Celebrating Big Tobes – support Help Musicians with an in memory event
Hugo Gilligan raised £2,715 by fundraising in memory of a friend
Known as Toby to friends and family, and Big Tobes when holding a microphone, Toby Patten was a person whose warmth and character had a lasting impact on the people he crossed paths with. He is remembered by his best friend Hugo Gilligan as a truly unique character, who was dedicated to a pursuing a career in music and had begun to carve out a name for himself in UK rap circles.
Hugo explains that, “Toby was a rapper in the Nottingham scene, which I suppose you’d just call UK rap if you’re sticking a genre on it. He was just a very loved and well-connected man, especially within the art and music world.”
In July 2022, Hugo lost his best friend Toby who was only 27. Six months after he had passed, on Toby’s 28th birthday, Hugo felt inspired to organise an event that celebrated his best friend and brought together musicians from different areas of both his and Toby’s life.
I just thought what better way to celebrate Toby than to get everyone together, not in a totally emotional or hard-hitting way. The goal was to bring everyone together to celebrate and the first event was a real success.
The Alphonso Tango – Big Tobes’ 28th (affectionately named after Toby’s favourite kind of fruit — alphonso mangoes) took place in their hometown Norwich and to Hugo’s surprise, sold twice as many tickets as he was expecting. He played his own DJ set and brought together a range of musical friends, including Nottingham DJs and producers Lukas Wigflex and Jack Wright (known as Croft).
“It was a complete sellout. A literal roadblock. The night was always branded as not-for-profit, with money raised going to Help Musicians and Music Minds Matter, and that really added something to it. It made people get behind the event even more.”
As a result of the first event’s success, Hugo threw The Alphonso Tango 2.0 one year later in January 2024 at a different location, Space Studios, who gave him free reign to get creative with the venue.
We hung Toby’s art on the walls, had a special cocktail behind the bar and again asked our close friends to DJ. I also clipped some of Toby’s vocals from his music and laid them over a house track. It was open to the public too if they just wanted to come and have a dance.”
All profits made from ticket sales and merchandise for the two events went to Help Musicians and Music Minds Matter, raising a total of £2,715. Hugo had found the charities through his own research and felt strongly our values would have chimed with his best friend’s outlook on life and music.
“Music was a massive part of Toby’s life, my life and the event as well. I love what you do as charities, especially around mental health and supporting musical careers when people don’t have opportunities or funding available. I think Toby would be very on board with that.”
Hugo is fortunate to be friends with an array of Norwich creatives (also close friends of Toby’s) who were more than willing to support and help out with both events for free. He still found organising The Alphonso Tangos an enjoyable experience and would recommend the idea to other people.
If you enjoy music then it is 100% worth organising an event like this for a fundraiser in memory of someone. It wasn’t just our friends that turned up, all of Toby’s mum’s mates came. They’re in their sixties and were loving it too.
“The nights were all centred around music and good energy, and you can achieve that in a room of 50 people or 500 people. It’s a nice, friendly way to get people together to remember someone. Grief affects people in different ways and I totally understand why going for dinner with 10 people around the table to remember someone might be daunting for some, but showing up at a party to dance and chat can work for lots of people.”
