ROCKIN’ WITH THE RUSH
Going to A Saskatchewan Rush game is like going to a big party, and much of the credit goes to DJ Anchor, whose real name is Trystan Meyers. He keeps the music loud and the crowd amped as the lacrosse action unfolds at Sasktel Centre.
Ask someone who just attended their first Saskatchewan Rush game what they thought. See if this response sounds familiar:
“It was like a party. The music played non-stop. So loud. Atmosphere was great. Crowd was into it. They played lacrosse, too.”
While the Rush — National Lacrosse League powerhouse and favourite to win a third NLL title in four seasons — are responsible for what happens between the lines, meet the guy in charge of keeping the party rocking: Trystan Meyers, a.k.a. DJ Anchor.
“You better get on board because this is what it’s going to be like,” Meyers says.
Here’s a checklist for the Saskatchewan Rush’s life of the party:
COME PREPARED
One Rush game, it’s Super Hero Night. Another, the Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders are in town. Pro wrestling icon Bret “Hitman” Hart has popped in. One night the team tried to set a world record for the biggest group hug. (With 14,387 at SaskTel Centre that night, team officials are confident a new record will be verified, topping the previous mark of 10,554 people gathered at the Rideau Canal in Ottawa in 2010.)
Meyers, who owns and operates Armed With Harmony, has to be ready for anything and everything. The hours spent performing on game night — up next: Sunday’s Western Conference final versus the Calgary Roughnecks — is the culmination of a week’s worth of prep.
Typically, he’ll receive a script on the Monday for that weekend’s game. He’ll take time over the next few days searching for and adding appropriate songs.
He’s at the arena on game day two or three hours before the first faceoff for a system check. Before doors open to the public, Meyers and the rest of the game-day staff gather to go over the game script page-by-page: timeouts, promotions, skits, bits.
“It’s making it an experience, every game to be a little different,” he says.
DON’T ASK HIM TO PLAY DJ OTZI
You know the song.
Hey Baby. (Uh, ahh. I wanna knnnoooowww if you’ll be my girl.)
“If I could never play that song again, I’d die a happy DJ,” says Meyers with a laugh.
Other songs, including several notable classic rock staples, he’d be glad to permanently delete from his library. At the same time, he knows that even though he’s played them over … and over … and over, fans still react.
“They expect it,” he says.
MAKE SASKTEL CENTRE THE NLL’S TOUGHEST FOR VISITORS
Since moving from Edmonton before the 2015-16 season, the Rush are 24-7 at home. Of course, they’ve got perhaps the NLL’s top coach and GM in Derek Keenan. This season, Mark Matthews and Robert Church are finishing 1-2 in league scoring. Evan Kirk had the second-lowest goals-against average in the league, surrendering just 10.82 per game. Over nine home games this year, the Rush averaged a league-leading 14,639 tickets sold.
From his elevated stage near Section V and W in the south corner of the arena, Meyers tries to do his part. When the Rush have the ball, the music gets cranked to 11.
“Lots of energy,” Meyers says. “That ball’s going in the net.” The less the opponents can hear each other, the better it is for the home team.
On defence, the Rush need to be communicating, so Meyers takes it down several notches. Those moments when the opponent has possession are some of the quietest — all things being relative — during any given game.
BEST NOT TO CROSS MICHAEL BUFFER
Meyers has yet to have his hand slapped by the NLL. But during his years in radio, he learned firsthand to not use the world-famous boxing announcer’s catchphrase on-air. (Buffer is notoriously protective of his trademarked catchphrase, making hundreds of millions of dollars over the past two decades through licensing — not to mention millions more in lawsuits over unauthorized usage.)
Meyers was responsible for a station he worked at having to contribute $10,000 to Buffer’s piggy bank.
“‘Let’s get ready to rumble,’” Meyers notes, “not for broadcast.”
LEARN THE GAME
It helped that he played sports growing up, attended plenty of live events, and had seen several NLL games while residing in Edmonton.
So, just like NBA fans have become accustomed to hearing Jump by Kriss Kross before any given jump ball, or NHL fans hearing Carrie Underwood’s Before He Cheats following a penalty, Meyers has songs ready for any given situation. (For instance: LL Cool J’s Mama Said Knock You Out is on standby for when a fight breaks out.)
“When you’re the one to provide the soundtrack for the players and the fans, it really makes you double take and double think every song you play, why you’re playing it,” he says.
DON’T BECOME STALE
After nearly three seasons, a formula has been established “but we also don’t want every game to feel the same,” Meyers says.
Fans still love to hear AC/DC’s Thunderstruck or Trooper’s Raise a Little Hell, so he gives it to them. The Rush’s goal song — inspired largely by a musical scene in Hollywood hit The Wolf of Wall Street — is a staple. But he supplements the familiar with newer tracks, like Intoxicated by Martin Solveig & GTA. (Big horn and a beat to clap along to, Meyers says.)
“Live sports can have so many things that change but they also happen so fast,” he says.
“There’s no dead air. A lot of music to fly through in that amount of time.”
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX
There’s a standard formula for virtually every NHL game. When the whistle blows, the music starts. When the play resumes, the music stops. “That’s on point, on a dime,” Meyers says.
When the Rush moved to Saskatoon, the in-game experience was being created from scratch for a new market.
“Now it’s like, this is what a Rush game is. There was no preconceived thoughts in their mind.”
One of Meyers’ favourite venues to work is Eye Candy Sound Lounge at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. It’s all about the show, the glitz and glamour, over-the-top production and spectacle, he says. While Vegas is its own universe, there is one key lesson he can apply anywhere: “It’s always about giving the people a show and leaving them wanting more.”
CAN’T WORRY ABOUT PLEASING EVERYBODY
Some fans think the music at Rush games is too loud. Others, not loud enough. Some want the latest hit from Drake, others want Guns N’ Roses. Right there beside a hardcore lacrosse fan who can analyze every aspect of the Rush’s defensive strategy are some Grade 2 and 4 students who are there for the popcorn or a group of coworkers enjoying some drinks and a Saturday night out.
Grandma Rush has gained local fame as a season-ticket holder. Babies get their moment in the spotlight when Meyers and the Rush pay homage to The Lion King with a Circle of Life-style crowd shot.
“It’s a unique dynamic but it’s a great fan base,” Meyers says.
“To make that accessible to more people beyond just the sports world is a big part of it … At the end of the day, the fan experience is the most important thing.”