Every year for the last quarter century, me and the boys have entered this yearly hockey tournament of the arts. The arts part is the magic as it is filled with artists, musicians and performers rather then alpha-chad hosers and you have to put an act on stage for 30 minutes to prove it.

You can hear about the Hootenanny show we played in here and the weekend here.

This post is for the guys on the hockey team and the band we built for a 1-night show.

Rehearsals

We sure didn't get many rehearsals to learn how to play the songs before the big night. maybe 2 as a whole group and this was the last warm up in the studio before the show. This year, we are dumping a bunch of Springsteen songs, primarily about America, on all our Canadian friends.

Groove Springsteen and the G Street Band

Here we have our goalie Nikita on the keys, defenceman Steve with the acoustic, centerman Jeff on the kit and a winger Jarred playing the solos. Decked out in their Canada flag attire, the band layed down a groove like The Boss.





We opened with the iconic Born in the USA with the lyrics changed to a hockey theme and the title altered to GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and GTHLA (Good Time Hockey League of the Arts.) I was called on to play the bass guitar and our captain Tim stepped up to trade verses with us on lead vocals. We followed that up with Everybody's Got a Groovy Heart and the same assignments.

We alternated bass and guitar for Atlantic City where Steve took over on lead vocals. I am much more comfortable singing harmony when I don't have the responsibility of playing bass.

This was the first year Nikita played with the band and possibly the first time playing on a stage like this. He was solid on the keyboard in songs that really needed the synth. He is such a good goalie that he could have not been any good at keys but was perfect.





To close out the set, I put down the guitar and took the mic to sing our version of Born to Run.





I rewrote the lyrics to be a story about how the "Freedom Convoy" of truckers that did their thing during covid actually want to become part of the USA. More taking the piss than anything else, that is very much the triggering unpopular opinion in these parts for obvious reasons. ;)



Won’t you let us in, we wanna be your friends
So you can guard your dreams and borders
We’ll tell our cares to your billionaires
And applaud your executive orders
Together we could break this trap
We'll shop 'til we drop, baby we'll never go back
WHOOOOAHHHHH!, will you walk with us out on the wire?
'Cause baby we’re scared and lonely hosers
We want our day in the sun
Trumps like us, baby we are 51!

This shot was taken right during the WHOAAAAAHH! part which you really have to give 'er. Some were a little taken aback by the gall of supporting the notion of becoming part of the USA but it was all in fun and you have to laugh at bullshit notions!

This is a shot taken by another of the bands from their view backstage. Like the VIP perspective of the huge spectacle!





One of the reasons I love to do this every year is for the awesome shots I can use as avatars on social media and blockchain and pretend I am a stage star! The real reason is to learn and perform with these guys, entertain the rest of the team, and step out of the norm just for a night. So much fun with a crew like this.





So there you have it! The VIP experience package where you get to share the stage with Groove Springsteen and the G-Street Band for this exclusive 1-night-only concert! Join me next year at this time where we will have to come up with a completely different theme.

Here's live music, performing and goofing off!

Taking requests for next year's show.