The Road Trip Gig From Hell

The year 1976ish… Late fall… Band: Good n’ Evil

The venue: The Olde Dillon Inn located in Dillon, Colorado

If you played in a Denver rock band in the 70’s - I bet you played here.

Cool! Our 1st overnight (2 nights) gig.

All loaded up in 3 vehicals. Ken (rhythm guitar and vocals), his wife Marsha and Rick (bass)

in Ken’s pickup. Larry (lead singer) and Mark (sound and lights) in Larry’s chevy nova.

Lew The Drummer Gundy and Mike (lead guitar and vocals) in Lew’s ford galaxy.

Heading west, the Eisenhower tunnel wasn’t built yet so we had to travel over Loveland pass, No problems on the way there and we got the equipment set up in good time.

6pm Friday) We head to the grill side and get some dinner.

7pm) We head to the ‘Band cabin’ about 5 miles away to freshen up and get primed.

8:30pm) Back to the Olde Dillon Inn Bar/Grill all of us in Larry’s nova.

2:30am) OK! Great night! We start back to the cabin in Larry’s nova..

Crusin down the highway at about 60mph everybodys laughing and talking when WHAM!!

Our speed instantly drops to about 25mph, sitting in the back seat I see a deer's head rolling down the back window. Everyone is in shock and dead silent for about 5 minutes as Larry continues to drive,,,

Once we came out of shock we had arrived at the cabin. Larry’s nova had a large dent in the hood and there was blood everywhere. We cleaned up the car as best we could in the dark and Larry phoned the police to report the accident. We were all pretty shakin so very little partying happened that night.

The next morning we went into town for brunch. Strange it seemed everyone in town was giving us the ‘evil eye’?

As we sat down in a diner with what seemed like everyone staring at us, the waitress said ``You're the people that hit those deer, huh”. We were all stunted. How did word travel so fast?

Saturday 9pm) Ready to start our first set and there’s only half the crowd as the night before. Bummers. Oh well, the show must go on.

2:30am) The crowd that night seemed to glare at us. Nobody danced it seemed all night. We head back to the cabin relevied it’s our last night. It began snowing...

Once back at the cabin we let go and partied heartily, right up until the woodburning stove (our heater) began throwing flames out the seams of the stack. Then the wall caught fire! Everyone grabbed what we could to throw water on flames.

Some 5-10 minutes later we had the fire out but the cabin was filled with smoke and about a quarter of the cabin was soaking wet. We had to open the door and windows to let the smoke out even though it was only about 20 degrees outside and snowing.

4am) So, no heat. Wet bedding. Feeling a little tipsy. No sleep tonight.

Sunday 10am) We finish loading our equipment from the club and begin driving back.

10 miles out of town, Loveland pass is closed due to the heavy snow. So, we turn around and head south. Rabbit Ears pass is also closed. We continue south.

With the snow behind us Larry, who is leading the convoy, is driving too fast! Going around a turn he skids off the highway and does a 180. We pull over to check. Larry and Mark are fine, just shaken.

7pm) We arrived in Santa Fe New Mexico. We decided to use our earnings from the gig and get a room for the night.

I called my dad and told him what had happened and where I was. I could sense his eyes rolling and his ‘whatever’ attitude.

Monday 4pm) Finally, I had dropped off my equipment at Ken’s house and I was driving home. I couldn’t wait to get home and get some sleep. Then I heard the siren behind me. Apparently I had not stopped for a stop sign. I tried to explain to the cop what I had been through but he gave me a ticket anyway. So ended the road trip from hell. Rock On Dude!

Continued...

This is a promo shot of the original 3 piece Good n' Evil. Lew The Drumer Gundy

(in his studded jump suit - lol), Mike Kregar (Guitar, Vocals), Rick Belter (Bass)