I met the tiger a long time ago at a show in tampa. He asked me if I would be willing to trade CDs with him. At the time, my band, ghost mice, was new and all we had was a demo CDR recording. He said his band was "offensive punk". He left and returned a little later with a CDR on his finger. No label, no package. Just a CDR on his finger. He said, "here you go dude". I didn't listen to that CD for a few years. It was John Madden and the Electric Condoms. It's pretty funny, and, as said, offensive.
A year later he turned up again in a shed in someone's backyard in gainesville. He gave me an LP comp of tampa/brandon punk bands. It was a benefit for a kid that died. He also had a video camera and made me say a few words to his little sister that wanted to come but couldn't.
Later, I was taking UK band, The Dauntless Elite on tour in the US and my big van blew it's top and we had to downsize to a mini-van. A mini-van with 6 people, full electric equipment, merch boxes for two bands, ghost mice instruments and the Dauntless Elite's very large bags. It was horrible. So, We started asking people at shows to come along on tour, with their cars, and drive some of us. Of course, most people said no.
Then, we played in Brandon, Fl. at Sound Idea. The tiger, then known as Baby Richard, set up the show. Which was cool, since there was no way that Bob would have ever booked ghost mice. We played with a band who insisted that ghost mice ripped off the song, "the devil and my family". They insisted that it was an Irish traditional song... about my grandpa...um... anyway, Richard (the tiger) played. It was funny, I liked it a lot. He played a horrible version of Neutral Milk Hotel's, "Two Headed Boy"...
We ate pizza, We left... The next day, the Tiger turned up in Miami, where we played a show in Ernie's backyard. When we made our announcement about looking for a driver, The Tiger Growled his allegiance. The look on the face of a few of the dauntless elite was priceless. We had a meeting after the show and the vote for the Tiger was a 50/50 split. He said he had to go home and get his camera so that he could make a tour movie and he needed to take care of his dog. I told him to call before he came (he planned on meeting us again in jacksonville). I told him the group was undecided and we would let him know our final answer when he called. He never called.
We played Jacksonville and Valdosta and then Myrtle Beach, SC. We were packing up to leave when the promoter said, "hey guy, hold on, little Richard called, he said he's almost here". We had no clue what he was talking about. Then we figured out he meant Baby Richard. We all assumed it was a joke. We all assumed that one of us had put him up to it. Then he walked in.
He was wearing some large, airy, african pants with an animal design around the ankles. He had nicotine patches on his arm and the sticky dirt rings from the prior patched. His hair was like a lion's mane. He was smiling a golden smile and said, "you thought you lost me". jaws dropped.
We went to a bench and I told him the details. I said, The final conclusion was that 2 of the people on tour really did not want him to come. I told him in all honesty, they thought he was a weirdo and they were afraid of riding with him. All he said in return was,
"I like those odds"
He went on the tour. It was an epic adventure. I couldn't begin to write it all here. Look for the book. Since then, I have considered the Tiger to be a GREAT friend. He his loyal and devoted. He's a sweet-heart. He's had a rough life and still manages to smile. He's a real one of kind guy. I don't know what else to say. There is only one, TIGER!
