| The duo of Chad Saunders and Joe Chan, known as the Oregons stress that they’re not your average local promoters. They’re definitely not in for the money. "Basically," says Chan, "the way the Oregons operate is kinda like if I set fire to a $5 bill in hopes that somebody would give me $7 in exchange for it."
The Oregons mandate is selfishly simple – Saunders and Chan are booking the performers they want to see. These are acts that may otherwise not come to Calgary, or would not have been pursued by any other promoter. This has led to them landing such performers as Archer Prewitt, Sam Prekop, Sue Garner & Rick Brown, The Sea and Cake, Rebecca Gates and Stars of the Lid.
In addition to bringing these artists to Calgary, the duo also ensures that they bring the artists around Calgary, treating them like they’re on a working vacation, like going on a hike in Banff with Prewitt, or going guitar shopping with Prekop.
As they prepare to present the Rock n’ Roll Revival show –the Oregons’ 10th production, they continue to seek out possible future shows. Saunders mentions that he hopes to book a Van Halen reunion tour ("which Joe poo-poohs at every breath") and both would love to bring Mojo Nixon to town.
For the sake of maintaining a level of quality of live shows in Calgary, here’s hoping they keep burning those $5 bills. |
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