Hamilton 02/17/99 review by James Gamble via alt.music.tragically-hip

WOW!  Kick ass show!  I'll post a full length review tomorrow, but for now here's the  details....

Something On
Fully Completely
Courage
Membership
Gift Shop
Lionized
Poets
The Luxury
700 ft Ceiling
Ahead By A Century
Bobcaygeon
Nautical Disaster
Fireworks
Springtime In Vienna
Blow At High Dough
Escape Is At Hand...
At The Hundredth Meridian
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Vapour Trails
Scared
Fire In The Hole
-----
Chagrin Falls
New Orleans Is Sinking

OK, here I go again...

First off, IMO, last night was 10 times better than Buffalo.  The sound was a lot cleaner, the crowd was really into it, and Gord looked very much at ease on stage.  I kept a real close eye on Gord this time 'round, and made some notes/comments below on him.

The songs:

Something On:  Gord talked a bit before they started playing, and the connection he made with the crowd turned what's usually a so-so song for me into a great opener.  Gord sang.
Fully Completely:  An old fave of mine, and everyone elses too, judging from everyone singing along with Gord.  I was in heaven...
Courage:  See above.  No one single person at this point was sitting down anywhere to be seen.  Gord just sang for these first three, and his antics onstage were classic.  I wish I had a camcorder.
Membership:  Gord donned his trusty guitar and strummed along in good time. The crowd was okay with the song, but I had the feeling that many simply hadn't heard the song on the radio before and lost interest.  There's been talk on here lately that Gord isn't the same with a gt in his hand.  That
may have been the case, but things are changing.  He wasn't bebopping around the stage per se, but he did this cool lil' snippet at the very end and it seemed well thought out and well known by him; could be another new work in progress.  I've dubbed the snippet "When In Doubt" for now, I'll
have to listen to my tapes again and comment more later.
Gift Shop:  Gord kept the gt going and, like Membership, there was something at the end, although pretty brief in duration.  I was watching his hands as I was listening to the music and you could just make out his few chords amidst the others.  A couple behind us, in their 40's I'd say and really cool to chat with, commented to me that it looked cool to her to see four guys lined up on stage, all playing gt's...
Lionized:  "This is called Star System..."  No funky lead in on the gts this time, but damn near everyone was singing along.  Gord sang, no gt; and roamed for a bit.  Stacie pointed out Bobby's hair, which looked like he'd just got out of the shower; it was crimped a bit and very long and we
wondered if he was using Paul's hair stylist now.
Poets:  Kick ass!  Gord rattled his gourd and I even saw the 50-something couple in front of us mouthing the words in time.  Sinclair had a really damn cool looking outfit going; I gotta get me one of them.
The Luxury:  I love this song.  Gord had the gourd out and I was really impressed; he kept up with it for the entire song!  May not sound like much but you try tossing up a rattle and catching it, on beat, for 5 minutes while singing and swaying - it ain't easy!  At one point a big blue beach ball got tossed up on stage.  Gord picked it up and started talking to it and cradling it like it was the earth and he was saying something like "don't worry little people of blue ball planet, I won't hurt you...." then his tone turned condascending towards said little people of blue ball then finally they met their untimely death when their planet was tossed back stage at the whim of evil Gord.
700 Ft Ceiling:  A song for Special_K... need I say more?  Gord played guitar and just ripped into the vocals.

Flip the tape....

Ahead By A Century:  The first few strummed chord sounded like Wheat Kings to me and I got waaaayyy too excited.  I was jotting down notes and singing along when, around the first chorus I realized that I was singing ABAC and they weren't playing Kings.  Oh well, if they fooled my brain what can I say?  It was that good.  Gord played the gt and his feed was a little stronger at this point.  Nice long flowing snippet at the end; I was enjoying it a lot but couldn't place the words to it.  Just then I turned to Stac with a questioning look on my face and she mouthed the words "Cookie Factory" to me.  Smart gal, she picked it up before I did!  While the snippet wasn't the Cookie I remember from 96, the part about the west wind was still in it.
Bobcaygeon:  Gord did gt again, very well done.  Didn't pay too much attention to things; Stac and I were dancing....
Nautical Disaster:  Cool stuff.  Gord set aside the gt so he could get into the song, showing the crowd how he swam, hell, you all can picture it. Some unidentified rambling at the very end of it; again, I need to hear the tapes soon.  I saw Johnny break both sticks simultaneously, nod to his roadie, toss off the sticks with one hand and catch the new ones in the other and NOT miss a beat.  Damn fine : )
Fireworks:  Kind of a surprise to me as Gord picked up his gt for this one. I don't remember anyone mentioning him playing this one before, maybe he's been busy practising.  He ripped the vocals again, and by the end of the song he had moved a few feet from where he'd started playing, so I'd say he's getting more comfortable with the git bit by bit.
Springtime In Vienna:  Highlights were Gord playing hackeysack with his gourd.  Didn't see the banana at all this show.  Hmmmm, wonder where it got to?
Blow At High Dough:  Gord and the boys put all their energy into this one and man was the crowd rocking!  He was busy with leg kicks and dancin' while they tore thru the song....  fine show.  The guy beside me kept jumping up and down which I don't mind but he repeatedly stomped my foot so
I poked him in the back of the knee with my thumb and he got the idea.
Escape...:  No surprise when Gord played gt during this one.  It became really obvious that a lot of the fans weren't really familiar with the song as I saw many people sit down for a bit and many looks of mild interest.  Stac commented that songs that haven't hit the airwaves yet are probably the ones that Joe Fan skips over on PP and I think she's right.
100th Meridian:  Two words - Classic Hip.  "At the 100th meridian...  where the real test begins."  Quite possibly the highlight of my live hip experiences to date, it was that good.  Was happier than a pig in shit when, instead of going into Insomniacs like they'd been doing Gord started into a new (for my ears anyway) snippet.  It was about 2 -3 minutes and quite nice - had something to do with ten episodes of his TV show and he sang about each one in order...  I will do a post soon regarding this.  Of over 100 versions of ATHM I've heard this was the best Gord has ever done at the "If I die of vanity..." part.  The band just suddenly stopped when he hit the "If I" and he rapped his way thru til "eulogy" then there was two seconds of dead silence before the band kicked back in.  Anyway the reg set ended and Copps was shakin' for sure.

Switch tapes...

Vapour Trails:  Like Buffalo, people didn't seem to care about this song. What has radio done???  Gord played the gt, strayed from his mic for a few seconds at a time, and broke into Insomniacs at the very end of the song. He was singing when the band had stopped and I think I really impressed (or scared) the couple behind me by being able to rhyme off Insomniacs in time with Gordie...  he used it to lead in to the next one;
Scared:  There was this hushed awe about the building as Gord plucked along on the gt and gave a really emotional rendition of things.  IMO one of their finer mellower songs.  The snippet I like to call Empty Halls was added to the end, something about being left alone by his friends. Unfortunetly everyone was cheering too loud for me to make much sense of it.
Fire In The Hole:  For anyone who wasn't seen it live, this rocks!  The intro was the usual bit about a black church being burned down with the choir inside ("whhhhhhhyyyyyyyy do you treat me soooo baaaadd?").  Some chick three to the left of me stood up on her chair and jumped up and down,
if she'd been any heavier she would've broken the entire row of chairs I'm sure.  No gt or rattle for Gordie - I think this song has really got some new meaning for him and/or the band and it clearly shows.  They said goodnight, but unlike Buffalo NOBODY got up and left.

While everyone was cheering I turned around and saw the couple behind us. They'd been politely using their binoculars to try and see past this chicks back during Fire and upon seeing that she wasn't sitting down they started to leave which pissed me off.  It just goes back to people hindering on
someone else view and enjoyment of the show.  It's people like this couple that the hip try to reach; they probably own RA and one other CD, like listening to the hip on the radio and wanted to go see a show.  If they get a bad impression of the hip or hip fans they might very well go home a little pissed and might not buy PP, tell a few friends about their slightly annoying experience and....   well, you get the idea.  Personally, it would make no difference to me in the long run BUT it probably does to the hip and hence indirectly the fans.  So I reached around, gave chicky-poo a polite tap on the shoulder and yelled "Could you please not stand on the seat???"  Stac was impressed that a) I did this without swearing, and b) that the chick was nice enough to get off the chairs.  The couple was really glad; he thanked me after the show and we chatted a bit about the hip.  And soon, they came back out and...

Chagrin' Falls:  Some asshole booed !?!?!?!!!  Sinner!  Most people just stood fairly quiet and I think the band noticed; when the guy booed Gord momentarily lost his focus on his gt and stumbled a few chords.  They had Emperor Penguin planned on the setlist but I think the cool reception to
non-radio PP songs may have killed that option.  The night ended with one song less than usual, and a few minutes under 2 hours with
New Orleans Is Sinking:  At the very start some fan jumped up from stage right on the stage, danced in front of Bobby, Gord and Gord then jumped into the Zone just before a roadie was ready to take him out.  Everyone laughed, and Gord said something in reference to this guy's dancing like
"that's sad.... I can do better than that!"  Thirty seconds later and this guy jumped back up center stage, went to resume his dance and tripped over an amp and wisely made a header into the crowd just as said roadie was getting up.  Of maybe ten times I've seen this song live this was the coolest of them all.  Gord played the gt and his feed was cranked up high and you really could notice him playing, it was so nice.  The building shook.  The mid song jam was very, very tight and well played; I think there's a new song hiding in there just ready to come out, much like Escape in late 96 early 97 was.  Gord had a great song worked out which I have heard maybe only once or twice before; here's what I remember of it:  "Could you?  Would you?  Hold me and squeeze me tight?!?  And never leave me lonely thru the night / after all I AM JUST A MAN!!!"   Some stuff I couldn't quite make out, then the main body of this new thing was "you know I try, and I TRY, AND I TRY, BUT BABY...."       [couldn't hear the rest].  I almost thought it was the Stone's Satisfaction when I heard the I try part, but it wasn't as far as I could tell.

So that was the show.  We left in high spirits and I felt great!  It had a Cobo'96 feel to it from all aspects - the mood, the band, the crowd; unlike Buffalo which felt lacking.  I'm dying to hear my tapes again and try to make out some of the new bits they did, I'll post what I find.

OVERALL, A FUCKING AWESOME SHOW!!

and only a few hours til tonights!
james 'gord' gamble,
          the travellin' man



Well, after seeing the Hip twice on the US tour this summer in small venues, it was a real treat to see them once again kick it out in front of a huge crowd at Copps Coliseum. By Divine Right didn't impress me at all, so I won't go into detail about their set. However, the crowd was very respectful and held off the "Hip, Hip, Hip..." chants that the Rheostatics often had to play through. When the Hip took the stage at 8:30ish, the crowd was electric. Something On was a great opener. Very energetic, and then the Hip flowed through Fully Completely and a great rendition of Courage.
Other songs played, not in order, include Lionized, 700 Ft., Ahead by a Century, Bobcaygeon, Poets, Membership, Escape is at Hand, 100th Meridian, Gift Shop, the Luxury (Gord sang this as he played with a balloon that landed on the stage. Another one popped as he approached it and he jumped back with a startled look on his face), Fireworks, Nautical (Amazing-really got the crowd going), Blow at High Dough and Springtime in Vienna. The encores included Vapour Trails, Scared and Fire in the Hole. Second encore was Chagrin Falls and New Orleans. All in all a great show! Chagrin Falls and scared were a little rough at first, but the band recovered and they were awesome in the end. I was disapointed to see Chagrin Falls was played instead of Emperor Penguin, which was written on their setlist. Highlights for me - Nautical Disaster (still a crowd favorite, there were
times during this song when Gord could've stopped singing, the crowd was singing so loudly) and Blow at High Dough (man that worked the crowd into a frenzy.) Fire in the Hole included the lengthy intro and Gord was very animated during it. Disapointments??? No Grace, Too, No 50 Mission Cap in the GTA. However, they have so many great songs, they can't play all of 'em. Gord was enthusiastic all night, and danced with his microphone stand and attempted a stylish behind the back kick at a balloon. Great crowd (except our section, which was the only one in the whole
building that didn't want to stand up) and a great performance by the Hip!

Looking forward to Friday and Monday!
James



Automatically Hip
13,000 loyal fans cozy up at sold out show

Glenn Nott
The Spectator

They inhale back bacon, wear lots of plaid, and leave their socks on when doing the nasty. Oh, and Canadians rock themselves senseless to The Tragically Hip. Anytime, anywhere, any place -- even in the bedroom, socks on or not.

Copps Coliseum took on the feel of a boudoir last night, with more than 13,000 Hip lovers cozying
up together for another night of passion. It's a loyalty that's automatic and forever. The moment the house lights darkened and the stage lit up, the crowd welcomed lead singer Gord Downie and crew
with an anthem-like all-stand, and they stayed out of their seats the rest of the way.

Of course, Downie and the Kingston trio -- guitarists Paul Langlois and Bobby Baker and drummer
Johnny Fay --know just how to service their faithful followers, too -- another sold-out show at
Copps tonight, a surprise benefit concert at Hamilton Place last summer, a last-minute Roadside Attraction stop in Cayuga in 1995. No other band -- no other anything, anyone -- has returned that kind of loyalty locally, especially lately.

"The Hip are the best and they just keep getting better," said Peter Cormier of Kitchener, sipping a pre-show beer in the bowels of Copps with friends.

Part of the fun of a Tragically Hip show is waiting for frontman Downie to erupt -- he's famous for his stream-of-consciousness rants, his politically tinged rails, his ad lib quirky-jerky dance numbers.
There was some of that last night. Downie danced a little on a sparse stage topped by a faux circular ceiling sporting a single large chandelier.

But from the opening number, Something's On, and on into the first half of the show, the singer's vocals seemed somehow thin. The problem seemed to correct itself for a strong rendition of Poets and later Ahead By a Century, but at other times Downie sounded like the mayor of Munchkinland and really couldn't be heard clearly.

Toronto's By Divine Right opened the evening with a tight, well-received package of sharp pop, many selections taken from the group's forthcoming sophomore album, Bless This Mess. And, true to their heritage, Hip fans -- the ones who weren't sequestered underneath the stands with beer and smokes -- were polite and patient.

It was obvious, though, who they really came for.

Much of the first part of the evening was reserved for newer material from the Phantom Power album. But Hip classics such as Grace, Too and the previously mentioned Ahead By a Century received the warmest embraces. The Hip have always liked to keep things simple, and a very modest bank of laser lights and a bubbly neon slide show scheme were the only nods to rock excess. KISS this ain't. These were fans who couldn't be fooled anyway. From the stage-front Phantom Zone on back, heads swayed and bounced accordingly. They knew the songs.

The Hip are the Kings of the High Cs, that's C for Canadians. There was love in the air. Homegrown, too. Cancelling a concert because of a cold? The Tragically Hip wouldn't hear of it, and the heat of their fans wouldn't allow it.

Besides, it's hard to catch a cold when you're wearing socks to bed.

Are you listening, Luciano?