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We can’t let it pass without saying something: sadly, our good friend Grob passed away this week. He was big part of Organ life as well as the London underground gig scene, especially back there in the flyer-fuelled 90’s.

We all knew him as Grob, no one much ever called him Graham Robinson. Graham had been having a tough time with cancer for a number of years. We first got to know Grob via his gloriously handmade early/mid 80’s fanzine Urban Guerilla, it would be fair to say it was an influence. He went on to promote hundreds and hundreds of vital London gigs under the banner of Sonic Relief, and many many (many) hours were spent outside venues like the Marquee or the Hammersmith Clarendon as Grob and Jenny flyered for their gigs and us for ours, it never ever felt like a competition though, we were always allies, it was a united scene back there. Indeed, we put on a number of gigs together including the now legendary Eight Day Itch, when (stupidly!) Organ, Sonic Relief and TLF (Tortoise Liberation Front) came together to put on eight days of gigs all over London in 1993 – a gig a day, sometimes with an extra late night gig, non-stop for eight days, finally climaxing with that big big sold out Cardiacs gig at the New Cross venue.

Those many Sonic Relief and Against The Grain gigs were important, breakthrough London shows for many vital bands.  Grob and Jenny opened doors for lots of people; if you were going to shows in the 90’s in London, you couldn’t avoid Grob and his sharp wit.  Gigs by Gong, Snuff, the various branches of the Hawkwind family – it was hard to not bump into Grob jumping around at a Hawkwind show – there was that Fugazi gig at Brixton Academy, shows for Gong, Ozric Tentacles, Rancid at the Dome with M.D.C on the same bill, Revolutionary Dub Warriors, Chumbawamba, My Dying Bride, CroMags, The Orb, Back to The Planet, Bad Religion, Discharge, Bikini Kill, John Zorn, oh there was hundreds of important London shows. The bills were always brilliant, really considered… Way before anyone was pretentious enough to claim themselves curators, Grob and Jenny curated the very best gigs on a weekly basis – I mean, just look at that small selection of the flyers down there.

Grob remained upbeat right to the end, he could be cutting at times, he got away with most of it, when you were at a gig with him he always had a knowing smile on his face, the look of someone who was exactly where they wanted to be.  He went quiet for a while in this century, turns out he had found a happy place running a farm in Romania of all things. We’d still see him at gigs though, it was always good to see him and his long-term partner Anca at a Hawkwind show or a Magma gig. He kept his illness quiet, didn’t really want a fuss made and we’re kind of kicking ourselves for not writing a piece while he was still here to read it (as we was fully intending to do). We’ll miss you Grob, fair to say you could be a git at times, you always made us smile, you put on some of the very very best gigs ever, life-changing gigs. There’s a lot of bands who owe you a big big thanks and those gigs you put on made many of us all the richer for the experience.  We’d say that without Urban Guerilla there may never have been an Organ. 

Fly well friend, we’ll miss you at the next Hawkwind gig, we’ll smile at those IQ videos where you’re out-jumping everyone down the front.

Our thoughts are with Anca as well as Graham’s family and friends. Thanks mate.

P.S: And yesterday, Tuesday July 26th, we said goodbye to Grob, a simple ceremony at London’s Kensal Green cemetery, a rather moving service. Music was played, Hawkwind, Motorhead, Magma and more, band shirts were worn, tributes were paid, people came from all over the land, tales were told late on into the night at the pub afterwards, people from bands he worked with, other gig promoters, people from his dub side, from Club Dog, Jenny from Sonic Relief, old faces not seen for years, a fitting celebration…

(as always, click on an image to enlarge and see it all)