As busy as he was preparing for the inaugural issue of Pro Lights & Staging News in Feb. 2000, PLSN and FRONT of HOUSE publisher Terry Lowe was already thinking of putting on an accompanying production trade show. As the story goes, he went over to the house of his friend and co-conspirator, the great production manager Patrick Stansfield. In addition to taking care of Neil Diamond tours for a decade and a half, Patrick had also worked with everyone from Santana to the Pope. Patrick’s home office was a little building poolside, and Terry marched in and said, “Patrick, we have to do an award show!”
And from there it began, proving the best ideas happen poolside….
The first one could not have been humbler; the last one could not have been grander — with no fewer than five music stars showing up to honor those who make them look and sound good. When Tom Petty surprised the audience with an appearance in 2016 before embarking on his last tour marking 40 years with The Heartbreakers, he took the stage and said that he was “so glad this forum exists…I’ve on many nights thought there should be an award for that monitor mixer who saved the whole show there, and nobody knows it but me.”
But while neither Patrick nor Terry could have foreseen the next 20 years, they certainly knew that it was important to honor those who work behind the scenes. As the producer of the show for the last 17 years, the experience can be summed up by what Dave Rat of Rat Sound said at the 5th Annual Parnelli Awards. He was picking up the Parnelli for FOH Mixer of the Year for his work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and awkwardly at the mic, he mumbled: “I spent my whole career avoiding being on stage with a live mic, and now here I am…” It moved me to a deeper appreciation of the show as I realized that the Parnelli Awards are the one night each year when we turn the lights on the lighting people; the mics on the audio people; and get the stage designers on the stage… and honor all those “invisible” amazing behind-the-scenes professionals who make live events happen.
At the 8th Annual show, Ron Doroba took home the Tour Manager of the Year award. He summed it up nicely: “I want to thank Terry and Patrick and everyone else involved with this show for giving us the chance to celebrate our industry.” And celebrate we have…
The ProProduction Years
Parnelli #1/2002. The first four Parnelli Awards were tied to the ProProduction industry trade show that Terry launched. After declaring to Patrick, “We have to do an award show,” Patrick immediately named it after industry legend, Rick “Parnelli” O’Brien, whose life was taken too soon by cancer. (Rick started as a driver at Tom Fields Associates in Boston, and would become a stage and production manager for Queen among many other bands of the 1970s and 1980s.)
The first Parnelli Awards Show was humble indeed: A dinner in a San Diego bar called On Broadway. Just one award, the Lifetime Achievement Award, was presented. The first recipient was Brian Croft, a stellar production manager for acts like The Rolling Stones, Queen and the Moody Blues. In the 70’s, he founded ESP Lighting and later became managing director of Vari-Lite Europe. “I got a call one day from my old friend Patrick Stansfield to say that Terry Lowe had come up with this idea of a Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of Rick O’Brien,” Croft recalls. “Whilst I applauded the concept — Rick deserved the recognition — I told Patrick that I very much doubted that I was the right guy. On reflection, I suspected I was the only person they knew in the industry who was old enough… I was approaching retirement age.”
In an ominous sign of future shows, the evening event went long. When it was time for Brian to speak (with no mic), regular bar patrons started to fill the space. “During my acceptance speech, the hubbub in the bar became a cacophony of noise, quite deafening. Tommy [Stephenson] from TMB, bless him, saw the look of panic on my face, stood on a chair, and using his considerable vocal power, shouted ‘Shut the F*ck Up.” That worked. When I’d finished, [Gerry] Stickells thrust the actual award at me with a ‘here you go Crofty.’ That was it and we got on with the drinking … not the most elegant affair, but very rock’n’roll.” [Editor’s Note: Photos of this event can’t be found, but there’s an entertaining video of Brian describing the event on ParnelliAwards.com.]
Parnelli #2/2003. The following year, still in San Diego, the Parnelli Awards expanded to the Culley Garage, an actual event center. A formal sit-down dinner awaited attendees, along with a real production for the ceremony. Mike Brown of Brown Staging was the lifetime honoree, and 18 “Of the Year” awards were handed out across Visual, Audio, and Production categories. We found a VHS tape of the show (if you’re old enough to know what that is) where we saw future Lifetime Achievement Honoree PM George Travis (Bruce Springsteen) present the Parnelli to his good friend Mike. Keith Kevan was the host, with his ribald and risqué dialogue the order of the day. We survived. The Parnelli Awards had arrived.
Parnelli #3/2004. My arrival on the scene came during the third ProProduction conference. Having freelanced for PLSN since its second issue, Terry had called me one day and asked, “Have you ever written a documentary?” “Sure!” I lied. It was the best lie of my career.
It would be for that year’s Lifetime honoree Chip Monck. Terry himself narrated (and did a damn fine job.) Officially, I was there to coordinate the seminars and workshops with industry leaders as part of the trade show, so for my first Parnelli Awards, I was merely an audience member. It was on the Queen Mary in Long Beach and is best summed up by my then PLSN-editor Richard Cadena: “It was a magical night.”
LeRoy Bennett would take home the Set/Scenic Designer award that night, and it would not be his last. Eventual Lifetime honorees Jake Berry and George Travis would receive the Production Manager and Tour Manager of the Year awards respectively that night.
I have fond memories of it all as it afforded me the opportunity to meet Chip in person and watch what would be one of the longest acceptance speeches ever. Winners included legends in the making, whom I would interview down the line, such as LeRoy, Jake Berry and Marc Brickman. I would shake hands for the first time with the owners of companies like Rock-It Cargo, Upstaging, Pyrotek, Atlanta Rigging, All Access and Screenworks.
Parnelli #4/2005. In 2005, for the fourth annual show, the lifetime achievement awards expanded with the addition of the Audio Innovator lifetime honoree, which fittingly went to John Meyer of Meyer Sound. I would get to interview him and his partner and wife Helen, both industry leaders to this day. The legendary Bob See received the Lifetime Achievement Award honor.
Todd Rundgren was there to give the keynote speech. Soaked with vodka that his handler (me) plied him with, he got on stage and handed out a few awards. That went well, though later someone he was sitting with knocked over his entire table. Drinks and food went a-flying. Which caused the group to scurry out, Irish goodbye style.
That night, “Big Mick” Hughes took home his first FOH Mixer of the Year Award, and Marty Hom was named Tour Manager of the Year.
The LDI Orlando vs. Las Vegas Years
Parnelli #5/2005*. 2005 was an asterisk-earning year, because we had the Parnelli number four in February and number five in November. The ProProduction trade show had run its course and ended, but the Parnelli Awards needed to continue. It seemed wise to have the awards concurrent with the LDI trade show. (Note: we were never “partnered” with LDI, and our relationship with them vacillated between mildly pleasant to antagonistic.) We marked a period of growth and, frankly, growing pains. Tagging along with LDI was challenging, because during this period, they were still bouncing back and forth between Las Vegas and Orlando. So, our first LDI year was in Orlando. I got more involved, working closely with Timeless Communications’ VP William Vanyo — our first agreement being about the “horrible” Orlando restaurants.
The show was good: the star-studded list of presenters included Brian Croft, Chip Monck, Robert Scovill, Peter Morse and then LD-at-Large columnist and future PLSN editor Nook Schoenfeld. It would be my only time to meet and work with Brian, who, as those of you who know him know well, is hilarious. The Lifetime Honoree was Patrick Stansfield himself who, while certainly deserving, resisted the idea at first. In one of his rare moments of humility, he believed that, as co-founder and chairman of the Parnelli Board of Advisors, being honored might look questionable to others. But he relented when we convinced him that having him on the “ticket” would increase attendance. With Patrick’s award came a new tradition: an artist offering a video tribute. Neil Diamond, whom Patrick had ushered around the world for decades, sent in a touching video that played well with the crowd.
That night, we also honored Bruce Jackson as Audio Innovator. He had mixed sound from Elvis to Bruce, and went on to create pioneering audio gear. He was one of the most beloved and admired people in the business. Bruce became a semi-regular to the show, and I always enjoyed talking to him over the occasional dinner. We’ve lost a few lifetime achievement honorees, but his death in a plane crash six years later was particularly heartbreaking.
Parnelli #6/2006. Vegas! The show ran noticeably smoother because Terry had moved his company headquarters here, meaning we had access to the full office staff. Jere Harris of PRG received the Lifetime Achievement Award, as did Bill Hanley, the “father of festival sound.”
Counting production partners, we were up to over 20 sponsors while the number of awards expanded to 22. I was firmly producing and writing the show at this point, and in addition to Terry’s contributions, editors Richard Cadena (PLSN), Bill Evans (FOH) and Jacob Coakley (Stage Directions) were wonderful to work with. [See their comments on the shows during this time at page 18]. All three were funny and great at getting good presenters. Bill had the audacious tasks of getting audio people to attend a lighting show (and when LDI was in Orlando, it was damn near impossible). Production manager (and Board Member) Kent Black was always negotiating difficult Vegas ballroom conditions with challengingly late access to the ballrooms, but managed to pull it off.
Terry and Patrick’s decision to pay it forward while looking back was realized when they introduced the new Parnelli Scholarship to benefit Entertainment Engineering Design program at the University of Nevada — Las Vegas. It was a new program that was launched the following year, which the Parnelli Awards sponsorships and ticket sales continue to support. Scores of future live event personnel have benefitted from this scholarship.
Parnelli #7/2007. Back to Orlando and the Peabody. It was widely known that the great Gerry Stickells was fighting cancer, so time was of the essence. In addition to being tour manager to Jimi Hendrix, Queen, and Michael Jackson, he was key to opening up South America to big rock shows. Gerry made it to the show, but not to the stage. Patrick walked the mic down to him, but cancer had made his voice difficult to hear. Gerry enjoyed it all, especially when the vast majority of those in attendance showed up in Hawaiian shirts like the ones he loved to wear. (Looking back, it’s funny to see Terry and Patrick, who are always dapper in three-piece suits, joining in the “Hawaiian shirt” fun, which Gerry clearly relished.)
The great (and hilariously goofy) purple Converse-wearing Bob Heil received the Audio Innovator award. Years later, his full “quad” mixing board that The Who used in Quadrophenia, built at the request of Pete Townshend, was placed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Future Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Honoree Chris Adamson took home the Production Manager of the Year award for his work with Tom Petty, and Tom Young took home the FOH award for his work with Tony Bennett.
Parnelli #8/2008. Back to Vegas. Artist participation in honoring their crews has become a hallmark of the Parnelli Awards moving forward. 2008 started our tradition of having a notable host for the show — and who could be more notable than Alice Cooper? U2 sent in a funny video congratulating their longtime production manager Dennis Sheehan for his Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award.
Roy and Gene Clair of Clair Bros. were the Audio Innovator honorees — the first of only two times where a pair shared one award. (The other was Dave Shadoan and Ross Ritto with the Audio Innovator Award in 2012.) This was the first year we added a new lifetime honor: The Parnelli Visionary Award.
It went to the brilliant and eccentric Michael Tait of Tait Towers, who built an innovative round turntable stage that revolved for Yes, among many other notable “firsts.” Future Parnelli Lifetime Honoree Ed Wannebo took home Production Manager of the Year.
The star-studded list of those handing out the awards included Carol Dodds, Buford Jones and Marilyn Lowey.
At this point we were expanding, acknowledging video’s importance, and video director (and Parnelli winner) Mark Haney became an official member of the Board of Advisors.
Parnelli #9/2009. Orlando… [sigh]… All Parnelli Award Shows are special and had memorable moments, and in 2009 there was further growth: We grew to 30 sponsors, up from 20 the previous year. Technical Productions Inc. (TPI) of St. Louis became one of the production partners, dramatically improving the quality of the show. Every year since, the team headed by Michael O’Keefe and his Parnelli Award-winning designer wife Elizabeth have made it better.
PLSN editor Richard Cadena somehow got Dennis DeYoung of Styx to host, and he would establish a high bar for those hosts who followed. Jake Berry was the Lifetime Achievement honoree, and acts that he worked with — U2, Rolling Stones, Metallica — sent in hilarious video tributes. In addition to his rock ‘n’ roll credits, Jake also did a stint with Walking with Dinosaurs, a live “arena spectacular” touring show. Mick Jagger’s video tribute mentioned how he did great work with the Dinosaurs show, then quipped: “… But enough about the Stones.” U2’s Bono and The Edge filmed an elaborate sketch in a tent by the beach where they framed their performance as a mere opening act for Jake’s load-out, and how it could never compare.
Parnelli #10/2010. By the 10th Anniversary, Patrick and Terry clearly felt good about what they had built. Those who were able to get a ticket were glad they did, as the stars who attended included Brooks & Dunn and Paul Anka.
Anka wrote his own speech about his longtime sound engineer, Al Siniscal, that year’s Audio Innovator honoree. After his speech, Anka brought Al to the stage, perched him on a bar stool and proceeded to sing a special version of his hit, My Way” (retitled “His Way.”) It was an all-time Parnelli highlight.
Having Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn (Brooks & Dunn) show up to support their production manager (and that year’s Lifetime Achievement honoree) Randy “Baja” Fletcher was one thing; but it was really impressive that they wanted to sit at the Baja’s table for the entire show (it went over three hours — sorry, Kix and Ronnie). Funny, sincere and gracious, Kix started his presenter speech acknowledging the talent and technical prowess that it takes to put on a show, saying he was impressed with all the night’s winners because “I don’t even know how cable TV works.”
Mark Haney took the stage with Vickie Claiborne to hand out some awards and, in referencing all the country crews in the audience that night, remarked: “You can tell there’s a lot of Southerners in the audience tonight. They are serving chicken.”
Parnelli #11/2011. This was our last show in Orlando, and we were all grateful for that (though the Peabody ducks were pretty cute…). It was a fun show, as no one expected the hosts to come out dressed in “meat” to sing a Lady Gaga song, but that’s what The Turtles’ Flo and Eddie did. Flo joked about being nervous showing up, quipping, “We probably still owe quite a few of you money for the drugs we got from you in the ‘60s and ‘70s.”
The big surprise of the night was an appearance by Kenny Chesney, who came to congratulate his production manager Ed Wannebo on his Lifetime Achievement award. Chesney had what seemed like a simple request — it was a longtime tradition for Ed to make him a special margarita in the middle of his show. (I got to watch Ed put on his mixologist hat when the tour came through my town that summer. It was a pleasure to be in the back of a Chesney truck, which had a special little bar for just this occasion.) At the pre-determined time, Ed would walk out on stage and give Chesney his drink, and both would toast the audience. Well, Kenny wanted to return the favor when he walked out on stage for Ed. Suddenly, I was running to the different bars to see if I could arrange for a specific one for Ed. Kenny surprising Ed with that drink, and the reaction of the crowd is one of my favorite all-time Parnelli moments. Another one ended the show: Flo and Eddie sang their hit “Happy Together” with Terry Lowe joining in — and he did a damn fine job on that, too.
Las Vegas Years
Parnelli #12/2012. By the 12th Annual Parnelli gala, George Petersen had taken over the FRONT of HOUSE helm as editor and proved extremely helpful to the show. For number 12. we honored the great — and verbose — Charlie Hernandez with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Absolutely one of the most beloved people in the industry, he started his career with Billy Squier, who was just rocketing to fame at the time. Billy came out to the show and performed two songs, which was for this crowd… one too many. I stood in the back and watched all the cell phones come out when he launched into that second one. Still, it was a special moment watching him sing “Everybody Wants You.”
As noted, Dave Shadoan of Sound Image shared the Audio Innovator Award with his longtime partner Ross Ritto, who had passed away in the previous year. Before taking the stage, their long-time client Brad Paisley delivered a tongue-in-cheek tribute video extolling all the reasons why Dave deserved this award. “I might be the wrong guy,” Paisley began. “All I know is, he shows up at our shows, Hawaiian shirts, flip flops, and then he just eats our catering, drinks whatever is backstage, and smokes Cuban cigars… Sometimes he gives us Cuban cigars, and that is cool. So if this award is for someone who hangs out and hands out Cuban cigars, he is very deserving… otherwise, I have no idea what he does. I heard he’s in some kind of sound business or something? I’ve just seen a guy who seems like a pretty big freeloader…”
Dave’s speech was as emotional as it was profane: “You’re my people — this is who the f*ck we are, right? [Pause; a shout is heard] Hey go f*ck yourself.”
The Board of Advisors would expand the definition of an industry “Visionary” and this year gave it to a rigger: one of the most influential ones of our business: Joe Branam.
Three Dog Night’s Cory Wells was the emcee — an incredible gentleman who was surprisingly shy but did a good job with the jokes. Otherwise, the ParnellI’s had truly arrived. When monitor engineer Kevin Glendinning took home the award that year for his work with Maroon 5, he said: “Starting in the business, I heard about the Parnelli Awards, and it’s really something to be part of this group.” Concert sound mixer Robert Scovill took home his Parnelli for his work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers this year. It would not be his last.
The list of presenters included Parnelli Advisory Board members from Canada, Peter Hendrickson and Dean Roney, along with lighting designers Steve Cohen and the always lovely, funny Susan Rose. Visionary honoree and one of the most interesting people I’ve ever encountered, lighting innovator Richard Belliveau (High End Systems) returned as a presenter as well. “I’m not usually asked back to any place I’ve been before,” he joked.
Parnelli #13/2013. This show was perhaps the most emotional to date. The Parnelli Awards Board of Advisors meets in February and begins the discussion of who will receive the three Lifetime honors at the next show.
By April we typically have our list, and for 2013 it was George Travis (Bruce Springsteen) for Lifetime Achievement; Mark Engebretson (Altec, JBL, QSC) for Audio Innovator; and Eric Pearce (SGPS/ShowRig) for Visionary. But late that spring, word came that production great Mo Morrison was ailing. Mo was a former Board member, and his name had come up in previous years. It was inevitable he would receive a Lifetime Award, but board member Robin Shaw was adamant that we might run out of time. Mo took care of so many great artists from the Grateful Dead through Michael Jackson and most recently, Lady Gaga. To make sure he got his due, we created the “Hall of Fame” honor.
His speech was one of the most inspiring and heartfelt ever spoken on our stage. “Someone mentioned what a great job I have — making millions happy,” Mo said. “I thought, ‘You know I do, and I have for 40 years.’ Ultimately our employers are the fans — without them, we have nothing.” He spoke eloquently about the life of a nomad… “You go not seeing another roadie for five or 10 years, then when you do, it’s a big hug and [we] pick things up like no time has passed. We have a unique common bond that ties us all together, brothers and sisters who have fought campaigns together… I have every intention to continue to grow in this business because the more you give, the more you get.” He would pass a few months after the show.
This was also the year the late Rick O’Brien’s two wonderful daughters, Madeleine and Eve O’Brien, took the stage and spoke of their father. They showed a visual of his tombstone, a stone bench, which had the words “Final Tour” etched in. They quoted a member of Pink Floyd who, upon hearing of Rick’s death, said: “That’s just like Rick, to be first on site.” It is hard to watch their speech with choking up (you can try — if there is one highlight reel you watch on ParnelliAwards.com, I recommend this one).
Longtime Bruce Springsteen tour manager George Travis was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, introduced by manager Jon Landau with a video from The Boss himself. The room was full of love and, during his speech, the stoic man of few words got seriously choked up.
The emcee was Micky Dolenz of The Monkees. Let’s just say that, after this show, board member Marshall Bissett and I, among others would have a post-partum of the show and make notes for the following year. For that meeting, the big note was: “Let’s not let the host get too drunk.”
The Show Must Go On
Parnelli #14/2014. A month before the show, we were dealt the devastating news of Patrick Stansfield’s death from kidney failure. It was a blow to the industry, and it hit Terry hard. It was surreal for those of us working on the show to not have him work the room, solving problems and making suggestions. But Patrick of all people would have insisted the show go on, and that’s what we did.
We topped over 40 sponsors for this event, and the great Benny Collins received the Lifetime Achievement Award this year and longtime friends Michael Ahern and Steve Thomas made rare appearances to the show to present it to him. Nook Schoenfeld had taken over as editor of PLSN this year, and like Petersen, would bring in great presenters and help with the script.
Fee Waybill of The Tubes was the host and was absolutely one of the best we’ve had and a dream to work with. With Patrick’s passing, Marshall Bissett took over as chairman of the Parnelli Awards and began co-writing the script with me, which continues to this day.
Bob Goldstein of Maryland Sound received the Audio Innovator Award for all the seemingly impossible feats he’s pulled off, from presidential inaugurals to New Years Eve celebrations in New York’s Times Square. Making it extra cool, his longtime client (and one of his first), Frankie Valli showed up to give it to him in person. Howard Ungerleider, one of our industry’s most influential lighting designers, received the Parnelli Visionary Award for all his years with Rush (and a warm, funny tribute to him from band members Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee resides on the ParnelliAwards.com site). Presenters included Marguerite Nguyen, who finally got to the stage to thank everyone in person for receiving Tour Manager of the Year for Coldplay a few years earlier (work had kept her away in 2012).
Parnelli #15/2015. The following year was another big milestone: Our 15th show (or as some still refer to it, “the year Pat Quilter dressed up as an Egyptian king to accept the Audio Innovator Award”).
The equally eccentric lighting innovator David Cunningham received the Parnelli Visionary Award. He took the stage with a female entourage, a bag of wigs and a feather boa. A very Rocky Horror Picture Show moment indeed.
We went in a different direction for host, turning to Kevin Lyman, who created the Vans Warped tour. Gracious, inspiring and funny, he said he was constantly asked by kids about skillsets needed to get into this business. “Be able to drive a van at night and hold your bladder for six hours,” he advised.
The “In Memoriam” video segment of the show, where we pause to reflect on our departed friends, is always emotional. This year’s was devastating because it included Jerry Cobb. Jerry, a musician and big music fan in addition to being excellent in the video editing room, created the great pieces from the show opening to the documentaries and anything else we needed.
We also lost Bob See of See Factor that year, our fourth Lifetime Achievement award honoree (early 2005) and a longtime Parnelli Board member. Marshall Bissett spoke of his experience with him as a young lighting guy. “I first met Bob See in 1976 backstage, and I have to say, he terrified me.” He was asking See if he could use Aerosmith’s lighting rig for an opening act. See replied: “I know…I get it; you want the whole lighting rig and all the followspots.” Marshall begged off saying, “Mr. See, I wouldn’t be so presumptuous.” See: “You limeys — you get what you want for being so goddamn polite.”
“God is In That”
Parnelli #16/2016. And then there was Tom Petty. When his longtime tour manager Richard Fernandez was to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, in an early conversation, he told me: “I’m going to get Tom there.” I, of course was skeptical, but I said, ‘Well, let’s keep this between us.’ At this point Suzi Spangenberg had joined the production team and this rock-star stuff could not have happened without her (who knew that a grief counselor with crisis management experience is exactly what you need in these situations?). Despite the ever-shifting logistic changes, Tom made it to the show along with most of the band in tow. They were all gracious, most of all, Tom. His health was already in decline, and he would not be with us much longer. But when he hit the stage for Richard, he became full of life.
“I never knew anyone who didn’t admire him to the bottom of their soul,” Petty said of Fernandez, noting how the East L.A. native was lucky to have “really good parents who raised a really good man.” From the Parnelli stage, Petty noted how, when everything comes together, there can be a co-mingling of artistic expression and audience appreciation that borders on the sacred. “God is in that,” Petty said, capping an evening of appreciation for what makes the live events industry so unique.
Charlie Hernandez and Jake Berry showed up to present to their longtime friend, Danny O’Bryen, who was the first video pro to receive the Visionary Lifetime Achievement Award, and a deserving one at that. Terry Lowe took the stage to needle the honorees, as he typically does. When referencing the Audio Innovator honoree, Terry joked, ‘“There hasn’t been a single audio person in America who hasn’t twisted Greg Mackie’s knobs at least once in their life.”
Adrian Belew (King Crimson, David Bowie) was a magnificent host. It was his idea to start the show with his guitar, pretending he was at a typical gig. Longtime Timeless and Parnelli associate and stage manager extraordinaire Jeff Van Duyn came out and took his guitar, whispered something in his ear, and Adrian let out a mock cry of disbelief that he was there to host a show. Associate producer Jamie Leasing was instrumental in getting Adrian as well as several of our other hosts, and his contributions to the annual show had increased significantly. And as Adrian said during the show, “If I had to sum up the Parnelli Awards in one phrase, it’s about people striving for perfection.”
NAMM
Parnelli #17/2018. Continuing our “King Crimson” kick, Tony Levin, who also played bass for Peter Gabriel, came to host the next event, the first to shift from late fall during LDI in Las Vegas to January with NAMM in Anaheim, CA. After making reference to the previous show going long, he promised “not to take an extended bass solo.”
Coincidentally, he knew that evening’s Visionary honoree, lighting/production designer Jonathan Smeeton, from way back when: “When I got the call to host tonight, I learned right away that an old friend is getting a big award. Jonathan famously says that he’s worked with Peter Gabriel longer than he probably should have, but let me tell you, I’ve always been enamored by his talent. So I’m glad to be here for that.” DiGiCo’s John Stadius received the Audio Innovator honor and flew across the pond from England to receive it.
The big man in the house that night was Bobby “Boomer” Thrasher, Billy Joel’s longtime production manager, who brought more than 40 friends, devoted crew and family members to the show. Many times I’m skeptical of more than one person presenting an award, and after tapping longtime friend and much-more-than-Billy’s-LD Steve Cohen, Steve called me and insisted some guy named “Chainsaw” present with him.
When Rick LaPointe took the mic, he gave a searing, touching and hilarious tribute to Boomer: “To always take the high road for the greater good of the tour, and to represent the entertainer that signs the checks with a bit of class! But he allowed general mischief, gags, practical jokes, mild torture and extreme displays of character building!” And he ended with: “We would follow him down any given path, any dark alley, at any time of day or night… just so we could say “Yeah, I went there with Boomer!”
That show had wonderful presenters, too, including Kevin Lyman, who returned to our stage on the heels of retiring the Vans Warped Tour. He joked he was there just to pass out resumes. Other favorite return presenters included Chris Adamson, Susan Rose and Ed Wannebo. It was a touching, hilarious, emotional — and not too long — show.
But this show was another big step forward, as it marked our new partnership with NAMM. This not only gave us a January time slot but a chance to get more of the audio and backline folks who were never keen to be at LDI. While we were among the most popular segments to coincide with LDI for many (maybe outside of the Circle Bar at the Hard Rock), that didn’t really suit the audio and scenic side of our industry, who did not wish to attend LDI itself.
As January is traditionally the touring community’s off-time, that month worked out well with the conversations Terry had been having for years with NAMM CEO/president Joe Lamond. He and Terry worked out the details, and it’s been a great partnership since. We moved to Anaheim and our shows were the third week in January instead of the tour-heavy fall. Both the location and the time proved a boon to getting more people to the show. Working with the wonderful people of NAMM in that environment had many advantages, including being able to present seminars and workshops, which we had not done since the ProProduction days. Also, being in Southern California made it easier to get the stars out, as the following year proved…
Parnelli #18/2019. A few weeks before the 18th show, I got a call from Canada bearing some alarming news: Audio Innovator honoree Brock Adamson had been in a horrible car collision which left him with serious multiple injuries. He could not come to the show. Luckily, by the week of the show, he had recovered enough to appear in a video. Introducing that video was Parnelli winning monitor engineer Kevin “Tater” McCarthy, who started his hilarious speech about Brock this way: “His words mostly sail completely over my head… and whoever said ‘all Canadians are nice’ has obviously never met this man. Genius? Without question. Curmudgeonly? You betcha. Demanding? Go work for him and find out. But friendly? That’s subjective.”
We had a great group of presenters including Anne Militello, Stefaan “Smasher” Desmedt, Sara Full and Michelle Sarrat, among others. George Petersen brought his friend Alan Parsons up to present with him, and that was a hugely a cool highlight.
The always-entertaining Chris Adamson, who sometimes served as awards presenter himself, was the Lifetime Honoree this year. He was introduced by longtime road buddy Marty Hom.
Kevin Lyman returned to the stage to present to Stageline’s Yvan Miron with the visionary award — a more “typical” Canadian in that he was nice and liked by all. (It was indeed unusual that we had two Canadians and two people named Adamson, which made for an interesting Venn diagram of career achievement honorees.)
Parnelli #19/2020. John Waite (The Babys, Bad English) was the host, and drummer Carmine Appice was the show’s opening presenter. Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam was there to honor the band’s long-time monitor mixer, Karrie Keyes, with the Audio Innovator award, and Brent Smith of Shinedown was there to present to Bandit Lites’ Michael Strickland the Visionary award.
What only William, Suzi and I knew, as the show’s run-through rehearsal was winding down that late afternoon, was that Garth Brooks was getting on his private jet to fly in and surprise Strickland with an appearance. We had to quickly secure the Green Room without people knowing why we needed it and run a line to have a monitor for the show into it in order to accommodate Brooks’ early arrival.
Mark “Springo” Spring received the Lifetime Achievement honor, and Charlie Hernandez returned to the stage to give a hilarious sendup of him. “Sprinkle [sic], you’re a real piece of work,” Hernandez said. “It’s no wonder you ran away from home and got your first job in the men’s room at Capron [Lighting]. It was there he acquired his skills, charm, and a saintly patience… and a career in promiscuous farm animal videos was launched. You’re an old friend working for an old act with old people who will be dead soon.” Speaking of old friends, Jake Berry did his own take on David Letterman’s Top Ten List, complete with the set.
Karrie Keyes’ speech resonated beyond the room. As the first woman to receive a Parnelli honor for career achievement, she spoke eloquently, but didn’t pull any punches, either. She challenged the industry to be more diverse. “…and with that love comes a commitment to diversity and inclusion in this industry. To not acknowledge that much of the industry is a Boys Club would be a disservice. Tonight, there are 64 people nominated for awards, of which only seven are women. There are men and women who fight every day for change, but there are many more who believe that things will eventually change and become equal. But as we wait, the next generation of talented women will continue to be stopped by the gatekeepers or asked to enter through side doors — the way women have entered the world of men for centuries. So I ask you, the leaders in our industry, to think about this and somehow bring and welcome more women into the industry.” Her speech moved attendees, with many references to it throughout the night.
Stone Gossard had introduced Keyes with this: “Historically, the sound engineer position has been filled with guys, [but] all that is changing,” he said in a speech that was equally touching and funny. “It took a Karrie Keyes taking huge chances, displaying courage, resolve, wit and resiliency to pave that road. Can we just admit now that women all across the world will not accept being shut out of anything that they decide is cool — and thank God, because they will make it better.”
Forward March
For me, the Parnelli Awards Show gets bigger and better every year. I’m glad I love every minute of it because increasingly, the days of the year that I go entirely without doing anything Parnelli has been whittled down to about five. We meet the day after the show for a post-partum. Then I’m writing up stories, and the inner team is paying bills and tying up any loose ends. By February, the Board is meeting to discuss who the three honorees will be this year, which we did. And then… March. Thinking back, I would have never ever imagined our industry would still be in this pandemic lockdown, but here we are. The Parnelli Awards has been a key part of my life for 17 years, so to not do it is unthinkable.
But of course, that pales to all the pain and suffering going on for all of those who make their living in this industry. I hope we all come out of this with our wits and passion, and I look forward to seeing you in person at the show in January 2022. Before then, please check out the video retrospective of the first 20 years of the Panellis that will be presented as part of NAMM’s virtual “Believe in Music” event on Jan. 22 at 5 p.m. PST. It will also be available at 6 p.m. at www.parnelliawards.com.
