Not a lot to say except the news this morning was fucking horrible. Chi cheng, 43 years old, one of the nicest musicians I ever actually met, and part of a band that defined my own personal music taste more than most, dead because of a shitty piece of luck five years ago. My thoughts go out to his family and friends.
I remember seeing Deftones on the Around the Fur tour in 1998, one of my first proper gigs and still probably the highlight of my gig going life. I stood in front of Chi, close enough for his monstrous dreads to whip me in the face every time he got well into his groove. When he hit his first note it was like being punched in the chest but i clung onto the barrier for dear life to watch a band at their absolute prime who really knew how to put on a show.
When I met him after the gig by hanging around the tour bus like the idiot child I was, he and the rest of the band couldn’t have been any lovelier, sharing laughs and j’s around, aware at the time they were on the brink of hitting the big time but not phased at all by the sudden rush of desperately overeager British teenagers clamoring for a word, a hug, or a signed gig ticket.
Bye Chi.
The Official Archive of Demon Pigeon 