Texas band Moses Guest has announced a 3-show run to memorialize their tour manager/driver Jon “Squid” Sporl, who passed away in 2021.
Graham Guest, frontman of Moses Guest (the band name comes from his 5x great-grandfather), has eulogized his friend Squid:
Jon “Squid” Sporl was born in Cleveland, OH, in 1968 and grew up in Mechanicsburg, PA. He followed the Grateful Dead around the East Coast from 1988-1995. He was an avid taper and collector, with over 300 Dead shows on cassette. He moved to Houston in 1997 and first saw Moses Guest at Ming’s at the Westheimer Street Festival. He quickly became best friends with the band and the original tour manager, John Adams. Squid became tour and merch manager for the band later on, but he was an especially talented driver. Squid could drive endlessly. Squid was a Neal Cassady type – a truly magical kind of person. He was talented at (almost) everything, and he did everything by feel. He was a fourth band member, and it’s impossible to imagine Moses Guest without him. He basically became a legend. He has been the inspiration for several MG songs, like “Mario, the Offender” and “All Night Brother.” Everyone loved him, and we wondered sometimes whether people were coming to see the band or Squid. . . but then, Squid was the band.
Moses Guest posted this on their official Facebook band page:
Squid,
You were a beautiful spirit. You were a free spirit. You were a van-driver extraordinaire. You were a peace-maker. You were a joy-giver. You were a joker. You were a music-lover. You were an absolutely invaluable member of Moses Guest, an absolutely invaluable member of the band. Your name was Bartolomeo, but it was actually Jon. When the rest of us couldn’t, you put your best side up. You always put your best side up. You were the last frontiersman… But it’s time. Time to go. Nothing’s forever. Hit the road. All things sever. But you can drive. There is no other. You can drive…all night brother…
Love,
Everybody
Moses Guest
Squid Run 2022
Tuesday, Aug 23, 8pm ($22) – The Heights Theater, Houston, TX
Instagram @theheightstheater
Friday, August 26, (free) – Mountain Monk Coffee, Durango, CO
Instagram @mountain_monk_coffee
Saturday, August 27, (free) – Weminuche Woodfire Grill, Vallecito Lake, CO
Instagram @the weminuchegrill
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