Hi everyone,
If you live in Delaware, be sure to grab a copy of the December issue of Out & About Magazine which has a really nice tribute to Christopher Tucker, written by Andrew Miller. For the rest of us, you can read it below.
- joe castro
Friend and promoter Andrew Miller remembers Christopher TuckerI owe a lot to Christopher Tucker. In 2004, at 28 years old, I had recently graduated from college with an English degree and had been working at the Grand Opera House for five years. I was restless, and I wanted more. While I searched for more fulfilling work, I spoke to various people for inspiration. I knew I wanted to get back to something more like Rainbow Records, where I had worked in my late teens and early 20s—something a little more exciting, something a little more rock 'n' roll. One suggestion was to find a band to help out in hopes of learning that part of the business. I contacted two bands. One took me up on the offer—the Situation, fronted by Christopher Tucker.
I never really knew Chris that well. I went to high school with Larry Zapperterini (Situation bassist), and lived across the hall from him in college. It was then that I met Joe Castro (Situation guitarist) while he and Larry worked on tunes of another former Delaware favorite, Nero. I sat in on a couple of those rehearsals, listening, watching. As my college career took many twists and turns and I started working full-time, live music became my outlet, via $5 shows at the Barn Door and the occasional trip to Philadelphia. One such trip was for the Situation's EP release party at the Ukrainian American Citizens Association Hall in Northern Liberties. I'll never forget the EPs in a vending machine—such a great idea.
When I started promoting shows in May 2005, the Situation was high on my list of bands to work with. Not because of the shows they played with bands like the Libertines, the Strokes, or Hot Hot Heat, but because of shows they played at the Barn Door, the DAP (Delaware Association of Police, on Lancaster Avenue in Wilmington), and UD.
At the first show I did with Chris in December '05, he played solo and thanked me for what I was trying to do for Delaware's music scene. I then presented the Situation's last Delaware show in April 2006 at the newly opened Mojo 13. I went on to promote a handful of shows for Chris solo, and then a few for his final project Orphan Family, including what was probably their most successful show with the Bird and the Bee to more than 200 people at the North Star Bar in the fall of 2007. The final show I did with Chris was this past June at the North Star, probably his last live performance. Only 12 people paid that night, and Chris performed solo. He told me before the show how hard he was working to get sober, how much he wanted to work with Joe Castro again, and how much he cared about me.
Chris was an open book. He told me tons of stories, about people I never knew, about his dad, about his son, about his music, and about his friends. I never went to any of the parties he invited me to; I just wanted people to hear his music. He did everything I ever asked of him—he was the one artist who played every show I asked him to play. And yeah, he yelled at me sometimes, and he probably wasn't sober when he did. But he could tell I cared about his music, and he knew what I wanted to do for him.
On Oct. 17 at the North Star, I put on one more show for Chris Tucker. The only problem was that he wasn't there. We had close to 200 people, and we raised more than $4,000 for his 5-year-old son Jackson's education fund. I've put on shows with more people in the crowd, but I don't think I've ever been involved in a more fulfilling event in my life.
Chris, I miss you, and I can honestly say there's so much more to you than I ever knew.
— Andrew Miller is a music promoter who books shows for Philadelphia's Heyday Entertainment, in Delaware for his own AMP Events, and the Tric Town series at Mojo 13. To donate to the Jackson Tucker Educational Fund, mail a check to: 1345 Palmer St., Philadelphia, PA 19125. Please make checks payable to Jackson Tucker Educational Fund.