THIS column usually contains the musings  - some might say rantings - of a technophile. But I'd like to hijack it today to pay tribute to a man who was something of a technophobe - he famously didn't even have an e-mail address - but who probably did more for musicians and the Johannesburg live music scene than anyone.

Wouda Rosenzweig, night manager and booking agent at the Bohemian in Richmond, died this week. It was only after hearing of his passing, while I was reading the dozens of tributes to him in Facebook status updates, that it even occurred to me that he might have a surname. That's how much of an institution he was at the Boh, as the bar and live-music venue is known to those who frequent it.

The Boh. Wouda. The two words are almost synonymous. And his death is a huge blow, not only for the establishment, but for the bands and musicians who graced its stage.

The music blog, Isolation.tv, once referred to Wouda, with tongue only slightly in cheek, as Johannesburg's own Hilly Kristal, the owner of the iconic New York City club, CBGB, which opened in 1973 and closed in 2006. CBGB became known as the starting point for the careers of such punk rock and New Wave acts as The Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Television and Blondie.

The comparison is not misplaced, because Wouda was to Joburg's live music scene for the past decade as Kristal was to New York City's in the 1970s and beyond. And his death prompted a similar outpouring of grief - ironically, mostly on Facebook, which Wouda never used - from local musos and music lovers.

Pretoria band Sticky Antlers wrote: "Last Thursday we had one of our best shows ever at the Bohemian, I just found out this afternoon that Wouda (the manager) passed away this morning. He was a great guy and will be sorely missed, one of the few managers who gave small unknown bands a fair chance, always helping out with door and sound. Rest in Peace."

Alternative-country singer-songwriter Jim Neversink, who I'll play a show with on drums at the Boh next week, said: "RIP Wouda. You didn't work at the Bohemian. You were the Bohemian. We will never forget you mate."

BLK JKS, the Joburg band recently signed to Secretly Canadian records, now making waves around the world and who played many of their early shows at the Boh, said: "RIP Wouda (hamba kahle comrade)."

Journalist Annica Marincowitz wrote: "I did not know Wouda personally (I regularly used to wonder 'whatsis name again ... Voda or Yoda?') but he was an integral part of the Bohemian ... I remember his T-shirt well, the one that said 'f**k off I have enough friends". But I don't remember ever seeing him smile. I love the Boh, and I will miss seeing him there. It will never be the same."

Borrie la Grange, a former journalist, said: "Dear Wouda. We disagreed on many things; you even took a pool cue to my head once.... A difficult man you were, but respect you I did. RIP chief. Will miss you when i walk into the Boh tonight, and thanks for always keeping that Neil Young CD in the jukebox."

The blogger, Isolation, wrote: "Wouda you were a difficult man, but you were a great guy too. My favourite memory is walking into the freshly painted Bohemian toilets at two in the morning and finding the manager (Wouda) adding the first batch of fresh graffiti to the walls - I even have a picture to prove it."

There will be a wake for Wouda at the Bohemian, 5 Park Road, Richmond, from 4pm to 7pm this Sunday.

O'Grady is a drummer by night, a journalist by day, and an internet and gadget geek every chance he gets in between.