We played our hometown of Kelowna a few years back, it was a dinner theatre kind of gig. In the dressing room, there was a skull candle – like, a life-sized skull.
I thought it would be cool to put it on top of my amp on stage, so I put it there and lit the candle and we started the show.
Halfway through the show, everything was getting louder (as usual) so I went over to turn up my amp. I had to lean over to turn the dial up, forgetting – or not paying attention to – the skull candle and my hair dangling over it. After turning it up, I turned around to face the audience and continued to rock but suddenly I heard someone scream, “YOUR HAIR IS ON FIRE!” and in microseconds, I started to desperately pat out the fire on my head!
Suddenly, there were ashes of hair slowly falling to the ground and the stage smelled like burning steak. I looked over at the audience and it was just a sea of horror and disbelief on their faces.
Luckily, I did put the fire out quickly, regained my composure, walked over to the mic and asked if anyone had a Pepsi …
– Tom Hooper (The Grapes Of Wrath).
See Tom Hooper in Victoria at the Bard and Banker July 3-4 and 16, at the Irish Times, July 17 and at the Treehouse Cafe on Saltspring Island July 5.
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