My Day at the Stampede

It’s hard to believe that just 2 weeks ago, the Calgary Stampede Grounds were under water, and this week, the Show actually went on!!

 

Not that everything is back to normal, and it canNOT be forgotten that many are still displaced (especially in the nearby town of High River), and most are still trying to cope and recover..

 

But, happy sounds of laughter and shrieking children as they fly across the sky on some way-too-scary ride, and the dingalinging of games people play while they try to win the ultra-stuffed frog that they are then stuck carrying for the rest of the night, and bright shiny lights, and whiffs of donuts and cotton candy and caramel apples, and horses and cows … it all helps.

 

As you may remember from my last blog, some very wonderful friends gave us their tickets to last night Grandstand Show!

 

Front and Center (actually, Front and a little off to the side – we had the BEST location for Chuckwagon Races, and a pretty good view of the Grandstand) - which is especially great, since it’s my first time ever there! (And, Peter’s official “first time” at the Show, too, having spent many teenager years watching the Chuckwagon Races, through a knothole in the fence.)

 

Our plan was to go early, so we could meander around the Midway area, and munch on “Those Little Donuts” and corndogs, but then we realized:

 

We are puppy sitting a 7 month old dachshund (Dash) and we have a one year old (Lucy), and it didn’t seem … reasonable… to leave Coco (8 years old) in charge… so some other very wonderful friends agreed to come over and puppy sit…

 

To make that worth their while, we decided to provide them with a steak and lobster/crab dinner… Eventually, it became clear that… we wanted Steak and Crab/Lobster more than we wanted corndogs… Sooooo, we stayed home instead.

So! we made a mad dash to the Stampede Grounds, screeched to a halt at the Mini Donut shop, short line up, grabbed our donuts.. (by the way, they weren’t THOSE Little Donuts, but they were REEEEALLY good anyway…)

and ran, and screeched to a halt at the Stampede Marching Band, which happened to be playing “Carry On”, by FUN, which has been adopted by Calgary as “Their Song”, especially the Chorus of “If you’re lost and alone, Or sinking like a stone, Carry on, May your past be the sound, Of your feet upon the ground, Carry on… We are shining stars… we are who we are… We will find our way home… Carry on… Carry on…”

 

Finally, we found our seats for the evening. By the way, it was POURING rain earlier and we were afraid we weren’t going to make it, but then the sun came out and the sky was completely blue, just in time to kick off with the Chuckwagon Races (officially called the GMC Rangeland Derby).

 

Now, they give you a demonstration and tell you what to expect, and what the rules are, and … I’m sure that was SUPER Interesting! AND, I kinda wished I paid attention (without paying attention, you get a good idea what’s going on, so don’t panic if you miss the instruction period, too), BUT, well… I was… distracted…)

 

The Chuckwagon Races were 9 heats, and 4 teams each time. They race each night and then the Grand Winner is determined in the end. (There’s also a nightly winner.) Then, there’s also some rules about not knocking over barrels and something about the Outrider coming in behind (I think that’s right) the team… Oh, see? I was sort of listening.

Without knowing (most of) the rules, I still had a great time! In fact! It could be even better NOT to know. For example: after the horses and wagons and outriders had thundered by, I’d look back and be surprised to see a barrel down – meanwhile, someone who knew what was going on, would see that right away, and not have that element of surprise!

 

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After the Chuckwagon Races ended (9 heats goes by just like that), I wondered how they could call the little announcer stage, “the Grand Stage” for the Grandstand Show! And then, I saw this coming:

 

The Heebee-Jeebees kicked off the show with a get-the-crowd involved musical and comedy routine, and introduced the next acts. One of the things I really appreciated about the whole Show is that they set up the stage for the next act while the previous act was still on stage, incorporating the action of switching the stage into the act before. Very well done – no wait time.

 

I can’t write a play-by-play, but it was ALL amazing! Enjoyed all of the acts (one was less favorite, but I won’t tell you who, and some were MORE favorite, and I may tell you who! )

 

 

So: the night included:

 

~ Acrobats and Ballet Dancers from Beijing, China (The program says the Flag Circus and Pole on Globes, but I didn’t actually see Globes, sooo it could be my angle, or maybe that was changed…? However – we DID see an amazing show of dancing and an INCREDIBLE acrobatic act)

~ Atherton Twins ~ Andrew and Kevin, who are gymnasts, originally from the U.K., who performed with Cirque du Soleil for the last 13 years.

~ The Young Canadians of the Calgary Stampede ~ who have performed at the Calgary Stampede for the past 45 years – the youngest was…I forget – really little (I think 7 years old?)- and the oldest is 21.

~ The Alberta Ballet ~ with a little baseball number, performed by Sir Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets“.

During THAT performance, I was completely distracted by horse skeletons “galloping” across the sky (I didn’t get very many good pictures of that, because I switched to video – the pictures look a little awkward, but they were really graceful!), which was the segue into the First Nations’ dances, which are always my favorite, as I’ve mentioned previously. After that – my pictures all start to blend.

 

There were two segments of First Nation dancers, but I don’t know which were which (I’M SORRY! but everything was blending so well, and even though they announced it, I was caught up in it all, and didn’t write anything down.)

 

The groups included Dallas Arcand and Treaty 7 First Nations (Dallas, from the Cree Nation, is famous for his Hoop Dancing) , and also the Spirit Eagle Dancers (who’ve been dancing at the Stampede since it began in 1912.)


The Hoop Dancing was performed to the music of Donovan Seidle of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (Donovan also had his own segment on the Show too – he’s amazing!)

Like I said, the shows were melting into eachother, so I can’t really remember how Raghav appeared on the stage. I think his dancers might’ve intermingled with some of the Beijing dancers…

 

Raghav’s music is a fusion of hip-hop and R&B, with a Bollywood background. Very energetic. Very entertaining.

 

Then one scene became another scene which became another scene and when the smoke cleared, THIS was the stage:

They opened with “Rock and Roll all Night” – they have been playing for almost 20 years (oops – I forgot to mention – I’m talking about THIS band, Destroyer, the most famous and convincing KISS tribute band) – so convincing that people around me actually thought it was KISS at first. (I mean, you can’t blame them really – KISS was supposed to be at the Stampede this year, but their venue (the Calgary Saddledome) was flooded out and the concert got cancelled… That would’ve been a GREAT surprise if ALL of them showed up on that stage… huh… that’d be SUPER COOL if they did! They were supposed to be here July 13th… THAT would be the day to go to the Grandstand Show…just in case)

While I was distracted by the fireworks over the KISS/Destroyer stage, Peter said: “Hey! look!” and then something like: “Look at that Blue Floating Piano.”

 

PRIZE for best entrance goes to Marc Martel, who (apparently) resembles Freddie Mercury… although I don’t see it. BUT, he can SING Queen songs and did! I have to confess, at this point… I want to say he sang “We are the Champions” and I’m almost certain he did, but I was SO distracted by the flying piano, I can’t say for sure. (Peter says, that Yes, it was “We are the Champions“, and he also sang “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (after the piano landed)…

Segue, segue, enter Cinderella by sky. When she came, the lady behind me, said (I think she was saying it in awe, but, unfortunately, it got caught in my recording): “She looks like a Barbie Princess Cake.” WHICH was funny, BUT terrible timing, because it is in my recording of my absolute most favorite song: O Mio Bambino Caro. (The link is by my FAVORITE Opera singer ever (also the only one, other than the Pavarotti, that I actually know), Kiri te Kanawa, but the one performing at the Stampede, is Michelle Minke , of the Calgary Opera ~ her singing was amazing, but I couldn’t find anything on-line, to attach. I myself, only took a couple of pictures with my cell phone, because I was recording her performance with my camera… Love that song. So beautiful. Sigh.)

 

And, from there, we moved into the Grand Finale.


The Show that Must Go On, WILL go on, until next Sunday, July 14th, for the GRAND Grand Finale! and then we wait for Stampede 102.

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Our evening wasn’t quite over – as we wandered around downtown Calgary, trying to find a cab, we DID come across this truckload of Minions. THAT doesn’t happen every day!!!!

 

See you Wednesday!

 

Calgary Stampede 101

If you live in Alberta, or if you’ve been watching the news for Alberta, or if you’ve read my blog before, you will know that we just had a TERRIBLE disastrous flood here in Calgary (and many other places in Southern Alberta). The area around the Calgary Stampede Grounds was hard hit, and we thought that the Stampede was going to be a No-Go. At least, on the first couple of days.

But then, the sun came out, and the water started to recede, and the Mayor and the City officials said, “Nope- the Show must go on”.. Not only is it good financially for the City, but it’s also great for morale.

And now, look at us! Stampede Sneak-a-peak is set for tomorrow night! ($8, July 4, 5pm to midnight). And the streets that were just flooded a few weeks ago are now hosting the Parade on Friday!

And why? Because, as the Calgary Stampede facebook page says: “The spirit of this city cannot be washed away. As floodwaters recede, community spirit continues to run high. The power of people is rebuilding this community – along with Stampede Park.” The statement ends with: “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth WILL go on.”

And, despite the warning, “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys” (that’s Waylon Jenning’s and Willie Nelson’s advice to the general populace), off we rush to the Stampede!

They say the reasons are “They’ll never stay home and they’re always alone…Lonestar belt buckles and old faded Levis”…

But, if you grew up in Montana (or another other cowboy country – Alberta, Wyoming, etc), OR if you grew up in the city somewhere but happened to watch Electric Horseman, with a young(er) Robert Redford (sigh), then that advice is probably ignored…or, at least, maybe that cowboy tipping his hat can give your heart a little flutter… or, if cowboys aren’t your thing, what about Daisy Duke (either the original or the Jessica Simpson version) – you have to admit – there’s something about faded jeans and cowboy boots…(could maybe replace that lyric about belt buckles with boots… that’d be more appropriate for me.)

Despite my love for jeans and boots, and despite the fact that I grew up in Montana, and despite the fact that I had a TREMENDOUS crush on a certain cowboy when I was 12-15 (if any of you know or remember who that is, shhhhhhhh), I didn’t own a pair of boots until I moved to Calgary and was preparing to go to my first Stampede… now I have a good collection…

Calgary is (technically) a cowboy town, stemming back to “Once upon a time”, in the late (it seems) 1800′s. In fact, one of its nicknames (which some people hate and some love) is “Cowtown.” To celebrate that, there is a “parade” of Cow sculptures (all individually painted by various local artists), called Udderly Art, now on display at The Legacy Pasture, in the +15 walkway, north side of 9th Avenue, between 5th and 6th Street, S.W.

I think some don’t like it because it makes the town sound…well, like a “town”, and perhaps a town reeking of cow manure and agriculture…

Not everyone in town is a Cowboy/girl, but during Stampede everyone does find SOMETHING Stampede-y to wear. Even in the corporate downtown, suits and ties are replaced with jeans & boots.

It’s a great time to be a local “sightseer”… sigh.

Except the traffic. And the dust. And the tourists going the wrong way on a one way (almost all the streets downtown are “one-ways”.)

To make up for it, though, there is the jeans and boots (have I mentioned that already?), and free breakfasts of pancakes and sausages and coffee, and barbeques of burgers and pulled-pork sandwiches, all over the city!

People are less rushed – more “moseying” around, tipping their hats, waiting patiently in lines, hooting it up here and there!

And then, there’s the Stampede itself!

This year’s Stampede is July 5-14, and is the 101st year! Before The Flood, I hadn’t decided if I was going yet or not – I used to go at least once a year, and then, one year, I went every day… and wore myself out. But NOW! I’ll definitely be there! (In fact, really great friends just gave us their tickets to the Grandstand Show, which I've never actually seen... Too bad they had to give them up, but yay for us! THANK YOU!)

The Stampede is more than just a rodeo and agriculture fair. It IS the biggest outdoor show on the planet – last year’s attendance was over 1.4 million…GOODNESS!) – it also includes a LOT of music venues, beer gardens, Mid-way rides, fair-food (you have GOT to have “Those Little Donuts”), art shows, an Indian Village and the Hoop Dances…oh! and the Chuckwagon Races & Grandstand Show. You can go year after year and never go to the actual rodeo.

It’s not always just country music at the Stampede either – this year, along with the Dixie Chicks and Tim McGraw, is KISS…. Ummmm… THAT SHOCKS ME!! How about that! (****I don't want to delete this paragraph, just in case things change, but I just read that all of the concerts that were being held within the Saddledome have had to be cancelled, due to the flooding :( That's so terrible. Not surprising. But very sad... However, Google that - maybe they'll find another venue, or as the days go by, they'll be able to go on as scheduled.****)

My favorite thing to watch is the aforementioned Hoop Dancing in the Indian Village. (Not sure about the “politically correctness” of this name, but that’s what it’s called.) The website says it’s been a part of the Stampede since the Stampede started, in 1912. “It is a great way for visitors to experience the First Nations traditions and culture first hand”.

Another highlight is the Parade. It will be on Friday, the 5th of July … Apparently, you can reserve a nice seat for the parade OR you can really appreciate the whole Stampede experience and show up with everyone else, 3 hours before the parade starts, and elbow your way to the front. (Last year, an estimated 300,000 showed up to watch the parade.) I’ve only gone once, because I don’t want to be down at my spot at 7am, every year.


This year’s Parade Marshall is Canadian Astronaut (the first Canadian astronaut to walk in space), Chris Hadfield.

Scattered around town are various … Stampede parties – here and there – at “saloons”! Now, I’m not saying I recommend these places, but two top country/cowboy places people go are Cowboys and Ranchmans (… go to their websites and check out this year’s Stampede line-up!)
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By the way, there’s a Calgary Stampede app for your cell phone – it includes GPS, so you can navigate the Park… so you won’t miss a thing.

Oh goodness – so, I went to check out the app, and I found a second app that tells you where to find all the free Stampede Pancake Breakfasts in the city. The app is still set for 2012 (probably too soon for the upcoming 2013 Breakfast season), but last year, there were over 190 Breakfasts to choose from!!

Don’t forget to stay awake for the nightly fireworks show over the Stampede Grounds (following the Grandstand show)!

That’s Stampede 101. Come on down and enjoy the show!