Split Enz and Hunters & Collectors were among the honorees who reunited last night (July 14) for performances at the inaugural ARIA Icons: Hall Of Fame event at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre.
Tim Finn, singer with alternative ’80s New Zealand act Split Enz, told guests “Australia always had heart for us. Those early gigs, long before our big hits, set the course for the band.”
The gala also featured live collaborations between the old and the new. Power-pop trio the Living End backed ’60s pop star Normie Rowe; rising R&B singer Jade McCrae shared the stage with blues diva Renee Geyer; and country acts Lee Kernaghan, Anne Kirkpatrick, and Troy Cassar-Daley serenaded 92-year old singing cowboy Smoky Dawson. Rowe, Geyer and Dawson were each inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Popular local rock trio You Am I were joined by blues-rock singers Jimmy Barnes and Tex Perkins to close the evening with a medley of the Easybeats’ songs. The band, which notched up 14 Top 40 hits in Australia between 1965-1969, is best known for their international hit “Friday On My Mind.”
Organized by trade body the Australasian Recording Industry Assn., the event will be broadcast on cable channels Foxtel and Austar on July 17.
