The Ghost Next Door Ripple Road Trip: Views from the Road Pt 1


Greetings, my friends,


Gary from TGND with a road report for ya.


So, we started the tour on Friday, March 8th. Made it to Tarzana, CA without a hitch. We played a venue called Petie’s Place. Nice little divey spot run by a super cool German gal who goes by the handle, “Petie”. Played with 4 local bands that ran the gamut from a Sabbathy opener called Lords of Illusion to a Possessed-like black metal group called Night Sword. Our main support Surface Tension reminded me of Dickinson era Maiden, vocal-wise, at least.


I’m not gonna go into full transparency mode but I will say this, one of the Ghosties (a newbie to the touring life) overzealously imbibed on the malted hops tip and, let’s just say, propelled us into, as my wife Bekki put it, our “worst performance to date”.


Ouch!


Anyways, we had a band meeting the next day and we have nipped the problem in the bud.
Everyone makes mistakes. I guess the excitement got the better of him. We finished the evening in Inglewood at my brother’s pad. Don’t know what the boys did, but Bekki and I crashed. Just wanted to forget the series of unfortunate events. Little did I know the fun was just beginning.


Onward....


Last night (Saturday, March 9th) we played The Bancroft in Spring Valley. That’s a city near San Diego for those of you who, like me, have never heard of it. Well, we got about a block away from the place and the brakes on the van went completely out!


We were able to slowly get it back on the road to make it to the spot, but we were stranded for the night, at least.


Lucky for us we made the gig as the support acts were fantastic!


Great sets all by locals Mezzoa, Shield of Snakes and Dei Lucrii from Los Angeles—stoner/desert rock, topped off by some radical post punk. Yes, please! We did our thing, this time successfully. No more BS.


We topped off the evening with a few IPA’s at the bar where there was MTV’s Liquid Television on one TV, and on the other, an Adam & Eve dildo/vibrator infomercial! Imagine the commentary.


After a freezing night stranded in the van and one show cancellation (Bisbee, AZ), we were lucky enough to find Mark, a mobile mechanic. He is presently fixing the break line. What a life saver!


We will soon be on our way to El Paso, Texas for our next gig at the Rockin’ Cigar Bar @ Thunderbird tomorrow night (Monday, March 11th)


More adventures to come!


Stay tuned!
Gee Double Yoo

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