Mark Sandman Memorial Concerts To Commemorate 25th Anniversary Of Morphine Frontman’s Passing

July 3rd will mark will the 25th anniversary of the tragic day Morphine singer-bassied Mark Sandman died after suffering a heart attack onstage at a concert outside Rome. The anniversary will be honored with a series of tribute concerts in Massachusetts dubbed “Mark Sandman Memorial Concerts: Gone 25 Years But Not Forgotten” at The Cut in Gloucester on July 5 and at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge on July 12.

Orchestra Morphine plus special guests will perform Sandman’s music at a total of three shows with one in Gloucester and two in Cambridge. While tickets for both Lizard Lounge shows are sold out, limited tickets remain for The Cut. A portion of proceeds from all three performances will benefit the Billy Conway Artist Fund, created in tribute to the late Morphine drummer who died in 2021.

In addition to his work with Morphine, Mark Sandman also formed the funk ensemble Hypnosonics in 1984. The project’s last lineup featured Sandman on guitar and keys, drummer Jay Hilt, saxophonist Russ Gershon, trumpeter Tom Halter, bassist Mike Rivard and Morphine saxophonist Danny Colley. While Hypnosonics never released any recordings during Sandman’s lifetime, Modern Harmonic will issue a new double CD from the archive of live Hypnosonics recordings entitled It’s Not Like That Anymore: Cambridge Rent Control Benefit ’94 & NYC ’97 along with a single LP vinyl of selected cuts from both CDs this summer.

Original Morphine members Dana Colley and Jerome Deupree will take part in the upcoming memorial concerts as will Russ Gershon, Tom Halter (Either/Orchestra) and Mike Rivard (Club d’Elf) of Hypnosonics. Other special guests helping to interpret songs from the Morphine and Hypnosonics catalogs include Laurie Sargent, Jimmy Ryan, Evan Harriman, Sabine Hrechdakian and Christian McNeill.