Jane's Addiction, Mick Jones, Klaxons lead NME Awards USA

Part rehearsal for a reunited Jane's Addiction, and part international branding effort for a British magazine, the first United States edition of the NME Awards was a low-key, often disjointed affair. Yet it was one that offered as much self-congratulatory hype as the most professional of productions. Models introduced bands, Kelly Osbourne made some crotch jokes and the Brits handed out more awards to dancey rockers the Klaxons at the two-hour event Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Only the Clash's Mick Jones seemed to survive the event without some level of embarrassment. A total of 15 awards were handed out at the small El Rey Theatre, and Jones took home a trophy dubbed the "inspiration award" before performing two songs with his current outfit, Carbon/Silicon.

But it was Jane's Addiction, who received the night's "Godlike genius" award, that was the night's main draw. The act closed the event with a mini four-song set that included "Stop," "Mountain Song" and a light, steel drum-enhanced "Jane Says."

The group's first pairing in more than a decade with original bassist Eric Avery went down without a hitch, especially the groovy undercurrents that swarm under the trashy riffs of "Ocean Size." But due to the act's habitual on-again/off-again status, a Jane's Addiction performance hardly qualifies as an event these days, and one couldn't help but feel that the NME gig was little more than a run-through for a bigger show down the road.

But the NME Awards weren't really about the performances, nor were they about the awards. It wasn't a huge draw for artists, which was illustrated by the fact that "best new band" winners Vampire Weekend had a date about five miles up the street with "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Instead, this was an event centered on establishing the NME brand in the U.S. After all, an award show that sells its category names to sponsors is not one to be taken too seriously.

NME editor Conor McNicholas opened the event, declaring that "U.S. fans want more of NME." His reasoning was that NME has played a "key part in breaking U.S. bands in the U.K." and, in turn, establishing the acts in the U.S.

But there was zero evidence of such bravado at the awards. Including the pleasantly preppy indie rock of Vampire Weekend, trophies were given out to such U.S. artists as Foo Fighters ("best album"), My Chemical Romance ("best live act"), MGMT ("best breakthrough track") and the Killers (best track, best band).

Thanks, NME, but we're hip to all those guys in America.

Jones, introduced by Sienna Miller (both pictured), heaped on the NME praise when given his inspiration award, but drew a laugh from the audience when he admitted that today he gives it a "scan on the Internet, just like the rest of you." He then told a story about dogs and cats coming together for some inter-species love, and was all smiles when hammering through the choppy guitar riffs of Carbon/Silicon.

Comedian Jim Jeffries did an able job with a thankless task, landing some jabs at Osbourne ("I think she'd be famous even if her dad weren't famous -- she's just that good"), and was able to prevent the night from becoming a disaster (after the Lemonheads' Evan Dando accepted a "classic album" award  with nothing more than a "thanks," Jeffries had to beg the crowd to give longer speeches).

Oddly enough, the evening's two weirdest moments both involved the Klaxons.

U.K. model Agyness Dean gifted Mercury Prize winners the Klaxons the award for "best international album," though it belonged to the Arctic Monkeys (the NME site has corrected the slight). And later in the night, a clearly blitzed Steffan Halperin from the Klaxons stumbled on stage and interrupted the nominees for "best band." The drummer just stood there, not really saying much, prompting Jeffries to say, "I love drugs too."

Many in the audience seemed unsure whether to chuckle or call for help. But that could be said for much of the evening.

Complete winners after the jump.

Photos courtesy WireImage   

Best Video
Justice, "D.A.N.C.E."

The following is a list of the awards given out at the NME Awards USA on April 24 in Los Angeles:

Best Breakthrough Track
MGMT, "Time to Pretend"

Best New Band
Vampire Weekend

Classic Album
The Lemonheads, "It's a Shame About Ray"

Best International Band
Arcade Fire

Best Live Act
My Chemical Romance

Best Track
The Killers, "Sawdust"

Inspiration Award
Mick Jones

Best Solo Artist
Albert Hammond Jr.

Best Breakthrough Artist
Vampire Weekend

Best International Album
Arctic Monkeys, "Favourite Worst Nightmare"

Best International Track
The Klaxons, "Golden Skans"

Best Album
The Foo Fighters, "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace"

Best Band
The Killers

Godlike Genius
Jane's Addiction

Comments

[Jack]

Funny that you failed to mention that The Killers took home two of the biggest awards of the night. ??????????

[Todd Martens]

Hi Jack,

I mentioned the Killers and their two awards above. But I guess they're forgettable even when they're not playing music.