In the meantime, here's the setlist from tonights show, which was even better than last nights:
Save The Planet
Twist My Arm
Gift Shop
Thompson Girl
Grace Too
Poets
50 Mission Cap
Cordelia
Emperor Penguin
Ahead By A Century
Bobcaygeon
Nautical Disaster
Don't Wake Daddy
Something On
Locked In The Trunk Of A Car
Fireworks
New Orleans Is Sinking
---
Let's Stay Engaged
Wheat Kings
Little Bones
---
The Rules
At The Hundredth Meridian
and yes, same as last night, I got the tapes for those interest parties; Rory you have both shows no problem at all (my email is down for the count right now, sorry to have to post it...) almost didn't get to see the show at all; more info tomorrow.
i'm goin' to wish on the never star; insomniacs of the world goodnight,
james 'gord' gamble,
the travellin'
man
I thought it was going to be quite the show for Gordie - since he's
got a killer cold right now. The first three songs were a test of his voice...he
missed quite a few notes, but once the vocal chords warmed up, the man
was on FIRE!!!! But the moment I heard the intro for Thompson Girl, I
chuckled...and knew there was no way in hell he was going to hit those
high notes! I was correct.
One of the best live versions of 100th Meridian I've heard in a LONG, LONG time!
Those of you going to tonight's show at the Hershey Centre are in for a real treat if the boys are even HALF as great as they were last night!
Kari
First off: Anyone I spin a copy of this show for had better thank me as I almost didn't get to tape; and almost missed the show too. Fortunetly justice prevailed... after a nice sandwich at a deli right next to Copps Stacie and I walked around to the east doors and went in the show (7:40 pm). I had my recorder hanging out of my pocket, and my Nikon F50 around my neck and my coat opened. The girl taking tickets at the door looked at me, gave no hesitation, took our stubs and let us in. We get to the top of the stairs where this complete fucking moron of a security guy was searching people coming in. After seeing my camera the first words out of his mouth were "You'll have to take that back your car; no cameras allowed."
That did NOT go over well with me. After trying to explain the
error in his ways he took the camera from around my neck and plopped it
on the floor (I cringed). He said that his supervisor would be around
at some point, and if I wanted to discuss things with him I would have
to wait. Quite
perturbed I agreed, and he checked Stac for stuff then came back to
me and saw my recorder. "Recorders aren't allowed either," he barked;
"I don't think I'll be letting you in."
"Fuck you they aren't allowed, and I WILL be seeing the show, buddy."
So in the interest of retaining my blood pressure in double digits, avoiding popping this guy one 'tween the eyes, and trying to remain relatively calm and humour Stacie we waited off to one side for this supervisor to arrive. People paraded past; saw the stuff on the floor and saw one very PO'd fan nearby then kept walking. Maybe some fellow ng'ers saw me - I was the one with the huge vein in my forehead?
Anyway, it's now 8:20 and the line in is starting to thin down. This guy finally looks our way and says "I'll be right back." He goes down to the girl taking tickets and talks to her. I evesdrop; "nothing's allowed in tonite, right? this jerk says the hip gave the nod..." "yeah, he's right - we went over this in the pre-show you missed..." So he comes back, says "Oh, there was a mistake... enjoy the show."
Grrrrrrr!!!!! Oh well, didn't plan on paying attention to BDR anyway. What I did miss out on was finally meeting the illustrious Happy Hipster herself, in person (now that would've been a Dear Diary moment if I've ever had one...). I did eventually find her, bepopping in her seat two sections to our right with her man. I'll never wash these eyes again....
On to the show:
Save The Planet: Crowd was electric. Gord was ok on the
gt; had the sexy raspy voice thing goin' on (Stacie's opinion, not entirely
shared by myself...)
Twist My Arm: Gord put on a fine show, even had some evil phantom
twisting his arm during the intro. Stac noticed that Bobby was having
a much better hair day.
Gift Shop: "This song goes way back, before the Beach Boys..."
Gord did his part on the gt and tossed in some rant at the end of the song.
Thompson Girl: Kari was right, there's no way Gord was gonna
hit those high notes tonight. He strummed the gt and tried his best,
but after the second "Grrruuuunt wweeeeeeerk" he got this shamefaced grin
on his face and soldiered on. He knew he was beat.
Grace Too: I was getting worried that I wasn't gonna hear this
song during my four shows. During the long intro a beach ball blew
up on stage, Gord said something like "it'd be worth bringing back switchblades
to get rid of these damn things" then proceded to sing the vices of blow
up balls. After
the song (no gt for him) he did this lil' thing about a squeaky gate
and getting some 3-in-1 or WD40 for it. Wierd shit; fans rolled their
eyes but we loved it.
Poets: I haven't heard Gord do much improv in Poets, and when
he picked up the gt I didn't expect anything, but 1/2 way thru he got going
on about a man who locked himself in the garage, saying something about
paying his penance...? Gord was using the news reporter voice he
normally uses during the Church bit in Fire In The Hole; could this have
been the arsonist feeling remorse?
50 Mission Cap: "I'd have something to say if they tore THIS
place down!" Crowd went nuts. He cried out "No! Not the wrecking
ball!" a few times then ripped into the vocals, including something about
"not wanting to be there" at the end. A little light went off...
Cordelia: Ah, finally! Rock on! I've waited and waited
to hear this live this tour and my man came thru! With Gord singing
and roaming around the stage I could close my eyes and float back to 1991...
Flip the tape....
Emperor Penguin: Cool; don't diss the song 'til you see it done.
Crowd was lacklustre, but it was their loss. Surprised when Gord
didn't play gt, but was really surprised when he sang a bit of "Jet" (by
McCartney's Wings). You know.... "Jet! woo hoo hoo hoo
hoo hoo hoo hoo! Jet! woo
hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo!...."?
Ahead By A Century: "This is called: ' We're Gonna Party
Like It's 1999'" Gord on the gt was good, and though he didn't dance
and prance much he made my night by tossing in Empty Halls at the very
end. It was a bit faster than previous times during Scared, but it
was all there. Cool. I
really hope it turns into something on the next album. And then,
as though he could read my mind and discover my love for his more obscure
works and see my enjoyment, he started singing the beginning of "If You
Lived Here" ("she called me up and dared me on the phone... she said
'c'mon baby, who's gonna flare up first?' "). Incredibly awesome;
I was awestruck. Speechless. Happy. It was better than sex
(well, not quite, but better than sex with certain ex girlfriends anyway...)
Bobcaygeon: "There's always been some attraction between the
city and the country..." Just like any other time I've seen it; Gord
plucking on his strings, people dancing and singing along... awesome.
Nautical Disaster: Gord sang the usual stuff, pretty much the
same theatrics as before, and at the end; " I woke up this morning and
said "Today is the day I start to forget about you." And the next
day, I said "Today is the day I start to forget about you." It's
the day...."
Don't Wake Daddy: "This is 'Shift Work'. And this is a
banana. If you shake it right, it doesn't make a sound...."
He wooed the banana while all the while pleading with the kids to be quiet,
then at the end gave up and said "OK then, go wake up daddy!!!"
Something On: Crowd loved this song; I think the farther east
you go the more people like it. I guess it's an anthem to some.
Gord boogeyed around a lot, even rode the monorail and pointed to the moon...
closed the song with "It's true. It's you. It's true, it's
you. It's you, it's you...."
Locked In The Trunk Of A Car: I heard the name Edgar Allan Poe
and I just started cheering and screamed "Let me out!!" Gord mumbled
something, said this song was called "The Victim". I've always wanted
to see Gord do some acting at the end, y'know, mime in a glass box deal,
kicking and writhing on the floor, but it didn't emerge. No gt allowed
him to drag the mic stand around and he did, and the usual "lemme out"s
were at the end (I hear he neglected them at some recent show...)
Fireworks: Gord on the gt, crowd screaming "give a FUCK about
hockey...", Paul doing his thing (ie not doing anything), Johnny killing
invisible demons on his drums, Bobby staring intently at his gt, and Sinclair
jumping around and twirling in the air like Keith Richards in his prime...
it was classic.
New Orleans Is Sinking: I figured that this would likely close
the regular set, and I was right. I could hardly wait to hear the
words "those years" because I was dying to hear what the jam was gonna
be. Well, like last night it was the "I Am Just A Man" bit, so I
payed attention and found out
he says "I try, I try, but baby! I can only give you everything...".
Then came the "Would you, could you, hold me..." bit and after that was
over he mumbled something about Van Morrison and then started back into
NOIS. Any Morrison fans out there?!? Is this a semi-cover like
"Jet" or a new song?
Scream my brains out, flip the tape, and wait patiently...
Let's Stay Engaged: Wow, what a treat. I have over 100 hip
tapes and nowhere do I have a live version of this song so it was a nice
bonus to be taping my first copy. To my surprised Gord did his part
on the gt; I didn't think he'd have picked this song up yet... The
crowd was into things - previous encore openers like Vapour Trails weren't
that well recieved (my radio/fan theory) but Engaged was a hit. Gord
even broke into Lofty Pines at the end... "If only we'd done nothing
that day..."
Wheat Kings: Yeeeeaaaahhhhhhh!!!! That's all I have to
say. Gord was very clean on his gt work and it showed; he was so
intent at one point he missed the his cue for lyrics at the start of the
second verse and had to play catch up. After that he put the gt away
for good, and at the end he sang something that I likened to a public apology
to Milgard on behalf of the gov't for wasting ten years of his life.
Little Bones: Stacie had clamped onto my arm when Kings came
on; when Bones started up she nearly ripped my fucking arm off (bit my
fucking left arm off... oh wait, that's another rant isn't it?) and beat
me over the head with it in her excitment. Everyone else was going
ape shit and Gord
put $29.50s worth into one song, yet again. Screamed so hard
I was coughing up blood after the show, must've torn something in my throat.
It was worth it. After a rousing finish no one budged from their
chairs, 'cept for a few drunks who had to be carried out unconsious.
One guy took a few stumbling steps of his own, passed out and took a header
off of a steel barrier, and then proceded to yak over the floor.
Yeah, okay.
The Rules: I, for one, kinda like this song. The intro
is nice, mellow and soft, and overall I think it's a nice little song.
I gathered that the people who stayed and cheered for five minutes to bring
'em back out again and then left when this song started don't like it as
much. The roadie had initally brought out Gord's gt during the break
but then took it away. I don't know why, they either left a song
requiring his gt out of the set or he didn't feel like playing. Whatever.
Nice song; give it a chance.
At The Hundredth Meridian: "....where the real shit begins...".
Not quite as spontaneous a performance as the previous night, but a damn
close second. It was the best version of Insomniacs I've ever heard.
Gord closed of the mid song jam by saying 'Insomniacs Of The World Goodnight'
like six or seven times in a row, over and over, almost as though he
was trying to drill it into the crowds collective skulls... then
when his "If I die" bit came due he was doin' fine (promise me they bury...),
the band had trailed off a bit (dig me up and transport me...), the spotlight
was on him (garbage bag trees...) and as he knelt down on the front of
the stage he stumbled over the words (whispers of disease...) and proceeded
to mumble incoherent words, much to the delight of everyone present until
he caught his train of thought (get Ry Cooder to deliver my eulogy...)
and the lights came on and the band jumped back into life.
What can I say? You had to be there.
Hoping Hershey's as good,
james 'gord' gamble,
the travellin'
man