Press your browsers back button to return to the previous page. Thanks to Bill Jennings for supplying this Information. Just a quick note from another Cars fan regarding the death of Ben Orr. I went to see Big People last night at the Tabernacle in Atlanta. They did a really nice tribute to Ben and I thought it would be of interest to you. The Tabernacle is an old church downtown that has been retrofitted to be a night club, very small but cool concert venue. I don't think you could fit more than 300 people in this place. My wife and I got there about 45 mins. before the show started and they were playing the Cars Anthology over a kick ass sound system. The show started late for the crowd of about 100 people that ranged in ages from 10 to 60. Afterall, this was a concert to benefit the March of Dimes, one of Ben's favorite charities. There was a huge gathering of biker types (about 40 Harleys were lined up outside of this place) to take part in a bike ride to benefit the March of Dimes. Kaedy Kiely, local radio personality on Atlanta's Z 93 did the introductions. Before bringing the band out, she announced Ben's passing, talked about her conversations with him, how he loved kids and wanted to help the March of Dimes raise money for babies and how much he will be missed by everyone. The crowd was sullen, you could've heard a pin drop. I couldn't help but begin to clap in appreciation for Ben's charity and music, and yelled like a fool, "YEAH!!!!" (my wife was giving me one of those pinches on my side that say "Don't do that, you'll look silly"). Kaedy looked over at me and she said, "Yeah...that's right, let's hear for Ben!", then everyone started clapping and yelling "Yeah Ben!!" or "Yeah Benjamin!!!". Then she said, "Well it is with that we've put together a tribute to Ben and tonight's concert is in his honor." The lights dimmed, they played Drive over the PA, and on a large video screen they played a slideshow of personal photos from Ben's life. The first slide was a really old black and white photo of a very young Ben Orr. I would have to say he looked about 14 or 15, dressed in a suit, playing guitar and singing for a small crowd (it could have been a talent contest photo). The show then went through alot of the stock photos and publicity shots that any Cars fan would've seen before. Then about midway through "Drive" they started showing personal photos of parties and backstage antics with The Cars and Big People. As the song approached the end, slides of Ben and his 5 yr old son from birthday parties and the Atlanta Motorspeedway, and his fiancee embracing, it was really tough to watch. The last slide was of Ben with his son (who looks just like him) at the dinner table, the little boy...smiling in amazement to the camera and Ben grinning and looking at his boy like any proud father would....it was very touching. The song concluded with that slide and a huge round of applause and cheers for him. Any Cars fan would've appreciated what Big People did to put this presentation together at such a difficult time. Then they played "Just what I needed" as the stagehands broke down the video screen to bring out Big People. Big People, if you didn't know is a band that Ben put together here in Atlanta. The members are Derek St. Holmes (from Ted Nugent fame), Billy Joel's drummer Liberty DeVito, and Jeff Carlisi of .38 Special. These guys came out with guns blazing playing "Hey Baby", Derek St. Holmes is an awesome entertainer. Then they played .38 Special's "Caught Up in You" and Billy Joel's "I may be crazy". They ran through all the classics, Stranglehold, Cat Scratch Fever, Billy Joel hits, and even a few of their own songs. Then Derek paused for a break to talk about Ben, it was obvious he was having a tough time dealing with it. Derek dedicated the next song to Ben, .38 Special's "Second Chance", great song! This was a fantastic show for anyone who likes kick ass rock-n-roll. They're supposed to release a live CD with Ben Orr on it. I recommend you go see Big People if you have an opportunity to do so (www.dstholmes.com) , you won't regret it.