National Live Music Awards to induct Magic Dirt as inaugural Live Legends

The National Live Music Awards is inducting Magic Dirt as its inaugural Live Legends.

The group will be presented with the award as part of the Brisbane gala of the NLMAs on December 6 at The Triffid.

Since forming in 1991, the Geelong, Victoria, band, who in their early days were known as The Jim Jims, have released no less than eight studio albums and five EPs.

This included the ground-breaking and ARIA nominated Life Was Better (1994), with tracks like ‘Ice’ and ‘Amoxycillin’.

‘Dirty Jeans’, ‘Plastic Loveless Letter’, ‘She-Riff’ and ‘White Boy’ became a fixture of radio playlists.

Magic Dirt went on hiatus after the passing of founding member and band linchpin Dean Turner in 2009.

The award coincides with the band’s first major tour in eight, playing shows as part of the Hotter Than Hell series of shows, with Jebediah, 28 Days, Bodyjar, Spiderbait and Shihad.

There are also planned 2019 appearances at events like Twilight at Taronga with You Am I, and Golden Plains festival.

Raul Sanchez of Magic Dirt says of the award, “We were and are primarily a live band.

“As much as we love our recordings, we lived to hit the road and play live to a sweaty audience, that came to see some chaos, noise and the beautiful spontaneous magic that occurs when musicians put their souls on the line.

“It doesn’t get much better than that.

“It is a great honour for us to receive recognition for that, a recognition that we want to share as a tribute to our wonderful friend and bandmate Dean Turner and our awesome fans. Thank you.”

The Magic Dirt presentation at the Triffid, where the band will be joined by surprise guests, and close the night.

The ceremony is being live streamed internationally through Netgigs.

Director of the National Live Music Awards, Larry Heath, comments, “To say Magic Dirt have been an integral part of the Australian live music scene over the past 30 years is an understatement.

“There are so many artists who would say that Adalita, Dean, Adam and Raul paved the way for their own careers. And few forget their first Magic Dirt gig.”

Heath said the award also recognised the solo achievements of members, including Adalita’s, Sanchez’s work in River of Snakes, Midnight Woolf and The Ape, and Adam Robertson’s drumming.

Performing at the Brisbane gala are post-BIGSOUND buzz band Pink Matter, alongside 2018 nominees BUGS, Timothy James Bowen and Alice Ivy.

More performers, guests and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.

The event also includes satellite ceremonies in Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Perth, Darwin, Hobart and Wollongong.

Lineups for these parties will be revealed next week.

$5 from each ticket goes to Support Act Ltd; for more information, head to the official site.