Blue Wiggle reveals awkward ARIAs moment with INXS

The ARIAs has played host to some shocking gaffes over the years, and now the Blue Wiggle has revealed another cringe-worthy moment we missed.

Anthony Field has revealed a “very embarrassing moment” he had with INXS at the ARIAs in the ‘90s.

Ahead of the 35th ARIAs tonight, the Blue Wiggle sat down for an interview on news.com.au podcast I’ve Got News For You with host Andrew Bucklow, where he – literally – spilled a rather cringe-worthy story about his encounter with Michael Hutchence and co.

“Years and years ago in the 90s, INXS were in the next table to us. And it was the days when you know, there was wine flowing,” Field began.

“And I went over to say hello, because we did a bit of … (in the) early days with The Cockroaches (Field’s former band), we used to tour with INXS, and in Redfern I lived around the corner from Michael.

“(Anyway) I went over to say hello and I knocked a bottle of red wine over the table. And it was terrible … the whole of INXS scattered, their girlfriends and wives … And um it was a funny moment.

“Years later, I was talking to the Farriss brothers and they remembered that moment too, because it was just one of those great ARIA out of control moments.”

Anthony Field onstage at the 1996 ARIAs.

Thankfully, there doesn’t appear to be any red wine residue on Hutchence’s shirt.

It’s certainly not the only embarrassing moment to emerge from music’s night of nights.

Here’s our roundup of some of the most awkward gaffes:

Bob Geldof insulting Keith Urban

Keith Urban and Sir Bob Geldof at the 2018 ARIAs. A true car crash. Picture: AAP/Joel Carrett

At the 2018 ARIAs, rock legend Bob Geldof came out to present the final award of the night alongside host Keith Urban, and he was in a very weird mood.

First up, he called Keith ‘Jim’ before dissing his efforts as host, saying he’d been unmemorable all night.

The 70-year-old didn’t stop there, adding he was only presenting an award because Urban had begged him to.

When it came time to stop insulting a very diplomatic Urban and read out the nominees, Geldof complained he couldn’t read the autocue and dropped an F-bomb.

Madison Avenue’s car crash performance

Madison Avenue at the 2000 ARIAs.

Madison Avenue were flying high at the 2000 ARIAs with a few hit singles under their belt, but their live performance from singer Cheyne Coates brought it all crashing down.

She struggled from the first note, and motioned for a glass of water – which a stage hand brought out for her mid performance.

But she couldn’t catch a moment to actually take a sip, so kept picking up the glass and putting it back down. The whole time her vocals were sounding more strained and more in need of that glass of water. It’s a car crash performance.

Axle Whitehead leaves little to the imagination

Axle Whitehead on the red carpet at the 2006 ARIAs, where he would later expose himself to the crowd.

This is a lesson to everyone: If you’re going to party at the ARIAs, wait until your onstage commitments are out of the way.

Former Australian Idol contestant Axle Whitehead later admitted he’d “had a few drinks” before he went up on stage to present an award at the 2006 awards, where he exposed himself to the audience and simulated masturbation with the trophy he was meant to hand out.

The time delay meant viewers at home never saw his antics, but doing all that in front of every powerful person in the Australian music industry was enough for his career to take a serious hit.

You can follow all the live coverage of the 2021 ARIAs tonight – including the red carpet and ceremony highlights – right here on news.com.au.