Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Port Haven Music Hall, 4064 Nesconset Hwy., East Setauket, NY

Owner Judy Lynn, and Goodskates International had roller rinks all across the country. After years of plans to create the dream ‘Roller Ballroom’, Good Skates finally opened their own skate
rink in East Setauket, Long Island which played host to roller dance parties and teams through the early 80′s.
Twice a week on weekday mornings, rink owner Bill Butler puts 20-30 men and women of all ages and shapes through his Rollercise class-a specially tailored exercise-skate program.(1)
"I vaguely remember when Good Skates was in the adjacent shopping center in the mid-80s (which became a Photon lazer tag place later in the decade."[5]

As of 2010 this building is a liquor store, The Bottle Blowout Wine and Liquor.
Jerry performed here on
8/16/84
Jerry Garcia Band
I: How Sweet It Is;They Love Each Other;Valerie;Run For The Roses;Like A Road,;Tangled Up In Blue
II: Cats Under The Stars;Love In The Afternoon;Mission In The Rain;Dear Prudence; Midnight Moonlight

Rick Danko opened.
Re-scheduled from 8/14/84.
"I thought I was going to pass out (from the heat) in there. I still remember Parish giving us a hard time about keeping the front door open just to catch a bit of a breeze."[2]

"The show was originally scheduled for August 14. The promoter did not have the necessary permits and the date was consequently moved to August 16. Tickets for this show have both dates."[3]

"I had a chuckle with Jerry years ago at a Jerry Garcia Band show at a roller skating rink on Long Island..I asked him, "When will it end?" He said ,"When it ends"...and smiled ..I laughed so hard, that he laughed..I felt like I knew him forever...it was a moment in time."[4]

"The concert I saw was packed, extremely hot and uncomfortable. People were literally sweating for you, they would bump into you and you would be full of sweat. When the show was over I immediately went outside to get some air and as I waited for my friends when the crowd came out there was steam coming out of the place into the humid NY night. No exaggeration. Good performance from the band though!
This was an extremely short lived music venue in what was previously a local roller rink. If memory serves me right the first show there was an up and coming band by the name of REM."[6]




Port Haven Music Hall, East Setauket, NY
1.)^The Madison Courier, Roller skaters staying fit, 1984-03-07, pg 23
2.)^Bluelight, comments, OK Caldwell College 1984, 2013-12-22, Other Stuff, http://www.philzone.org/
3.)^H2, comments, OK Caldwell College 1984, 2013-12-23, Other Stuff, http://www.philzone.org/
4.)^rengalt, comments, 2010-08-06, http://www.dead.net/show/october-19-1994
5.)^Chuck D., comments, Cinema Treasures.org
6.)^whenthattrainrollsby, 2014-09, http://www.reddit.com/r/grateful_dead/comments/291sgi/the_night_jerry_opened_for_frank/

11 comments:

  1. wow..i was the artist who did artwork and t shirts for Judy and Bill and the Crew..

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    1. Hi,
      Please contact me at judylynnmcdowell@gmail.com or iCloud.com, Thanks,πŸ’žπŸ›ΌπŸ›ΌπŸ›ΌπŸ›ΌπŸ›ΌπŸ›ΌπŸ›ΌπŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ’žπŸ’žπŸ’žπŸ₯°πŸ™

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  2. Hey donut123,
    Would you still have any of the artwork? Please email me at slipnut01@gmail.com

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  3. I was at that show. Not so memorable other than there was no air conditioning...place was like a sauna.

    Mike B

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    1. Yes. What was memorable was Jerry's hair was so wet and sweaty that he had it lopped over one side of is head. It so hot that I couldn't make myself go back inside for the second set. Too claustrophobic.

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  4. I'm in search of a photo of this venue. Please email me at slipnut01@gmail.com

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  5. good skates roller rink show was outright smoking hot which a place that felt like a swedish bath was par for the course. Jerry tore that place a new one, lol. anyhow from the notes of my old buddy Joe D's recording of said show(utilizing the mics and sony d6 I sold him shortly before the show) and I quote "a little history about this show . the show date was 8/14 then the shopping center where the roller rink was part of went on fire so the show didn't go on untill the 16th . also the sound system in the place sucked what do you expect from a roller rink . i was up front about 10 feet high dead center and there was a hiss coming out of the speakers all night . also the a/c in the place broke down somewhere in the first set and the place became a sweat pit . when you listen to cats and jerry say anyone who sweats like this ect... the place goes nuts because it was super hot in there . i had the a/c unit right above my head making some funky noises and dripping water on my head all night which wasn't to bad since the place was so hot . if i remember right there was alot of rain while the show was going on and people where opening the exit doors and going under a broken gutter that was pouring water out of it just to cool off . so during some of the slower songs you can here the hiss from the speakers but all in all this was a pretty somking show . let me know what you think of the sound and the show ....enjoy joe d"

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    1. One inch of sweat on the floor. I was wringing out my socks after that show.

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  6. Replies
    1. you're very welcome. on other notes, i do have the show in flac16(lossless compression audio) if you want a copy. see here: http://1drv.ms/1UmTa4g

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