‘It’s like losing an arm’: Spirit of the West drummer remembers bandmate who was like a brother

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — “I was just listening to some of his finer vocals on my stereo,” drummer Vince Ditrich says, one day after losing his friend and bandmate John Mann.

For the last few years of his life, Mann could not speak at all.

He was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2012, and went public in 2014. He passed away Wednesday at age 57.

“We’ve had so long to prepare because of this horrible disease. It has no get out of jail free card.”

Ditrich last saw Mann on Sunday.

“There were glimpses of recognition occasionally and I think I got one really fantastic one on Sunday,” Ditrich recalls. “Everybody saw him sort of flash with recognition and it was the most emotionally moving thing you can possibly imagine.”

Mann and Ditrich met more than 30 years ago where they ran with a crowd of similarly ambitious young musicians.

“It’s Vancouver, so everybody meets everybody eventually. It’s a huge city but a small town,” Ditrich says. “We were tigers, and we were gonna make it. And frankly, most of us did.”
Spirit of the West was founded in 1983 and independently released their debut album the following year. The song Home for a Rest, released in 1990, is an anthem that draws throngs to the dance floors at bars, weddings, and house parties. It’s almost irresistibly infectious.

“That was our hope, that the work we did would make other people happy,” Ditrich says. “My God, what a gift.”

The nature of Mann’s disease meant that reminiscing about the early days of the band was impossible, but records remain.

“Thinking back to some of those recording sessions and thinking about how incredibly inspiring it was to be basically a kid–we were in our 20s–and we were doing stuff that was at the utmost reach of our capabilities musically and artistically. It was such a thrill to be in a room with people that bright and that funny and that creative.”

The band played their last show in 2016. Since then they have played two Alzheimer’s fundraisers in Toronto without Mann at the mic.

“In one case, Jon actually came on stage and danced around. He wasn’t able to sing but he was on stage with us. It was so touching.”

Ditrich says Mann was flanked by family and friends around the clock in his final days.

“He’s been surrounded by loved ones and family without break since all of this started, and it’s been over a week of palliative care,” Ditrich says. “The family is strong beyond any belief. I had no idea anybody could put in a shift as long and as hard as his wife Jill and his daughter Hattie had done. They were there the whole time. They’re just heroes.”

He describes Mann’s wife, Jill Daum, as a “mighty, mighty woman.”

Ditrich wants people to understand what Mann’s family did for him, and to help others by raising awareness of the disease.

“They just wanted to talk about it to help demystify that awful process. I mean it’s something that you can do when you’re stricken in that way is you can help other people learn about it,” he says. “Some of the fear that comes with it can be cast aside, and you can realize that this is still your friend. He’s in there. He is so in there. And if you can just get through even for a moment, it’s meaningful.”

Ditrich says he and Mann named their children after one another, that they were like brothers.

He chokes up while trying to describe what he has lost.

“He’s somebody who knows me inside and out and backward. It’s like losing an arm, you know. It’s so seldom you get to be that close with somebody.”