… Turn Out the lights” – Jim Morrison
But the lights came on instead.
On the Marquee of the El Mocambo …
In the club and on the stage …
… on the faces of the hundreds of people who showed up; the way Paul’s face lit up when he played guitar and sang.
We basked in the sun affections and respects of: Paul’s life-long best friend, Martin – His friend from forever & co-worker of decades Joan –
– Sasha a long standing friend, who played drums with Paul on guitar – J.K. a newer buddy who played bass guitar with Paul on guitar and his loving niece Leigh-Anne, as they eulogized.
There are 3 staircases in the Elmo. Each riser has the name of a band or performer on it. Some call it the Stairway to Heaven.
It’s hard to take a pic of a staircase and see every riser, so using old film locations technique, I put the flight together that featured Paul’s name.
I’d shiver when Paul sang Helter Skelter, which the stairs reminded me of .
“When I get to the bottom, I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop, and I turn, and I go for a ride
‘Till I get to the bottom, and I see you again
Yeah, yeah, yeah!”
– Lennon /McCartney
And when he sang “Don’t Let Me Down“ – Lennon/McCartney -I knew who he was singing about. I could feel it!
“And from the first time that she really done me
Ooh, she done me
She, done me good
I guess nobody ever really done me
Ooh, she done me
She, done me good”

Bands that played: Go Freddy Go – The Sin City Boys – Kensington Shake; with a group of pals jamming to the Spirit in the Sky, at the end.
And of course, The Blushing Brides played.
The Blushing Brides are a Rolling Stones tribute band.
Oh yeah, Paul’s in the video!

Paul played with the Brides off and on over the years, beginning in the 1980’s.
Here they are, below, on a TV show – Juenesse in Montreal, 1982
Love You, Paul!
Photos taken by Resa – October 25, 2026
El Mocambo, Toronto, Canada











A beautiful tribute, Resa. (Or tribute to the tribute?) It sounds like a moving and memorable event. 💙
(I woke up to such great news over here!)
Looks like a very special event Resa.
Thank you for sharing 💖
Such musical genius have passed through our generation. Great post, Resa!