NXNE 2009: Toronto’s musicians Put the Boot In

Posted: June 19, 2009, 12:33 PM by Brad Frenette National Post

After three full days and four late nights of concerts, Toronto’s North by Northeast music festival will culminate this Sunday in Put the Boot In, a winner-take-all soccer match between musicians (“The Rockers”) and media (“The Rollers”), in support of the charity Right to Play (read our Q&A with Right to Play here).

The Ampersand’s Mike Doherty caught up with two founding members of the Rockers at their top-secret training location in the Duke of Gloucester on Yonge Street.  Murray Foster (bassist for Great Big Sea; Mill Street Tankhouse) and Bobbi Guy (DJ and “Minister of Operations” at The Mod Club; Stella Artois Légère) chatted about the connections between music and the beautiful game.
 
Q: Do you say “football” or “soccer”?
MF:  I’m half and half.  When I talk to friends who don’t play it, I say “soccer,” because otherwise there’s confusion.  Canada’s in a weird semi-state now, between these two words.
BG:  Talking to Canadians, I say “soccer”; otherwise there’s arguments.
MF:  I always cringe when I say “soccer.”
BG:  That’s what I like about Toronto FC:  “Toronto Football Club.”
 
Q: Did you grow up playing the game?
BG:  It’s in my family.  My uncle, Tommy Docherty, used to be the manager of Manchester United, Chelsea, Scotland, and Queens Park Rangers. He’s quite famous in Britain.  I played for QPR schoolboys’ youth team, when I was at school, but I haven’t played for a few years.  I’ve lost a bit of pace.  I used to be a tricky winger, but now I’m just a mouthy keeper.
MF:  I don’t have that pedigree.  I have three brothers, and they all played hockey; I decided I needed my own sport, so I picked soccer almost randomly.  I started as a defender, then I was a striker for a bunch of years, but now, as I lose my pace, I’m a better defender again.

Q: What team do you support in the English Premier League?
BG: My whole family’s Man United, Glasgow Celtic.  I was a Celtic fan originally, as a kid, but West Ham’s been my team for years.  I’m the black sheep -- my uncle Tom says, ‘I don’t know what happened!’ 
MF:  It’s embarrassing, in the presence of pedigree, to say, but I picked Liverpool randomly, quite frankly, about 6 or 7 years ago.  I didn’t want to pick the obvious Man U choice.  I like the slight underdog, but not the big underdog. I am a die-hard now.  My heart skips a beat when I see the colours.
BG:  Your blood flows red!
 
Q: What do you make of Toronto’s football chants?
MF:  I have Toronto FC season tickets, and it’s been very interesting watching that community evolve over the years.  In year one, there was a collection of people who had a sudden outpouring of joy about having their own team to chant for, but we have no indigenous soccer culture here, so what do we chant?  So it’s all these imported chants from England that were repurposed for TFC.
BG:  I’m a season-ticket holder as well.  Some of the songs are sung at inopportune times.
MF:  It feels like a grafted-on soccer culture.  It’s stolen from what people saw on TV --it’s a bit contrived, and it’s kind of ironic hooliganism, where they’re like, “Arrrr!  We’re going to kill you!”  But if they were told, “Could you keep it down?” they would be, “Oh, sorry.”  I’m in one of the keen supporter sections, so it’s all the yobbos apparently, but when we chant, we go, “Yeah, you suck!” and then we laugh to each other:  “He doesn’t really suck – he’s great.”
BG:  It works well in Europe because the cities are so close together, so you have five or ten thousand of the other team’s fans; you sing to them, and they sing to you.  Whereas here, you have five or ten people from Dallas, and the Toronto fans still go, “Who are you?”  They actually sing, “Can you hear L.A. sing?”  Well of course you can’t – they’re not here!
MF:  Columbus is an artificial rivalry, but it’s the best we have. … Until Montreal’s in the league, there won’t be true passionate singing.  It’s fun, though – it’s early days.
 
Q: What are the best football songs?
BG:  For me, it’s “Forever Blowing Bubbles,” the West Ham song.  It’s on some adverts here, which is nice to see.
MF:  My favourite was New Order, “World in Motion.”  I thought that was actually a good song, which stands out among football songs as listenable.
BG:  Especially the last part of it, where it goes, “We’re singing for England!”
 
Q: Maybe Canada’s soccer team needs an anthem.
MF:  You know, it would be so pathetic, it would add to the ridiculousness of it!
BG:  I’m surprised that the TFC fans can hold the songs for more than two words. With the Jays or Leafs, any more than two words in the chant?  Forget it.  With TFC, stringing more than three words together is an achievement.
 
Q: What are you looking forward to in this year’s NXNE match?
MF:  It’s a great cause – the Right to Play.  It’s a fun day.  This is year three, and it’s the biggest year in terms of media and crowd, and hopefully we can build on it.  It’s great for people who have never seen BMO Field – it’s a pretty cool stadium.
BG:  I suggest [TFC general manager] Mo Johnston go down there, ‘cause he might see a couple winners on the pitch!
 
Q: In the past, have the coaches been having fun with it, or do they take it seriously?
MF:  They kind of take it seriously.  They’re laughing up their sleeve a bit about coaching these slightly overweight, slightly under-talented players.  [Former TFC midfielder] Rohan Ricketts coached the Rockers last year.  With ten minutes left, we were up 2-0, and he just goes, “All right, boys – all tricks.  Showboating!”
BG:  ‘Cause we knew we’d won the game by then, so we were messing about for laughs.
MF:  We were laughing; the media were crying.

• Put the Boot In is open to the public. Tickets are on sale for $6 on-site at BMO Field from 12pm EST on Sunday, June 21. Supporters who are not able to attend the game can donate to the cause via www.righttoplay.com/nxne.

[Bobbi Guy, left and Murray Foster, right. Photo by J.P. Moczulski for National Post]