Raptors Win In Hoser City
I hate to admit it but that was a long time ago. Twenty-six
years ago to be exact. I remember it like it was yesterday except I have
forgotten the name of the club we were playing at on Yonge St. It was on the
east side, just across from the Eaton Centre. It is not there any more.
Ok, the truth is that I don’t remember that evening that
well at all. What I think happened, or the way I tell the story now goes
something like this.
We were excited to be playing my, eclectic electric
instrumental jazz music in public after we had recorded it some months earlier
at Cherry Beach Studio. Victor Bateman on bass, Brent Bodrug on keys and Kevin
Dempsey on drums. Yours truly was playing my pal (and the designer of the CD
cover) Steve Szigeti’s
Stratocaster and my ES-175 that I still own. My pal Andy Milne produced
and played on that CD and Brian Nevin the engineer on the record and I have
since become pals and play a fair bit of hockey together (hosers!)
We got to the club for sound check and the owner told me
that we “didn’t have to play.” I was so disappointed. He said he would still
pay us but little did he realize that we weren’t in it for the money. Some of
us ended up watching the game there and taking advantage of a few free adult
beverages. (you know this is ancient history as the band was getting paid and
there was free beer and food for us too if memory serves me correctly)
I remember it being kind of exciting although my interest in
baseball can’t even touch my passion for hockey. The part of the evening we
didn’t anticipate was the crazy party the came roaring up Yonge street from the
Skydome after they won. People were going crazy. Somehow we had to get our gear
out of the club through this non-stop impromptu parade of people. Once again, I
am not sure how we got out of there alive but we did and I am here to tell you
all the details as I do and don’t remember them.
I wasn’t too well prepared for the World Series as most of
my energy was going into my my music. That hasn’t changed. I still feel like I
will be unprepared for the Raptors winning the big prize this year (I don’t
even know what it’s really called). However, I think this time I might stay
close to home or even on my couch and watch the city celebrate around me.
You can listen to Hoser City here
