Something On
Twist My Arm
Giftshop
Lionized
Luxury
Poets
Flamenco
Courage
Fireworks
ABAC
Membership
Nautical Disaster
Bobcaygeon
Springtime
Locked
Escape
100th Meridian
Encore 1:
Daredevil
The Rules(was hoping for Grace, Too!)
NOIS/Insomniacs
Encore 2:
Vapour Trails
Lil' Bones

I thought the sound was alright in the balcony.  Gord sounded great and was rambling continuously in each song.  It was hard to make it out though.  He damn near lost his pants after he took out his earplugs( the next thing I knew, he had one hand on the mic and one hand on his pants.  I think the band found their groove on about the 4th song and they all seemed to be in great spirits.  Caught Bobby and Mr. Fay smiling back and forth and Paul even seemed to be bouncing around quite a bit. One of my favorites was Locked. I had completely overlooked that as a song I wanted to hear and was also pleasantly surprised with Daredevil.

Naomi and I left Charlotte on Thursday afternoon around 1:00PM.  The sun was shining bright, and the temperature was a balmy 70 degrees. The big 1999 Dodge Intrepid we rented seemed like a huge beast on the road, ready to rip up the highway towards our yet to be determined destination for the evening.  We wound up stopping at a swank little motel called La Siesta, just South of Cleveland.  The next morning found us watching the Weather Channel as we prepared for our drive to Detroit.  The local conditions said snow.  I opened the blinds and sure enough, there was 3" of snow on the ground.  The view was very surreal, as everything I could see was covered in white.  The roads were not bad, though, and we drove to Detroit with no problems.  We got off the highway in Auburn Hills around 2:00 on University St. Turning right onto Opdyke Rd. found us 1 mile from the venue, so we decided to check it out.  The snow was falling pretty steadily as we
drove around the beautiful round building known as The Palace.  It was a very impressive structure.  I noticed on the large marquee up front that Black Sabbath and the Rolling Stones were playing in the same venue soon.  Must be a great place we thought.  Naomi and I checked into our vacation getaway for the evening (aka Fairfield Inn) around 2:30.  We were determined to get Power Zone tickets.  I asked the front desk clerk for directions to the local library.  She gave us perfect directions and we found the library easily, within 15 minutes. We sat down at a computer and hooked up to the Canoe webpage.  We read how the Hip had trouble crossing the intersection of University and Opdyke, where we had been moments earlier.  Kinda cool.  On the net we learned what radio station was sponsoring the Power Zone. We drove back to our hotel, which was 1 1/2 miles from the venue, and called the radio station.  Naomi told the DJ that we drove all the way from North Carolina to see the show, and would do anything to get Power Zone seats.  He told her where we needed to go (the mystery location), and since we were totally unfamiliar with the area, gave her explicit directions as well.  It was 3:30 when we left Auburn Hills headed for downtown Detroit and the promise of Power Zone seats (this was 30 minutes before they were supposed to announce the mystery location on the radio).  Due to a little speeding down the highway, we found ourselves in front of St. Andrews hall at exactly 4:00PM.  A band called The Cardigans was playing there that night, and their tour busses were parked across the street.  There was nobody else around, though.  We had good parking karma as a big truck pulled out right as we pulled in, directly in front of the theater.  A few minutes later, a woman ran up carrying a manilla envelope.  Surely this was our big
chance, and Power Zone tickets were to be ours at last.  We gave her some long underwear (top + bottom = 2 pieces of warm clothing, the requirement for the wristband) and she gave us a wristband and directions on how to obtain Power Zone tickets.  There were NO OTHER HIP FANS there to get wristbands yet.  We headed back to our hotel to get ready for the show.  To get the Power Zone tickets, we had to show up at the Palace between 6:00 and 6:30.  After a brief wait, we
exchanged our seats in the 50th row for seats in the 1st row.  Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!  For those folks still waiting to see the Hip, the Power Zone is the way to go.  The first 15' in front of the stage is devoted
to the Power Zone.  There are two sections, each with 8 rows of 4 chairs diagonal in front of the stage.  The sections are separated in the middle by a 10' open area, in which there was an usher and 2 computerized laser lights.  There was one row right in the front next to the empty space separating the two sections.  This row was parallel to the stage, and right in front.  It was the real front row.  There were 4 seats, two of which were already occupied by two very nice Canadian women.  We took the other 2, putting us directly in front, best seats in the house.  Great spot for sound, as a large monitor was placed directly in front of us.  We patiently waited for the show to start, as I prepared my recorder and camera for the show.  Promptly at 7:30 By Divine Right took the stage.  I thoroughly enjoyed this 4 piece outfit from Toronto.  Great rock music.  They played a great 40
minute set.  After the were finished playing, the road crew broke down their equipment and set up the stuff for the Hip.  The stage was very high (about 7'), so we could not see the setlists they put down.  It looked like all the songs were going to be surprises.  The Hip took the stage at 8:45, and immediately launched into Something On.  The beautiful stage had a large chandelier overhead, as the Hip rocked the large crowd (maybe 15,000).  The set continued to rock as the Hip broke into Fully Completely, then Courage, Membership, Giftshop and Poets.  That is 6 incredibly rocking tunes in a row, and definitely set the mood for the evening.  Our Power Zone seats were fantastic, as
the band was about 10' away. Then they started into Cordelia.  I have not heard this one live since 1995, and it brought me immense pleasure that they chose that night to play it.  The bluesy rock number sounded amazing, as each band member flawlessly nailed their parts.  The momentum slowed a little bit as they next played Pigeon Camera.  I have not heard this one either in years, so again I was pleasantly surprised.  This is probably my second favorite song, after Locked. The rest of the set gave us nothing too out of the ordinary, although they stuck Blow At High Dough in as the 15th song.  This is definitely a great tune stuck in the set like that, and really gets the crowd rockin (like we weren't already).  The set ended with 100th Meridian, and they really jammed hard in the middle of this one.  The overall time of the set was around 100 minutes.  The first encore saw them
play Grace, Too followed by The Rules and 50 Mission Cap.  The largely Canadian crowd was dancing and singing along with 50 MC.  They came out for a second encore to the thunderous applause of the crowd, and immediately roared into Save The Planet.  I think this is one of the
hardest rocking songs they have, and the energy they put into it had everybody bouncing along.  They followed that with Scared, to kind of cool everything off I think.  The band ended the night with a fantastic version of New Orleans.  In the middle, they performed a new song.  It was great, and not something I had ever heard before.  It really rocked, and reminded me of the Road Apples days.  I can't wait for that one to be released.  The Hip left the stage after 2 hours of performing, and there was not one unsatisfied person in the place. Wow, what a show, one of the best I have ever seen.  As Gord D. said, "I really love the Palace.  Everything seems to fall together perfectly here."  I couldn't have said it better myself.

We left the next morning and headed for Chicago, where the Hip were playing a sold out show at the Chicago theater.  We checked into our hotel in Indiana (about 45 miles from downtown Chicago) around 3:00PM. We got in touch with local resident Paul who gave us the scoop on
Power Zone tickets, or the lack of them.  Apparently the band was not doing the Power Zone that night.  Oh well, we had great seats anyway, so it really did not matter.  We drove around the venue anyway for about an hour around 4:00, just in case they announced the Power Zone info.  They never did, and we headed back to our hotel to get ready for the show.  The traffic in Chicago is horrible, so we were late for the show.  We missed a few By Divine Right songs, but caught most of
their energetic set.  Again, I really liked this band.  The Chicago Theater was incredible.  It was gorgeous, and promised to give perfect sound and sight lines.  The Hip took the stage at 9:15 and again got things going with Something On.  Rob was wearing a red shirt, which usually promises great things to come.  The setlist rocked hard, with Twist My Arm, Giftshop, and Lionized following the opener.  All of these were hard rockin numbers, and had the crowd dancing at their seats.  Gord D. was rambling and dancing as usual, and the band seemed really tight.  They slowed things down a bit with The Luxury, but nobody cared, since the version was very sexy and bluesy.  Gord's banana saw some heavy action during this tune.  The rest of the setlist saw a lot of Phantom Power tunes, with no real surprises. They did play Locked, which I was very pleased with.  TO top it off,
Gord D. was using the orange squash shaker Naomi and I gave him in Winston Salem.  That is such an incredible feeling to see him using our gift to please the masses.  How awesome!!!  The set ended with a fantastic version of 100th Meridian.  The band jammed for a solid 5 minutes in the middle of this one, and the crowd was roaring their approval as the band left the stage.  The Hip came out for the encore and launched into Daredevil.  I still consider this one to be somewhat rare, and really enjoyed hearing it.  The band really seemed to be enjoying themselves as well, totally playing to the crazed out crowd. The first encores set ended with New Orleans Is Sinking, but did not have the new song in it this time.  Oh well, cannot wait to hear that one again.  The second encore was completely rockin, with Vapour Trails preceding Fire In The Hole.  The crowd was electrified by the
intensity the guys put into Fire.  What a way to end a great show. After the show, I talked with Mark Vreeken, the Hip's soundman.  We thanked him for the great sound, and bid him farewell since it would probably be a while before we saw him in the states again.  He said "not really.  We will be in the states again in April."  I said "yeah, but probably just in the West, not the South where I am from."  He replied " I found out yesterday that we will be in the South again in May."  Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!  All you Canadian fans need to make plans to come down South for the shows.  You will not believe the small venues, or how close you can get to the band.  Anyway, something to look
forward to.

These 2 shows were my 11th and 12th of this tour, 24th & 25th overall. I can never get enough, though, and will be highly anticipating their return to venues within driving distance.

Stay Hip...

Alan Moore