Bob Meide (courtesy of www.flaminohs.com)
He was a hard-bashing, hard-partying, fun-loving drummer in the spirit of the Who's Keith Moon. Bob Meide was one of the most-beloved drummers in the Twin Cities music scene for the past four decades. "He was mighty and he was fierce," said Flamin' Oh's frontman Robert Wilkinson, Meide's bandmate for 40 years. "In his heyday, he rocked like no one else in town."
Meide, the drummer for the Flamin' Oh's, died Sunday morning at North Memorial hospital from complications of Korsakoff's syndrome, a neurological disorder. He was 59.
"He was lovable, easy-going, liked to party, kinda goofy," said Wilkinson, who called himself and Meide "lads in arms." "And as any brother can be, he was as annoying as hell. We loved each other deeply. He was a good-hearted person."
Wilkinson said that Meide liked being a rock star. "He was always kind of 'on' if he was out and about," the singer said.
As a drummer, Meide was "bombastic," said rocker Curtiss A, Minneapolis' dean of scream. "He liked to keep things rocking. People would say it all sounded the same, but they said that about Ringo, too."
In recent years, Meide worked as a limousine driver but was laid off during the recession. He last drummed with the Flamin' Oh's in January at Famous Dave's in Uptown. "I could tell then that he was in bad shape," Wilkinson recalled. "He was really tired after a few songs."
In early June, Wilkinson called Meide to see if he could handle another gig at Famous Dave's on July 31. The drummer said he could. However, an hour later, the singer called back to doublecheck and Meide suggested enlisting another drummer and that he'd sit in on a few songs.
Meide's Korsakoff's syndrome was diagnosed in the last few weeks, Wilkinson said. "It happened pretty fast. He was lucid one moment and then it was like he had Alzheimers the next. He didn't know who I was."
The singer visited the drummer in the hospital a few times, and returned after Meide died. "I gave him a kiss and a hug," Wilkinson said, "and told him to keep rocking."
Services are pending.
The Flamin' Oh's will perform July 31 at Famous Dave's. Said Wilkinson: "We will rock the [bleep] out of the place in honor of Bobby. He wouldn't want us to sit on our asses. Bobby would want us to keep rocking."