« Grey Cup Moment: Incomplete Pass | Main | Yep, still here... »

What, no Steelback 2-4?

Anyone who's been to Grey Cup knows it's a veritable cornucopia of fine music - even for those of us who shamefully missed Tom Cochrane's performance with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and had to settle for gazing in wonderment at his autograph.

For some of us (who may or may not have already been mocked for it), there was the unparalled rock 'n' roll experience that is Free Ride. What made this the Official Rolling Stones Cover Band of Boatmenblog.com is not just that we were exceedingly drunk while watching it, nor its ability to get three off-duty Saskatchewan cheerleaders to join it on-stage at Riderville. It wasn't even the entirely reasonable decision to forego Ron Wood in favour of two Keith Richards. It's that, while the rest of the band clearly realized that it was, you know, in a Rolling Stones cover band, its lead singer was arguably more committed to being Mick Jagger than Mick Jagger is. When you're a middle-aged Saskatchewanian (or possibly Manitoban) willing to do that fey arm-waving thing during every song, and you even manage to stay in character for the between-song banter, you deserve respect. (Did we mention we were drunk, and there were cheerleaders?)

For others, there was Harlequin II. Now, for most of us, Harlequin rings a vague bell as an '80s hair band. But if you're from Winnipeg, apparently, it rings a very loud bell as the greatest band of all time. Honestly, you haven't lived until you've seen a legion of locals at a post-Grey Cup party pumping their fists and singing along to Innocence (it's all you've ever needed, apparently). And you really haven't lived until you've been handed the press release for Harlequin II, which involves the original lead singer accompanied by the likes of "Spider" and "Phil X," who apparently "require no introduction" as "some of Canada's most prominent Canadian musicians." (It also tells us Harlequin's "rather classic repertoire" is enjoyed by "a significant fan base wherever music is played," but that pretty much goes without saying.)

But here's the thing. For all of these thoroughly enjoyable musical experiences, there's one that was considerably less so.

We raise this with some trepidation, because some of us may have gotten in trouble for saying this in print previously. But we shall not be silenced. So here it is: The Saskatchewan pep band sucks.

It's hard to explain why it sucks, exactly. After all, it's certainly peppy (albeit in a slightly geriatric way). But we know we're not alone in this; we're pretty sure we heard other people heckling it as it mercifully exited the Ticats' party on Saturday night. And we've yet to see anyone look particularly happy when it turns up.

Part of the problem is that it's everywhere - if you go to five parties in a night, you're guaranteed to hear this thing at least five times. A bigger problem is that it does the same routine everywhere it goes, and that routine is pretty awful the first time. Do we really need to hear a fight song for every single team in the league? And if that really is necessary, couldn't its members learn the actual fight songs, instead of tacking generic "We are the Argos..." lyrics onto U.S. college songs?

But the biggest problem, we think, is that it's completely devoid of a sense of humour. Unlike our beloved Argonotes, these people take themselves enormously seriously. Upon their arrival, you're expected to clear the floor, stand back at a respectful distance, and watch them in reverential silence. To ensure this happens, they go so far as to ask revelers minding their own business to act as "security" to keep everyone else away from them. And no matter what the mood of the room, they're not leaving until they've played their entire repertoire.

We know we're going to get hate mail for this, and possibly be blacklisted from the entire province of Saskatchewan. But somebody had to speak up. What the world clearly needs is more Free Ride and less Saskatchewan pep band.     

Posted on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 at 02:07AM by Registered CommenterA-Rad in | Comments2 Comments

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments (2)

Adam - thanks for the kind words about Argonotes but your treatment of the Saskatchewan band is pretty harsh. You might not like what they play, but they're a group of volunteers that makes it at their own expense to the Grey Cup every single year to try to stir things up and give this great Canadian festival a boost.

I bet the other acts that you're referring to are getting paid; these guys aren't, they're in it for the love of the game just like we are in Argonotes, and just like other true CFL fans.

We have a different style than they do, and we've sent them the actual Argo fight song to try to nudge them in a different direction, but I truly admire them for managing to actually get to the Grey Cup each and every year, something we haven't figured out how to do yet.

Expect a mighty Battle of the Bands at the Grey Cup in 2007.
November 22, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterSteve
If you are going to cut out Ron Woods you might as well go with 3 Keiths and cut out Mick as well.
November 25, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterJL

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.