Open Letter to Pearl Jam - Plea for Manchester 2012

strummers · May 2010

Latest update. Unfortunately, received some bad news a few days ago. After having a couple of infections and therefore having to hold off on chemo for a while, the latest scans show significant tumour growth. As a result the treatment/chemo won't be given from this point.

Please keep him in your thoughts and hope he is relatively pain free for as long possible!

By the way, I would love to get something to him from the band - a card, signed item, anything really. Has anyone any experience of doing this and what would be the best way to go about it??

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Hold the press - he may make a road trip down to Manchester between treatments if he's feeling up to it. Would be so so good for him to hear a dedication (either in person or via bootleg)!!! Having to constantly fight for over 2 years is tough going - but he's doing it!

Please dedicate a song for the Bigman!

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Story below. He's still fighting!

Due to the treatment it's highliy unlikely he'll make the Manchester or Scandinavian gigs in 2012 - had it not been for this I guarantee he would've been there!

Please guys dedicate a song to the Bigman at one of the Manchester or Scandinavian shows in 2012. It would mean so much....
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The man the legend known as The Big Man is without question a rock legend known throughout the venues of the UK. He also happens to be one of my best friends.

Despite his name, The Big Man is gentle, softly spoken, one of the last true gents and he wouldn't hurt a fly. However he has been dealt one of the cruellest and most shocking blows that illnesses can give. A friend said that he was 'riddled with cancer'. They asked him directly in the hope that he would play down this exaggeration but he wryly smiled and said "yes that is a pretty succinct way of putting it! - I have cancers in my colon/bowels, liver, lungs and my adrenal system." The doctors are not used to seeing someone in their thirties with this condition. Following further tests he has been told that the cancer is incurable. They will not have seen anyone with the amount of strength, resilience and Geordie stubbornness to kick the cancer out of his body as The Big Man. He will certainly have a massive fight ahead of him with a mixture of surgery and chemo therapy, but he is confident and optimistic that he will stick it to the consultants, who after further tests have recently told him the cancer is incurable.

With shared support, optimism and belief his friends and family are all hoping he can kick the cancer into touch and prove the doctors wrong.

The Big Man is a massive music fan who sees an average of 35-50 gigs each and every year - earlier this year he hit his 730th gig (that's 2 whole years worth of gigging!). He's determined to keep going and even went to see Kiss in between his chemo sessions earlier this month.

From ’92 (in our home town of Newcastle) onwards he has seen PJ play in all but one of their European tours that have hit UK shores (which he enjoys telling us about at every opportunity as we have only had the pleasure of seeing them since 2000). Before being diagnosed with cancer he was due to come over to Belfast for the PJ gig in June and his world has been turned upside down since then. However he was still determined to come over to Belfast in June. Unfortunately his chemo schedule clashes with the Belfast gig and he's unable to make it, which he isn't too happy about!!

He introduced me to live music many many years ago and I would dearly love to do something that will spur him on and keep him going until the next time you hit European shores. Therefore if it is at all possible his friends throughout the world would be very grateful if you could dedicate a song to him in Manchester or anywhere in Europe as he can't be there in person.

I'll leave the request there and would just like to thank the 10c, the band and the board members for giving the time to read this and hopefully lending their support to a great friend!

Cheers
T

An update!

After having 11 chemo sessions in his first cycle the Big Man Got the results of his scan today - his birthday (and PJ's!).

Good news! The tumors in his lungs have disappeared and the tumors everywhere else have shrunk!

Thank you all for your positivity and good energy - it's most definitley helping so keep it coming!!

Today is a great day to celebrate, birthdays, anniversaries, good news and life itself!

Update 2

Unfortunately after a recent scan it looks like the tumours are growing again. The Big Man goes back in for more Chemo towards the end of March. Please keep him in your thoughts and send some positivity through - he needs to get better for the next time the guys are in the UK!

dimitrispearljam · May 2010

im speechless..this is so sad..i hope the band dedicate a song to your friend
and wish him the best and fast recovery..

eMMI · May 2010

I wish all the best for your friend. Much strength to your him, his family and friends!

Hopefully the band will dedicate something to him.

BLACK35 · May 2010

Hopefully you get your wish. Sounds like a great guy that has fallen on some bad luck and hard times. Best wishes for him in the future

Irish Al · May 2010

Hey strummers let's rock the fuck out of Belfast for your mate

PJ you know what needs to be done

Chrisilein · May 2010

All the best wishes for your friend!!! I really hope that your wish will become true!!

veddertown · May 2010

Not good news for your friend, sorry things are so hard for him just now. Hope the band can acknowledge him on stage and between us and the band we can make the loudest noise for him to hear on the boot so he knows we are there thinking of him.

IamTom · May 2010

strummers wrote:

The man the legend known as The Big Man is without question a rock legend known throughout the venues of the UK. He also happens to be one of my best friends.

Despite his name, The Big Man is gentle, softly spoken, one of the last true gents and he wouldn't hurt a fly. However he has been dealt one of the cruellest and most shocking blows that illnesses can give. A friend said that he was 'riddled with cancer'. They asked him directly in the hope that he would play down this exaggeration but he wryly smiled and said "yes that is a pretty succinct way of putting it! - I have cancers in my colon/bowels, liver, lungs and my adrenal system." The doctors are not used to seeing someone in their thirties with this condition. Following further tests he has been told that the cancer is incurable. They will not have seen anyone with the amount of strength, resilience and Geordie stubbornness to kick the cancer out of his body as The Big Man. He will certainly have a massive fight ahead of him with a mixture of surgery and chemo therapy, but he is confident and optimistic that he will stick it to the consultants, who after further tests have recently told him the cancer is incurable.

With shared support, optimism and belief his friends and family are all hoping he can kick the cancer into touch and prove the doctors wrong.

The Big Man is a massive music fan who sees an average of 35-50 gigs each and every year - earlier this year he hit his 730th gig (that's 2 whole years worth of gigging!). He's determined to keep going and even went to see Kiss in between his chemo sessions earlier this month.

From ’92 (in our home town of Newcastle) onwards he has seen PJ play in all but one of their European tours that have hit UK shores (which he enjoys telling us about at every opportunity as we have only had the pleasure of seeing them since 2000). Before being diagnosed with cancer he was due to come over to Belfast for the PJ gig in June and his world has been turned upside down since then. However he was still determined to come over to Belfast in June. Unfortunately his chemo schedule clashes with the Belfast gig and he's unable to make it, which he isn't too happy about!!

He introduced me to live music many many years ago and I would dearly love to do something that will spur him on and keep him going until the next time you hit European shores. Therefore if it is at all possible his friends throughout the world would be very grateful if you could dedicate a song to him in Belfast as he can't be there in person.

I'll leave the request there and would just like to thank the 10c, the band and the board members for giving the time to read this and hopefully lending their support to a great friend!

Cheers
T

How about you find out which song he'd like dedicated and let's get it played. And how bout you set up an account and we can pay in a few quid each and we can pay for the boot,poster framed,t-shirt etc so we can give him a taste of the show and show him that he's got a huge amount of support.

dimitrispearljam · May 2010

IamTom wrote:

How about you find out which song he'd like dedicated and let's get it played. And how bout you set up an account and we can pay in a few quid each and we can pay for the boot,poster framed,t-shirt etc so we can give him a taste of the show and show him that he's got a huge amount of support.

this is great idea..count me in..

veddertown · May 2010

Yup +1 here

Ricsard · May 2010

strummers wrote:

The man the legend known as The Big Man is without question a rock legend known throughout the venues of the UK. He also happens to be one of my best friends.

Despite his name, The Big Man is gentle, softly spoken, one of the last true gents and he wouldn't hurt a fly. However he has been dealt one of the cruellest and most shocking blows that illnesses can give. A friend said that he was 'riddled with cancer'. They asked him directly in the hope that he would play down this exaggeration but he wryly smiled and said "yes that is a pretty succinct way of putting it! - I have cancers in my colon/bowels, liver, lungs and my adrenal system." The doctors are not used to seeing someone in their thirties with this condition. Following further tests he has been told that the cancer is incurable. They will not have seen anyone with the amount of strength, resilience and Geordie stubbornness to kick the cancer out of his body as The Big Man. He will certainly have a massive fight ahead of him with a mixture of surgery and chemo therapy, but he is confident and optimistic that he will stick it to the consultants, who after further tests have recently told him the cancer is incurable.

With shared support, optimism and belief his friends and family are all hoping he can kick the cancer into touch and prove the doctors wrong.

The Big Man is a massive music fan who sees an average of 35-50 gigs each and every year - earlier this year he hit his 730th gig (that's 2 whole years worth of gigging!). He's determined to keep going and even went to see Kiss in between his chemo sessions earlier this month.

From ’92 (in our home town of Newcastle) onwards he has seen PJ play in all but one of their European tours that have hit UK shores (which he enjoys telling us about at every opportunity as we have only had the pleasure of seeing them since 2000). Before being diagnosed with cancer he was due to come over to Belfast for the PJ gig in June and his world has been turned upside down since then. However he was still determined to come over to Belfast in June. Unfortunately his chemo schedule clashes with the Belfast gig and he's unable to make it, which he isn't too happy about!!

He introduced me to live music many many years ago and I would dearly love to do something that will spur him on and keep him going until the next time you hit European shores. Therefore if it is at all possible his friends throughout the world would be very grateful if you could dedicate a song to him in Belfast as he can't be there in person.

I'll leave the request there and would just like to thank the 10c, the band and the board members for giving the time to read this and hopefully lending their support to a great friend!

Cheers
T

I do appreciate your altruistic efforts, the Big Man must be a lucky dude if he has such great friends like you! Love and such support should be the strongest cure for him.
I hope you'll manage to achieve attracting Ed's attention but mostly I wish him a painless recovery as soon as possible!

pdalowsky · May 2010

Strummers, although this is terrible news its totally inspiring to see that he has the hope, courage, determination and belief that he can win the battle....lets hope he does and sure it would be great if the band did this....maybe add his name so they can dedicate it personally to him....

and while were at it lets have Man of the Hour - because the guy in that film was certainly a BIG GUY!!

strummers · May 2010

Thanks guys, I truly appreciate all of your support, comments and positive thoughts! Thank you so much for thinking of getting a fund together to get him some merch from the show - I was planning on getting him some stuff anyway!! If anyone would like to contribute at all - please give the money to your local cancer charity or the Wishlist Foundation. I know he'd really appreciate that!

I honestly don't think he'd mind which song it was that was dedicated to him - just getting a mention would be amazing! I'd like it to be a complete surprise and have the first he knows of it be when I play the bootleg for him!

Please keep the positive energy coming and we'll all rock out as hard as is humanly possible in Belfast on his behalf!!!

pdalowsky · May 2010

Bump for a fitting man of the hour tribute in Belfast......

strummers · May 2010

pdalowsky wrote:

Bump for a fitting man of the hour tribute in Belfast......

Cheers Paul, I love the sentiment behind the suggestion! Although hopefully this Big Man won't be taking a final bow for many many years to come!

I've been giving this some thought about this and while I think it would be great to get a rarer song dedicated to him (such as No Way, Mankind or Fatal) I think if we have any input into the song at all it should be something totally rocking and with a great sentiment! Although please feel free to play No Way, Makind and Fatal too! :P

I know he loves Rearviewmirror and God knows we'd all like to see the cancer well and truely behind him! So I think dedicating Rearviewmirror to him would be awesome! Although I would be truly thankful for any dedication at all!!

Thanks again for all of your support and feel free to keep bumping until June!

dimitrispearljam · May 2010

one song for big guy.....one song.....

ALIVE

And we all gonna fuckin scream so loud for your buddy to listen our family voices from wherever he is

strummers · May 2010

dimitrispearljam wrote:

one song for big guy.....one song.....

ALIVE

And we all gonna fuckin scream so loud for your buddy to listen our family voices from wherever he is

That was another option which would also be awesome!

pdalowsky · May 2010

strummers wrote:

pdalowsky wrote:

Bump for a fitting man of the hour tribute in Belfast......

Cheers Paul, I love the sentiment behind the suggestion! Although hopefully this Big Man won't be taking a final bow for many many years to come!

Oh yeah Strummers, I didnt even connect that sentiment at all....how dumb of me.... :oops:

i was simply taking the giant from Big Fish - and thought the Big man notion fit well....

Man of the hour is super rare too so i guess it would be unlikely anyway.....

dimitrispearljam · May 2010

strummers · May 2010

pdalowsky wrote:

strummers wrote:

pdalowsky wrote:

Bump for a fitting man of the hour tribute in Belfast......

Cheers Paul, I love the sentiment behind the suggestion! Although hopefully this Big Man won't be taking a final bow for many many years to come!

Oh yeah Strummers, I didnt even connect that sentiment at all....how dumb of me.... :oops:

i was simply taking the giant from Big Fish - and thought the Big man notion fit well....

Man of the hour is super rare too so i guess it would be unlikely anyway.....

Don't worry about it - I knew that was the case! It would be great to hear - but it would probably send me over the edge on the night!

Keep bumping!

strummers · May 2010

:wave:

Open Letter to Pearl Jam - Plea for Manchester 2012

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