It's yet another sad day for the Denver music scene. A little more than a week after reporting on Johnny Schou's tragic, untimely death, we've received word that Paul Stitt, the former frontman of Angellic Rage (pictured above, center), was shot and killed in a bungled robbery attempt in Las Vegas a few nights ago. According to a piece filed by the Las Vegas Review Journal, the shooting occurred around 9:20 p.m. on Tuesday night, and the assailants are still at large.
Stitt, a beloved member of the Denver scene from more than a decade ago, had moved from the Mile High City to Las Vegas last year and was reportedly seeking a simpler life, maintaining a low profile, working as a liquor store clerk and getting around on a scooter.
Around here, Stitt was better known as Paul Vee, the gifted, powerful and charismatic singer of Angellic Rage, a mainstay on the Denver metal scene during the early to mid-'90s that holds the distinction of being one of the only -- if not the only -- local band to have performed on stage at Mile High Stadium, pre-Invesco Field. Besides being a stellar vocalist, Stitt was an imposing figure on stage, who affected a slightly unhinged persona that carried an unpredictable, unbridled sense of mayhem. At a time when there weren't a lot of over-the-top, bigger than life acts in Denver, Angellic Rage stood at the vanguard.
The two assailants -- captured in an eerily silent, black and white surveillance video posted on YouTube by KLAS TV in Vegas -- have yet to be apprehended. A memorial for Stitt is being planned. We'll post more details as we have them.
-- Dave Herrera
