A long, emotional memorial to Pierre Robert was boundless in enthusiasm, much like Robert himself
“This is a joyous occasion. But it’s life, and it’s one that was so well lived. And that we all got to share.”
Pierre Robert’s unexpected death in October sent Philadelphia rock fans into a state of shock.
How could the community of WMMR-FM (93.3) listeners carry on without the kind-hearted DJ? He was an unfailingly reliable source of good cheer and boundless musical enthusiasm on the airwaves, and at concerts and charity events across the region for over 40 years.
On Wednesday night at the Fillmore in Fishtown, a sold-out crowd of 3,000 “good citizens” — as Robert called his fellow Philadelphians — struggled through their grief in a combination concert and wake that was billed as “Pierre Robert: A Show of Life.”
Collectively, the friends of Robert who performed and spoke on stage at the event came up with a mutually agreed upon strategy: Life without Pierre Robert would be tolerable for the MMR family only if it essentially remained a life with Pierre Robert. That is, if through music and his memory, his spirit can be kept alive.
The memorial concert raised money for Manna, the Philly nonprofit that feeds people with life-threatening illnesses, that was a favorite among many worthy causes Robert supported.
The evening began with Robert’s family gathering on stage, with niece Nicole Horder and nephew Brett Robert addressing the crowd while a portrait of their uncle and his tie-dyed lab coat were on display to their right.
It ended five hours later, with Philly songwriter Ben Arnold leading a chorus of close to 40 musicians, friends, and family members on a singalong version of “Get Together,” the 1967 Youngbloods hit and countercultural anthem that fit the long-haired, bearded, and peace-sign-flashing Robert to a T.
In between, there were spirited, heartfelt, and sometimes tearful performances by David Uosikkinen’s In the Pocket, Marc LaBelle of Dirty Honey, and Ed Roland of Collective Soul, plus stripped-down duo sets by members of Philly hard rock band Halestorm and Jacksonville, Fla.’s Shinedown. And of course, there was Robert’s favorite Philly band, the Hooters.
Robert grew up in California, and his passion for the city he relocated to in the early 1980s and came to call home, was noted throughout the evening.
» READ MORE: Pierre Robert is keeping the job he interviewed for at a Hooters show at the Chestnut Cabaret in 1981
“If you tried to make a list of someone who would never make it in Philadelphia,” his nephew said at the start, “it would be a crazy hippie from California that’s a vegetarian, and ‘it’s all about peace and love man.’
“But the thing about Philly is, Philly loves people who are unapologetically themselves. And he never forgot for a second that he got to live the life of his dreams because you guys tuned in and listened and showed up for him.”
That theme of Robert being an outsider who chose to become a Philadelphian was cleverly echoed by Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie.
Weiner’s song selection was “Young Americans,” which was recorded at Sigma Sound Studio a half-century ago by David Bowie, “another great artist who fell in love with Philadelphia,” he said.
Uosikkinen was the hard-working hero of the night, keeping the beat both with In the Pocket and later the Hooters, while just five weeks out of knee replacement surgery.
The ITP set of local luminaries, who set a high bar for the rest of the evening, began with Steve Butler and Richard Bush singing the Kinks’ “Sunny Afternoon” (a Robert favorite). It also included Cliff Hillis doing Todd Rundgren’s “I Saw the Light,” Arnold taking on Robert Hazard’s “Change Reaction,” and three-song sets by Tommy Conwell and Bob “Beru” McCafferty.
During one interlude, Philadelphia Councilmember Rue Landau came on stage to pay tribute to Robert, who was honored last week by a resolution introduced by Councilmember Mark Squilla that renames Latimer Street between 12th and Camac Streets as “Pierre Robert Way.”
Matt Cord, who has taken over the MMR midday time slot, introduced bands and was one of many who joked about Robert’s habitual lateness.
Robert’s fellow DJ and mentee Jackie Bam Bam aptly called his late friend “the Santa Claus of Philadelphia, the Mister Rogers of Philadelphia on the radio.”
“I said to Pierre: ‘You’re my hero! Who’s your hero?’ He said, ‘Jerry Blavat, the Geator’,” speaking of the legendary DJ who was mourned by the city after his death in 2023.
After Dirty Honey’s LaBelle revved up the crowd with satisfyingly shrieking covers of Led Zeppelin and AC/DC, the lengthy show settled in to a strummy hard-rock acoustic duo midsection.
Ed Roland of Georgia band Collective Soul played, accompanied by producer Shawn Grove, a Philly area-native and Pierre-ophile. Before getting to the band’s signature 1993 hit “Shine,” Roland thanked the Eagles for drafting several Georgia Bulldogs defensive players, then was taken by surprise by a raucous “E-A-G-L-E-S” chant.
“I love you already, and now I love you even more,” he told the crowd.
Halestorm is the band led by singer Lzzy Hale and guitarist Joe Hottinger that hails from Red Lion in York County. Hale is a full-throated rock star, and ripped it up on “I Miss the Misery” and “Love Bites (So Do I).” She dedicated a forthright piano ballad, “How Will You Remember Me?” to Robert.
Brent Smith and Zach Myers of Shinedown followed and had the room singing with hits like “A Symptom of Being Human” and “Three Six Five.”
“There will never be another human on this earth who loves music more than that guy,” Myers said of Robert. Thanks to Robert, “Philly feels like a second home to us,” he said.
The quality of material was elevated considerably with Myers’ cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.”
The soul of the evening, however, belonged to the Hooters. The band was introduced twice. First by Robert’s longtime MMR colleague John DeBella, who noted that the Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman-fronted Philly band was Robert’s favorite, along with the Rolling Stones.
(Curiously, none of the acts covered a Stones song, or anything by the Grateful Dead, who Robert also dearly loved.)
The second time, the Hooters were intro’d by Robert himself, who referred to the band as “joy generators” in a recording from one of the band’s annual shows at the Keswick Theatre, the last of which he attended just days before his death.
The band kept it bright, opening with the carpe diem optimism of “I’m Alive” and the hopeful “Silver Lining,” looking for a light even when “in your deepest shade of black.”
“This is a joyous occasion,” Bazilian said. “But it’s life, and it’s one that was so well-lived. And that we all got to share.”
The sextet named after a melodica — the instrument which Hyman and guitarist John Lilly played simultaneously at one point — made sure to include Robert’s picks, such as “Boys Will Be Boys.”
And the city that Robert came to love was celebrated in its closing song “Beat Up Guitar,” with a lyric that could have been voiced by its departed friend.
“I may leave this place tomorrow, but my soul is here to stay,” Hyman and Bazilian sang, “In the town that rocked the nation — Philadelphia, Pa.”