Over 1,200 voting forms from readers of Total Production determined the results of 16 of the 20 awards, which were variously sponsored by Rock-It Cargo, Midas, Klark Teknik, Star Hire, Martin Professional, Clay Paky, Barco, High End Systems, Shure, EFM and Chapman Freeborn.
Damon Albarn, the Blur and Gorillaz frontman made a special appearance at the lectern to pay a heartfelt tribute to tour manager Terry Coyle, who tragically died whilst on the road last November. "I'll always be looking for Terry for his support and guidance," said Albarn. "He was a good friend to me and to many people in this room tonight, and I owe so much to him." Over £3,000 was raised on the night for the Terry Coyle Fund (which was set up to aid his family) with many guests pledging to make sizeable donations direct to the Fund after the event.
The production team was headed by Andy Cotton of TAO Productions, who 24 hours beforehand won the Event Organiser of the Year Award at the TESA Awards in London. Assisted by his ever-present sidekick Jo Thompson, Cotton's major challenge was to defy late load-in access (seven hours later than last year!) to the Monarch Suite and smooth the path for a speedy set-up.
Pulsar Light of Cambridge and Richard Martin Lighting combined forces to provide a truly excellent Clay Paky-driven lighting design for the event. Two walls of 24 Pulsar LED ChromaPanels, separated by XL's central screen, formed a glamorous backdrop to Star Hire's 32 x 12ft Steeldeck stage which had steps to the front and stage left.
Whilst the stage was washed with two Clay Paky Stage Color 1200s, four Stage Color 575 and 10 Stage Color 300s, other effects included two Stage Light 300s, eight Miniscan HPEs, seven LED ChromaBanks, 12 LED ChromaPar36 cans, and two Clay Paky GoldenFog 2000 DMXs. The audience was lit by 24 LED ChromaBanks and 16 StageZoom 1200s, and the whole rig was controlled by four linked Pulsar Masterpiece 216 desks running in unison as a master and three slaves.
For the second year, XL Video UK supplied live video production services. Prior to the event, Richard Burford had assisted the project by editing five video sequences at the firm's St. Albans HQ for screening on the night. Two Catalyst systems were used with two Barco ELM G5 projectors, and controlled by a Wholehog III lighting desk programmed and operated by Hugh Davies-Webb from Flying Pig Systems. The systems created stunning effects created by High End's Tom Grimes and Scene Change's Nigel Sadler.
Blackout designed and supplied a staggering quantity of white filled cloth cyc walls, which were suspended by the team on-site to mask the entire perimeter of the room, providing an interesting textured surface for the Catalyst projections.
To add a luxurious and opulent touch, Blackout also supplied a massive amount of rich red velour.
Sound was provided by Major Tom, with Chris Marsh at the controls of a DiGiCo D5 Live digital mixing system. The Awards audience was covered by a distributed PA using L-Acoustics cabinets, Crown amplification and BSS controllers. Sound sources were three handheld Shure Beta 87 mics and a pair of Shure lectern mics, accompanied by CD playback.
Live Production Of The Year - KylieFever2002
Best Front of House Engineer - Paul 'Pab' Boothroyd
Best Monitor Engineer - Graham Blake
Best Lighting Designer - Willie Williams
Best Set Designer - Hattie Spice
Best Video Director - Chris Keating
The Art Of Rigging Award - Chris Higgs
Best Production Manager - Chris Vaughan
Best Tour Manager - Sean Fitzpatrick
Unsung Hero Award - Penny Mellor
Best Sound Rental Company - Tiger Hire
Best Lighting Rental
