Devon Clifford, drummer for You Say Party! We Say Die!, died Friday night.Rafal Gerszak
Devon Clifford, the drummer for the B.C. band You Say Party! We Say Die!, has died after collapsing during a show in Vancouver on Friday night.
"It is with absolute sadness to report that our dear friend Devon Clifford passed away just hours ago in a Vancouver hospital surrounded by his family and friends," the band's publicist, Darryl Weeks, said in a statement Sunday morning. "He will be deeply missed by everyone who knew him."
The band was performing at an all-ages show Friday at the Rickshaw Theatre, in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, when Clifford collapsed on stage. He was rushed to hospital.
The band send out messages on Twitter after his collapse: "There aren't a lot of words right now. Let the doctors do their job." And then: "We are devastated and trying to keep hope. He needs a miracle. Thank you."
Clifford, who was born in 1979, grew up in Abbotsford, B.C., where the new-wave dance-punk band formed in 2003. He lived in Vancouver and worked for the Portland Hotel Society, which provides sustainable housing to people in the Downtown Eastside. He was described in a recent Globe interview with the band as being a "huge hockey fan" who has known fellow bandmate guitarist Derek Adam since they were babies.
The band had recently returned home after touring the U.S. and Western Canada in support of their most recent CD, XXXX.
They were scheduled to begin a tour of Europe later this month.
Marsha Lederman