Update: A visitation for Phil is scheduled for Wednesday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. at Olinger Hampden (8600 East Hampden), followed by a memorial service on Thursday, June 30, at 10 a.m. at Amazing Grace Chapel in Englewood (3325 South Federal Boulevard). Also, a show flier created by Phil has been added below.Some very sad news just came across my desk. I just received word that Phil Hamon (aka "Phil the Fan") passed away over the weekend from a heart attack. No matter how long you've been in the music scene, chances are better than good that you've come across Phil at one point or another. A veritable scene icon for the better part of the past three decades, Phil has been a fixture at various local shows and club nights. You might have spotted him a few weeks ago at the Westword Music Showcase or at Milk Bar, where he'd become a regular.
Phil the Fan is probably best remembered to a great many of us as the affable lighting guy at places like the 15th Street Tavern or any number of other places where he manned his homemade lighting rig. The picture above is taken from a profile penned by my predecessor, Laura Bond, in November 2000. Phil was a colorful character, as Laura's piece so deftly captured. A one-of-a-kind type of guy, he had the sort of outlook on life that we'd all probably do very well to embrace.
"Some people don't like music, and maybe I can understand that," he told Laura in 2000. "But not everybody has got to be a workaholic. My job during the day ain't all I do in life. I don't want to live that place. Some people in this world, they get up, go to work, go home, watch TV, go to bed, wake up, go to work. They don't understand that other people have some other life that's full of art and music and things that make them actually feel good about themselves. It's like, well, maybe you should try it."
No word yet on where and when services for Phil will be held, but we'll keep you posted. In the meantime, please feel free to share your favorite Phil story below. There's gotta be a thousand of them out there. Phil was loved and will definitely be missed!
Click through to check out a flier we stumbled upon that Phil created.
