LAS VEGAS – The 8th Annual Parnelli Awards brought together the legends and up-and-coming talent of the live event industry to honor the companies and people nominated for their outstanding work this year. Held at the Rio All Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, the show featured state-of-the-art audio, lighting and video, master of ceremonies Alice Cooper, and keeping with the Vegas theme, showgirls decked out in flashy costumes to greet the attendees. The night paid tribute to audio innovators Roy and Gene Clair, founders of the Clair Bros. (now known as CLAIR) of Lititz, Pa., one of the most successful sound companies in the world; and Dennis Sheehan, longtime tour manager for U2 who has worked with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Patti Smith and many others.
The big winners of the night on the audio side were Tour Tech East of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, who received the Parnelli Award for Hometown Hero Sound Company of the Year.
“We’ve been nominated before in the category, and we were the only Canadian company,” said Tour Tech East President Peter Hendrickson. “It’s a pretty big deal for a Canadian company to win an American court.” Ten staff members from the company attended the award show, and Hendrickson dedicated the award to his staff. “It’s all about people and service,” he said. “At the end of the day anyone can buy gear. There is an old saying in the music business that says ‘if you want to end up with a small fortune in the music business, start with a large one.”
Sound Image won Sound Company of the Year for the Rascal Flatts tour. “I would like to thank FOH and all its readers for nominating and voting us sound company of the year,” said Sound Image President Dave Shadoan. We dedicate this award to our longtime friend and Sound Image family member Jim Douglas.”
Russell Fischer won the Parnelli for System Tech of the Year, while the Linkin Park tour had the most nods of the night with Kevin “Tater” McCarthy winning for Monitor Mixer of the Year and Ken “Pooch” Van Druten – nicknamed the Susan “Poochi” (in reference to soap opera star Susan Lucci) of the industry for his years of being nominated yet never winning a Parnelli – finally ended his losing streak, winning FOH Mixer of the Year. “I love what I do and I appreciated all your votes,” Van Druten said.
The Parnelli for Tour Manager of the Year went to Mike Amoto, yet another award for the Linkin Park tour. Ed Wannebo won the Parnelli for Production Manager of the Year for the Kenny Chesney tour. “Despite the craziness of this biz, I want to give a shout out to all those who kick ass and get it done, keeping the fun meter always in the red,” he said.
Here are the categories and winners:
Hometown Hero Sound Company of the Year
Tour Tech East — Canada — Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Sound Company of the Year
Sound Image — Rascal Flatts
System Tech of the Year
Russell Fischer — Toby Keith
Monitor Mixer of the Year
Kevin “Tater” McCarthy — Linkin Park
FOH Mixer of the Year
Ken “Pooch” Van Druten — Linkin Park
Tour Manager of the Year
Mike Amato — Linkin Park
Production Manager of the Year
Ed Wannebo — Kenny Chesney
Congratulations to all!
