He collapsed onstage during the encore of "Turn On Your Lovelight" at his 70th Birthday Party show tonight at Atlanta's Fox Theater. Among others, Chuck Leavell was part of the proceedings. A tough loss for the music community.

[music.blog.ajc.com]

Oh geez, just saw the video. How surreal.

Everyone is on stage for one last jam. Members of Widespread Panic, Tedeschi-Trucks, Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Leftover Salmon, and Blues Traveller. Bruce, looking like he's having fun, takes the first chorus, ushers forward a 14 year old kid to take a lead (he was always pushing new talent into the spotlight), and then collapses while that kid and John Popper trade licks. At first, the rest of the band thinks it's a put-on, as it takes a few minutes for them to end the song and get the EMT's onstage.

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Sometimes, it's not only rock 'n roll.

Vibes to the Colonel's family and all the musicians and audience members in attendance last night.

Fly straight through the skies, Bruce.

What a strange way to react to someone collapsing onstage (6:44 in the youtube video posted above by Javadave).

From a little earlier in the night, Chuck Leavell and Karl Denson on "Rip This Joint":

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It's strange for sure, but the Col. had a sense for the bizarre, and was known for clowning around. Clearly, the other musicians think he is just goofing with them at first.

More weirdness. They played "Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die" earlier in the set.

Here's a video of that, shot from up front on the rail:

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The whole show, pro-shot:

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Javadave
The whole show, pro-shot:

[m.youtube.com]

Thanks, easier to see how the tragic events at the end of the show unfolded. Here are a few observations:

3:52:31: Hampton, perhaps feeling unwell, feigns to leave the stage, to the apparent amusement of several of the other musicians onstage.

3:54:40: Just over two minutes later, Hampton collapses.

3:58:24: Almost four minutes after he collapses, several people come to Hampton's assistance (could have been slightly sooner, but this is what we see in the video).

Sad to hear, But What a Way To Go Out, Producing The Music He Loved! I was lucky enough to have met him and had dinner with him a few times when he came to perform in the Birmingham area the last few years. He told me some Great stories that he had through out his career. I even surprised him once, giving him a nice copy of Pipes of Pan Joujouka. RIP Bruce, You Will Be Missed!

So tragic but almost logical for a guy like him.
His One Way Out, doing what he loved with the people who loved him.
So sad, I've seen him numerous times over the years.
Way back to the Wetlands days I will always remember the good times he provided.

Can't access any of the links to the show posted above, they've all been taken down.

Not sure about that "die with your boots on" and "what a way to go out". One news report says he was taken out of the building on a stretcher by paramedics -- which means he hadn't yet died by that point. So it makes you wonder if those minutes he spent collapsed and unconscious onstage while the musicians around him just ignored it may have played a factor in the end. In such a life or death situation, several minutes can be crucial. Sounds like negligence to me.

On the other hand, maybe it isn't such a bad way to go, on the occasion of a birthday tribute concert -- it lets people find out who he was, if like me they hadn't known before.

Can't wait to hear the autopsy results. It was a birthday tribute concert... could he have been celebrating a bit?

I got the chance to get to know Col. Bruce due to a lot of mutual musical connections here in Atlanta. He used to have these "musician round table brunch" meetings that I attended, and I always came away with some interesting stories and anecdotes from him.

The Atlanta music community lost a giant today.

RIP, my friend.

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stonehearted
Can't access any of the links to the show posted above, they've all been taken down.

Not sure about that "die with your boots on" and "what a way to go out". One news report says he was taken out of the building on a stretcher by paramedics -- which means he hadn't yet died by that point. So it makes you wonder if those minutes he spent collapsed and unconscious onstage while the musicians around him just ignored it may have played a factor in the end. In such a life or death situation, several minutes can be crucial. Sounds like negligence to me.

On the other hand, maybe it isn't such a bad way to go, on the occasion of a birthday tribute concert -- it lets people find out who he was, if like me they hadn't known before.

Only someone who never heard of him before would think this was negligence. The Col was flat out bonkers, there was nothing strange about him laying on stage like that. I was watching the live stream of the show, you could see Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks laughing at what seemed like another of the Col's mad doings.


My thoughts go out not only to his family, but also to the friends he was sharing the stage with, can't imagine what this artists are going through witnessing the passing away of a friend and father figure to them. This was not a tribute in the sense of random people celebrating a career. He was a mentor and shaped the career of all of those on stage. He brought out Derek Trucks to play with ARU when the kid was in his early teens. He did the same for plenty others.

That's the reason this seems almost poetic. A guy with a very peculiar attitude to life, known for mentoring and shaping the path of many of today's greatest musicians out there doing this one more time. Getting on stage at the end of his birthday concert, to play a legendary tune, and featuring an up and coming youngster one more time, before leaving this planet. Sounds like him

I was at the after party at Terminal West. There was a great jam with many of Bruce's protégées including Grant Green, Jr. fronted by Tyler Neal. Expectations were high that the Colonel himself, along with some of the stellar guests from the sold-out birthday party at The Fox, would arrive and join in. Alas, it was not to be.

It was very surreal night as word spread around that Col. Bruce had passed out at his Birthday concert and was in serious trouble. I didn't get the word that he didn't make it until the next day.

What a way to go out, surrounded by musical legends that he influenced, at the top of his game, at his birthday party doing what he loved most in life. The only kind of exit that I could imagine from this quirky legend!

If you aren't familiar with this man's career or his contribution to the entire music scene going back to the '60s, it's worth a Google! A tremendous loss to the Atlanta Music community, and this planet as a whole.

Rest Well, Colonel Bruce!

Excellent posts, Mongoose and Ross.

Yes, The Col. was a legend in our part of the world.

I don't think he would have wanted to go out in any other way.

As for Stones content, Chuck Leavell was featured throughout the Fox Theater concert and lead a smokin version of "Rip This Joint" with Karl Denson. A Stonsey version of Shake Your Hips was also included. The pro-shot version of the show as available on YouTube for a few hours, but obviously deleted out of respect. Glad I managed to grab it, there were some fine moments from an amazing lineup, and then that surreal ending. It will probably turn up in torrents if it hasn't already.

The music community around here is still reeling. Col. Bruce's posse will continue to play the weekly gig at The Vista Room in Atlanta, but there is a huge hole in our world.