Well after not seeing The Hip since 1999 in Chicago, I was ready to see them in a bar. I'm not sure if The Gypsy Tea Room is the best bar to see for a show though. The stage is in a corner and due to band equipment there was not room to stand on Paul's side of the stage(minor gripe that I can look past).

On to the show. The band came out to the usual thunderous applause and didn't disappoint as they went into Silver Jet. The sound was better than I had expected in such a small club. Gord was drenched in sweat within minutes and kept having problems with his earplugs popping out. He managed to blow through the set without frustrations though. He did have a couple of rants about all the people pushing others around (he actually looked quite pissed about it once; read below). There was a great blend of old and new
Hip material and it was especially pleasant to see they used their own lighting; it really added to the intimate setting. I was not disappointed with the material they covered, and they rocked on every one. I was thrilled to hear Scared and On the Verge; I've never heard them live and Scared was very impressive. Here's the setlist:

Silver Jet
NOIS
Fully Completely
Grace, Too("There's a sound like 'eek' and then 'Boom!' ")
Escape is at Hand
Bobcaygeon
Locked
Tore Up
Courage
Puttin' Down
Good Life
Poets
Dark Canuck
100th Meridian(rant about 'day people' and 'night people' and how the night people push the day people around)
Are You Ready
Little Bones

Encore:
Use it Up
Scared
On the Verge

On a side note: There were some white trash thugs and steroid loving jocks who felt that they were more important to look at than what was happening on stage. They proceeded to push all of the fans around until they had worked their way to the front (I started front and center, between Gord and Gord, and ended up about eight deep in the crowd. Thing was I could see just as well from that spot as from the front. Gina - I saw you come through the crowd and figured you got shoved out too! It was a pleasure to meet you and hope you also have a great time tonight at Stubb's.

Tony
Tulsa, OK


Jet (Why is Cape Spear here?)
NewO
FC
Grace
Escape
BobC
Good Life
Putting Down
All tore up
Locked
100th (Life if forgetting, life is for getting).
Are U Ready
Dire Wolf
Poets
Scared
Little Bones
Use It up
The Dark Canuck
The Verge

Great show. No surprises, but thankful to hear "The Verge". It's been quite a few years since I've heard that one live (since '91 probably).

Waited over an hour after the show to meet all the guys (except Johnny, in true form :)). Worth the wait, but man, I'm getting too old for this.....

Any word from the Austin show??
-Jim


I was also at the Dallas show, over on the side near where Rob Baker was standing. There was practically no pushing over there, except for a drunk girl who danced energetically but didn't weigh enough to crash into me very hard.  (I was able to keep her hair out of my drink.) The last time I saw The Hip was on the Road Apples tour, in Fredericton, where I got pummeled by many large drunk undergraduates, so I found this a very well-behaved crowd. The demographic would have been very different, I guess.

I brought a friend who has heard maybe one of their songs and she was extremely favourably impressed. She was especially taken with Gord Downie's stage presence. I had a great time, enjoyed the new material and loved hearing some of my old favourites. Thanks for the set list!

As an aside -- you can tell from my concert attendance record that I have never been a huge fan of The Hip, although I always liked many of their songs. But I moved from Halifax to Dallas three years ago, and once I got over general culture shock I noticed there was a sort of gap in the background of my consciousness. It took me a little while to realize that I was suffering from the fact that I could no longer flip on a radio or a music channel and hear random Canadian artists that I suddenly realized I liked a lot more than I realized I did. And it took a little longer to realize that this sense of loss had a sound, and the sound was the riff from "New Orleans Is Sinking." I ended up having to start buying Hip albums because I really, really missed them. Apparently, they're more important to me than I consciously realized. When I eventually get back to Canada, I swear I will never take them for granted ever again. Just a small testimonial -- I'm sorry if I sound like one of those annoying ardent nationalists. It's partly that they're great, and partly that they sound like home.

(And because life is ironic, I am actually waiting to hear about an interview in Kingston, Ontario, but that's purely a coincidence.)
-Shelley


Hello Friends and Neighbours

Y'all know me by alvino@u.washington but I assure you it is me, long-time HipTripper Gina. Hope everyone is well.

First, let me say Thank you to Kelly Davies (I think that was the name on the post) for helping to create a positive vibe in our area in Houston. That was _my_ hair you were probably pissed at for most of the night. Sorry 'bout that but the humidity got me!  I was more prepared in Dallas but, if you read on, you will see that is not the biggest story of my night there.

I was front and center for Houston with a right-on to Mr.Fay. To my Paul were TWO local minors (denoted by the big black X) who were supercool. Danielle, the person with whom I travelled, was to my right and she was talking with some Canadian transplants. There was some test going on regarding Hip lyrics and Canadian content. Wayne opened and opened well. I love watching these guys play. I've also spent some time on Rodney's words and they have a depth that I appreciate. Perhaps more a lyricist than a poet, he draws some evocative pictures. I look forward to more.

Houston was the second hottest show I've ever been to. The first was a Hip Wetlands show in July 98(?) where I thought my skin was going to melt off. Anyway, I thought Rob Baker sounded most excellent. Actually, I was entranced by him in Dallas, too, so it might be me. It was funny to see him saunter over to Paul with a big grin on his face. He looked good and played with power.

That brings us to Dallas. Unfortunately, my memories of the night are somewhat compromised. You see, I'm 5'4", 125# and I was standing front and center. I was second row and late in the night, the two in front of me peeled off. We took their spot but the guy to my friend's left was being a jerk. It was all very aggressive. She left and he immediately put his back to me and pushed.  I held my ground and returned to vertical. He then put an elbow to my temple with a force that knocked me into the huge rugby player on my right. This was not a big guy (the rugby player was a big guy but the fucknut that hit me wasn't but a few inches taller then me) and so his motion was upward. I put my back to the stage and started wading out looking for Honey. Honey was back home in Seattle, though. I didn't know where I was and it was amazingly surreal as well as painful. I lost vision in my left eye and hearing in my ear. I couldn't get my balance and I was staggering like a drunken fool but my system was absolutely free of alcohol. I think I was lucky in that.

I met lots of great people and I can't remember a single name to be honest. Y'all know who you are. Thanks for helping to create a good vibe. I wish there were more of you.

Peace
Gina


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