There was a magic trick performed over the weekend at CN Centre. If you're not a fan of hockey or Canadian rock, you missed it but you don't need to closely follow either the Prince George Cougars or The Tragically Hip to appreciate the artistry.
It wasn't the team nor the band that put on the best show there this weekend. Rather, it was Glen Mikkelsen and his amazing CN Centre staff, who hosted a Cougars game Friday night, the Tragically Hip show Saturday night and then a Sunday afternoon Cougars game.
The trick is to make the venue invisible at whatever event the building hosts. Hockey fans watching the Cougars Friday should be forgiven for being unable to imagine what happened overnight. By midafternoon Saturday, the scoreboard was gone, tucked up high into the rafters, the ice was covered, the glass and netting had disappeared, a section of the back boards and the seats immediately behind it were gone to allow fans access to the beer garden in the bottom concourse and there was a huge stage at one end of the rink with a massive rigging for lights and huge projection screens behind, to the side and over the stage.
By 9 p.m. Saturday, when the Hip took the stage, the hockey rink had been replaced by a giant beer hall for a killer sound and light show. Except for the rink boards and luxury suite advertising, there was little indication that CN Centre was a hockey rink 24 hours earlier and would be one again less than 18 hours later.
Overnight, the Hip left town, semitrailers taking the audio and visual equipment, the stage, the screensand those unusual black gauze curtains they used a few times Saturday, and the CN Centre crew got busy cleaning up, putting the boards, glass and seats back in place, uncovering the ice and dropping the scoreboard down for the Sunday afternoon Cougars game.
The seamlessness of the transition is only part of the trick. Timing, structure and teamwork are essential. Setup and take down has to follow a specific order and an exact schedule, with dozens of people working automonously or in small teams taking their piece of the operation but all coming together at the same place and same time at the end. The scoreboard has to go up and come down at a certain point of the process, the lights and sound systems need to go up and come down in a certain order, and so on.
When it comes to touring productions, the visiting people and their jobs need to mesh with the CN Centre staff and their responsibilities. The seamless experience isn't just for the audience, it's also for the performers, who need to take the stage in Prince George and feel comfortable, safe and able to concentrate on putting on the best show they can. Whether it's the Tragically Hip or George Thorogood, Elton John or Shania Twain, CN Centre should be no different, both backstage and under the lights in front of the fans, from GM Place or the Saddledome or Madison Square Garden.
CN Centre has been increasingly successful at drawing in these big acts not just because area fans are willing to shell out the big bucks to see their favourites. It's also because the artists, their managers and the tour promoters hear that CN Centre is a good venue to play, the staff is professional, competent and organized, and most importantly, there are no surprises. Touring acts and the personnel behind the scenes hate nothing more than surprises because surprises are never good.
The benefit for the entire community is enormous. Like the Tragically Hip show Saturday and all of the major tour stops at CN Centre, tonight's concert featuring Paul Brandt and Dean Brody will be a huge regional draw, pulling in hundreds of residents from surrounding communities who are coming to Prince George to stay in local hotels, eat at local restaurants and shop at local stores during their stay.
Besides the jolt to the local economy, a busy CN Centre is great for local taxpayers. The fewer dark nights at the old Multiplex, the better. The more concerts, the more special events like Cirque du Soleil, the Road to the Roar and the Scott Tournament of Hearts national curling events, the more trade shows, and the more hockey games (like a deep playoff run next spring - no pressure, Cougars!) all mean more money coming into the doors for the city and the less operating cost shouldered by taxpayers.
This magic act continues.
Three weeks from now, the Barenaked Ladies will play on the Monday, the Cougars will play Tuesday and Wednesday night, then Shania Twain rolls into town Thursday.
On with the show.
