When was the last time you thought, "Hey, I wonder what ever happened to Blues Traveler"? 1996 maybe? Yeah, us too. They haven't been the most pressing subject in our "Where Are They Now" files, somewhere between Arnold's friend Dudley from Diff'rent Strokes and Spuds Mackenzie (we're pretty sure he's buried in someone's backyard and gets the last two drags of every can of Bud poured on him every 4th of July). But for those of you who are still holding out for a BT/Widespread Panic summer tour, we've got some bad news: John Popper's probably not gonna make it, as he'll still be trying to retrieve his arsenal from the police station.
According to Yahoo:
Blues Traveler singer and harmonica player John Popper was arrested after the vehicle he was riding in was clocked going 111 mph, the Washington State Patrol said Wednesday.Popper, 39, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 90 near the Spokane/Lincoln county line, the Washington State Patrol said.
Inside the black Mercedes SUV, officers found a cache of weapons and a small amount of marijuana, the Patrol said. A police dog searched the vehicle, finding numerous hidden compartments containing four rifles, nine handguns and a switchblade knife. Authorities also found a Taser and night vision goggles. The vehicle was seized.
Popper, who lives in Snohomish, Wash., is the owner of the vehicle, which was being driven by Brian Gourgeois, 34, of Austin, Texas, said state patrol Trooper Jeff Sevigney. The vehicle also had flashing emergency headlights, a siren and a public address system, the Patrol said.
"Popper indicated to troopers that he had installed these items in his vehicle because (in the event of a natural disaster) he didn't want to be left behind," the Patrol said in a news release. He also told officers he collected weapons, the Patrol said.
The two men were booked administratively into the Adams County jail and released on their own recognizance. Authorities plan to charge them with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Gourgeois will also face a charge of reckless driving, the Patrol said.
Popper's "natural disaster" excuse was a little thin, so we'll flesh it out for you with two possible scenarios. 1) Smoking super-human amounts of marijuana can make one's brain functions a little tardy, and Popper's are running nearly a decade behind. Because of this, he just recently heard about Y2K and freaked about the mass chaos that would surely ensue in the new millennium. The secret compartments in his car are nothing compared to the nuclear warhead he buried under his house. 2) Feeling that his career unfairly tanked in the late '90s, Popper wanted revenge. Enlisting one sympathetic friend, he outfitted his vehicle with enough firepower for the two to make their way through a crowded stadium and headed for the nearest Dave Matthews Band concert. And that fucker would've went down, too, if they hadn't ran for the Taco Bell border and been caught up in the toilets for an hour, making them woefully late. Damn speed limits.
