6/13/2000 -- Park West, Chicago IL

1. Putting Down
2. Freak Turbulence
3. My Music @ Work
4. Escape is at Hand for the Travelin' Man
5. Stay
6. Lake Fever
7. Wild Mountain Honey
8. Fireworks
9. Bobcaygeon
 

Sharon D.
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The boys plugged in at park west and let it ride. even though an acoustic set would have been cool, once they started firing on all cylinders any acoustic thoughts were quickly erased from ones mindset.
-Mark Steffen via Henhouse mailing list
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The show was fully plugged in and I forgot to mention that they played two songs for us after the broadcast ended.

From what I can tell, the band is doing these shows instead of in-studio appearances at radio stations. It gets them exposure, it builds excitement and interest for the album and the upcoming tour and it lets some fans join in the fun.

It was great, and I'm glad I was fortunate enough to be able to attend.

6/13/2000 -- Park West, Chicago IL

1. Putting Down
2. Freak Turbulence
3. My Music @ Work
4. Escape is at Hand for the Travelin' Man
5. Stay
6. Lake Fever
7. Wild Mountain Honey
8. Fireworks
9. Bobcaygeon

(played but not aired)
10. Gift Shop
11. New Orleans

-Sharon D. via Henhouse mailing list
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Park West
6/13/2000

Kind of like a "cocktail hour with the Hip."  One of the most intimate settings one could ever see them in.   Capacity was limited to about 600 people with the crowd dispersed among the tables set up in front of the stage, booths and chairs in the back.   Atmosphere was electric since getting tickets to this event was akin to hitting the lucky powerball combination. The sponsoring radio station (who will go unnamed since their assinine d.j. who fell in love with the sound of his voice after every Hip song) led fans on a scavenger hunt over the Windy City in the 3 days prior to get wristbands to the show.  The first 200 or so that showed up with a special sticker inserted in Music@Work CD were also allowed in.
Lines formed around 4:30 pm outside the club and besides people swapping stories on how many record stores they had to visit to find the right CD or what excuse they had manufactured to leave work early, the biggest question on most fans' minds was whether the boys would be playing a quiet, acoustic show.  Both the radio station and the club had promoted it as such, but all questions were laid to rest upon entering the club as 2 rows of acoustic and electric guitars were aligned at the sides of the stage and the full drum kit was set up.  (Nice call by the fan in line who claimed that he Gord say in an interview that they would never play acoustic because "our songs weren't written to be played that way.")

Setlist & Music Highlights:
Puttin' Down  ("Any gamblers out there?  This song's for you.")
Freak Turbulence
Music@Work
Escape
Stay (w/ the banana)
Lake Fever ("a song born out of 2 songs really....like you  asking your special someone if they'd like to hear you tell a story or make love ...and only getting an undefined answer like 'Hurry...whatever, just hurry'"
Wild Mountain Honey
Fireworks
Bobcaygeon  ("for those listening in radio-land, sitting on their fire escapes or whatever....and for the girls down on Olive Street")
-------(end of radio broadcast)-------------------
Gift Shop
Toronto #4
New Orleans

Gord D. and Robby hung out with fans at their tour bus alongside the club after the show to sign autographs....Gord D. even nice enough to leave a message via cell phone  on a friend's answering machine in Austin, TX that couldn't be there for the festivities.

see you on the 4th

- BONDO
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Hey everyone.

I was fortunate enough to be one of roughly 500 people to attend the Tragically Hip's Record Release show at the Park West in Chicago.  Went through hell to get in, but it was well worth it.  A few comments:
It was supposed to be a Q&A with the audience broadcast live on WXRT.  The questions were met with much apprehension in answering and the Q&A was sort of skipped.  Questions ranged from "Do you think your lyrics turn off American listeners?" to "What do you guys have in your refrigerator?" to "What exactly does it mean to 'blow at high dough'?"  Gord answered the refrigerator one by saying, "Me?  Uh...yeah."  Great answer!  He then commented on the irrelevance of where the show had headed, and the band went into another song.
Broadcasted tracks included: M@W, Fever, Putting Down, Stay, Freak, Wild Mtn Honey, Escape, Bob.  (There may have been one or two I'm missing)
Following the broadcast they played three more "because they want to."  GiftShop, new song I wasn't familiar with yet because I did hold out for the official release, and NOIS.
Great show.  All band members talked at least once.  New stuff sounds very good, esp. Lake Fever and Putting Down.  I could do without Wild Mountain Honey.
Unfortunately someone had his 8 year old at the show and practically stood him on the stage directly in front of Gord D.  Started out to be cute, Gord even talked directly to the kid (mockingly?) but after a while it became very annoying.
**Last but not least:  if someone has a good recording of the show, please email me.  I'd love to own it!

-Greg