Leese

"Experience: Jill Scott 826+" Absolutely stonking live album and much better than the studio versions of the same tracks - almost totally different arrangements in some cases. Applies to most of her live stuff, too. I saw her in Brixton a few years ago and she had one of the best live bands I've ever seen.

News from Kim this morning about a venue change: "*CHANGE OF VENUE FOR COLIN’S WAKE/CELEBRATION* Due to growing numbers I have had to change the venue. It will now be held at Pyrford Social Club, Coldharbour Road, Pyrford Surrey. GU22 8SP. Asylum Affair will be playing and hopefully some of Colin’s Muso friends will also bring instruments to give him the send off he would of loved! Please share. Kim xx"

Yeah, there was more than a passing resemblence, he would have been the first to admit it too 😂 Talking of Level 42: Sadly not a good quality picture, but here we are outside Colston Hall, Bristol, with Mark King, on the final '94 tour, back in the day when Colin still had hair (and several thousand curries ago, for me, clearly; I couldn't get into that t-shirt now if my life depended on it). He had all that lovely hair cut off one day when I was at work without telling me he was going to do it - the first I knew of it was when he sent me a picture of the #1 buzz cut. The rotten sod 😂 Funny story from that gig: This was when we were living in Exeter and he was playing in Goliath, mentioned earlier. Everyone knew him on the local music scene back in Devon and we literally couldn't go out for a pint without *someone* coming up to him and talking to him. So there we were, outside Colston Hall after the gig, at about midnight, waiting for the band, miles away from home, when this little voice pops up from the other side of the crowd: "Oi, mate. You're in Goliath, aren't you!!" I couldn't take him anywhere 😂

Oh, absolutely. It's just a nickname he gave himself about a thousand years ago when we first got together that stuck (from Barney Gumble, of Simpsons fame) and I don't think I ever called him Colin again after that. Hence "barneyg" in all his usernames, and the 42 came from Level 42, of whom we were both big fans. Naturally Thank you for your kind thoughts.

Oh, thank you for posting this. It made me laugh. And then cry. And then laugh again. It's so him - I can imagine him saying it. I can also imagine him welcoming all the newbies to the bass bashes. He was never one to leave someone standing in the corner on their own - he loved to welcome people into the fold. While I'm here, I'd like to say something. Firstly, I just want to thank everyone for posting their lovely memories and tributes. Please keep them coming, they're so comforting. It's so good to see that he was loved and held in high regard by the community. Barney, or Colin as you all know him (still weird!), was my partner for 11 years, from 1993-2004, and we remained very close friends after we split up. Sympathies at the moment lie - quite rightly - elsewhere, with his beloved fiancee Kim, who was his rock for the last five years of his life, and all his friends and bandmates. As such, a space to talk about his passing that doesn't encroach upon their grief has been difficult for me for me to find. With that in mind, I want to thank you all very much for allowing me this platform to talk about and remember him when none of you know me from Adam. I appreciate it very much.

That's the Colin I will remember. A great big bear of a guy, who gave the best hugs and loved everyone and never had a bad word to say about the people he encountered. (It's so odd hearing everyone calling him Colin. He was Barney to me for 26 years)

Colin was always very entertained by this, and in particular the way bassists would do business with their gear, meeting up by the roadside to exchange instruments and cash and do swaps, so that wasn't the only time he did that. He thought all that sort of stuff, all the wheeling and dealing, was brilliant. One night he left home with a Jaydee, got in the car, drove to somewhere random on the A30, met a bloke a in a layby, and came home with a Status instead (at least I think it was a Status, although anno domini is dulling the memory slightly). He was also a fantastic rock bassist who, through genuine modesty, had absolutely no idea how good he was. When I met him about a thousand years ago, he was playing in a 4-piece rock covers band in Exeter called Goliath and they were really well-respected on the local scene; their gigs were always packed and his personality, both on and off stage, had a *lot* to do with that. If talent was anything to go by he would have been a lot more successful in the business than he was. But it wasn't about that for him - he always loved being a weekend warrior. He was the embodiment of that meme: "A musician is someone who loads £5k worth of gear into a £500 car and drives 50 miles for a £5 gig". To him, gigging was about the local scene - pubs, bike rallies, great crowds and great times - but most importantly his mates. The absolute flood of tributes that have poured in since yesterday, not only from his bandmates past and present but from people he met and made happy in the course of his playing is testament to exactly who he was in that respect, and it's been heartwarming to see all the lovely things people have said, although I can't believe we're all talking about him in the past tense. He was the life and soul, the salt of the earth, a gentle giant who everyone loved, and I loved him dearly too. Below is my favourite picture of him, taken at a Goliath gig in 1993 at Vines in Exeter. We tie-dyed those leggings with bleach in the washing up bowl and the t-shirt had a giant duck on it, which sums up his approach to stage gear quite nicely Throughout his last illness he was determined to get well enough to resume playing. He was also due to get married to his long-term partner, Kim, who he adored. I'm beyond sad for him that he never made it out of hospital to do either, and I shall miss him more than words can say.

Thanks Billy. As I understand it so far, funeral arrangements - when they're sorted - will be posted on his band's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/asylumaffair/ - hope that helps.

Hello all - I hope this post isn't against the rules in any way, but Colin's bandmates have set up a fundraiser to help pay for his funeral expenses. If anyone would like to contribute the link is as follows and all donations are being very gratefully received by his partner and friends. https://www.gofundme.com/wake-for-our-friend-colin-payne Many thanks.

Such lovely comments. I'm still a bit lost for words so I hope nobody thinks I'm being rude by not individually replying to them. He was the best, and a light has gone out in the world today.

Dear Basschatters To all who knew him - I'm afraid Colin (barneyg42) passed away this morning. He had been poorly for a long time. I have no information about any funeral arrangements yet, but will keep people posted. He really enjoyed this forum. Thanks, Leese