Brad Kent obit

R.I.P. Former D.O.A. Member Brad Kent

 

He was not on the list.

Brad Kent, an early Vancouver punk musician who had played with D.O.A. and the Subhumans, died last night (February 3) following complications from pneumonia, his friends and former bandmates have confirmed.

Kent's most recent project, Monster Baby, reported yesterday through their Facebook page that Kent was in critical condition at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton. Sadly, as reported by the Georgia Straight, he passed away later that night.

Condolences were made by D.O.A. frontman Joe Keithley, who had apparently been taught how to play guitar by Kent. They played together in the late '70s as proto-D.O.A. act the Skulls.

After the Skulls broke up, Kent would play in Vancouver unit Victorian Pork, as well as early lineups of D.O.A. and the Subhumans, before moving down to San Francisco to join Bay Area punk greats the Avengers.

Over the years, Kent would also play in acts including Death Sentence, metal group Ground Zero, a reformed Victorian Pork, and the Sick Ones project with fellow former D.O.A. players Randy Rampage.

Kent's last project was Monster Baby with the Modernettes' Mary "Celeste" Armstrong. A Facebook post from last month explained that they had been putting the finishing touches on their debut LP, which they described as "a collection of songs so baddass but diverse that they defy the influences that spawned them."

Other tributes to the fallen punk musician include former Modernettes member Buck Cherry (a.k.a. John Armstrong) taking to Facebook to call Kent "probably the best rock and roll guitar player in the early Vancouver scene."

He played guitar with many of the early Vancouver punk rock bands, particularly Victorian Pork, the band which spawned D.O.A., Pointed Sticks and the Subhumans. Later he went to San Francisco to play guitar for the Avengers with Penelope Houston.

In 1977, Kent was a member of Vancouver punk band, The Skulls, which also featured singer Joey Shithead, bassist Wimpy Roy, drummer Dimwit, and guitarist Simon Werner. The Skulls moved to Toronto, with eventual plans to relocate to London, England, but Kent stayed behind and formed Victorian Pork, which became a proving ground for several future Vancouver punk scene stalwarts, including Ian Tiles, Tony Bardach, Gerry Useless, Randy Rampage and Chuck Biscuits. When the Skulls broke up and hobbled back to Vancouver, Joey Shithead formed DOA with Victorian Pork drummer Chuck Biscuits (Dimwit's younger brother) and former Victorian Pork drummer, Randy Rampage, who moved to bass. Meanwhile, Dimwit and Wimpy formed the Subhumans with Brad Kent on guitar (this original version was a trio, Wimpy played bass and sang). Later, the more recognized line-up was formed with former Victorian Pork bassist Gerry Hannah AKA Gerry Useless and guitarist Mike Graham AKA Mike Normal. Mike and Gerry were in the Stiffs with Zippy Pinhead & Sid Sick.