Lyle Peterson of The Gideons performs at Jan. 15 KISS tribute. (Photo: Meghan Harrison)

Hundreds ‘rock and roll all nite’ to celebrate bartender’s life

$4,000 raised at concert to honour barkeep’s love of KISS

Peter Roberts never missed a day of work in his five-and-a-half years at Gus' Pub, but he did switch a shift in order to attend last year's KISS convention.

"It was actually a big disappointment for him," said Dimo Georgakakos, Gus' owner. "He had a better collection of KISS paraphernalia than they did!"

Roberts might have been more impressed by Thursday night's show at the bar, which brought together 15 local acts to play KISS songs. The cover charge was donated to Roberts' family to help cover his funeral expenses.

Roberts was found dead in his apartment on Dec. 29. He was injured in an assault at Gus' two days earlier, but an autopsy ruled out the injuries as a cause of death. He was 44.

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Peter Roberts (Photo courtesy of Dimo Georgakakos)

Slideshow

Bands rock and roll over Gus' Pub to remember Peter Roberts.

Related Websites

• BA Johnston Drinking Game - Peter Roberts reads the rules in this clip from the 2007 BA Johnston live DVD.

Roberts was a familiar face to many patrons at Gus' Pub, a popular North End bar and music venue in a neighbourhood full of artists, musicians and students. Roberts himself attended NSCAD University.

‘He was always really supportive of bands'

Lyle Peterson, 27, of The Gideons met Roberts four years ago when Peterson walked into the bar wearing a KISS shirt. Roberts struck up a conversation with him about the band and they developed a friendship during Peterson's weekly visits to the bar.

When Peterson's former band, The Sweet Tenders, played a New Year's Eve show at Gus' in 2005, Roberts brought him a special gift.

"Peter had seen KISS at the Forum in '76 and '77, and in '77 he was in the front row and Ace Frehley, the guitarist, was throwing used Ace Frehley guitar picks into the audience through the whole show."

Roberts caught two of them, and gave one to Peterson before his New Year's Eve set, taped to the back of an Ace Frehley trading card.

"He'd been hanging on to them for 30 years, and then he decided to give one to me," Peterson said, with evident awe.

Peterson keeps the pick in a ring box and hasn't used it since.

"I'm not even using it tonight. I don't want anything to happen to it."

Peterson last spoke to Roberts on Boxing Day, when Roberts bragged about his recent acquisition of a vintage KISS Dynasty poster "for just 50 bucks, a pitcher of beer and a copy of KISS-opoly -- which is the KISS version of Monopoly."

"He was always really supportive of bands," said Josh Salter, 21, also of The Gideons. "No matter what happened, when you got off stage he'd say, ‘Awesome job!' But he was really genuine about it.

"Well, he'd make fun of you sometimes. But it was kind of nice."

The last time Salter spoke to Roberts, "he told me that rock and roll had saved his life countless times."

Georgakakos says Roberts' apartment was full of posters from shows that took place at the bar.

‘You meet a lot of bartenders, and not a lot of them were like Peter'

Gus' booker and touring musician BA Johnston had Roberts read the rules for the BA Johnston Drinking Game in his 2007 concert DVD "This Is What 110 Per Cent Smells Like."

"He was a really quick-witted guy, easy to get to know," Johnston said.

"I've played at a lot of bars and you meet a lot of bartenders, and not a lot of them were like Peter. He was always really interested in the bands and would be really friendly while you're sitting around waiting for people to show up."

The bar was already crowded by the time the first band went on just after nine o'clock. Over the next four hours, local musicians took on the KISS catalog with everything from Laura Peek's sweet piano arrangement of "Beth" to Mark Black's short spoken-word performance about being a KISS fan.

While The Gideons closed out the show with "Rock and Roll All Nite," audience members rushed the stage and then chanted "Peter" after the song finished. More than 300 people came to the tribute concert. Between cover and a donation jar, the event raised $4,000 for Roberts' family.

"It's funny, I keep wanting to call him up," Georgakakos said. "I just wish I could call him and tell him how awesome all of this is."

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