Argonotes
- The 1996 Grey Cup in Hamilton, our first road trip
- The 1997 Grey Cup in Edmonton, which we didn't attend but we got to play in the Victory Parade
</li> -
The 2001 Grey Cup in Montreal, our first overnight road trip
</li> - The 2004 Grey Cup in Ottawa, where we discovered how easy it is to sneak onto the field if you look like you belong
</li> - The 2007 Grey Cup in Toronto, including the legendary Not the Grey Cup Parade
- The 2008 Grey Cup in Montreal, where we stayed at an extremely swanky hotel by mistake
</li> - The 2012 Grey Cup in Toronto, where the Argos won it all at home in one of the all time greatest band moments
</li> - The 2016 Grey Cup in Toronto, our first (and last) at BMO Field
</li> - The 2017 Grey Cup in Ottawa, featuring Technically It's A Band If You Haver At Least Two People
- The 2021 Grey Cup in Hamilton because hey, you never know.
- The tempo, which seems to be about a blistering ♩ = 180, or as P.D.Q. Bach called it, Come un pipistrello fuori dall' inferno [Like a bat out of hell.]
- The delighted reactions of the choristers in the back
- The pure joy of the conductor Philip Harper. We should all aspire to enjoy our jobs this much.
- They're not going quite as fast, only about ♩ = 150
- Also an outstanding cornet solo
- The conductor in this clip is the actor Jim Carter, later to find much success as Mr. Carson in Downton Abbey. (In the film, he's a tuba player temporarily filling in for bandleader Pete Postlethwaite, whose character is too ill to conduct the final scene, but he gave one of the all time great acting-conducting performances. Carter isn't conducting quite up to that standard.)
- On tenor horn, Ewan McGregor, later to find much success as Obi-Wan Kenobi
- the band in this film is actually the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, posing as a different coal-mining-community brass band in a film that I think you absolutely should watch.
Grey Cup 2007 (Toronto; Saskatchewan 23, Winnipeg 19)
Part of our Ongoing Series of Argonotes Grey Cup Memories.
The 2007 Grey Cup was the first one in Toronto since 1992 (and, thus, the first home grey cup for Argonotes, since the band started in 1995.) We were so excited we even had special collector’s edition lapel pins made up. See above! No, you can’t have one, I think I only have this one left. They were pretty popular.
We were particularly pleased to be joined by the Saskatchewan Roughrider Pep Band, who, of course, manage somehow to go to every Grey Cup, whereas in Argonotes we could only muster the strength to go to the East Division ones.
warming up
As usual we played at all the team parties, including the fabulous Spirit of Edmonton event and their legendary Saturday morning breakfast. I recall that we’d established an official band beachhead at the Novotel downtown where most of us stayed Thursday-Sunday. That sure made it easier to get around without anybody worrying about what anybody had had to drink, if theoretically that were happening.
In a post appropriately titled What we learned while killing our brain cells, the legendary Boatmen Blog had these kind words to say about our performance at Saturday morning’s Spirit of Edmonton breakfast. (The whole post is worth a read but, well, if I had to pick one paragraph it’d probably be this one.)
It's never too early for Steve Hayman to bring his A-game. As always at the Spirit of Edmonton Breakfast (which, as you can see, is really a goldmine for material), we were treated to an MC making assorted jokes that range from the corny to the slightly blue. For a guy trying to work a room full of drunks on a Saturday morning, he did a fair job. But he had nothing on the leader of the beloved Argonotes, who came equipped with a dizzying array of one-liners - among them a solid one about Saskatchewan poised to match the number of Grey Cups won by Sarnia and Queen's University, and...well, truthfully, we can't remember the others, on account of the nature of the event. But trust us, he was very funny. And we maintain that the Argonotes' cover of BTO's Ain't Seen Nothing Yet is genuinely more enjoyable than the original.
strolling around Toronto
I’m lucky I didn’t get fired for having the band play inside the Apple store at the Eaton Centre.
The CFL Pep Band Summit
Just before the parade we hosted the Saskatchewan band for lunch at our favourite pregame hangout, Joe Badali’s which - what do you know - turned out to be the starting point of the parade. (Photos of summit to come, once I can find them.)
parade? what parade? who said anything about a parade?
There was no official Grey Cup Parade, which naturally caused a lot of sneering in western Canada about those high faluting Toronto hipsters who are too cool for the CFL etc etc etc - any Argo fan has been hearing this for decades - but that didn’t stop anybody. Naturally we got together with the Saskatchewan band, the Calgary Grey Cup Committee (who host the annual pancake breakfast and do the horse-in-a-hotel routine) and various fan groups and decided we’d all meet at the corner of Front and Simcoe on Grey Cup Saturday for the ..
the Not the Grey Cup Parade
The theory being that parade permits were super expensive, but protest marches were free, so it wasn’t a parade, it was a protest march objecting to the lack of a parade.
We started at Front and Simcoe, went west on Front (mostly on the sidewalk), turned south on John St over the bridge to Skydome, and wound up at the Convention Centre.
We may have tipped off the media in advance. Rob Leth of Global did a fantastic report.
June Trueman
Right at the start of that report, and again towards the end, you can see a Winnipeg fan hugging a Saskatchewan fan named June Trueman, who was a delightful member of the Saskatchewan pep band and who, sadly, passed away last month. June was a founding member of the Saskatchewan band and seemingly everybody’s favourite alto sax player. It was always a pleasure to seek her out and say hello. Thank you, June.
I remember turning around during the parade and seeing this incredible mass of humanity following along, which was pretty amazing for a non-event that we only started “planning” a couple of days before.
post parade performances
Here are a few Youtube clips of band performances that day
Post-parade, Super Tequila at the Convention Centre
Grey Cup Sunday, Surfin' USA in the fountain outside Skydome
Geez, that fountain was a good spot. I’m glad nobody found the switch to turn on the pumps, though. We got a nice picture there, and then moments later the fountain was swarmed by Saskatchewan fans.
as a proud Canadian band, isn't it a little weird that you keep playing "Surfin' USA"
how about we call it “Surfin' PEI.” Happy now?
did we get into the game?
Yes. The league graciously gave us some passes to get in, although we didn’t have any seats so we had to find obstructed-view unsold seats. The Saskatchewan band got in, of course; they always buy tickets. What? Buy Tickets? Who does that?
more photos and video
See more from 2007 on the band web site here.
was it fun?
are you kidding? it was the best. What’s more fun than getting together with your friends, even your friends from Saskatchewan, and making some music?
We never sounded better than we did playing in that fountain. I remember Dave Keith telling me “You know what, by the end of the season, we actually sound tight.”
Imagine what we would have sounded like if we’d ever had a rehearsal.
Remembering Grey Cups past
Part of the reason for this post is that I haven’t blogged anything in a while, but mostly it’s because the 2020 Grey Cup should have been played last Sunday, but wasn’t.
It’s all got me feeling really nostalgic about the Grey Cups I’ve been lucky to attend with Argonotes, from our first in 1996 to our last in 2017.
Some were road trips to Cups in Hamilton, Ottawa and Montreal, and some were at home in Toronto, but they were all memorable, multi day festivals of fun and music and drinking and parties and camaraderie and fierce but good-natured rivalries with the Saskatchewan Roughrider Pep Band, and occasionally a football game at the end, and at this time of year, past pictures, videos and posts keep popping up in my Facebook on-this-day-in-years-past memories feed.
I feel the need to write about each of them.
I don’t much care whether anybody reads this series, but I want to gather all my best memories of each one in one spot. And this seems like a good spot.
More to come.
In no particular order … ok in numerical order … with a few articles still to be written
Tempo!
Check out this showstopper performance by one of the world’s greatest brass bands, Wales’s The Cory Band.
wow
I tried but failed to get Argonotes to play every single piece at this speed, mostly because if it didn’t sound great, at least it would be over sooner.
In this performance please note
my favourite movie conductor
Naturally this reminds me of the finale of one of my favourite films, Brassed Off, in which the (fictional) Grimley Colliery Band performs this piece at the national championship. They’re not going quite as fast though.
Things you might note from this film -
In Argonotes we used to joke that our slogan was Faster + Louder = Better.
The Cory Band is proving it to be true.
Fond memories of Joe Badali's Restaurant
Joe Badali’s restaurant - sadly, now closed - was a great friend of Argonotes. It was the closest thing to a sponsor we ever had.
Nick and I went to the Jays home opener yesterday, which I think was the first time I’d been back to Skydome since the Argo era there ended. This triggered lots of fond Argonotes memories of course. Especially the old tradition of emptying the spit valves on the statue of Ted Rogers.
But I was sad after the game as we walked back to Union Station to see that Joe Badali’s Restaurant (at Front and Simcoe) has closed, and the building it’s in is being gutted, and the adjacent parking lot is now fenced off. Yet another office tower is going up.
Badali’s holds a special spot in Argonotes history. Before our very first game in 1995, we barged in there to play “Argos Rule the CFL” - to a reaction of befuddlement and confusion. But it got better.
For over 20 years, it was where we started and ended every performance. “Meet at Front and Simcoe 90 minutes before kickoff” was the usual rule. We’d gather in the adjacent parking lot for a warmup - where we’d make sure nobody had tuned their instruments, ever - and play for the crowd there, and then head over to Skydome, crashing other restaurants along the way. And we’d always wind up at Badali’s after the game too, for drinks and conversation.
For a few years, it was the official post game Argo bash spot, and everybody would gather there - players, dance team, fans, band - and former manager Mike O’Connor always made sure there was a reserved table for the band. And free beer and appetizers too. I couldn’t believe it. What had we ever done to deserve this grand treatment? A packed restaurant full of people celebrating an Argo victory - and there’s a reserved table for 30 people for the band? This is great, but why? 
(Well, I always thought it was part of an unspoken arrangement: we’ll buy you a beer so long as you don’t ever barge in here and play “Argos Rule the CFL” ever again. go crash the Lone Star and Boston Pizza and East Side Mario’s all you want though.)
Doug Flutie came and sat at the band table once. Doug Flutie! The greatest quarterback in CFL history! And he came and sat at OUR table! I can’t imagine that happening in the NFL. Players mingling with ordinary people. (Naturally we asked him if his Flutie Brothers Band needed another 40 members, and he pointed out “I already have horns in the band.” Well OK then.)
Even after it was no longer the official spot - for one awkward year, the official post game restaurant was Frank D’Angelo’s “Forget About It” Supper Club - fans and players continued to celebrate or commiserate after the games at Badali’s.
Badali’s was also the gathering spot for several CFL Pep Band Summits - wonderful Grey Cup get-togethers with Argonotes and our great friends, the Saskatchewan Roughrider Pep band. This is the 2012 Summit, possibly history’s largest gathering of CFL Musicians. And there’s Bob Mossing, Member of the Order of Canada, Founder of the Roughrider Pep Band -
(Note, former BC Lions band leader Dal Richards is also a member of the Order of Canada. I presume they eventually give this to all CFL band leaders. I will keep an eye on my email.)
Hanging out with the Rider band provided some of my greatest Argonotes memories - and we kicked off the 2007 “Not The Grey Cup Parade” from the Badali’s parking lot!
I celebrated both my 40th and 50th birthday parties at Badali’s, surrounded by all my band friends and family. I was looking forward to celebrating the next big birthday there too … But the Argos moved to BMO Field, the band got ignored to death, and I hadn’t been back to Front and Simcoe until yesterday.
Thank you to Mike, who’s moved on, and all the wonderful staff at Badali’s over the years who treated us so well. We miss you.