One love for Chi

We went to see Coheed and Cambria + Deftones in concert last week. Without going into the details of the car journey to the venue and my deep in-situ realisations on how old I am getting, I must say that I really enjoyed it.

I was really into Deftones ten years ago. Then, I don’t know what happened, I stopped listening to them. I think I believed that nothing they made would ever top up White Pony, so I kind of gave up on them after that.

I am a huge Coheed and Cambria fan though. (Well… let me give you my definition of “huge fan” = I listen to the albums and thoroughly enjoy them. I may even sing along. However, I don’t know the band member’s names, where they come from, and all those details that a “real” fan would know – I just care about the music…)

So I went to the concert looking forward to seeing Coheed, but the fact that Deftones were playing too and might play one or two White Pony songs was a bonus. (They actually played quite a few, Knife Party, Passenger, Change,..)

Well. I was talking to a coleague at work today about the concert, and he mentioned something that really shocked me. He asked something like: “And was the bassist there? Did he play?”

This puzzled me, because a) I had no idea what he was talking about but 2) I had noticed at the concert that the bassist player was not the same one as the long haired one that I remembered…

“What do you mean?” I ask. And he tells me the whole story…

Chi Cheng, Deftones bassist player, was a in freaky car accident back in 2008 that left him in a coma. He was travelling by car with his sister when they hit another car. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt. The rest you know: he is in a coma.

Apparently his condition has improved in the last two years, but he is still in a semi-coma state. He can trace people with his eyes, slightly move his hand and make some noises.

His family have been trying to collect money from well-wishers for the last couple of years, since the medical bills have been really high. The kind of medical support that he requires is not cheap, apparently. They have created a website called oneloveforchi.com were they sell some merchandise and post blog entries related to the incident and its development.

I admit I didn’t know your name, mate, but I knew who you were. I send my best wishes from this little town in England and I really hope that you get better soon.

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