DAVE Forbes can clearly remember the mid-80s music scene in Newcastle and the deep love and respect he held for Paul Woseen.
At the time Woseen was the gun bass guitarist for leading rock band The Embers, who enjoyed a virtual residency at Newcastle's Great Northern Hotel, and at many of those gigs the support was Forbes' band Strange Brew.
"Newcastle was awesome in those days," Forbes said.
"Newcastle was it as far as rock music went back then. It was pretty much the litmus test for everyone in the country.
"If you did alright here, you did alright anywhere."
Of course, Woseen did more than alright. He would later join Aspect, which morphed into The Screaming Jets who became one of Newcastle's biggest musical exports pumping out pub-rock classics like Helping Hand, Better and October Grey.
The Australian music community was left in mourning on September 15 when Woseen died suddenly in Melbourne aged 56 just a fortnight before the release of the Screaming Jets' latest album Professional Misconduct.
A memorial was held for Woseen in St Kilda on October 4.
However, Forbes and another of Woseen's old music friends, Michael Williams, wanted to organise a tribute to the man known as "Paully" in his hometown.
On December 13 The Gal in Hamilton will host All For Paul, a charity concert to raise money for Support Act.
"We thought we should do something in his hometown for him," Forbes said.
"It's basically a thing for Newy. We didn't want to disrespect anyone, we just wanted to let the people down there [in Melbourne] do their thing and it was fantastic.
"We just wanted to show our love for him too."
All For Paul will be headlined by Jets Play Jets - which feature former Screaming Jets members Grant Walmsley and Richard Lara - plus Half Nelson, the Brien McVernon Band, Backfire, Riff Raff, Love That Hat and Bobby C.
Forbes said many of Woseen's friends in Newcastle have been saddened by the death of someone he described as an intelligent guy who was "very soft-hearted underneath his crusty exterior."
"He was bit of critic sometimes, he was bit of a mentor sometimes," he said.
"He was all those things that encapsulate being a friend in the end."
Limited tickets are still available for All For Paul.
