Seems like a zillion years since my last post. Not to worry, I’ve got some good stuff on deck coming soon. Been a crazy busy summer, so the blog was left twisting in the wind a bit. Just figured out Twitter too (thanks LawnMemo), so you can follow me now at @backinmydaynet and be alerted when I get a new post up. Just a super quick one today to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the Rink show in Buffalo (and get some new blood up on the blog):
Set 1: The Landlady > Bouncing Around the Room > Chalk Dust Torture, The Squirming Coil > My Sweet One, Stash, Eliza > Foam > Brother, Golgi Apparatus,Memories
Set 2: Llama, Guelah Papyrus, Sparkle, Cavern > Run Like an Antelope, Lawn Boy> The Lizards, Poor Heart, Magilla, Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove
Encore: Contact > Big Black Furry Creature from Mars
A pretty classic show, this one is most well known for being the show where Trey rollerbladed through the audience during Weekapaug Groove. I couldn’t find any pictures of The Rink and don’t have a stub for this one because we helped carry equipment in to get on the list. However, through the miracle of the interwebz, you can peep the venue here. We had hit Ithaca on the 26th and the Warehouse the night before (with Glide debut) and this was third show we had seen before I turned around. The Duck continued on to Cleveland. We got to The Rink around 11AM so we could help the band load in the equipment in exchange for a spot on the guest list. In fact, I almost took Page’s finger off trying to push the load ramp into the back of the JEMP truck. Glad that didn’t happen! We were there so early, there wasn’t much to do. I went across the street to a bowling alley to play some pinball and Gordo came in to use the pay phone. I remember staring at him like a mental patient, he probably thought I was maniac. Anyway, we got back into the venue for soundcheck somehow and sat on the floor in front of the stage playing Pocket Boggle while the band soundchecked. Sometime during that afternoon, Trey had borrowed some Rollerblades from a fan at the show and was trying them out in the rink and outside in the parking lot. I forgot about it until later in the show.
The Rink was exactly that: A classic olden times roller rink. Pretty nondescript (inside and out) with your basic snackbar and maybe a few games. That was it. No bleachers or anything. You walked in, and the stage was right on one end of the rink (by the entrance) and the whole floor was the rest of the rink. It was a pretty big rink and the whole back half of the floor was pretty empty. It was kind of run down, but it was actually a pretty awesome venue. I don’t remember a ton from this show and need to give it a good listen (shoulda listened to whole thing but wanted to get this post up). They gave Henry from Palo Alto an award for traveling from California to Amy’s Farm the month before (longest distance traveled to a show). Funny thing, is after that show, I never saw him at any others except NYE 91, I think.
What I do remember (and maybe it just overshadows everything else) is the Weekapaug. I was in the back and there was a ton of space, literally half the rink was empty and we were rocking out to Mike’s Song. After Hydrogen, they went into Mike’s bass intro to Weekapaug and it just kept going on and on. I wasn’t really thinking about it, just enjoying it, but came to realize that Trey was lacing up his Rollerblades. All of a sudden, as soon as Weekapaug started, there was a handheld spotlight going through the crowd. The next thing I knew, Trey was whizzing by me, like 2 feet away! It was sick! He was going in and around all the people while wailing on the Weekapaug. We couldn’t believe it, it was so surreal. At one point he bashed into a girl right next to me and you can hear it on the tape, but for the most part, he just kept skating around and around everyone while the rest of the band was laying it down from the stage. It was almost like a dream, you could have literally reached out and touched (or tripped) him. It was so cool. They also did an awesome thing during Big Black Furry Creature where either Mike or Trey had their legs hanging down from the rafters while the other person was on the ground with their legs in the air going the opposite way. That was very cool looking as well. All in all, it was a really fun show. I am going to spin the whole thing during my road trip tomorrow, and maybe I will report back with other highlights.
Until then, here is the Rollerblade Weekapaug Groove:
The whole show can be downloaded here (MP3):
http://www.mediafire.com/?qgerdib0l641w
While we were leaving town we stopped a gas station and the girl at the register asked if we were in town to see Jesus Jones. I still get a laugh out of that…..
backinmydaydotnet 
My second show, awesome!!! I still have my ticket stub, $7. Best $7 I ever spent!!!
I was at that show too. My first time seeing Phish. As a lifelong neighbor of that old Rink, I had been there dozens of times growing up. My grade school was just down the street and we’d go there for field trips or my friends would have their birthday parties there, etc.
I think this show was the last time I was there and I remember it bringing back all those memories and just feeling really comfortable there.
Being new to Phish at the time, I knew some of the music and not others. I remember them blowing my mind and making me a lifelong fan. I particularly remember “Big Black Furry Creature From Mars” and Trey setting up his mic stand like Lemmy. That cracked me up. I always appreciated their sense of humor.
I would never see them in such a small venue again and I’m glad I got on the bus when I did.
Thanks for the writeup, hopefully others will share their memories.
Showtime was late, like 11:00pm, I remember. We got to the venue in the afternoon and went in to try to get them to wish our buddy Happy Birthday. Mike was walking around with his Languedoc bass and headphones practicing. I approached and handed him our request. I haven’t heard the ‘tape’ in years but I believe Trey dedicated Brother to Dmitri for us. And Trey on rollerblades was great. I found a photo a while back I’ll need to dig up.
here’s a link to that image I found of Trey roller skating through the crowd. Great night.
great few shows aroud this one, I too was here and in Ithaca. Standing on the sidewalk in front of the State Theater, I over-heard a guy extolling the virtues of “tripping” on Robitussin. His plan was to knock back a couple of bottles when the lights when down. Having never heard of this non-medicinal use of cough syrup, I was intrigued. Anyway, fast-forward to the rink. I bump into one of the guys from Ithaca whose conversation I was eavesdropping. I say, “where’s your buddy- the one that tripped on robotussin in Ithaca?” The guy’s face goes a little pale and he just looks at me like WTF? I apologize, and tell the guy I must’ve mistaken him for someone else. He says, “no, no no- you got the right guy” and proceeds to tell me that his friend didn’t do so well on the ‘tussin’ and he went a little bat-shit insane after the show, was arrested and then hospitalized for some psychiatric issues. And that my friends, is why I’ve never tried tripping on cough syrup- all thanks to the Rink. Thanks Phish!
I was at this show as well. It was my first Phish show. My buddy that I went with was the guy Trey asked to borrow rollerblades from. He walked up to us when we were waiting for the show to start and asked what shoe size he was and as it turned out he asked/begged my friend to borrow them. He said he had a wireless jack for his guitar and wanted to test it out. Anyway, he ripped it up blading at high speeds on the dance floor. Was one of the coolest things I ever saw!