Ghost Light—the new project from Tom Hamilton, Holly Bowling, Raina Mullen, Steve Lyons, and Scotty Zwang—has been making its way across the East Coast for its inaugural tour. By all accounts, Ghost Light’s debut has been well received, with the band offering up dynamic improvisations, flawless covers, and exciting new original material nightly. However, during Friday night’s show at The Acoustic in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Tom Hamilton’s sassy side was on full display as he expertly shut down a drunk heckler in the crowd.
At the group’s show in Bridgeport, Ghost Light’s showcased their penchant for beautiful vocal harmonies during the a capella “Rio Grande” portion of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo”. During this dramatic moment, the show was, unfortunately, interrupted, as a drunk man yelled out incoherently at the climax of the tune, prompting Hamilton to stop the song.
Hamilton mused, “You got to wonder what he just said that was that important,” eliciting laughs from the audience. “That was like some frontier jibberish from like the 1890s, and this guy just decided he had to do it because he had his first beer tonight,” the guitarist added. Clearly irritated but taking it in stride, Hamilton continued, “Let’s all make sure we thank this dude. It’s all about you, brother. We’re super happy that you’re here to do this for us.”
After identifying the drunk heckler as Alex Thompson, Hamilton continued to rib at the show’s interrupter, explaining, “Alex is a Virgo. He comes from Duluth, Minnesota. His parents are a tax attorney and an anesthesiologist,” before asking the drunk man who had come to the front of the house, “Are you good now?” After the man had retreated back, Hamilton closed out his comments with a short and sweet, “Now, back to what we were doing,” which was met with cheers from the rest of the audience.
You can watch a video of the interaction below, which was shot by Curtis Cockrell and passed onto us by Pat Lanning. Cheers to the members of Ghost Light for handling the situation like the pros they are, and no thanks go out to Alex Thompson, who we hope learns to keep it together the next time he’s at a concert.
In happier news, you can also watch the entirety of Ghost Light’s performance at The Acoustic in Bridgeport, Connecticut, below, courtesy of the venue.
Ghost Light – The Acoustic – Bridgeport, CT – 4/13/2018