‘Nice day for a party, isn’t it?’ Hamilton concert celebrated Teenage Head’s Gord Lewis

If you felt the ground shake in Hamilton Saturday night, we have an explanation for you.

A party with more than 1,500 friends, singing and dancing to Teenage Head is how the A Celebration of Life - Gord Lewis," tribute concert waved its final goodbye to the late musician.

Outside FirstOntario Concert Hall, in a cloud of smoke, hundreds of fans gathered in full rock'n'roll attire; Gord Lewis T-shirts and leather jackets. Inside, lineups for drinks were neverending and merch with friendly prices quickly sold out.

Backstage, the remaining core of Teenage Head - co-founder and bassist Steve Mahon, lead vocalist Dave Rave" DesRoches and drummer Gene Champagne - peeked through the stage curtains and were amazed by the number of people who showed up.

The crowd was amazing. It was beautiful," Rave said.

The concert in whole was overwhelming," he said. The night just flew by. It was the easiest night in all my life. Everybody chipped in. Everybody made it."

Canadian sports journalist and Ancaster resident, Dave Hodge, got the ball rolling. Hodge introduced the band to the stage which was welcomed with a long round of applause.

The crowd quickly ditched their seats for the front of the stage.

Gordie! Gordie! Gordie!," chanted the fans.

A big, and familiar music lineup showed up to celebrate Gord, including Spectator contributor and former staff music columnist Graham Rockingham, who gave the eulogy.

Other guests included Tim Gibbons of The Shakers, Andy Curran of Coney Hatch, John Kastner and Scott McCullough of the Doughboys, Mike Trebilcock of The Killjoys, Luke Bentham of The Dirty Nil, local punk rocker Sam Squid, ex-Forgotten Rebel Chris Houston and Lou Molinaro of Tongue Fu.

Headstones guitarist Trent Carr and keyboardist Greg Brisco were also present, along with Sonny Del Rio on the sax and the Trews' Colin MacDonald and Jack Syperek, performing Teenage Head's Something On My Mind."

It was exhilarating to see and hear them," Del Rio said.

Gord's nephew, Michael Lewis, performed Parasite," a song written by his uncle. The crowd went radio silent when Lewis strummed the guitar.

It (Parasite) seemed like the perfect tune to play in his service and I brought it back for this concert," he said.

He said performing was difficult" because he wanted to do the tribute justice and capture the bittersweetness" of the event.

Gord Lewis was found dead in his Hamilton apartment in August. His son has been charged with second-degree murder.

It's a blessing to have had Gord as an uncle, especially for somebody who is pursuing music. It's a bit of a curse to see how much he had to suffer for what he got and the ending obviously was undeserved," Michael Lewis said.

He said the crowd was the most supportive he had ever played for and that it felt great to see so many people celebrating his uncle.

The concert was great with lots of lights," said fan Jeff Degraph. This was a nice tribute to Gord. He meant a lot to a lot of people. A lot of his friends were here. It was fun and everyone had a great night."

The band closed the concert with the iconic song Disgusteen," opening with the famous lyrics, Nice day for a party, isn't it?" It's a line originally spoken by former front man Frankie Venom (Frank Kerr) who died in 2008.

And it was a perfect day for a party.

Rave thanked the fans for coming out and making Teenage Head come alive."

Gord, Frank, Steve, all of us. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for you guys."

Beatriz Baleeiro is a reporter at The Spectator. bbaleeiro@torstar.ca