Fact #129159
When:
Short story:
The Kinks play a benefit gig at the Illinois State Armory, Springfield, Illinois, USA, supported by Dick And Dee Dee,The Rivieras and The Hollywood Argyles.
Full article:
Pete Quaife (bass, The Kinks] : We were on our first US tour and we'd just played a place called Peoria, Illinois, USA. The next job was the Illinois State Armory in Springfield. We drove up there at night, it was very hot, very humid. There was a thunderstorm, which should have warned me what was in store. We get to Springfield and we meet the promoter. Now, this guy is a greaseball. Very pleasant to us, but a greaseball. He takes us to the theatre for soundcheck, he takes us to the hotel, then back to the theatre to play, and then he takes us to dinner.
Afterwards, he invites us all back to his house, says he's got some people coming round, he's got some booze, so we say, OK, and we go back there and stay til about three, four in the morning, then decide we've got to go. He gets a bit upset about this, says can't a couple of us stay, and we said 'No.' By now we were beginning to get the feeling that there was something strange about this guy. On top of that, there was a very sickly smell about the house. We were all a little bit antsy about this, so we took off to the hotel and that was the last we saw of him.
It was quite a few years later that a guy called Doug Hinman, a friend of mine in Providence, Rhode Island, rings up and asks if I know who that guy in Springfield was. I say no, and he says "That was John Wayne Gacy - the serial killer." This was the guy who'd killed over 30 people and buried them under his floor. We'd been in his house. We could have ended up as mementoes bricked up in his wall.
Tweet this Fact
Afterwards, he invites us all back to his house, says he's got some people coming round, he's got some booze, so we say, OK, and we go back there and stay til about three, four in the morning, then decide we've got to go. He gets a bit upset about this, says can't a couple of us stay, and we said 'No.' By now we were beginning to get the feeling that there was something strange about this guy. On top of that, there was a very sickly smell about the house. We were all a little bit antsy about this, so we took off to the hotel and that was the last we saw of him.
It was quite a few years later that a guy called Doug Hinman, a friend of mine in Providence, Rhode Island, rings up and asks if I know who that guy in Springfield was. I say no, and he says "That was John Wayne Gacy - the serial killer." This was the guy who'd killed over 30 people and buried them under his floor. We'd been in his house. We could have ended up as mementoes bricked up in his wall.