When Blu Beach Band takes the stage at Coda on July 11, the Regina-based indie-rock group will arrive in Victoria with more than guitars and a new album.
It will also bring a growing national campaign that has already convinced more than 10,000 Canadians to sign a petition calling on CBC and Rogers Sportsnet to restore Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) to free, public television.
The band’s performance in Victoria will mark their 12th stop on its Western Canadian ‘Mulligan Tour’, a trip that has unexpectedly become just as much about preserving a Canadian tradition as promoting new music.
“We made the decision that instead of hanging our heads, we should try and do something about this,” Blu Beach band member Carter Vosper said.
The petition was launched after CBC announced it would no longer carry NHL games following a 74-year run.
Already embracing its Canadian identity by performing in hockey jerseys and showing archival HNIC footage during concerts, the band decided not to change course. Instead, it added a new mission to every show.
“The goal is just to get their attention and let them know that this isn’t something that can just be swept under the rug,” he said. “It feels like we’re watching a huge piece of Canadian history being lost in real time.”
The response caught the band off guard.
“We thought this was going to be all of our friends, but by day three we were looking in the thousands. We were shocked,” Vosper said. “Once people understand what we’re trying to do, people are pretty passionate about it.”
The petition is rooted in memories that stretch back to Vosper’s childhood growing up on a farm near Langenburg, Sask., about two and a half hours east of Regina.
Saturday nights often meant gathering with neighbours to watch HNIC.
“It felt like the whole town would get together,” he said. “It brought not only the entire town together, but the entire country.”
Those experiences continue to shape how he views the program today.
“You can’t understate how important having something publicly accessible to everybody for 74 years has been,” Vosper said. “Anybody with an antenna could tune into HNIC every Saturday night. It made it feel like hockey was for everybody.”
While the petition has attracted national attention, the Victoria stop also introduces the band to a city none of its members have performed in before.
Blu Beach Band, made up of Carter Vosper, Eric Vosper, Remi Berthelet and Riley Buchberger, first started playing together in middle school talent shows in rural Saskatchewan before building a grassroots following through years of touring.
The tour supports Mulligan, the band’s third studio album.
Named after the golfing term, an informal do-over, the self produced record explores second chances, a theme that grew from the band’s love of golf and the realization that opportunities to chase a music career do not last forever.
Vosper describes the group’s sound as “hyper Canadian indie frat rock,” blending loud guitars and high energy performances. As the band prepares for its first Victoria show, Vosper hopes people leave with more than just a few songs stuck in their heads.
“We don’t have the largest platform,” he said. “But if we can use the small amount of reach that we have to spread this, then that’s good enough for us.”
They will perform at the Coda on Saturday, July 11, with Zoo! and The Shindigs.