KING OF ARTS Nik & The Nice Guys

NIK & THE NICE GUYS

BY RACHEL HARNISH

What does an accordion, a hockey team, and a chicken all have in common? Answer: Each played a role in the creation of a Rochester band which eventually became known for bringing rock and roll to the Super Bowl.

The Nik and the Nice Guys band was formed by a group of Canadian hockey players at NCAA Division 1 St. Lawrence University that included National Hockey League coach Mike Keenan and present day Nik CEO / CPA and Victor resident Gary Webb. That St. Lawrence University “college band” wrote the book on audience participation, Webb has remarked. The group disbanded upon graduation but re-formed in the 80’s when Keenan became coach of the Rochester Americans hockey team.

Originally the recreated Nik was a means for day-time business professionals to become night-time party animals raising funds for charity. However, thanks to Super Bowl bookings, former Toronto area resident Webb, turned the band’s continued success into a full-time touring and recording operation.

Nik played a significant historical role in changing the entertainment dynamics of Super Bowls.

In the late 80’s, NFL Properties experimented with live rock music at the world’s largest annual media event. This was in stark contrast to the stringbased orchestras and “safe” variety acts like Up With People. NFL Properties executive Maureen Rosen auditioned

Nik and the Nice Guys at a McQuaid HS dance, then took a huge career risk by hiring the unknown, crazy rock/pop band to perform for NFL customers at Super Bowl XX in New Orleans - Bears routed the Patriots. Nik shows around this time featured George Walter, a CPA from Avon NY, fully costumed as a chicken, ala Nik’s Chick! And the band went on to perform for NFL customers at 21 subsequent Super Bowls. off the wall Nik performances paved the way for MTV and live pop music to become an integral part of every Super Bowl.

Nik continued to play high profile events reported on by USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated etc. and ended up on weekly TV in the 90’s as the house band for ESPN’s “The Lighter Side of Sports” and NBC’s syndicated series “The Bob Uecker Sports Show.” Reruns of these shows played all over the world and Nik hit the road touring i n E u r o p e , Cayman Islands, Japan, Mexico - everywhere!

Also in the 90’s, due to booking demand, Nik and the Nice Guys spun off a number of completely separate NICHE-ACT SHOWBANDS much the way TV sitcoms spin off other shows. Webb’s Nik Entertainment Co. was formed to manage these acts, and Webb himself decided to end his 15 year accounting career, including 5 as Partner at the Deloitte International CPA Firm’s Rochester office.

Webb’s musical direction of the 100+ Nik performers, including 21 females, stems from accordion lessons starting at

age 8 - “bass is the left hand, keys is the right hand… and you have to manage the bellows.” However, by thinking beyond the music and additionally scripting comedic bits, fun costumes, props, and choreography, Nik shows are unlike those of its North America competitors.

The CV pandemic has forced the company, now based in Toronto with a Village Gate Square Rochester office, to “retool” with a broader supply of smaller, eclectic acts in expectation of a very different post-CV live music environment. Gary further advises to not underestimate what you can do with with an accordion, a hockey team and a chicken.