PORT ANGELES — When Dying to Bleed takes the stage for one last time on July 20, the Port Angeles-based death metal band will shred in honor of late frontman Robert “BJ” Annette, whose untimely death led to life for his friend.
Annette, a well-known vocalist, concert promoter and children’s advocate, died in April after suffering a heart attack at his Spanaway home.
He was 40.
Annette was an organ donor, and one of his kidneys went to his friend Randy Kastner, a fellow New York Death Militia music club regional president from Watertown, Wis.
Kastner, 41, is doing well 2½ months after the operation.
Jason Gorss of Port Angeles, Dying to Bleed bassist and co-founder, said the unlikely story of Annette and Kastner being a perfect match for the kidney transplant is “almost a happily-ever-after.”
“I mean, BJ saved his life,” Gorss said. “This could be a movie.”
The all-ages Robert “BJ” Annette “farewell for now” concert and Dying to Bleed reunion will be held at the Dry Creek Grange, 3130 W. Edgewood Drive, on July 20, a Saturday, beginning at 6 p.m.
Dying to Bleed, which had a cult following on the North Olympic Peninsula until it disbanded in October 2010, will headline the five-act heavy metal show.
The suggested donation is $5, with the proceeds going to Annette’s wife, Michelle, and son, Gavin, who were stuck with a six-figure medical bill.
Other bands scheduled to perform are Decapitate the Disciples, Northern Bastard, Jack Havoc and Inside Defiance, the latter of which Gorss also plays in.
Gorss, who was a distributions manager for the Peninsula Daily News until its press closed in 2011, said Annette was “really big” in the Puget Sound metal scene.
“He always was a huge booster for local bands, and was friends with a lot of the venue owners,” Gorss said.
Annette put new bands in touch with venue owners, and promoted concerts with a weekly spot on KISW, Seattle rock station.
Asked to describe Annette’s style as a vocalist, Gorss answered with two words: “Death metal.”
“Death metal, but in a classic style,” he added. “More like Possessed. Possessed was his favorite band.”
But Annette was far more than a musician and concert promoter.
He was also passionate about protecting kids. He was active in an organization called Protect, an anti-crime lobby that works to toughen laws that protect children from trafficking and pornography.
Every year, Annette would organize a benefit concert to raise money for the organization.
He also integrated “don’t touch the kids” messages in his lyrics, Gorss said, and distributed pamphlets from Protect.org at Dying to Bleed concerts.
“He was absolutely passionate about that aspect of everything that he did,” Gorss said. “That was kind of his legacy. That’s what he was going for.”
Two thousand miles away, Kastner said Friday that he plans to travel to the Pacific Northwest in September to visit with Michelle and to meet Annette’s parents.
“I’d like to meet them and extend my regard and thanks,” Kastner said.
Kastner, who oversees the Midwest region of the New York Death Militia, a nationwide death metal club, said he is recovering well.
He is back to traveling the region promoting death metal music.
“Apparently, I’m doing relatively well,” Kastner said in a roadside interview from Illinois.
After meeting when Annette was late for a connecting flight to a New York Death Militia get-together in Albany, N.Y., Kastner and his buddy developed a “weird friendship” based on extreme metal, shared principles and a penchant for giving each other a hard time.
“He was more laid back than I am,” said Kastner, who is organizing an organ donor awareness concert in Milwaukee on Aug. 24.
Kastner said meeting Annette through the “twisted world of heavy metal” gave him a second chance at life.
“At least Robert went out with a bang and was able to help somebody,” he said.
Annette suffered his heart attack on the night of April 19. Michelle found her husband outside collapsed on the ground.
She phoned 9-1-1 and started CPR, but to no avail.
The medics who worked on Annette were about to give up when they detected a light pulse, and rushed him to a Lakewood hospital.
Later that weekend, doctors determined that Annette had lost brain activity, and “nothing was looking good,” Gorss said.
Michelle told doctors of her husband’s friend and asked if it were possible that Annette could provide him with a kidney.
Hospital staff warned Michelle that the odds of a donor and recipient knowing each other and being a match are “astronomical,” Gorss said.
But they were a match.
Kastner, who had been living on kidney dialysis, was working in Atlanta when Annette was taken off life support on April 22.
He rushed to the airport to get to his Wisconsin hospital to have the surgery.
“It was nail-biting for any of us that were in the know and friends with everybody,” Gorss said.
“It was Indiana-Jones-grab-the-hat-from-under-the-door kind of thing.”
Kastner made it to the hospital with about 30 minutes to spare.
“Now it’s almost three months later, and everything is fine,” Gorss said.
The idea for the farewell concert was born shortly after Annette died.
Previously-scheduled shows had to be postponed because of preexisting conflicts that band members had.
In its heyday, Dying to Bleed featured Annette, Gorss, Robb Hoffman of Port Angeles on drums and co-founder James Long on guitar.
Long’s move to work in the oil fields of Wyoming prompted the band to break up.
The lineup for the July 20 concert will be Gorss, Long, drummer Jesse Hernandez and guest vocalist Keith Dulin of the band Northern Bastard, another close friend of Annette’s.
Gorss said of Annette: “He did so much when he was alive as far as the Protect shows, supporting music, playing in bands.”
“He was just always so positive and upbeat, and everybody who met him loved him.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
