Speaker by Various Artists

Thanks Grant. RIP Peter.

Thank you, Grant. I’m a wee bit heartbroken by this.

PS. the new material I saw him play last year with Hope and Danny etc was pretty amazing. I hope recordings exist..

I heard he didn't have the greatest of times on that last New York trip, it may have knocked him round a bit...
The Stuff sites are all hailing him as from the Chills and The Clean, rather than highlighting Snapper, and some of the comments sound like people may be confusing him with Martin Phillipps...
The man has left a lasting legacy.
Rest in peace.

Nice tribute Grant. There've been so many wonderful comments and memories about Peter in the last 24 hours, I can't add much more. However, I remember a significant moment in the complex Dunedin-Auckland dynamic when, on the legendary series Gloss, the character Damien (played by another sadly departed iconic talent - Kevin Smith) impressed Chelsea Redfern by playing Buddy on his tape deck.

yes. I'm glad Stuff changed that headline. Says MP's sister.

Thanks Grant. Really glad I got to see Peter and his band play last year. Here’s a couple more photos from the day.

World class, the guys music was huge, and "Buddy" is a classic rock song that digs into your brain as fast as a Beatles song and as long and enduring as a V.U
classic. Guy had it all, great lyrics, great melody and songs that will never leave your music brain. Big loss.

Through the highs (hearing "Hang On" for the first time on "In Love With These Times", the release of 'Pure') to the lows (seeing Gutteridge slumped, mumbling, incoherent against his electric piano at a gig on the ADM tour) one thing never changed - my love of almost all of the music he contributed to throughout his life.

Had to leave work when I heard the news yesterday. Sat down by the water, thought of the music, my encounters with the man both from the audience and in person, and shed a tear.

Will be missed.

They were formidable – but to me they were also one of those bands where it had to be that line-up or not at all. Subsequent line-ups had their moments, but that original line-up really were phenomenal. It was drone-rock at its most uncompromising and thrilling – huge, pulsating riffs and waves of screeching, distorted guitars.

Thanks for this Grant – there’s not much more to say.

Photograph of Peter Gutteridge with the original Snapper lineup, probably at the Gluepot, 1988 or early 1989 ...

love the hat

Peter Gutteridge with the original Snapper lineup, probably at the Gluepot, 1988 or early 1989

yes

Very sad, but a lovely piece Grant.

This year there were two firsts for me- despite having lived in Dunedin most of my life, and seen Snapper whenever possible in their "heyday", I had never had a conversation with Peter. However I met him when I bumped into him and a mutual friend earlier this year, and one thing that struck me was his positivity about about some of the "newer" Dunedin music - he was particularly enthused about Kane Strang.
The other, more significant moment, was seeing him play with the Clean at Chicks- taking forever to plug in his amp, tune his guitar, while a bemused/amused and ever patient band and crowd waited . . . and then a quite brilliant couple of songs, including a majestic "Point that thing". It was a tear in the eye moment then, now even more so.
Sadly missed.

The other, more significant moment, was seeing him play with the Clean at Chicks- taking forever to plug in his amp, tune his guitar, while a bemused/amused and ever patient band and crowd waited . . . and then a quite brilliant couple of songs, including a majestic “Point that thing”

oh yes …

Live performance at Chicks Hotel, Port Chalmers, Dunedin, 31st January 2014. Peter Gutteridge making a special appearance. Filmed by Andy Ellis

Live performance at Chicks Hotel, Port Chalmers, Dunedin, 31st January 2014. Peter Gutteridge making a special appearance. Filmed by Andy Ellis

There’s a fairly serious camera and mic kit appearing in front of this one. Wonder what happened to that?

I hope he finds water.

Thanks Jonathan- a good find.

Just watched this hauntingly beautiful clip of Peter Gutteridge busking in Dunedin, which was posted elsewhere in recent days

A memorial and condolences book for Peter has been set up in the foyer of Dunedin Public Library, I've just heard.

Chris Heazlewood is flying back with Peter's body tomorrow, so presumably there'll be a service at the weekend or early next week.

Like Jack, I hope you find water Peter

thank you for such magical music and memories

Peter Gutteridge Memorial Service to be at Forsyth Barr Stadium 'J' entrance 11-2 Tuesday. Followed by a private burial.

This info has just been posted on Peter's F/b page by Stu Kawowski.

Just a few corrections I've been informed of by Peter's sister, Mary:

"A few corrections, he never had music lessons. We had a piano but he didn't learn it. His limp was from having one leg shorter than the other, it caused him pain from his teens on. When he finally gave in and wore orthotics for it things improved, he got clean and ha music gave him a reason to look after himself again."

and:

"he was alone when he died. Bloody tragic but I'm glad the focus is on the good memories as it should be."

Sorry for getting these facts wrong, hopefully this will clarify things.

Peter's service and wake were yesterday, there was an immense amount of love and respect for him shown at both.

There was about 350 - 400 people at the service, which was led by Fr. Ivica Gregurec from St Martin's Church in North-east Valley, which Peter had begun attending a few years' ago.

The priest was fantastic, he said he had no idea of Peter's status within music circles, etc, but he very clearly "got" Peter as a person and conducted the service with much reverence and humour.

Chris Heazlewood, David Merritt, Christine Voice, Sersha Forde, Peter nephew Jack and one of his sisters paid tribute, then the Lord's Prayer and then the crowd united to read one of Peter's favourite prayers, 'Our Birth in Unity' from Prayers Of The Cosmos.

Afterwards, as many of us stood outside, a very uncanny, quite amusing moment occurred. Andrew Johns, one of the biggest names in rugby league history (in town to promote the Auckland 9s), walked out of the stadium door, past about 100 of us and not a single person either recognised or acknowledged him. As Graeme Humphreys said "That's perfect for Peter, music has triumphed over sport, for once !"

Peter's family and closest friends them buried him at Purakanui, then there was a wake at Long Beach town hall. There was a pretty decent-sized crowd there, too.

Instruments were set-up on stage and The Puddle, Chris Heazlewood and others played songs in tribute. It was a fun evening, lots of old friends catching up with each other, lots of great memories shared.

As I was leaving, Richard Langston noted the cloudless, bright, star-filled sky. We stood and gazed at it for a bit. Maybe Peter was looking down at us. If so, he would've been touched by the fondness to him we'd all talked about during the day and evening.

Richard then said a line from 'Born In The Wrong Time' as we got in the car: "We're sending him away."

We have sent him away, but we all have the memories, the stories and the music.

Thanks Grant. Gaynor had work on Tuesday so couldn't make the service. Wish she'd known about the evening event - she's been feeling such a loss - Pete was her boyfriend when he was still at school.