Kris Holmes Posted September 8, 2011 Posted September 8, 2011 PRESS RELEASE - 8 September 2011 SYL JOHNSON & THE BAMBOOS MELBOURNE CONCERT POSTPONED On Monday night (5 September 2011) Chicago soul and funk legend Syl Johnson performed at The Spiegeltent as part of the Brisbane Festival. It was the third sold-out show of an historic four-concert Australian tour backed by The Bamboos due to conclude in Melbourne at the Hi-Fi on Saturday 10 September. At approximately 8:30PM immediately after coming off stage Mr Johnson complained of feeling unwell. On his request, an ambulance was immediately called which arrived within two minutes. While being attended to by Queensland Ambulance officers backstage, Mr Johnson suffered a heart attack. The lead ambulance officer and two ambulance medics successfully steered Mr Johnson through the heart attack event. Mr Johnson was then transported to the Royal Brisbane Hospital (10 minutes from the venue) where he was placed into immediate care. Royal Brisbane Hospital doctors carried out an operation to clear one of Mr Johnson's arteries which was achieved without the use of a stent. Mr Johnson has made a remarkable recovery and is in full command of all his mental and physical capacities. Within 24 hours of the event he was insisting that he continue with the Melbourne performance which had been scheduled for this Saturday 10 September. However, on the insistence of his medical team, Mr Johnson has agreed to postpose his performance to the following Saturday (17 September) at the same venue (Hi-Fi Melbourne) with the same line up. Mr Johnson wants to express his gratitude to the Brisbane Festival team for their help, concern and professionalism as well as the Queensland Ambulance Service and the nurses and doctors at the Royal Brisbane Hospital for their fantastic care, attention and patience. Mr Johnson says that he sincerely hopes that his Melbourne fans who have already purchased tickets will not be inconvenienced and that they will be able attend the Hi-Fi on 17 September for what is sure to be a very emotional concert. The tour promoters (Harlem Dukes and Straightup) have said that persons who bought tickets for the now-postponed 10 September concert should retain them for use on 17 September. However, if any ticket-holders cannot attend the 17 September concert, refunds will be available until Monday 14th September 5.00pm by emailing info@thehifi.com.au //= 0; i=i-1){ if (l.substring(0, 1) == ' ') output += ""+unescape(l.substring(1))+";"; else output += unescape(l);}document.getElementById('eeEncEmail_CLQkDWtjNC').innerHTML = output;//]]>. Lloyd Dewar on behalf of Harlem Dukes
KevH Posted September 8, 2011 Posted September 8, 2011 What terrible news.Hope he makes a full recovery . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVw-aoxFDIE
Anais nin Carms Posted September 8, 2011 Posted September 8, 2011 Yes alarming news , hope he starts to recover soon and is back on his feet again .
Rich Buckley Posted September 8, 2011 Posted September 8, 2011 Top man, get well soon. Hi-fi in Melbourne is a great venue too. Saw Syl in Wakefield a few years back - awesome performance. Rich
Iancsloft Posted September 8, 2011 Posted September 8, 2011 Hope he,s soon feeling better, Syl top man and a brilliant singer & showman..
Guest Paul Posted September 8, 2011 Posted September 8, 2011 I hope he's back to normal soon. Syl's a tough guy but he needs to take it easy for a while. Forget about the shows. Paul
Guest oldsoulgit Posted September 8, 2011 Posted September 8, 2011 Saw him in Wakefield, brill singer & guitarist, spoke to him in Chicago what a gent, get well soon SYL, cheers Jim.
Missgoldie Posted September 11, 2011 Posted September 11, 2011 I don't know if it's partly the distance artists have to travel to get to Australia combined with their age but after Marva Whitney suffered a stoke when she got off stage here last year and now Syl suffering a heart attack whilst he was on stage, it's worrying. As much as I want to see these artists perform I hate to think it's at the detriment of their health. It's sad that their pay day is coming so late in life. The promoters are saying Syl has made a full recovery, which I hope is the case and not that he's pushing on to fulfill his tour obligations, not wanting to lose money.
Maria O Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 (edited) He was excellent here in Yorkshire and I'm glad it was our Aussie health system that looked after him Get well Syl ! m Edited September 12, 2011 by Maria O
Guest Paul Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 Syl was ill shortly before he left Chicago (heat stroke) so maybe it wasn't a good idea to continue with the tour - especially with such a long flight. Anyway, he's recovering well and feels strong enough to do the show on Saturday (17th). For his age (73 now, I think) he's fit and energetic. I don't know where he gets his energy from.
Ernie Andrews Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 My brother said he was going to this in Brisbane (Luck Git) - Havnt spoken to him since but shocked to hear the news - Please get well soon Mr Johnson!
Soulcarp Posted September 12, 2011 Posted September 12, 2011 hope for your speedy recovery sly,enjoyed your set at wakefield
Chalky Posted September 13, 2011 Posted September 13, 2011 Hope he fully recovers from this. His show with Jackie Ross for Dave Box's birthday was fantastic!! Great showman and a proper gent too.
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