'A Day For Remembrance': Artists Honour Tenth Anniversary Of GW McLennan's Death

Today marks the tenth anniversary since the tragic death of Aussie music legend and The Go-Betweens co-founder, Grant McLennan and a number of close friends, collaborators and musicians have paid tribute to the late musician.

In a touching Facebook post shared earlier today, fellow The Go-Betweens member Robert Forster said he and McLennan were "a force together".

"I think of him often; he is not someone who has faded - remaining close to me as he always will be, in memory and music," Forster wrote.

"We knew each other for just over thirty years — for seventeen of them we were in a band, for the remainder of the time the friendship was just as important and central to us."

Read the full statement below.

Speaking to The Music today, Custard drummer Glenn Thompson, who played with The Go-Betweens on their last two albums (2003's Bright Yellow Bright Orange and Oceans Apart in 2005), said today was a time for him to reminisce about the good times they shared on tour together. 

"Grant was a great person to be on tour with because he embraced every aspect… somehow I think he was more comfortable on tour then he was at home in some aspects," Thompson said.

"It suited his notion of how life should be. He was very serious about the presentation of his show and the songs and how the band sounded and looked, how we played, where we played. But also, very warm and friendly to support bands and locals, fans."

Bass guitarist of Aussie favourites Powderfinger, John Collins, said every encounter he had with McLennan was a positive one. 

"Grant was a wonderful guy," Collins said.

"I was a fan of The Go-Betweens and saw them play at the first Livid festival, probably back in ’87 or something like that.

"Growing up in Brisbane, The Go-Betweens were a very important band for us. He was a really lovely guy and I think one of the last Big Day Outs [Powderfinger] did, he was on the bill and getting to hang out with him was good fun."

Collins, who now runs Queensland venue The Triffid, also revealed plans for a Go-Betweens tribute show later in 2016. 

"That's how much we care about Grant," Collins said.

Fellow Powderfinger member Ian Haug who founded the short-lived Far Out Corporation in 1997 with McLennan said, "Ten years is a long time, yet it seems like yesterday that I enjoyed long island iced teas, laughter and fantastic chats about everything with Grant. 

Peter Milton Walsh of '80s indie outfit The Apartments today re-published a blog he wrote about McLennan in 2010 titled, Who Will Remember Your Tunes?, in which he calls the anniversary "a day for remembrance".

Read the full blog here.