This article was published in 2006.
Leeds' diverse music community was honoured last night in the inaugural Independent Leeds Music Awards.
The event, attended by over 500 music enthusiasts, TV and radio, took place at Northern Light and featured 12 awards and live music from 8 bands and solo musicians including compère and beatbox star Shlomo. Guests at the event included Kaiser Chiefs and celebrity award presenters included Embrace, Brendan Croker and Alan Raw from BBC's Raw Talent radio show.
In addition to Shlomo, an eclectic mix of bands and musicians performed throughout the evening including Send More Paramedics, Waking The Witch, Four Day Hombre, Kidkanevil, That Fucking Tank, Semi Squared and awards' organiser Jon Gomm, who said afterwards:
"This has been a skin-of-the-teeth success. The fact that it worked so brilliantly is down to superhuman efforts at short notice by unsung heroes like Danny North and Andrew Sockanathan and by a small army of volunteers who helped with judging panels or who turned up on the day to transform the room into a great venue for a really complex event."
LMS writer Richard Garnett - who has contributed over 300 reviews and articles to this website - was honoured with “Writer Of The Year”, whilst The Cribs and Black Wire were honoured with Song and Album of the year respectively.
The full list of 2005 Award holders are:
Backroom Award: Moz & Stu (Richard Morris & Stuart Bannister)
Writer of the Year: Richard Garnett
Open-mic Performer of the Year: Rob Nichols
Acoustic/Roots Artist of the Year: Shaun T Hunter
Indie/Rock Band of the Year: ¡Forward, Russia!
Metal Band of the Year: Send More Paramedics
Electronic Artist of the Year: Kidkanevil
Live Music Venue of the Year: Brudenell Social Club
Music Video of the Year: “A Rook House For Bobby” (iLiKETRAiNS)
Live Band of the Year: The Sunshine Underground
Song by a Leeds Artist: “Hey Scenesters!” (The Cribs)
Album by a Leeds Artist: “Black Wire” (Black Wire)
For a full list of the nominations visit www.theindependentleedsmusicawards.co.uk.