Goodbye Jon Campbell and Random(k)e’s Final Performance
It’s been a weird year in music for Beijing with a lot of knowledgeable folks leaving, disappearing etc… Peter Baird is gone, Pete de Mola is MIA, Tofu not a 2 Kolegas and finally, Jon Campbell, one of the more instrumental behind the scene figures trying to bridge the rock n roll gap between east and west.
You probably know Jon as that bearded guy sitting behind the drums for Black Cat Bone and Random(k)e. Some of you know Jon as that guy sending emails about those weird Scandinavian jazz artists coming to Beijing (hey, how about some Norwegian death Metal? ) Well, he was all that and more!
The web is filled with Jon’s writings about the music scene from 2000 onwards and one can only hope that he finishes the book he’s working on which will hopefully be the Ultimate Guide to Rock n Roll in China. In the meantime, you could do a lot worse than head over to http://www.ygtwo.com/crew/ and read more about/from him.
Jon’s departure brought Random(k)e out of semi retirement for a party at 2 Kolegas a week ago where all the friends, musicians and families came to see the (k)e one last time and pay tribute. Truth be said, I was never a huge (k)e fan and the performances I had seen before didn’t rock my world. The last one at 2 Kolegas was by far the best one I had witnessed and saw the band playing with an amazing intensity.
Emotions were running high and tears were plenty… The Queen of Fuxxxg Everything, Kang Mao herseld, was there to say goodbye and joined the band along with Wu Hao and even Abigail Washburn for extended jam sessions.
Jon’s interview on Beijing Daze a while back is still on of my favorites and I look forward to picking his brain a bit more soon enough. In the meantime, best of luck to Jon with his relocation and one huge salute for everything he’s done through the years and just for being one hell of a good guy!
Stand up and be counted
For what you are about to receive
We are the dealers
We’ll give you everything you need
Hail hail to the good times
’cause rock has got the right of way
We ain’t no legend, ain’t no cause
We’re just livin’ for todayFor those about to rock, we salute you
For those about to rock, we salute you
Come back and see us soon!
What once started as my personal ramblings has morphed into the number one collective resource about underground live music in Beijing and China. All bands, all music, all Rock n Roll, all the time with a little side of eclectic topics.. best of all, it's still as BIASED as ever
We miss you already, Jon… Great final night, especially the jam at the end!!
Nice send off to Jon, although you can still be counted amongst the many who put the parenthesis in the wrong place in our name! 🙂 Ah well, if people had always gotten it right, it wouldn’t have been a true K(e) experienc(e).
Thanks for doing this, much appreciated. Like most good things, Jon will be appreciated more because of his departure…..people, eh?
@ Jackson: I’ve never denied my bias 🙂 I happen to think that (k) looks better than (e). plus wouldn’t want (e)head confused
@ Richard: Jon’s behind the scene work will probably remain under appreciated.. but then again, he never wanted the recognition, did he? the people that matter are all aware of his input and maybe that’s what counts.
(e)head is always confused.