By DENISE A. RAYMO
AKWESASNE — The Tragically Hip will be in concert Saturday night at the All Inn Lounge on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, presented by Concerts International.
Tickets are $50 each and are nearly all gone, said Jason Cree, owner of the 2,400-seat building at 439 Route 37, next to the Bear’s Den Truck Stop.
The opening act is Joel Plaskett Emergency, which will play a 90-minute set, followed by a 30-minute intermission. The Hip take the stage at 10 p.m., Cree said.
Best known for their smash hits “At the Hundredth Meridian” and “Ahead By a Century,” the band has continued to attract legends of fans and win over critics with acclaimed albums.
Beginning with their self-titled first release, through “Road Apples,” “Trouble At the Hen House,” “Music @ Work” and “In Between Evolution,” The Tragically Hip are known for their captivating storytelling and intense live shows.
Cree said snagging such a popular band and putting the entire show together took less than a month.
“We were trying to find big-name talent to make an appearance and started looking around on the Internet.”
He saw that The Hip had shows set for tonight at Memorial Auditorium in Burlington, the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse on Thursday and the Auditorium Theater in Rochester on Friday.
“We saw they were going to be close by, so we called the band and talked to them,” Cree said. “It was the right time at the right place, and everybody said yes.”
The Tragically Hip, according to an entry on Wikipedia, got its name from a skit in the movie “Elephant Parts” by Mike Nesmith of The Monkees, who took it from the song “He’s So Cool” by Carolyn Mas.
The five-man band from Kingston, Ontario, formed in 1983 and still features front man Gordon Downie, bassist Gord Sinclair, drummer Johnny Fay and guitarists Paul Langlois and Rob Baker.
“World Container,” the band’s 10th full-length album, was released in the United States in March and features the tale of a hockey goalie, “The Lonely End of the Rink,” and “Family Band.”
The Tragically Hip have won numerous Juno Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy Awards in the United States, and were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2005.
This will be the second concert held on the reservation in recent months.
The classic Canadian rock band Lighthouse performed there this summer after that show’s promoters were denied permission to hold the show in Massena.
Excellent show. Venue was rather overwhelming with waaaaaay too much cigarette smoke though. Not good for someone like me. But the band was tight and Gordo D. gave it his all. Last show for their tour. Setlist was different than what was listed at their site. They really made it a crowd-pleasing greatest hits show. High energy maintained throughout.