RayRay with Stolen Babies - Tour Report

MICK, our handler on our recent Northwest tour with Stolen Babies gave a written account of what it was like to travel with us.
READ BELOW.




Thursday, February 15, 2007


Back from the Asphalt Trails
Current mood: accomplished

Back from another amazing tour!

So what was I doing on tour, in case you missed out? Well, about a week before the tour I got a call from Stolen Babies telling me that RayRay was going on the road with them. Gil went missing mysteriously about a week earlier and they wanted to make it up to the fans by bringing RayRay along as extra entertainment. RayRay however needed a personal assistant for the road, and since I worked with him before, I filled the position. He was relatively quiet on the car ride, not saying much to anyone (not that he ever does), but he was still giving off this sense of uneasiness. This didn't seem like the same person I worked with before. He was much more...menacing. I didn't realize how right I was...

The first show started off great. We got the equipment unloaded and set up the stage. I went and manned the merch booth as RayRay marched on with the rest of the band.



Unlike most shows he's done, RayRay just stood there as the band performed. Something was wrong. Things took a turn when RayRay starting banging on Ben's oil drum with a drumstick, which was really messing up the song (he has little to no rhythm). Dominique noticed that the drumstick RayRay had with him wasn't just any stick...it was GIL'S drum stick.



Needless to say, we were confused as to how he came into possession of said stick. Gil usually has those by his side wherever he goes. A bit more prodding and RayRay made a shocking reveal.



Yeah...that's Gil tied and gagged in that photo, our drummer who's been missing for nearly 2 weeks. The audience went along with it thinking it was part of the act; the band was more than disturbed. Rani asked RayRay what he wanted in return for his brother. RayRay handed him a ransom note.



What is it that he and his cohorts wanted?



Money. Not just a little money but ALL the money that they'd make on this tour. The crowd was more than willing to help pay the ransom price by buying merch. The band acted very professional, continuing the set while RayRay stood there silent. Perhaps it was a mistake to play "Spill!" though, as it got RayRay a bit angry. He started jumping around, threatening our fill in drummer Lee, and giving dirty looks to the rest of the band. The event was recorded...



So the rest of the tour was a bit awkward. Not wanting to upset RayRay out of fear that we'd get Gil back in pieces we let him do what he wanted at the rest of the shows. Fans seemed to like him. Apart from that mess I had a great time hanging with Rani, Ben, and Dominique. I owe a lot to Stolen Babies and will definitely be doing more with them in the future.

Special thanks to everyone in Estradasphere and Abney Park for playing some amazing music with us, to Jean-Paul and Melissa for letting us crash at their house in Olympia (and to Bruce, Zed, and Belly), to Dan for lending us his place in Oakland, to Raymond for giving me great advice on taking care of RayRay, and of course to Rani, Dominique, Ben, and Gil for being great friends and giving me awesome opportunities and life experiences. And a very big thanks to San Fran, Sacramento, Olympia, Tacoma, and Portland for being so cool and having great crowds. Hopefully I'll be coming back soon.