National Live Music Awards move to Melbourne – with satellite events in every state and territory

This year’s National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) dates will be held on December 7, with every state and territory will have its own event in a host city.

While the awards were held in Sydney in 2016, for their second year the main gala is moving to Melbourne, where over 20 gongs will be handed out for both national and Victorian events and acts. 

Simultaneous satellite events for this year will be held again in Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Adelaide, where local awards and State and Territory Awards will be handed out and guests will be treated to featured performances and DJ sets.

And for the first time, Launceston, Alice Springs and Fremantle will be included in the host cities list.

"As the event is the National Live Music Awards, it’s important to us that we don’t treat the event as an explicitly Sydney event or a Melbourne event," event director Larry Heath told TMN. "So we’ll be moving the gala around every year to different cities, positioned in different venues of different sizes.

Heath says the same goes for the satellite events, with each state or territory’s event moving venues or even cities from year to year.

"In the NT, artists, venues and events from Alice Springs won many of the awards last year, so it made sense for us to move the event there this year. Likewise in the move from Hobart to Launceston. And I would put money on it moving back next year, and that [there will] be an ongoing back and forth between these music hubs."

The NLMAs celebrate the best in Australian live music – the only event of its kind in Australia focused on the live performance industry. There are over 20 awards up for grabs for artists, venues, events, and industry champions, alongside live performances and a keynote speech at the Melbourne gala.

Last year’s event saw the likes of Gang of Youths, Violent Soho, Camp Cope, Troye Sivan and Tame Impala nominated for awards.

The inaugural event in 2016 saw over 1000 attendees, with events such as Laneway Festival receiving awards and The Smith Street Band taking out live act of the year.

The gala event will be ticketed, with both VIP and GA options. Further ticket and venue information will be announced later this year.

For more information about the event, or to check out last year’s winners, head to the National Live Music Awards website.