Parnellis For Keith

The Parnelli Awards were handed out in Las Vegas at the Venetian Hotel Ballroom October 20th, with the Toby Keith tour coming out as the big winner.

Keith’s tour manager, David Milem, landed tour manager of the year. Dirk Durham got a nod for his work as FOH engineer on the tour and Earl Neal landed a gong for being the band’s monitor mixer.

Jeremiah “Jere” Harris was honored with the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award. Harris was the technical whiz on several Broadway shows including “Miss Saigon,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Beauty and the Beast,” and is currently president of PRG.

Bill Hanley received the Parnelli Audio Innovator Award. Hanley worked the soundboards at Woodstock and the first Newport Jazz festivals. He is also credited with coining the term “sound reinforcement.”

Production manager of the year is Dale “Opie” Skjerseth, whose most recent employer is The Rolling Stones. Steve Cohen got lighting designer of the year for his work with Billy Joel. Bruce Rodgers won set designer for the Rascal Flatts arena tour.

Bandit Lites got lighting company, Brown United landed staging, All Access topped all for set construction and ScreenWorks was named video rental company of the year. Other winners of note: Pyrotek, Sound Image, Upstaging and Rock-It Cargo.

The awards ceremony – named after production manager Rick “Parnelli” O’Brien – honors the live event industry and was sponsored by Timeless Communications.