It seemed to take quite a while to arrive.  When it did, it was very nondescript. A picture of four ordinary-looking guys who look like they feel that they just conquered the world (they just played a short set on TV . . .same thing when you’re a 19-year-old music addict).  Just two brightly coloured words announced the named of the band and CD.  The rest of the packaging was just as plain.  You could have almost mistaken it for a Joy Division CD.  The contents, however, couldn’t be further from it.  Same intensity, except in the case of Viola Beach it truly was joy.  The lyrics were not intellectual, the music was joyful and jumped around like an excited child at Christmas.  It was playful, sincere and optimistic: very forward thinking.

Rewind one year from now.  One year before the time of this writing they are just starting to play what, unbeknownst to everyone, would be their last gig.  Four lads having fun and charming everyone.  The 15-second video (the only bit recorded of that night) gives us a little window.  They were giving “Drunk” their all.  By the time this entry reaches you they will have died one year ago.

I have been trying in my limited capacity to find out what happened.  All that I’ve written is all that I’ve found.  My conclusions remain.  I mean, what happened to that black box?  “Just one of those mysterious things” does not cut it.  The whole debacle with the CCTV footage was inexcusable!  But the answers will only give us closure, they won’t bring Viola Beach and their manager back.  The answers may soften the pain a bit but not enough.

Once again, what we are left with is just the music, the videos and (for the lucky few) the memories.  It haunts me that I just got hip to them the night before they died.  It haunts me that they were the same age as my son and daughter.  But the music is so forward thinking that you can’t dwell.  They weren’t the greatest band in the world but they were fun positive energy (fosergy?) and destined for so much more than being frozen in time.  Promise is what they were and hopefully the young musicians out there (and younger ones to come) continue that promise to be (as the R.E.M. lyric goes) “hope despite the times.”

They were fortunate to have the opportunities they did.  They were lucky to have parents and friends that stood by them and encouraged their music  It’s great to have friendly faces in the crowd when playing pub gigs.  We are lucky the music is there for all who want it.  For what little it’s worth, I feel lucky to have been a fan for just one day while they were still here.  To those who ensured that the CD came out, Thank you! (The packaging as well as the music was appropriate and a joy).  Thanks to the fans who recorded some of their gigs.  Thank you Jack, Kris, Tomas, River and Craig for the music you made possible.  So, on this day, if you know their parents . . . give them a hug for me.  Play the music, sing and dance.  Life’s too short not to.  The sun is coming through the blinds and makes me want to go outside . . . .