One of our favourite Calgarians
It's hockey night in Calgary, and Willy Joosen is king of the keys at the 'Dome
It was the beginning of a Flames game. On one side of centre ice stood the Vancouver Canucks shuffling about and ready to start playing the game. Across from the Canucks were our Flames, staring at vocalist Tony Rino and waiting for the opening chords of our Canadian national anthem. Seconds later, the Flames organist began the anthem... except instead of "O Canada," it was the U.S. national anthem. In a rare moment, the two Canadian teams exchanged smiles across the ice.
"And before I could steer it the other way," relays Willy Joosen, the man who was on the keys that night, "Tony started singing 'The Star Spangled Banner' to a continuous chorus of boos and jeers. That's one broadcast I'd like to have on tape, just to hear the reaction from Peter Maher and Doug Barkley. Whew!"
Yikes, man, what would Irene Besse say?
It's Calgarians like Willy Joosen that make me love my job. The organist has been a part of every hockey lover's ritual since the year the Flames won the Stanley Cup. Over the years, he's accumulated enough stories – and believe me, he'll share ’em – to make him a hit at any party. Just ask his brother, Hollywood animator Leon Joosen (see: The Little Mermaid and Scooby Doo). His pals think Willy has the coolest job in the world.
Aside from all the embarrassing moments that he good-naturedly admits to, Joosen has seen many great plays from his perch above the ice. On one auspicious occasion, both the action down below and his inadvertent reaction echoed throughout the Saddledome – the moment is noted in Andrew Malcolm's 1997 book, Fury: Inside the Life of Theoren Fleury.
"The first time Fleury broke his scoring drought, he said in the book Fury, 'Willy nearly fell out of the rafters.' I just forearmed the keyboard and sat on every note, 'Bronnng!' Everybody was going nuts – I was going nuts – it was cool. It used to be that the tech would kick the sub(woofer)s up, that really deep bass, and I would sit on the bottom of it, and it sounded exactly like a Saturn V whisking off. It was so amazing. Here's 20,000 people. I can go 'Boooom' and they go 'Whoaaa.'"
He has stories of amazing saves by Mike Vernon and countless golden plays by Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. In his words, "it's like driving a Caddy with one finger, those guys." While secluded in the organ booth's old location, Joosen remembers watching fans pacing the lobby because they couldn't stand to sit in the seats they paid hundreds of dollars for. While fans were biting their nails, Joosen's fingers were dancing across the keys of his organ, keeping the energy up like a musical cheerleader. Well, one with a more twisted sense of humour.
"The refs don't like 'Three Blind Mice,'" he says.
These days, Joosen looks down upon the ice from the south press box along with the rest of the Flames entertainment unit. Included in the unit are the techs who mix audio, graphic guys who take care of the Jumbotron, Beasley the announcer and producer Dave Imbach, who choreographs the whole show. All will agree, this is not your average job.
Of everyone who works the show, Joosen may have the most fun. As he plays sprightly ditties from his mental jukebox of crowd-pleasing tunes, he can make the audience roar with excitement. One of his most impressive medleys includes a Black Sabbath song, from which he segues into the "Go Flames Go" chant. To prove that it's possible, he'll sing the progression concluding with the dunh-dunh-dunh "Go Flames Go." No question about it, folks, Joosen is a one-of-a-kind gem.
"The producer throws me wacky stuff. I'll say, 'Well they're not gonna go for that – awlright Dave, I'll do it.' It's easy when you're the only one doing it, you don't have to call out to the bass player and drummer that you have this and that coming. You can turn on a dime. There's a common beat between this song, a chant and whatever key you happen to be in."
He pauses a brief moment before cracking a final joke.
"But you have to warm up by doing 'Go Flames Go' in every key."
The Calgary Flames play their first pre-season game against Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, September 21 at 7 p.m. The season opener occurs on October 10, when the Flames play the Canucks (again) on home ice at the Saddledome. Keep your ears peeled for Willy Joosen, who (fingers crossed) will be playing the Canadian national anthem, along with other treats, from 90 feet above the ice. |
