Stampede showband members push through cowboy boot pain and minimal sleep for 10-day run
149 performers aged 16 to 21 battle dehydration and exhaustion while performing 30+ times on BMO Centre staircase.
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The 149 young musicians in the elite Calgary Stampede Showband are pushing through cowboy boot foot pain, minimal sleep, and dehydration to deliver the festival's most visible musical performances.
Over the 10-day festival, the band performs in morning and evening shows, appearing about 30 times on the grand staircase at the BMO Centre at Calgary's Stampede Park. They also perform in the opening parade and appear multiple times daily on the Stampede grounds.
When Jace Hernandez, 18, auditioned for the band, he realized he was missing a vital skill: how to march. "I was, like, whoa, whoa. What's going on? Why is everyone dragging their feet on the floor?" he said. Hernandez figured out how to read a dot page — a graph-like sheet showing where to stand during performances — and learned to march while playing tenor saxophone. "This is a pretty hefty instrument and having to snap and move around with it was kind of weird at first," he added.
Allie Cooper, the assistant band director and former band member, witnesses the toll daily. "They are, you know, battling through cowboy boot foot pain and minimal sleep and dehydration. And they're still showing up every single rehearsal, every performance, with a smile on their face," said Cooper. She noted there are designated people making sure the team stays hydrated, comparing the physical demand to a cardio workout typical for athletes.
The team spends hundreds of hours fine-tuning their performances to match the showmanship of their colour guard, who spin, toss, and wave replica rifles, flags, and sabres. They perform across Calgary, into the U.S., and sometimes beyond the continent. The most notable annual gig is on the BMO Centre staircase and in the opening parade that kicks off the summer exhibition.
While the work is grueling, musicians are keen to be there. "I think that Stampede blood runs very thick through our members," Cooper said with a laugh. Catherine Reid, 21, who plays piccolo, agreed that exhaustion is part of the job. "I grew up around music. So ever since, I think, I could even speak, I've been doing music. And flute was just a natural pick, just because we had one and it came super naturally," she said.
