We witnessed another good show at The Hip’s second night at the State Theater. The crowd was smaller than the band’s first sold out night, but there was a fever pitch in the air. For those of us who came to both shows, the set list varied nicely. Boots & Hearts, Dire Wolf, Puttin’ Down, Locked and Iggy Pop’s “Cold Metal” were some of my favorites from the night.

Wheat Kings was exceptionally good for two reasons. Robbie played most of the song with two guitars slung around him. The first he played slide guitar style, with his guitar held horizontally in front of him like many country & western guitar players do. Then he passed off that guitar and played the other as he normally does. At the end of the song Gord recited a new poem or lyrics that I am willing to bet shows up in some future Hip song. The ryhme and rythm really caught my attention.

Its hard for me to say which Detroit show was better. They each had their good qualities. If I had to pick one, I guess it would be tonight because all the guys seemed to be having so much fun playing together. During the phenomenal Iggy Pop cover, sweat was constantly dripping from the brim of Gord’s hat. They finished the night with Fire in the Hole. As the song neared the end, Gord began to knock the mikestand over then bring it back upright by stepping on the base before it hits the floor. Gord was doing this flawlessly, then suddenly tripped, falling flat on his back. Surprised but unfazed, Gord continued on without missing a beat.

Something new I noticed about how Gord ended each show in Detroit. He said his thank yous and good byes then took the mike and knelt down, driving it into the floor with a klunck and some finality. It probably means nothing, but I thought it was different.

We spoke with the band after the show and found out they weren’t leaving town until 3:00 am. They were heading back to the casino to kill some time. All the guys showed up except for Gord D. who wisely stayed back to rest his body and voice. We ended up in the casino bar watching a band perform a Mowtown Review / Morris Day & The Time impersonation. A large number of gamblers had gravitated to the source of the music. One patron passed out in his seat during the show. Many women were doing line dances to the old 80’s dance music. One woman got so into the music she gave the passed out gent a fully clothed lap dance without him even waking up. She was gyrating inches from his face
and he never budged or batted an eyelash. This spectical had myself and many others, including the band members, laughing in amazement at what was occuring.

It just happened to be the final song of the night for this cover band. When the music stopped the woman simply walked away. Within 30 seconds the drunk guy woke up because there was no longer any loud music playing. He was totally oblivious to missing out on a free erotic dance. With that we parted ways with a promise to follow the band to Cleveland.