Uniting the Norwich Music Scene: Tattoo Charity Day Honors Beloved Dad

The family of a Norwich musician has paid tribute following his “heart-breaking” death from a brain tumour.

Mark ‘Polo’ Page, who died in 2020 aged 57, has been described as a “much-loved son, brother, husband, dad, and grampy” by his daughter Shannon Page-Gigli and son-in-law, Steve Gigli.

Norwich Evening News: Mark Page died in 2020 of a brain tumour at the age of 57 — Mark Page, aged 57, died of a brain tumor in 2020 (Image: Shannon Page Gigli).

Mark was a well-known figure in the Norwich music scene. Over the years, he played rhythm guitar and fronted various bands.

Norwich Evening News: Mark Page was known as a family man with an amazing sense of humour — Mark Page is known for being a man of family with a great sense of humor (Image: Shannon Page Gigli).

Shannon said: “The first band I remember him being in was a rockabilly band called the Small Town Giants before he set up the Leopard Trio and finally The Hal Wrayzer Combo, which played at mine and Steven’s wedding.

“He loved songwriting and was laid-back but had an incredible sense of humor. He always had a bad dad joke waiting to make us smile.”

Norwich Evening News: Mark's family says that since his death, that their grief has been put on hold — Mark’s family claims they have been unable to grieve since his death (Image: Shannon Page Gigli).

The family is hosting a charity fundraiser on June 11 at Steve’s Black Dagger Tattoo on Borrowdale Drive.

On the day, the studio will offer cancer ribbon tattoos from £20, between 10 am – 4 pm, with six artists working for free.

Norwich Evening News: Mark was in a number of bands and well recognised on the Norwich music scene — Mark played in several bands and was well-known in the Norwich music scenes (Image: Shannon Page Gigli).

The family hopes to raise £2,740 to get Mark a plaque on the ‘Wall of Hope’ at one of the Brain Tumour Science of Excellence Centres while raising money for the Brain Tumour Research charity.

Shannon said: “Dad did so much for charity it would be so fitting for him and hopefully something he’d be proud of.

Norwich Evening News: The artists at Black Dagger Tattoo Norwich who will be inking people to raise money for Brain Tumour Research charity — Black Dagger Tattoo Norwich will fund Brain Tumour Research (Image: Shannon Page Gigli).

“I didn’t realize how many people have this type of cancer until my father was diagnosed.

It’s underfunded, under-publicized, and kills more under-40s than any other form of cancer.

Norwich Evening News: Mark enjoyed writing music in the rockabilly style of Elvis and Johnny Cash — Mark loved writing rockabilly music like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. (Image: Shannon Page Gigli).

Shannon said that the day would also allow the family to grieve as a unit due to the timing of Mark’s death. She explained: “At Mark’s funeral, we could only have ten mourners. We had to sit separately because of Covid.”

It feels like we were unable to grieve together. Now that everything is over, doing something special for him is a good idea.