Denver II:
wheat, honey, boots, penguin, courage, long time, meridian, flamenco, poets, fireworks, fever, stay, newO, fire

Denver encores:
abac, blow

  Two shows, 45 different songs.  half of FC, most of DFN, PP and M@W. Drastically different sets from one night to the next.  Hilites and suprises-Inch was played three songs in; it usually comes in an encore if played at all.  So hard was unreal; easily the best version I've seen/heard of it.  First wherewithal of the "evening with" tour, possibly the M@W tour in general.  getting boots AND Long time in set 2 in denver was a real treat.  Wasn't a suprise though; we were close enough to the stage that we just had to peak over the monitor to see what was to be played after they laid down the list for set 2.  I tried to resist, but I couldn't. :)Honey was the best song from M@W, in my opinion. Drop-dead gorgeous sound at both shows, particularly Fort Collins.  The Aggie Theater is a dump, but the acoustics are phenomenal.  The Paramount theater in Denver is a beautiful,
beautiful room.  Very casual security at the denver show, and no barrier between the stage and the first row of seats means folks resting their drinks on the stage at the feet of the band....it was that kind of night. TONS of great pics; I'll scan and post them within a week.  I can finally weigh in on the Chris'n'Kate debate (I know, I'm always the last one in on these things...this is what happens when you live in Utah).  I enjoyed them immensely.  Chris' contributions were brilliant and often.  In a room with
killer sound, you can pick up the keys just fine, and he adds tons to the songs, particularly boots and long time, and of course gift.  Kate's stuff was okay in Fort Collins; it was dead-on in Denver.  She did a bang-up job on verse two of flamenco, and NOBODY looks better slapping a tambourine around than her.
  Saturday I brought a long-time Hip-hater with me to the show because my wife was under the weather.  He is now The World's Newest Fan Of The Tragically Hip.  He said it was the best show he'd ever seen by anyone.  It was also great to bump into friends met at Hip shows out here over the last three years, as well as making new friends.  Both shows were DAT recorded; you folks will be very interested in getting copies I'm sure.  Long story short, The hip just continue to get better and better each and every time.

brian mc