Dave Brockie is better known to the world as Oderus Urungus - the heavily-costumed front man of the heavily-costumed band Gwar. I'd seen Gwar once before around 2008, and I was excited to see them again, this time at the Roseland Theater in November of 2011. However, just 5 days before the show, they found their longtime guitarist dead on their tour bus. Heart failure at the age of 34. However, they decided continuing the tour is "what he would've wanted," and the mood before the show was somber and dark. I decided to step away for a cigarette, and that is when I found Dave, the lead singer, indistinguishable outside of his costume, walking the streets of Portland near the venue. I asked politely if I could approach.

When I was a rocker, back in the day, my best friend/bass player was found dead. 27 years old, also from heart failure. I didn't ask Dave what happened, I just told him what I had been through and how I got through it. He then opened up to me - about the band, about his feelings, about details from finding his guitarist that I've never seen shared or reported anywhere else. He hurt, so bad, and was trying so hard not to collapse as he and Gwar pushed on.

What I expected to be a thirty second "I'm there for you, man" became a deeply emotional, powerful, 10 to 15 minute conversation that brought about very real grief in both of us. He asked to hug me and he did - personally and strong. We parted ways as friends, promising to get together again some day in the future, maybe the next time Gwar came to town. He made this promise and he meant it.

He died of a drug overdose 2 years later.