Tragically Hip fits format change
Tue, February 3, 2009

By JAMES REANEY
A change in format has made it possible for the Hip to rock the park.

Through its first five editions as a weekend classic rock fest, the Harris Park outdoor summer party known as Rock the Park wasn’t the right fit for the Tragically Hip.

“We’ve been after them for two years,” says London concert promoter Brad Jones. Unlikely to be part of classic rock mix, the Tragically Hip is at home with Rock the Park’s new format. Each of three nights appeals to a different music market.

The Hip signed on last week as headliners on a July 23 rock night, bringing the iconic Kingston band back to the London region market for the first time since February 2007.

That was when Canada’s No. 1 rock band or Das Hip — both names by which they’re known — played the JLC.

“The first thing you notice about the Hip is that remarkable trait all great bands have — the band’s music is not carried by one person’s individual talent. Like the Stones, Led Zep, the Beatles and the Who, it is the collective that gives the band its sound and feel,” producer Bob Rock said of the sessions that led the Hip’s 2006 album World Container. The band has worked on another album at its Bathouse Studio near Kingston.

The Kingston-born quintet is fronted by Gord Downie and rounded out by guitarists Paul Langlois and Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay has been playing London for decades since forming in the 1980s.

Hip classics include Bobcaygeon, At The 100th Meridian and Ahead by a Century.

Like the first five editions of Rock the Park, this summer’s concert series is a fundraiser for Bethanys Hope Foundation.

It helps pay for London- and UWO-based research into metachromatic leukodystrophy, (MLD) a devastating progressive neurodegenerative disease.

The London foundation is named for Bethany Catherine McIntyre, who died in 2000, at the age of seven after a five-year struggle with MLD. The first five editions of Rock the Park raised more than $750,000 for the London-based Bethany’s Hope Foundation.

Read the rest of the story in the London Free Press.

The Tragically Hip
Thurs July 23 2009
Harris Park – London ON
www.rockthepark.ca

Special guests to be announced.

Presale: FM96 presale starts Tuesday February 3rd.

OnSale: Tickets on sale Saturday February 7th
Price: Tickets are $55 for general admission, or $95 for VIP.

Tickets Box Office: Are available Sat Feb 7 at Centennial Box Office
Tickets Phone: By calling 519 672 1967 or 519 672 1968
Tickets Online: Or online at www.rockthepark.ca. You must be registered and logged in with Centennial Box Office to purchase tickets online.

Tickets will not be available for pick up until after February 9th 2009

http://www.centennialhall.london.ca/BoxOfficeListings.htm

Box Office Hours: Centennial Hall Box Office is open from 10 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday, and 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday.
Sunday & Holidays : CLOSED
Call (519) 672-1967 or (519) 672-1968 to charge with VISA, MasterCard or American Express.

Please note on Thursday July 23 (day of show)
Centennial Box Office will be open from 10:00AM to 2:00PM
Boxoffice Opens at Harris Park at 3:00PM on day of show for ticket sales and ticket pickup

The Tragically Hip are putting the finishing touches to the studio album they’ve been working on with producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Our Lady Peace).

That’s about it as far as details about new material is concerned, but the band have introduced their “Live From The Vault” series of concert recordings on their newly revamped website.

The Hip have recorded their shows since 1995, and the tapes, DATs and CDs have apparently been stored in the vault of a converted bank in downtown Kingston, Ont. The archiving and preservation process has been ongoing over the past several years, leading to the launch of the new series of sound board recordings.

“There are no overdubs or tinkering,” says a message on the site. “No Frampton Comes Alive sheen. Just good old two track recordings capturing the band in a moment.”

Three concerts can be purchased and downloaded from the Hip’s online Gift Shop: Feb. 2, 1995 at Halifax’s Metro Centre; Oct. 26, 2002 at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, Texas; and Feb. 6, 2007 at Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum. All come with downloadable Wil Ruocco-designed artwork. Recordings will continue to be added, and The Gift Shop has also introduced a wider range of Hip merchandise.

The site has added new music and video players. A new Flickr application enables fans to upload photos of the band to the site, which also features extensive archives of concert information and song lyrics. The “Hip Story Project” allows fans to tell their own stories about the group and what they mean to them.

Imagine the fun in that feature. “It was Nu Yeer’s Eve and we were already hamered…”

The site is loaded with great features and products for both regular visitors and Registered Users of thehip.com.

Our new online storefront is called the Gift Shop. It contains all merchandise both new and old.

Several new products include:

The Live From The Vault series.
Album Cover T-Shirts
Lyric T-Shirts

Shiny Bundle, which includes a toque, scarf and puck

A new and improved Music Player that not only looks great, but sounds great too. All site visitors can listen to the Song Of The Day as well as streaming songs from the band’s discography. 

Registered Users of thehip.com can create custom playlists from the entire band discography. These playlists can be updated and voted on by other users. If you have playlist envy, you can select the lists of other users to play for yourself. We will also have a rotation of full shows from the band’s archives available to stream. 

We have created a new Video Player that allows for the playback of all of the band’s music videos. This playback feature streams using mpeg4 files and allows for high resolution full screen viewing. We also have the archive of MAv’s home movies from live shows, backstage and the studio. 

A new Flickr application has been created to allow for a rotation of hundreds of photos. Almost every page of the new site contains this photo feature. There are tons of live concert photos, old promo photos and candid band photos. There is also a feature for fans to upload their photos of the band. 

The Archive section features a variety of band information and facts, including a comprehensive list of past shows, set lists, a database of cities and venues the band has played and all song lyrics. Registered Users can keep track of all the shows they have attended and the songs they have seen performed. This is also where the Hip Story Project resides. The HSP allows fans to tell their personal stories about all things Hip. Great experiences from past shows, how certain songs or albums have helped shape them and a place to recite anecdotes and memories. 

We feel like this site offers a little something for everyone, from the person just curious and checking out the band for the first time, to the casual fan to the hardcore who can’t get enough about The Hip. So pull up a chair and begin your exploring at thehip.com.

From Canoe.
By THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO – Amid rapturous applause from students and cheering by members of the Tragically Hip, Alex Voros was honoured Thursday as Canada’s music teacher of the year.

Voros, of Toronto’s Chaminade College School, received the award for his 30 years of work in promoting musical education and for encouraging students of all backgrounds to learn an instrument.

“Whether they’ve played an instrument before, regardless of their musical experience they are welcomed … they have everything that they need to make music,” he said of the school’s music program, and paraphrased a famous Friedrich Nietzsche quote:

“Life without music is a mistake.”

Voros, 60, said he was thrilled to have the Tragically Hip on hand to present the award and listen to the school’s 70-member concert band, which performed the theme song to the film “The Godfather” and a medley of other tunes.

“It means a great deal to have international recording artists, through the presentation of this award, support and advocate for music education,” he told the audience in the school gym.

Voros added that he accepted the award on behalf of music teachers across Canada.

“It’s (dedicated to) the vast fraternity of music educators who toil ceaselessly in the cause of music education for all their students and teach them a love of music and making music.”

Tragically Hip singer Gord Downie said the band was honoured to acknowledge Voros’s talents and the work of all music educators.

“It’s been said that those who can, teach – and those who can’t, join rock bands,” Downie joked.

“Alex Voros isn’t just teaching, he’s making introductions, he’s introducing you to a lifelong friend,” he told the school’s students.

“He understands (music’s) magic and beauty and believes in its power to transform and to lift up spirits … He understands it, he feels it and he’s generous about it.”

Downie said learning an instrument isn’t about becoming the best guitar player or bass player in the school, it’s about forming a connection with music.

“You really don’t have to master the instrument, you don’t have to get hung up on (if you’re) good, or blow, or suck,” he said. “Just befriend that instrument and you’ll have a friend for life.”

Voros is the fourth recipient of the MusiCounts Teacher of the Year Award. It’s sponsored by MusiCounts, the music education charity of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Previous awards were handed out by the Rolling Stones, Celine Dion and Michael Buble.

From Chart Attack:

Why are The Tragically Hip presenting this year’s MusiCounts Teacher Of The Year Award? 

Whatever the reason, Chaminade College School’s music teacher Alex Voros will be lionized before leading a performance by the Toronto school’s 70-member band on Thursday morning. It takes a lot of courage not to be scared to play in front of The Hip. Maybe Voros can spaz out and do some freeform poetry about killer whale tanks. That’ll inspire students… 

MusiCounts is a charitable program launched by the Canadian Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences (or CARAS, the organization that oversees the Juno Awards) that promotes music education in schools through music instrument grants, scholarships and other initiatives. 

CARAS inducted The Tragically Hip into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame at the 2005 Juno Awards.

Sudbury-based country signer Larry Berrio just released a new disc that features a cover of The Hip’s “Boots Or Hearts”. You can check it out on Larry’s MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/LarryBerrio