Goodbye Blue Lang

[Lunkhead]

Blue Lang was a big part of the Song Fight community back in the 00's. He might have terrorized folks a bit on the boards but in real life he was a kind funny generous person, a friend, a partner and dad, a beast of a drummer, and a cornerstone of all the SF Bay Area live shows that Ken and folks organized back in those years. Blue apparently passed away a few nights ago. He will be missed by many. You can hear him in the many entries by his band sonofsupercar. He also had a few solo entries and collaborations and probably other more stealthy appearances.

http://sfjukebox.org/artists/sonofsupercar
http://sfjukebox.org/artists/Blue%20Lang

Rest in peace, Blue.

[anti-m]

I am so sad to hear this, even though I didn't know Blue. Much love to all his friends and family. I'm so sorry I didn't get to meet him.

[jack]

I'm in complete shock. The guy was a beast. And he influenced early SF so much. If he liked your stuff you got tingles. If he hated it you wore it like a badge or ran away. He was brutally blunt and honest and the fucking essence of Song Fight! He loved this place and he loved the community here.

The last time I actually saw Blue was in 2005. Damian (Future Boy) came out to go to Burning Man and before we left for the playa, we stopped in Blue's practice music studio in San Jose he used for Son of Supercar. We decided to do something for that week's title "Rattle". While Blue set up the studio to record, and while I set up my guitar rig, Damian wrote the lyrics and arrangement and we started tracking it with him on vocals and a mini synthesizer (the bass et al), Blue tracked his drums, I tracked my guitar tracks, we all tracked the backing vocals in the chorus, and we left and Blue mixed and produced the track while we went to Burning Man. It won!

http://www.songfight.org/music/rattle/j ... rattle.mp3

Hell of a drummer. Hell of a cook. Hell of a fine dude. Your legacy will live on here old friend.

[mo]

Blue was the greatest Florida Man ever.

It's been a while since he and I spoke, but it seems like just the other year that either Blue or I, and mostly both of us, played in every single song for each act of Songfight Live 2003, giving each other shit all night long for who was the bigger bandslüt (the correct answer is Blue, of course). He loved food, he loved music, he loved his friends and family. He was a great encourager, sometimes for good and sometimes for evil, but always in the spirit of fun and creative freedom.

I just wish I had one last chance to tell him to lay off the BBE Sonic Maximizer.

RIP Blue.

[Sober]

This is terrible news. Blue's relentless, brutal criticism is what drove me to improve for years. He was never out of line with his comments, and he certainly wasn't wrong. I believe I got a "this isn't so bad" from him eventually, and I'm still buzzing on that, 15 years later.

Meeting him in SFL Austin and SFP Hollywood (I think those were the two) was a treat, and seeing him drum live was an experience. He'll be missed. Love you all.

[j$]

Ah shit, this can't be true, can it? Breaks my heart ... his "feathers" remains my favourite SF entry so far(though he hated his vocal) and a "Beast" is right. He was my hero, and i never got the chance to tell him that in person

j$

[fluffy]

FUCK

blue was a great dude and I wish I'd kept in better touch with him

he made me want to be a better drummer, a better musician, and a better person

[ken]

I'll add my broken heart to the chorus. I met Blue slightly before Song Fight Live Seattle in 2003. He was just the nicest, most straightforward, generous, easy going, solid dude. He was a pleasure to spend time around. I was lucky to have him drum for me for a while, playing shows all over the bay area. We teamed up on a number of things over the years. It was a blast to play shows with sonofsupercar. I'm just at a loss today for how to process his death. We are all a little worse off.

[GlennCase]

I seriously don't have the words.

He was a pillar to this community. He was a wonderful guy. Great drummer. I was fortunate to know him, as were any of us who ever got to know him. Getting a positive review from him was a rush.

Having a difficult time processing that he is actually gone. Life is fleeting. To say he will be missed is a gross understatement.

[Lunkhead]

Here's a hxaro/tribute thread viewtopic.php?f=14&t=12132

[Spud]

Grossly unfair. Blue was the best. Back in the day, when we were both traveling up and down the (West) coast a lot, we had a ritual. Whoever was visiting would have to bring a bottle of Scotch as a gift. And it had to be more expensive than the last Scotch gifted. I would be in the store looking for a bottle that was only a dollar more than the last one before a trip. Still, they got up over a hundred bucks before we were done.

I will drink Scotch tonight to honor him. Hxaro is great, but we gotta think of something more Blue. I have a few ideas, but I need to settle first. This is too much.

[roymond]

Numb. And crying right now.

[fluffy]

blue lang is the person who named the Elite Inner Echelon Blood Circle

Glenn and Ken: we should collaborate on a tribute. We owe him that.

[fluffy]

His Twitter was the most blue thing, too: https://twitter.com/songsbluelikes

[jack]

I'd even credit Blue with bringing "collaborations" to SF. I know some people worked together on songs (like the Lancaster folks) but Blue was the guy who started the IRC (SF Chat). And we used to hang out in there and people would collaborate because they could now chat in real time. It's where I hooked up on most of my collaborations, and Blue set this IRC up and promoted it and encouraged others to join it. It really changed SF, in that it wasn't just a bunch of individuals submitting songs but it became literally an international community of artists creating music together. The fact I could work with J$ in the UK from California, and record music together blew my mind. Blue tore down the barriers here.

[Lunkhead]

Did Blue also run songhole when that was up?

[fluffy]

reposting what I posted on facebook:

Today I heard of Blue Lang's passing. He was one hell of a dude, and was so important to the Song Fight community back in the day. I had the great privilege of sharing the stage with him several times, as he would generously play drums for everyone who didn't have a drummer, which is the specific reason I started to do the same for others when he stopped attending. Not that I could ever pretend to hold a candle to him by comparison.

He had a way of always making everyone want to be better. He inspired me to be a better drummer and a better person. He was generous and thoughtful and just playfully mean enough to get people to want to live up to his standards.

Before Song Fight! Live in Santa Cruz he was an amazing host, and he set the standard for how to do that too.

I wish I'd stayed in better touch with him over the years. It's way too easy to regret things that can never be remedied.

This might be a good evening to celebrate with a blue-style margarita. (His recipe: get some tequila. You don't need anything else.)

Did Blue also run songhole when that was up?

Yes.

[fluffy]

I'd even credit Blue with bringing "collaborations" to SF. I know some people worked together on songs (like the Lancaster folks) but Blue was the guy who started the IRC (SF Chat). And we used to hang out in there and people would collaborate because they could now chat in real time. It's where I hooked up on most of my collaborations, and Blue set this IRC up and promoted it and encouraged others to join it. It really changed SF, in that it wasn't just a bunch of individuals submitting songs but it became literally an international community of artists creating music together. The fact I could work with J$ in the UK from California, and record music together blew my mind. Blue tore down the barriers here.

There were occasional online collaborations before that but blue definitely made it very, very normal and easy to do. The IRC channel was a huge source of that stuff. Remember Song Skirmishes? For that matter I think he might have been behind those too!

Oh and Gear Fight was amazing. Like most of us he was constantly acquiring and upgrading his gear, and instead of selling it like a normal person he'd run the Gear Fight fights for people to write songs and he'd just give his old gear to the people who wrote the songs he liked. One of the many ways he helped to encourage everyone to get better and share with the community.

[j$]

Did Blue also run songhole when that was up?

Yes.

[Sober]

Remember Song Skirmishes? For that matter I think he might have been behind those too!

That was me. I ran and hosted a few, and I think maybe Jon Eric took over from there.

[fluffy]

Remember Song Skirmishes? For that matter I think he might have been behind those too!

That was me. I ran and hosted a few, and I think maybe Jon Eric took over from there.

Ah, okay. So hard to remember all the details of stuff from back then.

[GlennCase]

I got confirmation from Amber Lang that it was okay to share this:

"He was being tested for stomach or pancreatic cancer - he passed quietly in his sleep on Saturday . No one knew he was sick like this ."