When you think of bands or performers that draw large crowds and sell millions of
CDís ( whether good or otherwise), some that come to mind are Van Halen, Pearl Jam,
etc... These names are always forces that shake up the industry when a new CD is slated
for release or a new tour is in the works. Record stores plan their promotions around
the release; big corporate giants salivate at getting the sponsorship rights; and
concert promoters all over the country beg for a shot at booking them.
     The hype heightens daily as radio stations increase their frenzy and add their own
flavors to the chaos; "win 'em before you can buy 'em" CD promotional bits every hour,
front row ticket giveaways to the most outrageous callers, etc., etc. The fevered pitch
is reached when the only thing people are talking about during lunch, dinner, work, over
a cup of coffee, at a party, at a bar, and in their sleep is what this hyped band is up
to.
      For millions of Canadians and many in western new York, this phenomenon came to
life as the Tragically Hip geared up for the release of their fifth effort, Trouble at
the henhouse on MCA records. In case you live in complete denial of alternative/rock
music and donít keep up on the literature supporting it, for the Canadians the
tragically Hip are the biggest thing since the zamboni.
       Since their inception in 1986 in Kingston, Ontario, the hip have accomplished
what few bands since the Beatles have ever been able to do - dominate an entire country.
Canadians hunger for the poetic storytelling of the hipís frontman Gord Downie. And the
rhythm section has become the pulse of a Canadian generation . Few will argue that there
is a more influential force in the great white north.
        "Weíve been fortunate to be able to make careers out of our imaginations," a
smirking downie said during a recent interview on Much Music  ( the Canadian equivalent
to MTV). " It seems observations have become a bit of a hobby, and I am fortunate to
have the luxury of time to hammer these things into songs."
         The hip recently kicked off their tour at the Landmark theater in Syracuse
before  a sold out crowd consisting of Canadians. ( Iíll take this opportunity to thank
the car load of Canadians that flew past me on the I-90 on the way to the show. Without
following you guys I never would have found the gig. Thanks!) The show featured a meaty
portion of new songs off Henhouse, yet kept the hip faithful happy as they cranked out
old favorites like " New Orleans is sinking," "Grace too," and samples from earlier
albums Road apples and Fully completely.
All five men in the band perform on stage as if from five different planets. Lead
guitarist Bobby Baker looks like he just walked in from shooting a Cream video in 1970.
Landing right on the hip stage he magically forces his fingers to move in a hazy,
drugged out motion. Drummer Johnny Fay looks like the college jock who was always at the
center of a beer chugging fest and came out on top of the drinking game. Paul langois,
guitars and vocals, performs in a half enthused daze, like what cartoon character Andy
Capp would look if he strapped on a guitar. At the Syracuse show bassist Gordy Sinclair
wore a tight white T-shirt with the complimentary formfitting jeans, which would make
him make him a perfect side stage dancer for the village people. And lead singer Gord
downie has the appearance of a well aged  60 year old man. He wore a brown v-neck
sweater and a corduroy sport coat with saggy cotton pants ( a pipe would have been
perfect!). While singing, he moves in many rickety ways and points his finger as if to
scold a grandchild.
        The hip as a composite makes for a unique experience. Downie performs as if heís
acting out a skit to himself. We on the outside can only wonder whatís going on inside
his head. " I think the band is kind of ambiguous anyway," says Langois. " I think the
same with the lyrics. There are a lot of snippets and mini stories within bigger ones. I
think Gord likes to leave it ambiguous and I think we all prefer it that way too."
        It is hard in writing to present to the reader how incredibly successful this
band is in Canada. I saw them at an outdoor festival called " Another Roadside
Attraction" last summer at a fairgrounds north east of Toronto. Nearly 100,000 people
showed up. It was shoulder-to-shoulder where I was standing, and I was behind the sound
board, which was a football fieldís length from the stage! They had to set up more
speakers so that we unfortunate ones near the back could hear the music too.
        The big question is how a band this incredibly popular in Canada is virtually
unheard of once you get away from the border. Last fall the hip had to cancel a five
dollar gig in some rinky dink bar in Pittsburgh because they hadnít sold enough tickets!
Yet Canadians as far away as Kingston, Ottawa, Toronto, and Hamilton see no problem
driving to Cleveland or Columbus, Ohio to see their favorite band playing in a small
club or opening for a festival. It blows my mind to try and figure out why the hip canít
penetrate the U.S. market. Is the country still pissed off about the Toronto Blue jays
winning the world series a couple of times? Letís not take it out on the hip.
        As I wander off to continue my pondering, Iíll leave this news for Western New
York hip fans; to the dismay of Canadian fans, the hip have no plans to tour Canada this
summer ( except for a stop at the Eden Music Fest). However, we in western New York will
have a chance to see the hip play at the Rochester Memorial Auditorium on June 11.
Tickets are selling fast, so if you want to beat out those travel happy Canadians, you
better get yourself down to ticketmaster and order yourself up a bunch. Extras? No
problem, youíll probably get a pretty penny for them at the door.
=====================================================================
Just a quick review of last night's show in Syracuse;  It was great!

The Landmark Theatre is a really cool place, it's an old theatre with
fantastic decor, and nice acoustics.

Clarrisa did a pretty good job too.  I usually hate opening bands, but I
was impressed by them.  Apparently they will be with The Hip on the whole
tour.

Then came The Hip....

80% of the show was a mix between Trouble At The Henhouse and Day For
Night, the remaining 20% was Fully Completely.  They only did one song
older than that, New Orleans Is Sinking, and they didn't even do the
whole thing.  That was my main gripe about the evening.  I at least
wanted to hear some Road Apples....But I assume they were caterring to
the US audience.  It appeared that about 50% of the people there were
from Canada, which is a lot less than I expected.  There were quite a few
fans from Buffalo too...

One interesting event - During the encore, there were a bunch of kids
getting on stage via the orchestra and then jumping out into the crowd.
Gordie seemed to be getting frustrated as he was telling everyone the
clear the pit before someone got hurt.  Eventually he cut-off mid song
turned around and walked off the stage, followed by the rest of the
band.  The security staff came out and announced that the Hip would come
back if the pit was cleared. After about 15 minutes of shuffle, the pit
was cleared and the Hip finished the show...Reminded me a bit of a stunt
that Bono pulled in Pontiac, MI about 10 or 12 years ago....

All in all, it was a cool night - Still wish they played some more old
stuff though.. :)

Still yawning and snarling (got back to London at around 5 AM, just in
time to get ready for an 8 AM meeting)..

Ciao all....Roddie
==============================================================
I LOVED THIS SHOW! I had never seen the Hip live until yesterday! They
kick ASS live! My friend Paul, whom I brought with me, had never them
until yesterday, and now he's a fan. Here's a list of what they played by
album:

TATH - Gift Shop (the opener), Coconut Cream, Springtime in Vienna (one
of my favorites!), Ahead by a Century, Flamenco, 700 Ft. Ceiling, Butts
Wigglin', Sherpa, Put it Off

DFN - Grace, Too, Daredevil, Nautical Disaster (another favorite),
Inevitability of Death

FC - At the 100th Meridian, Locked in the Trunk of a Car, Fully
Completely

UTH - New Orleans is Sinking (which led into Sherpa)

They may have played more, but this is what I can remember. I got the new
CD today, and I love it! I don't know why people keep saying it's bad,
when I think it's one of their best! I personally like Gift Shop,
Springtime in Vienna, 700 Ft. Ceiling, Butts Wigglin', and Put it Off.
However all the songs are good.

Chris

"This song is about Satan, satan is procastionation, hmmm, I'll have to
look that up sometime....This is about three blind mice...Put it Off"

"This song is about nothing, nothing at all" (700ft ceiling)

In between songs: "Sorry, I was just buying some crack!"

Guy gets on stage and puts out hand for Gord to shake: "Sorry man, I'm
working!" (everyone laughed)

Memerorable moments:
The entire balcony bouncing up and down, I thoght it was coming down on
top of us. An inflatetable whale was thrown from the balcony down (I
thought is was person!!) and sailing unto stage just missing Gord
Sinclair. Gord falling while doing his traditional walk along the
monitors on stage. People flooded the orchestra pit area which was setup
for special seating during NOIS, however, the floor was weak and was not
meant for so many people. The theatre people were afraid the floor would
give away and Gord was told it was aa 30 ft fall into the basement,
secuirty was doing nothing so Gord tried to clear the people himself.
Not being able to they ended NOIS is sinking right in the middle and
Gord still tried but responed "this is not my forte" They started Sherpa
but by this time people were climbing unto the stage and jumping off as
well as just standing on stage. Gord just said "Lets go" and they walked
off, lights go on and the roadies start taking the stuff apart. Dave
Powell walks on and says if we clear the pit and the aisles the Hip will
come back on. The roadie says they already taken apart most fo the amps,
Dave yells "set the shit back up" 10 mins later the Hip are back, Sherpa
starts and Gord says "We want to play, we really do, but if half of you
died and half of you were injured then I would have to quit rock n' roll
and do some labour and slowly die of insanity" Truly clasic quote!! They
finsihed with IOD with Gord saying in the middle "What a downer"
obviously about the whole situation. But the whole show he said how
comfortable he was and how great the theatre was and how welcome he
felt. All and all incredible. Any comments from any other people in
Syracuse, please say someone taped it!!!!

Adam