The first time you visit Music Live, as I did in 2002, it will take your breath away. The event, held every year at the Birmingham NEC in the United Kingdom, it is the biggest show of its kind.

Guitars, guitars and more guitars! After 10 minutes in the place it feels like you are walking around in a maze. There is so much to see, you loose all sense of direction and have to refer to the handy map they give you when you walk in.

Walls of Marshall stacks line the isles and in 2002 we saw Mr.Marshall himself, cigar in his mouth, packing boxes, humping gear around and signing autographs! You can understand why he's been such a successful business man - the man is a hands on, hard working kinda guy who takes no "s h one t" from anybody!

Then there is the drummers section...yes well, what can we say! We have all had experiences with 'drummers' have we not - wall to wall drum kits, as far as the eye can see.

The techno section is huge too, Roland had a massive display with loads of 'try-it-yourself' displays...and there were loads of curious punters checking out the hands-on section of all the very latest in music technology.

To our surprise, the people that publish the magazines which test, rate and review all the gear on the show, were there in full force including Future Publishing who bring us Guitarist, Total Guitar and others.

Thousands of musicians and people from all walks of life visit the show each year, including our good selves, and experience the buzz of the great British music industry.

On hand are some of the world's finest musicians - the late Eric Roche (RIP) was no exception. Eric was standing alone on a corner of an exhibitor’s box with his guitar plugged into a small PA system. I can't remember the make, but he had such a rich, natural acoustic sound and it cut through the crowd noise as if to beckon me to his location.

He greeted with a nod and then shook my hand, welcoming my wife, daughter (3) and I to the show and asked where we were from? "Accent? what accent? I have an accent!" I exclaimed to his question but having only been in the UK for a few months, my South African twang was still very strong and a dead give-away!

As much as we English speaking South Africans like to think we speak the Queens English; the fact of the matter is we do not...in fact, far from it!

Eric told me he about his friendship with Tony Cox & Stevie Newman, two very accomplished SA acoustic guitarists from the mother city, Cape Town. I had worked with both Tony and Steve on a few of the Guitars for Africa shows in Durban. We had found a common bond between us and we chatted for sometime before Eric started to get restless because it was time to play.

I asked him if he would mind if I filmed his performance, and he said "no, not at all, with the greatest of pleasure!" There were a few curious on lookers checking out the adjacent Future plc stand, Eric started playing a very percussive piece and after one or two minutes of his performance, the floor around us was packed as you can see from the video clip.

I lost touch with Eric, well I was only one curious on lookers with a wife, a kid and a camera; not really of any consequence and besides, by the time the show had ended, he would have spoken to hundred's more like me so I never expected any more from him.

I learned of his illness towards the end on the Guitarist magazine forum - I was shocked to hear the news. It brings home to us all just how short life can be and that we should treasure every single second, minute and hour of our existence.

he video clip, which is I truly treasure, is Eric's performance of "Hamam Norwegian Wood." - rest in peace my brother in music.

Visit Erics Website: www.ericroche.com

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