed he had once sent an angry email to Goldsmith, who previously worked for the Waitangi Tribunal. “You’ve done a lot of incredible work for Māori – a while ago. That’s why I know you’ve got a conscience and that you can turn things around from within.” The Warratahs became hall of famers Tami Neilsen did the honours of inducting The Warratahs into the hall of fame, sharing what a revelation it was to hear ‘Hands of My Heart’ when she first arrived in Aotearoa and wondered where all the country artists singing about this country were. “My heart almost burst as the feeling of kinship washed over me, I finally found my ragtag country songwriter kinfolk,” she said, acknowledging that the Warratahs “built the foundations that we all stand on today.” An excellent video package wrapped up their decades-long legacy, featuring insights from fans such as Mel Parsons, Marlon Williams, and Katie Thompson, but sadly made no mention of the greatest New Zealand jingle of all time. ‘Temu Tami Neilson’ and Tiki Taane brought the house down To borrow a wrestling term, the biggest pops of the night came from Hannah Darroch from SOUNZ, who referred to herself as the ‘Temu Tami Neilson’ because her fringe was less voluminous. Before presenting the contemporary award to Ihlara McIndoe for ‘Of Coral And Foam’, Darroch posited a thought experiment. “Imagine an Aotearoa where the hard work, resilience and dedication of musicians is seen in parallel to the dedication and high level skill required of all sports people,” she said to rapturous applause. “Imagine an Aotearoa where music and the arts are embedded into the education system.” Another big moment came for Tiki Taane after he won with Arli Liberman for Best Original Music on Ka Whawhai Tonu. “Myself and many of the cast and crew on Ka Whawhai Tonu are direct descendants of those that fought in the battle of Ōrākau in 1864. We are here and exist because of their bravery and their courage,” he said. “That was 161 years ago, and even though today the battlefields have changed, we’re still fighting.” He ended his speech with a plea to the room: “I see so much power here – you can use your music, your voice, your messages, to change and affect the consciousness of this planet.”
