My first show. Orono didn't get much live music, and when word trickled out that a good band was coming, the Oronoca became the hot spot for the evening, attracting the whole meat-market scene along with those of us who wanted to hear this band that people were talking about. The place was at capacity and people were climbing in the bathroom windows. I believe a party bus had come down from Burlington, adding some insiders to the mostly knuckleheaded crowd which of course talked loudly through the show.

Amidst the chaos I was enthralled by this band with a long show full of crazy original music. They played nothing I had ever heard before until the encore where the ripped a perfect Fire. I was surprised they could play such complicated music without having it written out. In retrospect, I'm quite sure they played Fluffhead, Possum, and David Bowie, as the signature lyrics were memorable to me when I heard them again. I know there was a trombone solo, which I think occurred during an I Didn't Know. And they played a song that reminded of Led Zep's Rain Song, which I think was Slave.

During the setbreak, I cornered Page and gushed that they needed to get a record contract. He politely said that they were trying. I went home thinking this was the best damn band that would never go anywhere...they were just too weird for the masses. This was a time of corporate music and acts like Rick Astley and Milli Vanilli...it just didn't seem like they fit the scene, to say the least. Thank god they didn't fold to my kind of negativity. Needless to say, I'm thrilled that I was wrong.