Big Sugar hosted a tribute show in memory of their long time bassist Garry Lowe, who passed away July 7 2018 after a 2 year battle with Cancer. When frontman Gordie Johnson put out some feelers with their musician friends, the response was overwhelming. Performers in attendance were Mark Holmes (Platinum Blonde), Danko Jones, Tom Wilson (Blackie and the Rodeo Kings), Chris Murphy (Sloan), Jag Tanna and Edwin (I Mother Earth), Tyler Stewart (Barenaked Ladies), Cody Bowles and Kevin Comeau (Crown Lands), The Road Hammers, Molly Johnson, Willi Williams, Bongo Gene, Dan Kurts (the New Deal), Leroy Sibbles, Carl Harvey, Julian Taylor (Staggered Crossing) Maestro Fresh Wes, Culture Shock, Dream Warriors, Bedouin SoundClash, and Adrian Miller. (I hope I didn’t miss anyone).
Not only was the evening a gathering of friends to celebrate Garry, all the proceeds from the sold out show would go directly to his family to help offset some of the costs associated with his death.
The event, which was at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, had long time Much Music V-Jay Michael Williams as guest host.
The evening was divided into two 90 minute sets with a half hour intermission. It was a lot of music to pack into the 3 hour show, but they made it work.
Big Sugar started the first of two sets alone playing Natty Dread Rock / Trench Town. From that point on the guests were invited to perform a Big Sugar song. There were sprinkles of non Big Sugar songs, but for the most part it was their tunes. All the artists gathered on stage at the end for the Encore, performing Go Tell the World.
The highlight of the evenings show for me was Molly Johnson. She had such an aura to her performance. Always grinning from ear to ear and really enjoying herself on stage. It’s not to say the others were not enjoying themselves because obviously there were, however she just exuded a special presence. I wouldn’t have placed her initially as one that would have excited me the most, however she changed that perception for me tenfold.
This concert was certainly jammed packed with amazing talent. I’m sure Garry was looking down and loving every minute of the show.
All images are ©Sue Hebert. Please do not use without permission,
