Category Archives: images

Hi Nikki,
I’m so sorry for your loss. i wanted to share a couple of lighthearted pictures from the last North American Dodos tour in Aug/Sep 2011 that have been making me smile these past few days.

I was selling merch and was the new guy in the van. Chris, or Pony as I immediately came to know him, was one of the funniest, sweetest, most excruciatingly talented people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing right off the bat. We became quick friends in the way that you do with people you spend 5 weeks in a van with – mostly based on trying to make each other laugh as often as possible (Chris’ favorite thing in the world on that tour was probably this tape of hilarious paul stanley stage banter –http://captainsdead.com/paul-stanley-people-let-me-get-this-off-my-chest.html ). But, when he took a break from making music in the backseat during drives or doing Paul Stanley impersonations, it was immediately clear that he was a very sweet human being. Genuine desire to listen and learn more about people, even if it was just a rabid Women fan he’d never see again (these, of course, turned up after every single show in lines to talk to him).
These are my memories of Chris. A friend I wish I had more time with, and assumed I would be keeping in touch with for many, many years.
The first photo is from a 12 hour drive day – around hour 8 or so, when we were so bored we took to an iphone application called Fatbooth, which adds about 100 pounds to a portrait of yourself. Chris was pretty pleased with his hilarious results and wanted the picture emailed to him immediately. Makes me laugh every time I look at it.

The second is after our show in New Orleans – Pony meets a pony! 

In the months since that tour we’ve sent each other email every once in a while, and I randomly texted him around early February to check in. He told me he was working on a record with Rena. I expressed my eager desire to hear it and he assured me he’d be handing out copies to friends – as soon it was ready. I don’t know what will happen with those songs, but man I would love to hear them one day.

I’ll miss him.

I’m very sad to hear about your loss. I know it’s next to nothing, but attached is the only photo I took when Chris and The Dodos played in Lawrence, KS last October. Chris had become something of a personal icon for me over the last three years listening to Women, and getting to meet him that night was something of a dream come true. He was very kind and humble, and the world has lost a ray of inspiration in his passing. My heart goes out to you and your family.