SuperDuperWheels

This skating rink holds a special place in my heart. I remember going there when I was 8. Birthday parties here were awesome. Games, pizza, ice cream, old vinyl booths decorated with cheap balloons... oh, the glory. Do you know that, 14 years later, it is EXACTLY the same?? Stepping through those doors was like stepping back in time. And I was not disappointed. This time, however, I did not come for a birthday party, but because the Zeal band was playing. I have yet to figure out why. But it made my day. Here were the highlights, in all seriousness (well, half seriousness)-
* The lights: they had lights overhead in the center of the rink... big, bulbous ones. One-fourth of them were burnt out. This gave it a nice 'vintage' feel. Like no one had changed the bulbs since 1983, when Billie Jean came out (what a great song)...
* The smoke machine: about 2 minutes before they started playing, the dj found the on switch, i suppose. He found the off-switch just as quickly. The smoke just looked like an unpleasant afterthought.
* The rink (is that what you call it?): I don't think I've ever been so afraid of 7-year-olds in my life. They come out of nowhere, like little goblins. And they don't fall. I can't even put skates on. I probably looked funny making a mad dash from outside into the center of the rink, just trying to not get run-over by athletic oompa-loompas.
* The center of the rink: it's like a mini-rink where kids can practice. And by practice, I mean fall.
* The DJ: once the band started playing, he dimmed the lights. But he awkwardly brought them (all the way) back up between every song. And after the third song, he found a sound-board from the likes of the sound-board used in the taping of Full House (man, I loved that show). Guess what option it had... clapping!!! He would bring up this outrageous, fake, cacophonous, static-filled clapping noise... that I just LOVED! I heard later that he didn't want the band to know it was fake. If he only knew that there was no way for them NOT to know...
But seriously, one highlight was when they played 'Hey' from Leeland. My favorite Zeal song. That's them singing it up there (in the picture). I've had that song on repeat all day. Good stuff :)