It's Hard Enough Knowing - Pete Shelley

I don't recall the first time I met Doug - Double Down? Cafe Rainbow? Wet Stop? Elks Lodge? A gig in the desert? I don't know. I know it was at a gig, that's for sure. It seems like Doug was always at the gigs, either playing in a band or just one of the many spectators in the audience - the guy was always around somewhere. I would run into him and we'd hang out and talk and party and just do whatever it is that 2 semi-casual acquaintances do when they're hanging out and making the 'Scene'. I'm not gonna pretend we were BFF's, but I knew the dude, ya know? Doug was always that cool cat that knew where the all the Hip places were at and who all the Cool bands were. Doug knew more about bands that nobody had ever heard about before than anybody I knew. It was always a treat to hang out at his cool little house with the musical equipment in the front room and just jam or party and sometimes do both at the same time, with the Hipster Elite of the Vegas Music Scene ha ha ha Doug always had a smile on his face and a helping hand to lend out to anyone who needed it. He was really a fucking nice person. One of the coolest guys you could ever meet, and now he's gone. Fuck.

I just saw Doug at Goth night at Artifice in the beginning of December. He was walking around the place looking happy and high with a vodka tonic in his hand. "Hey Gilbert! Whats happening?" he said to me. "What are YOU doing here?" I started laughing and retorted That's just what I was going to ask you! What are YOU doing here? I said, shaking his hand."I'm DJ-ing!" he said with a smile. ha ha ha Of course you are, I said. Of course Doug was the DJ. The Man was a musical encyclopedia, from the most obscure Punk band to the stankiest Funk and Soul bands, there really wasn't much music that he didn't know about or ever hear of. Impressive stuff. I asked him to play me some songs, and of course he did, and that was that. Last time I saw or hung out with him. The part that I can't get my mind wrapped around is how he seemed perfectly fucking fine to me. Smiling, Grooving, Happy. And then less than a week later, he's in a hospice with stage 4 stomach cancer, given only 2 months to live. That's. Fucking. Crazy. Him being hospitalized was probably the worst kept secret in the History of the Vegas Music Scene, because it seemed everyone knew about it, and when I was asked about it, I played dumb. Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing. It kind of makes sense though, because everyone knew Doug. EVERYONE. And just like that... he's gone. I fucking hate Cancer. I really and truly do. My real Friends know why. It fucking sucks.

So Rest In Peace Doug De Nada. Godspeed Sir. Peaceful Be Your Journey. Go Easy. Step Lightly. Stay Free.