First off, Phantom Zone seats - amazing, I stood with my arms resting on stage all night not more than ten feet from Gord S and Robby. Now, the setlist was a little stale, I was looking forward to 100th, which did not appear and I was a little disapointed that the only new stuff to make it in was a little ranting of "Elaborate". Otherwise the setlist was basically the stuff they've been playing this tour (with the exception of a beautiful 'Scared' - thanks Holly!!).
Setlist:
Something On - great starter to the show
Fully
Gift Shop
Fireworks - had the whole stadium going
50
Poets
Pigeon - nice surprise
Vapour Trails
Cordelia
Courage
ABAC
Daddy
Nautical
Membership - "This is a song about the North Saskatchewan River"
Locked - wicked
Escape - was waiting for this one live, well worth it
Blow
E1
Penguin was on the setlist but didn't get played
Scared
New Orleans
E2
Engaged
Bob C
Bones
I think the encores might have been mixed up a little. In all a great night, crowd was good and the energy great. The band was really on and everyone looked like they were having a good time - especially Gord S... Rob gave me his pick after the first set which totalyy blew me away, just walked over and handed it to me after I asked him for it!!
Anyway, hope they play some of the stuff I missed in the other three
Alberta shows I'm going to. Thanks to Holly and Erin - se ya gals in Red
Deer!!
Brian
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Hey, Hip fans. Last night I attended my first live concert ever, headlined by none other than The Tragically Hip. Simply amazing! Going in I was pretty nervous, what with the security (they actually had pat-downs! Nutty) and having my dad along and everything. But the fans at the floor were great and I was very comfortable and ready to rock'n'roll when the Hip hit the stage. They began with Something On (much in the same way as the Winnipeg show, from what I've heard) and immediately everyone was on their feet. I don't remember the entire set, but I was really pleased to see Pigeon Camera, Cordelia, 50 MC, Blow at High Dough and many other classics. Seeing GD and the boys was almost unreal - I could barely believe what I was seeing and hearing; I was in a sort of hyper-excited dreamstate, hooting and singing along and everything. The light show was really cool: very impressive, well-timed, not overdone and really complemented the tunes. GD's antics were everything I expected, even though I could barely make out what he was saying half the time. Nearly everyone in the crowd had their lighters out for the mellower songs and there was a lot of jumping about and crazy-ass dancing during the upbeat ones. Just beautiful. It got so loud between the first set and the encore that I could barely hear myself screaming! God, what an experience. I can't believe I passed up the chance to see them in '96.
My only complaints would have to be the somewhat negative response to BDR (i.e. Hip chanting, cussing, etc.) whose performance was really quite good, some damn idiot with a laser pointer, people leaving their seats for beers in pitch black and the seemingly abrupt finish. Bottom line, though: I left happy! Thanks, TTH!
Now to get some sleep...
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So, let's get the actual review out of the way. Easily the best
concert
I've ever seen or heard. The boys were tighter that an Edmonton
crack whore
on a Tuesday night (Johnny blew me away. I have never seen him
play that
well!). Um. Words can't describe how good the concert was.
Let's move into the pre-game show, shall we? We were waiting,
along with
four other people, who had been there since noon, and had attended
the sound
check. Waiting. Waiting for the Hip. After a long
while, Paul came out
with some guy. I didn't even recognize him at first. But
then it kicked
in. I must admit, I had some thoughts about how he would be like
in real
life. Talk about shattering illusions. But in a good way.
He is easily
one of the nicest people in the world. Easy. We got our
PP covers signed,
and the other four people had brought a camera (doh! Knew I had
forgotten
something) and they wanted a picture taken with him. He happily
obliged.
So, I took the picture. He said that some more band members might
be out
before the show, but you never know.
And so we waited. Waiting for the Hip. It was getting cold.
Then some guy
came out of a door. Following that guy was a tall guy in a grey
Red Wings
toque. Gord. Holy shit. Gord. Gord Downie.
Holy Double Jeopardy Fucking
Shit! We asked him if he would sign some stuff. He obliged.
He asked our
respective names, and wrote something unique for all of us. On
my PP cover,
he crossed out Phantom Power, and wrote over top 'Ryan's Blues'.
I was too
dumbfounded to try to talk with him. He also looked tired.
So, I figured
that we had bothered him enough, and let him go. He went into
the bus and
fell seemingly instantly asleep. Oh, Julie, if you're reading
this, guess
what I had Gord sign my cover with? Thaaaaaaat's riiiiiiiiiiight.
A
Sharpie (tm) marker.
Time for the show.
BDR didn't suck. They also didn't rock. Or hold most people's
attention.
So, this is all that I'll mention them, except that Leslie, the guitar
player is very nice. She talked to us when we were outside.
Hip. Gord came out, said something unintelligible, and they launched
into
Something On. Nice. Fully Completely. Also nice.
Fireworks. Starting to
get worked up. 50 Mission Cap. wow. Undoubtedly the
*very* best version
of FMC that I have ever heard. Hands down. It was great!
A bunch of other
songs that escape my memory at the moment. Forgive me, I'm tired.
So, I'll
just name the ones that stand out in my mind:
ABAC: oh baby. no wonder it's my all-time fav.
EIAHFTTM: a pretty rockin' version. almost wet my pants.
Scared: love it.
Poets: my word. he was shaking that banana so hard...
Courage: wow
New Orleans: a crowd fav.
Little Bones: I love this song. My second fav, next to
ABAC, and tied with
100th Meridian: didn't play it. I know! what's up
with that? if
possible, maybe a letdown. (Nah. The concert was soooooo
good)
Cordelia: hot as a pepper, smooth as a Mexican brew.
Let's Stay Engaged: wow. didn't even think they would play
this.
Many more.
Gordisms
"Chest Tube! I need a chest tube!"
"Do anything you like, just don't wake my fucking father." (Don't wake
Daddy. Duh)
"This is a song about the North Saskatchewan river." (Membership)
wow. there were others that were truly great. Right now,
I can't think of
them. Maybe later.
So, I would give this concert (Feb. 28, 1999, Skyreach Centre, Edmonton),
out of five stars:
<drum roll>
One hundred-thirty trillion and five stars. It was *that* good. LBU II?
The Warden
"I flipped the switch-it's rock and roll time!"
-Gord