The Rec Room,
Buffalo NY, and the story behind that ADIDAS T Shirt
This might just be the shortest blog I’ve ever written,
don’t all cheer at once.
Cutting a very long story very, very short, in the winter of
2023, I was invited to Buffalo NY, to see Hearts & Hand Grenades play a sort
of album launch home town gig type thang’ at the Rec Room, in the spring of the
following year.
I was asked not to mention it to anyone because nothing had
been confirmed, but, I was given a date, a time, and a place, so at least I
could start the planning process, even if I then did completely forget about
it.
At the time of the invite, I was just about to go on holiday
and attempt to complete 17 gigs in 17 days, 12 of those gigs being a Wolfsbane
UK Tour, so I didn’t so much forget about it, I just had other things on my
mind and being very ill simply complicated the whole situation.
The 17 gigs in 17 days came and went and so did the end of
2023 and before I knew it, it was the second week in January 2024.
Messages flew back and forth between myself and Mike and
before I knew it I’d booked the time off work, a Virgin Atlantic return flight
and a hotel, the Hyatt Regency, one block from the venue.
Eventually Saturday 03rd February 2024 arrived
and so did the sort of album launch home town gig type thang’ at the Rec Room.
I walked into the venue, it was an oblong shaped room. I entered from the rear left, there was a stage at the far end of the room, a bar running the length of the left hand side, seating on the right hand side and a large space in the middle for standing.
I made my way to the bar where I saw a member of staff
wearing a Rec Room T Shirt. It was a black T Shirt with the ADIDAS Trefoil logo
in white and the word ADIDAS replaced with the word “rec room” and I just
wanted it, needed, had to have it, at all costs, at any cost. That T Shirt
simply had to be mine.
“Nice T Shirt mate. Where did you get that from? How can I
get one?” I asked the barman in one breath. “It helps if you work here” he
replied. Well, there was no faulting his honesty.
“No mate, really, I’ve come over from England for this gig,
I’m an ADIDAS whore, look” I said as I lifted up my left leg to put my Baby
Pink ADIDAS Gazelle on the edge of the bar for him to see, “How do I get one of
those T Shirts? I’ll give you $20 for one.”
Day Two, Gig Two, of 17 gigs in 17 days, Saturday 25th
November 2023. Wolfsbane, The Parish, Huddersfield, England.
I wore the same clothes at the Rec Room.
And so, the game began.
Every time I went to bar, I’d ask. Every time I caught the
barman’s eye, I’d point at the T Shirt. It got to the point where the poor
barman was starting to avoid me, but I was already one step ahead.
I’d spent all evening being introduced to the band’s family,
Mums, Dads, Brothers, Sisters, Cousins etc and once the introductions were over
I’d say, in a whispered voice, after looking over each of my shoulders in a
comedy style spy type way, “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to
get that T Shirt off that barman…”
Four hours later and the gig is over. It’s also GAME OVER! There’s
no sign of the barman and there’s no sign of that T Shirt. I’d lost. For the
first time in a long time, I’d failed to bag my blag.
Deflated, I decided to include my bladder in the experience
and took the opportunity to void it and get rid of almost four pints of fluid
that was threatening to float my back teeth.
As I left the toilets I literally bumped into the barman, we
smiled at each other and we both put out our hands to shake hands, “Mate, I’m
sorry for hassling you so much over that T Shirt, it was all in good humour I
hope I didn’t wind you up too much” I said, while shaking his hand and giving
him a hug.
“No, it’s fine, my Manager is having a really bad time and I
didn’t want to ask him about the T Shirt so have mine” he said while gesturing
across the room to the merchandise table, while still shaking my hand. It’s at
that point, that I noticed that he wasn’t wearing the ADIDAS rec room T Shirt
anymore.
While still shaking hands I looked to my right, where I saw
Stef and Nick standing behind the merch table waving a black ADIDAS rec room T
Shirt. WTF!? The barman gripped my hand tighter and I responded, “Really? Hey!
What!? Is that for me?” I asked him. “Yes, it’s now yours…” he replied.
I hugged the barman and thanked him as well as I could
before walking over to Stef and Nick at the merch table who were still waving
the T Shirt at me.
There must have been half a dozen people at the merch table
all laughing and cheering and clapping at my good fortune. Then came the twist.
Stef and Nick handed me the T Shirt, “You deserve it” said
Nick, I was laughing and grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “No guys, really, thank
you” I said, while looking at it and holding it against my body to check the
size. “How did you manage to get it off him?” I asked. “I bought it off him for
$30” said Nick. I laughed while replying, “I only offered him $20”.
“No really, did you really buy it off him?” I asked,
repeating myself, Stef and Nick nodded and laughed as did everyone else around
me. At this point, I must confess, I wasn’t sure if they were joking of not.
So, I just sort of played along. If it was a joke or if someone really had
bought it, either way, I was completely floored by the T Shirt I’d been gifted.
Stef later confirmed that Nick had bought the T Shirt off
the barman for $30. Nick is dating Stef’s sister, I’d only meet him four hours
earlier.
Stef should have been busy promoting her band’s new CD and
selling merch instead of holding a black ADIDAS rec room T Shirt above her head
like she’s just lifted the FA Cup. And someone who I’d only meet four hours
before, puts his hand in his pocket, after blagging the barman, and buys a T
Shirt for $30 and then hands to me saying, “You deserve it”.
How do I begin to get my head around that?
How do I even start to process that?
Now do you understand why I kept bursting into tears every time I looked at it?
Noggin xx
