How Stampede's off-grounds music festivals became their own scene

Calgary Stampede has long been an event that happens on and off the grounds. 

But since the 1990s, clubs and bars capitalizing on the electric energy in the city have been growing in popularity — often roping in acts that might skip over Calgary any other time of year. 

Music festivals, held in big white tents, have become their own rodeo circuit during the Stampede — shifting the cowboy vibe of the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. 

And some observers of the music scene feel that what the city has to offer these days rivals other big-name festivals across Canada, like Bluesfest in Ottawa or Osheaga in Montreal. 

"It is Canada's premier music event," opined Greg Curtis, owner of Tooth Blackner Presents.

"I did some rough calculations — really rough, admittedly — we're coming up on 400,000 capacity for people." 

The calculations are rough because, unlike other festivals, Calgary's musical ride isn't all under one banner. He's tallying the capacity between different tent-party venues over the span of the 10-day Stampede.

According to Tourism Calgary, more than 150 artists are performing in the city at 11 different venues, many of which are off-ground festival tents.

From beer hall sets to festival tents 

Entertainment during Stampede started out small: think fiddlers playing on downtown street corners and, later, bands performing to crowds in bars.

Music was always around, but the acts were often viewed as something for the partiers looking to grab a beer.

A Globe and Mail article from 1972 hints that the secret to a good experience at Calgary Stampede is splitting time between the exhibition grounds and the downtown mall, hotel bars, and not-so-private clubs.

Hotels put on a country-themed front. The Calgary Inn's Sedate Lounge, for example, was renamed the Silver Slipper. Convention centres were filled with round tables so people could sit, drink beer and enjoy music. 

These parties were usually packed, with people willing to line up for hours to get inside. There are stories of executives sending their assistants to reserve seats for corporate bigwigs. 

"Oh yes, I lined up for the Golden Garter at the Westin Hotel back in the day to pay $20 to drink warm draft beer," said Wendy Daniel, marketing director of Ranchman's Cookhouse & Dancehall, one of the city's best-known country bars. 

Then, in the 1980s, promoters were able to lasso bigger acts.

The Saddledome and Coca-Cola Stage were built in this period and performers with some name recognition — like Kenny Rogers and Sting — played to crowds on the grounds.

In 1988, a 40,000-square-foot tent featured four distinct clubs with live music, each dedicated to a specific era. Part of the appeal for Club 88, as it was called, was a venue to trade pins, something Calgarians were obsessed with after the Winter Olympics. 

But that venue didn't stick. Instead, in 1992, Nashville North, the "original Stampede party tent" became the music venue on the grounds with staying power. 

Soon after that, outside the grounds, party tents took hold, too — thanks to some entrepreneurial spirit.

"Credit to them, the first people to do it were Cowboys, the nightclub," Curtis said. 

Cowboys, enter here 

When the president of Penny Lane Entertainment, Paul Vickers, opened up Cowboys roughly 28 years ago, he didn't know what to expect during the Stampede. 

He was a promoter in Edmonton and watched the impact of Klondike Days on the provincial capital. His experience was it had a sleepy effect on local businesses.

Vickers found out pretty quickly that wasn't the case in Calgary. To his surprise, at 10:30 in the morning, the club was so busy there was a line to get in.

"I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, this is crazy,'" he said. "We need to get bigger. We can't handle all the business."

First came a patio licence and some small tents. Vickers likens the appearance of those early tents to those of Barnum and Bailey's circus. 

The first festival, according to the Cowboy's website, kicked off in 1999 and featured the Barenaked Ladies alongside Shania Twain. However, a Calgary Herald article from that year suggested the act may have been a lookalike called Shania Twin. Like a lot Stampede's past, memories can get a little hazy.

One thing for certain, the party tent was a hit and other clubs took notice.

"There's very entrepreneurial people in Calgary and they looked at that and said, 'We could do that,'" Curtis said.

Every tent does it a little differently

The reputation at Cowboys, in the club and under the music festival tent, is neatly wrapped up in the slogan: "The most fun you can have with your boots on." 

"I say to my staff and all of the different staff around at all the venues: Smile. You're a tourist attraction," Vickers said. 

Meanwhile, tourists on the lookout for genuine cowboys can hope to find their share at Ranchman's. 

"It's the home away from home for the rodeo cowboy, that's what it is," said Daniel, Ranchman's marketing director. 

The honky-tonk bar has had a tent for about 20 years and has been the official hospitality location of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association for more than five decades. So, the cowboy and country theme is entrenched. 

WATCH | CBC speaks to promoters who feel what the city has to offer rivals other big-name festivals across Canada

Daniel said their tent isn't big. It has space for about 600 people — and the entertainment isn't just about the music. There's a mechanical bull and line-dancing lessons. 

The Wild Horse tent has been going for at least 15 years. The Concorde Entertainment Group is behind that tent and, a couple of years ago, they started a second party venue to keep up with demand, said Jon Molyneux, its vice president of operations.

"There's definitely something for everybody," Molyneux said.

When he talks about what sets both of the Concorde Entertainment Group tents apart, it's about the hospitality.

"I'd say, you know, Wild Horse does have a little bit of a grown-up tent vibe and yes, it gets busy, and you'll be shoulder to shoulder with other people. But again, the hospitality shines through," Molyneux said. 

The music there can be a whole host of things. Usually, Molyneux said, they like to have indie and alternative music in the lineup. But these days, there are DJ sets, too. 

If electronic music is more your speed, Curtis points out one of the newer tents, Badlands, has become a big place for those fans to party. Having that big, captive audience, he adds, is an appeal for artists, too.

The bigger the tent, the bigger the ticket price, the bigger the acts. 

"You've got a tent with 7,000 people in it … you can afford to bring in acts that would maybe never come up here," he said. 

While corporate parties have gone a little more low key in recent years, Curtis said he's seen some big names play on the corporate Stampede circuit that most folks might not even hear about until they've rode out of town. He lists names like Blue Rodeo and George Thorogood. 

With talk every year of tent parties growing bigger and better, one wonders if there could be too much of a good thing. 

It's something Curtis finds himself asking.

"Every year I'm thinking this is, this is too much, like there's too much going on, there's too many," Curtis said. "But every year those tents come back."