We played six shows at Dad’s Café, and this was the first. Here’s how it all began…

In March of 1981, Dino, the manager of Dad’s Café, watched Parousia perform at Fast Annie’s in Hamburg NY.  When he heard us, he was impressed and wanted the band to perform at his bar and on that very night, booked us to play in April at Dad’s Cafe on Clinton Street.  From our very first show to the very last, Dad’s became one of our most favorite places to play in Buffalo, NY.

Parousia’s first show at Dad’s on April 16, 1981 earned us $230.00 for a night’s work, roughly 10:00 pm – 2:00 am.  Dave Styn ran the sound board and was paid $40.00. Most roadies earned $10.00 but Dave arose to the esteemed position of “head roadie” which meant besides lifting, setting up gear and running the sound board, he told the other roadies what to do and how to do it (If only).

Mike Carroll, our lighting technician set up and ran the lights for $35.00 a night. Later we bumped him up to $40.00.  He was very handy when it came to re-routing the house electricity.

Dave’s brother, Steve Styn was becoming a quality ‘road rat’. Despite the unending amount of work it took to put on and maintain the show, Steve kept coming back for $10.00 a night (equivalent to $26.00 adjusted for inflation present day).  The booking fee was split between Backstage Productions ($10.00) and Plus II ($20.00). Renting the equipment truck cost us $42.00 and Barry was paid $5.00 for gas to drive us to and from the gig.

The crowd loved our show and so did Dino. We were promptly booked to return in May.