Bandmates plan final tribute to popular Dubai bassist

This content was originally posted in 7DAYS UAE website at: Bandmates plan final tribute to popular Dubai bassist Family, friends and fellow musicians have been paying tribute to John ‘Joms’ Magno, a member of all-Filipino Dubai-based band Up the Ante, who died in a longboarding accident on December 20. The bass player was doing a downhill run at Mushrif Park in Dubai when he “must have miscalculated a turn,” said guitarist bandmate John Mark ‘Kram’ Cruz. Cruz says Magno was wearing all the protective gear but he “hit a lamppost and hit his head, chest and neck”, which proved fatal to the 26-year-old graphic designer. Being the youngest in the band, Cruz says Magno was like a little brother to them. “He was always fun and I will never forget his dance moves and the way he would always make us laugh,” he said. “I was there at the memorial gathering in Deira [on Monday]. Ninety per cent of the Dubai musicians that I invited attended and paid their respects to our brother.” According to Cruz, Magno was “the most creative and displayed exceptional intellectual ability when it came to the arrangement of our original songs. We were planning to concentrate on recording and release an album in 2016.” He said the band are finalising plans for a tribute show for their bandmate. Magno was also a member of Musicology Fhamily, the band of CPI Media Group founder Dominic De Sousa, who died last week after collapsing during a performance at the 2015 BBC Good Food ME Awards. It was announced on Up the Ante’s Facebook page that there would be a last viewing of Magno’s remains today “before his body will be moved to the embalming hospital. Please be there at the Dubai Police General Headquarters, Al Twar 1 by 9am.” glaiza@7days.ae Read the original story at: Bandmates plan final tribute to popular Dubai bassist