Live music supporter, Colin McAllister is remembered with love and music.

Last night's benefit at Toronto's Rockpile, for rock scene booster, Colin McAllister was a big success, with many bands performing in his honor. Friends and family gathered from 5pm till 1am to remember this fun, genuine guy who was full of passion for rock music. 

I didn't know Colin well. I never went to his house, or had dinner with him; before the funeral, I had never met anyone in his family. But I am a singer, based in Toronto...and I can't remember ever performing a show locally that Colin didn't attend. HE was an icon in the rock music scene. He loved live music, supported the musicians who played it, the venues that supported it, and the friends that he made enjoying it. He was greatly loved and will be sadly missed.

I love what the minister said at his funeral - Colin isn't gone, he is as alive as we want him to be - in the memories we have of him, the stories we tell about him and the laughter we remember. I have met a lot of people in the last week who didn't personally know Colin, but they are all affected by his passing. I think that when someone who is beautiful inside, living his life his way, big in ALL the ways that matter - passionate, fiery, honest, opinionated, fun loving and loyal - their energy takes up a BIG space. When someone like Colin passes, we feel a loss, even if we never knew him, because a void is created where his spirit used to dwell, and that emptiness is felt by all. 

I have lost more than enough friends this past year, and with each passing, I feel sadness, but I also feel hope that I will see them once again. Some people affect our hearts more when they pass...Colin, is one such person...though I was not a dear close friend, I feel the empty space he left, enormous actually...and I know that he was a great man.

Colin has not left us, his memory and the tributes from all his wonderful friends, are a legacy of love remembered by more than those who knew him in life. His circle of friends will continue to grow, because love never dies. 

With great respect,

Jacqueline.

 

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