German live entertainment industry recognised at 11th LEAs

The PRG Live Entertainment Awards (LEA) returned to Frankfurt’s Festhalle for the 11th time last night, recognising the great and the good of the German live music and entertainment sector.

It was the seventh time the awards ceremony had been held on the eve of the Prolight + Sound and Musikmesse trade fairs (which serve the live events and musical instrument industries, respectively), the latter of which incorporates a multi-venue music festival in the evenings after the show for first time this year.

Among this year’s LEA presenters were Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, who gave the award for best festival to Weeze dance music event Parookaville (OMD), veteran agent and tour manager Carl Leighton-Pope, who presented the lifetime achievement prize to abc Production’s André Béchir, German singer-songwriter Johannes Oerding, who gave Nicolas Gundel his gong for best agent, and schlager icon Roland Kaiser, who handed out the award for promoter of the year to Semmel’s Dieter Semmelmann.

Performers included Colognian-speaking classic rockers BAP, electro-pop duo Glasperlenspiel, symphonic metal newcomers Beyond the Black, folk-pop band Santiano and singer-songwriter Sophie Hunger, who won Prime Tours & Promotion the award for best small tour.

A full list of winners is below.

Arena/stadium tour of the year
In venues with a capacity of over 5,000
Helene Fischer, Farbenspiel tour (Semmel Concerts Entertainment/Künstlermanagement Uwe Kanthak)

Indoor tour of the year
In 2,000- to 5,000-capacity venues
Five Finger Death Punch and Papa Roach, Got Your Six tour (Wizard Promotions)

Club tour of the year
Up to a capacity of 2,000
Sophie Hunger, Supermoon tour (Prime Tours & Promotion)

Festival of the year
Focus on new festivals
Parookaville (Next Events)

Concert of the year
AC/DC, Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria (United Promoters/LS Konzertagentur)

Theatre show of the year
Disney’s Aladdin: The Musical (Stage Entertainment)

Club of the year
Focus on clubs celebrating an anniversary
Große Freiheit 36 (MGB Musikladen Gastronomiebetriebs Society)

Arena of the year
Focus on smaller open-air venues with a capacity of up to 7,500
City Park, Hamburg (Karsten Jahnke Konzertdirektion)

Manager/agent of the year
Nicolas Gundel (Hamburg Artist Management)

Local promoter of the year
BB Promotion, Mannheim

Promoter of the year
Dieter Semmelmann, Semmel Concerts Entertainment

Young talent of the year
Klasse! Wir singen

Jury award
Roland ‘Balou’ Temme, RTK, for Udo Lindenberg

Lifetime achievement award
André Béchir, abc Production