Vanguard
sponsored by The Ticket Factory
THE MUTE GODS
Nick Beggs: “It’s a joyous thing. One strives to make music, and to have it noticed is a reward. The next record is going to be even angrier – because someone made me wear underwear tonight under this kilt!”
Limelight
sponsored by Kscope
THE ANCHORESS
Catherine Anne Davies: “This is amazing. I thought I was doing pretty well already because I was sat having dinner next to Andy Summers, so this is a real bonus. It’s reader voted so it means a lot. It’s very important to up-and-coming artists to have that support. And also, thanks to my label for taking a risk on what is an interesting record. I don’t think any other label would have taken a risk on a concept album about a romance novelist in the 1980s!”
Album of the Year
sponsored by Cherry Red/Esoteric Recordings
iamthemorning - Lighthouse
Marjana Semkina: “I feel a bit weepy. We never expected anything like that – it’s such a great honour and we’re very touched. It was a difficult album to make, emotionally and technically, but we had a great team of engineers who really helped us a lot. We’re so very thankful to everyone.”
Anthem
sponsored by Teamrock.com
RIVERSIDE - Towards The Blue Horizon
Mariusz Duda: “What a wonderful surprise. We hadn’t expected the nomination, and we surely didn’t expect the award. Towards The Blue Horizon has gained yet another meaning. Thank you very much for your votes and appreciation.”
The Storm Thorgerson Grand Design Award
sponsored by Chord
ANTHONY PHILLIPS - Esoteric Reissues Series
Anthony Phillips: “It’s bit of a surprise among all that glittering illuminati. There must have been a miscount I think. The idea that my stuff outvoted all those guys is extraordinary, so I’m so grateful, I really am. And amazed. I’m amazed. You have to have people to buy this stuff, they don’t just put it out willy-nilly. But the team I had around me for these were just amazing, top-notch people. In fact, the one person who did sod all for these was me!”
Live Event
sponsored by Stage
BIG BIG TRAIN - Live At Kings Place
Band Of The Year
sponsored by Olympus
BIG BIG TRAIN
David Longdon: “We didn’t expect it at all, especially when you consider all the albums and artists we were up against. We really are just amazed.”
Nick D’Virgilio: “I have to say that after all these years in the music business, I was nervous as fucking hell out there when they said our name. I’m really glad I came over because it’s been amazing.”
Greg Spawton: “It’s amazing. We never thought we’d get this. The progress the band has made in the past few years has been amazing. Thanks to these guys and thanks to the fans who voted for us.”
Lifetime Achievement
sponsored by Prog Rocks!
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR
Peter Hammill: “It’s such an honour – Lifetime Achievement. I suppose we should thank those who’ve had the dreadful task of managing us, like Tony Stratton-Smith, Gordian Troeller and Gail Colson. We shouldn’t forget Chris Judge Smith, Keith Ellis, Nic Potter, Graham Smith and Charles Dickie. And, of course, David Jackson. This really is a great honour.”
Visionary
sponsored by Eagle Entertainment
JON HISEMAN
Jon Hiseman: “I didn’t feel like a visionary at the time. I fell in love with jazz but also other music, like Elvis Presley. But how do you mix that together? Well, I thought you could take great vocalists and mix it together with that kind of music. It took me a few years to get the mix right, but with the live album we certainly got it right. That brought it all together and the audiences really took to it immediately. Maybe the world was a lot more open in those days.”
The Chris Squire Virtuoso Award
sponsored by Giants of Rock
JAKKO Jakszyk
(presented by Ade Edmondson)
Jakko Jakszyk: “Thank you very much. I don’t feel like a virtuoso, to be honest. More than anything, I feel incredibly fortunate and lucky to be playing in a band that were my heroes when I was a kid. It felt very bizarre and surreal out there and it was amazing to have Adrian [Edmondson] out there presenting. He was very funny, but he told too many secrets that will hopefully go no further.”
Guiding Light
sponsored by currencies.co.uk
ANDY SUMMERS
Andy Summers: “Guiding Light, as I said out there, is a quite the responsibility. You can make all the sardonic jokes you like but I think it’s great. It’s an honour and I’m really happy to get it. If anything that I’ve strived to do over the years is inspirational, that’s great, because I’ve always tried to be very sincere in my music making.”
Outer Limits
sponsored by InsideOut
BUGGLES
Trevor Horn: “I’ve always generally felt that I was close to the outer limits of something. To be honest, I never really saw any limits to anything. Buggles was supposedly a name for a band that was made on a computer. The only problem was that back in 1979, no one had a computer that you could make records on, so we were imagining it. It’s why we chose such a silly name. I’ve been stuck with that fucking name for 40 years now!”
Prog God
JON ANDERSON
(presented by Rick Wakeman and Trevor Rabin)
Jon Anderson: “It’s about bloody time. It takes a while but you get into it. Rick was the first one but I’ve pushed him out the way now. I’m just so thankful and grateful to Prog magazine. I didn’t say anything up on stage because I was in shock. When Trevor walked on stage, I had no idea. It was crazy, crazy stuff.”
Rick Wakeman: “Jon is my great, great friend and fellow band member and I’m proud to be presenting him with the Prog God award tonight. When I joined Yes, everyone was pretty tall, apart from Jon. He was the diminutive member. And indeed, in the new band he’s the diminutive member, bless him. But then he stopped growing when he was six! No, he’s of such talent that being in a band with him, you feel like he’s seven feet tall!”
