Well it's had a little over 24 hours to sink in, as I was at lunch yesterday in Philly browsing my Facebook through the usual garbage. It made no sense, it wasn't fair and it's quite upsetting.
I have now lost 3 friends in the last 12 months, none of whom were over the age of 45. And I cannot quite figure out how or why.
I knew Josh from HFStivals back in the 1990's and then from attending 930 shows, and then moreso from working with him at Merriweather. While I never hung out with him outside of a concert/work environment, I probably had a good 10-20 minute conversation with him each and every time I saw him. Always interested in what I had to say, always had something interesting and intelligent to discuss. His intelligence didn't impress me because of his outward appearance, it impressed me as it would have if he'd had no tattoos/piercings and a suit and tie. He was truly that full of wisdom.
Working with Josh at Merriweather was a delight. He not only made the patrons feel safe, but other staff. I am no large man, but I knew if I had a problem, Josh was able to reconcile....almost always without being physical and never being physical first. Every time he'd walk up, the patron would expect to get his butt kicked, only to find himself in a calm rational conversation! My best memory of this was at a Phish show and I had this clown who would NOT get out of the aisle, I tried and tried, and he told me "the party always wins". Pushed me, spilled his beer on me and called me names. I saw Josh and flagged him over. Josh walked up, said a few words to this guy and back in his seat he went. I asked Josh what he said and his reply "I told him he needed to please go back to his seat."
From teaching me how to catch crowd surfers, to endlessly bantering about hockey and punk music, I always looked forward to our conversations. And when they were over, I knew he would move on to brighten someone else's evening.
I remember a time when he came to my work for a show and it actually gave me a sense of pride to be doing security at a show HE was at!
I am sure that while Josh's social circle was comprised of many more acquaintances than true friends (like the rest of us), I know he had more than a few dear dear friends who are devastated by all of this and my deepest sympathies go out to them, as well as his family, and those who got to see him on a daily basis.
It's hard to find a silver lining to this one. But to know we are all better for knowing him, and we can all continue to try to be more like him.
