After reading the song history I feel that you are leaving out the most important part, which is that the Bitersweet Motel actally existed!
Off of I-79, half way between Erie and Pittsburgh, duh, there used to be an old, single story, white, broken down building of the same name. You can see a lot of these rotting around the mid-west. This was before big modern day hotels were built up all over. I don't know if it's still there, I've lived in Ohio since 1975 and have actually driven by it a couple of times in my life on family trips to Pennsylvania and so on. The last time was between the Star Lake and Vernon Downs shows in August of 1998.
So, my feeling is that the band saw it and wrote a song about it after the 10-18-96 Pittsburgh show (which I also attended) on their way to Buffalo for the 10-19-96 show. Of course I could be wrong, and I would love to have Trey set me straight on this one personally! I also feel this is why the band plays it at Star Lake all the time. It's a local joke.
Anyway, I hope there are some PA Phish fans out there that can help prove this story, or someone can ask the band directly.
Thank you Phish.net for many great years of sharing info and discussions.
Performances
Song History
Score: 0
Off of I-79, half way between Erie and Pittsburgh, duh, there used to be an old, single story, white, broken down building of the same name. You can see a lot of these rotting around the mid-west. This was before big modern day hotels were built up all over. I don't know if it's still there, I've lived in Ohio since 1975 and have actually driven by it a couple of times in my life on family trips to Pennsylvania and so on. The last time was between the Star Lake and Vernon Downs shows in August of 1998.
So, my feeling is that the band saw it and wrote a song about it after the 10-18-96 Pittsburgh show (which I also attended) on their way to Buffalo for the 10-19-96 show. Of course I could be wrong, and I would love to have Trey set me straight on this one personally! I also feel this is why the band plays it at Star Lake all the time. It's a local joke.
Anyway, I hope there are some PA Phish fans out there that can help prove this story, or someone can ask the band directly.
Thank you Phish.net for many great years of sharing info and discussions.