Danaë Saree Drenning, vocalist and wife of CRIMSON GLORY guitarist Jon Drenning, has given BW&BK; kind and exclusive permission to publish her tribute to JON OLIVA'S PAIN guitarist Matt LaPorte, who passed away at his home in Florida on Wednesday, April 20th.

Matthew Davis LaPorte- September 11, 1970 - April 20, 2011

"Matt La Porte and I had a very special friendship, and he's always been tied in to my history with my husband and with Crimson Glory. I first met Matt in San Francisco back in 2007, when Jon Oliva's Pain were co-headlining the Bay Area Rock Fest with Crimson Glory. I was in the front row right in front of Matt, and he was playing CRISS OLIVA's solos with all of the triumph and tragedy he could muster.

I was in tears for most of it; it touched me so deeply to hear Criss' music resurrected with such passion. I got a brief chance to speak with him backstage after the show, and to thank him for doing such a beautiful tribute to Criss. He truly loved what he did musically in all aspects, and he really knew how to bring out the best of the musicians he worked with.

Matt bounced periodically in and out of my life; we would run into each other at ProgPower every year, and after my move to Florida and marriage to Jon, I naturally saw him frequently and spoke to him often. It was in the days leading up to MIDNIGHT's passing that our friendship deepened and strengthened.

He truly loved Midnight so very much, and I know I speak for many people when I say that I am so glad that Matt was there to work alongside Midnight and help make some of his ideas into reality.

After he passed away, Matt gave us a beautiful collection of songs that Midnight had recorded, and I took it upon myself to learn many of them.

I remember one day, maybe two weeks after Midnight passed, Matt came over to work on some guitar parts with Jon, and I offered to play him something on the piano.

I chose Midnight's 'Love Song'. I'll never forget looking up when I finished, and seeing Matt La Porte standing in my doorway with tears in his eyes.

But as deeply as he felt the sadness and the sorrows of the beautiful world around him, so much more so did he radiate an exuberant, larger-than-life presence. He had a booming voice, a twisted wit, and he loved to laugh...especially at himself. He and I could shoot comebacks and one-liners back and forth at each other all day long. He was never afraid to be silly, and I know that he put up with my special brand of humor better than most.

While the band was gearing up for the ProgPower X tribute to Midnight, he would come to the rehearsal space the same way every night: Happy, loud, boisterous, and ready to play the music of his dear friend Midnight with one of his favorite bands, Crimson Glory.

When everyone else was mired in the seriousness and tension of getting this part or that part right, Matt would happily strum his guitar in the corner, throwing out some sort of random ambiguous commentary here and there, usually with one of my flower barrettes attached to his hat (I offered them to everyone, but he was the only one who would wear them).

Somewhere around this time, we had all started coming up with nicknames for Matt, but I'm proud to say that the one that he embraced as his own was the one I gave him. In fact, when we signed promo cards for each other at the ProgPower X meet and greet, his autograph to me read,

'Hey babe... The name's Moop. Moop La Poop.'

The soundcheck at ProgPower X was probably one of the most memorable moments, because we all laughed so much that day. There was really none of the frustration and stress that usually comes with an already-behind-schedule soundcheck (especially when you have eighteen different singers running around all over Atlanta), mainly because Matt always had something witty to throw out there. I remember at one point, Matt piped up and said, 'I could really use a Diet Coke!' I replied right back, 'Yeah, you could!'

It was this kind of dynamic that made our friendship so memorable: we could laugh as we called each other names, and we could cry as we played our late friends' music together. I'm forever grateful and touched to have Matt La Porte as my friend over the last few years.

Although I'm so profoundly sad at his passing, I'm happy too, because I know that Midnight was probably getting a little lonely out there; now he has one of his best friends who loves and understands him, and I bet the music those two are creating is beyond amazing...I can only hope that a little bit trickles down into my soul every now and then, so I can create some, too.

Rest In Peace, Moop."

LaPorte will be laid to rest on Saturday, April 30th at the Moss Feaster Funeral Home in Largo, Florida. Go to this location for information.

The band has issued the following statement with regards to the funeral:

"Please pass this information on to everyone you know. Anyone wishing to send flowers or whatever should send them directly to the funeral home in care of Matthew LaPorte so that floral companies locally will be able to inform the service personal upon delivery.

It's been a very rough week for all of us, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support of him, JOP and of course his family and friends. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday to celebrate his life together."

Warm regards,

JOP