Rory man it was great!!!! Some stripper got on stage during So Hard Done By and freaked Gord out and he skipped a couple of lines and tried to recover it still sounds good. He looked shocked and the rest of the band were laughing so hard it was cool. He also during nautical disaster did his Titanic impression arms stretched out and saying "I'm flying". Great night...  ......MITCH

Hampton Beach

The Casino Ballroom is a weird space to hold a concert. Long and rectangular, the stage was set up sideways. Kind of like this:

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Anyway, there were tables around the place, with the front of the stage kept clear for a huge moshpit. I thought the acoustics were going to be bad, but they were pretty good overall (considering the speaker system they were given by the venue for the show). The show itself was probably the better of the two. Gord rambled on during every song, but what he said was drowned out. During So Hard Done By, this female dancer appeared on stage and started dancing around. It was hilarious. It caught Gord D. by surprise as she danced beside him for a second, and when she went over to Bobby's and Gord S.'s side they were smiling. A bouncer tried to get to her but they said it was alright and she was left on stage for the entire song. It turns out, apparently, that the Jimmy Buffett Band was in attendance and she's one of the backup singers.

By the way, I'll take the opportunity to say hi to Phil and thank him for the beer. First round's on me in Syracuse. It was cool meeting you!

After the show, my friend Dave and I went to this greasy pizza joint and then back to his car so we could change and then go grab a beer. We see a crowd of 50 or so people behind the venue waiting for the band. We figure we might as well stay for a bit. About 5 minutes later, Johnny and Gord D. come down the stairs and everyone claps. They sign everything in sight, chat and take pictures with everyone for a good 15 minutes. Then Gord S. came out to another round of applause and proceeds to do the same. Ten minutes later Bobby and Paul come out as well.

Some funny moments from this meet and greet:

Girl, to Gord D.: Gord, will you sign my shirt?
Gord D.: But it's such a nice shirt...
Girl: That's ok. I got it on sale.

Guy, to Gord S.: I was the one with the Canada flag who stage dove in the first encore.
Gord S., sarcastically: Well, isn't that nice for you?

Me, to Bobby: Great show. We caught you down at Wetlands last month.
Bobby: You mean SweatGlands, don't you?

My friend Dave, to Gord S.: Sorry but your bandmates hogged all the writing space on my ticket.
Gord S.: Sure, and they get to use a marker while I only have this pen.

Here is a setlist I managed to get, the highlight of my night.

http://www.desktop.on.ca/list.gif

All I had to do was show one of the bouncer guys my Ontario license.  I'm a recent import (work visa) from North Bay, Ontario... so it seemingly translated to a long 12 hour drive for the show (even though I only drove up to NH from RI).  So he said, "All right" and grabbed me the set list.  Wish I was the pretty girl front center, who got set 1's drumsticks...

Lyrics Gord played with:

a) Fireworks

"Loosening my grip on Bobby Orr"
became
"Loosening my grip on Eddie Shore"

b) Grace, Too

"He said 'I'm fabulously rich'"
became
"He said 'I'm Tragically Hip'"
[may have been 'We're...']
He also threw in "Come on just let's go... to the beach!"

c) 100th Meridian

"Me debunk an American myth"
became
"Me debunk a Canadian myth"

d) Little Bones

"Just to give me a line
I can use to describe"
became
"Just to give me the time
I can use to unwind"

Those were all the lyric changes I noticed.  He lost his place in Bobcaygeon but recovered quite nicely, muttered something about being confused.

He told a lengthy story about VietNam.  He finished with, "But I don't get no benefits, right?"  Not asking the question, but stating.  I was so expecting "eh?" to be at the end of that sentence instead of "right?" but I guess that's the Canadian-transplanted-to-the-US hopeless romantic in me. :)

In the second encore he did the funniest impression of a Hampton Beach seagull I've ever seen.  He also refrained the General Lee horn (for those of you old enough to remember the Dukes of Hazard, you know how it goes).

I was drinking some pretty potent whiskey sours, so my recollection isn't 100%.  But hopefully that will give people a small taste of what this show was like...

And an addendum: a girl from "the Jimmy Buffett Band" (as Gord described her) wearing a very skimpy jean dress started dancing in the middle of one song (forget which one, sorry).

Hopefully when I get home from vacation our Usenet feed form our a DSL provider will be fixed.  Otherwise I'll go on a rampage!

Aaron Bertrand

I was underwhelmed by the Northampton show. The vibe just wasn't there for me.  That wasn't an issue at Hampton Beach last night.

I knew things were going to be good when the group I was with, my wife, and three Hip Virgins, were standing in line for friend dough ("no, YOU find the nutrition in this stuff") and Gord Downie, Gord Sinclair, and Paul Langois walk right by.  I take off running and catch Paul.  I thank him for playing so many shows in the Boston area and the good time I had in Northampton a few nights before.  He gave a big smile and said that if I enjoyed the previous night, tonight's preformance would be better than that.

We got to the venue.  A longish box-type with a 1920's feel.  I met Rob Bertrand and one of his friends before the show.  (My first meeting of an "internet friend", as my wife calls you folks.  Makes me feel like Mr. Rogers.)  Talked about shows, the exchange rate and other stuff.  It was cool to meet someone else that feels as strongly as I do about the Hip.

The opening band Hayden wasn't anything to write home about.  Moody guitars.  Big deal.  Derek Trucks was much better and hopefully they'll get him back at some point in the future.

The hip came on stage a little after 9:00 and from the get-go they were on fire.  Gord was ranting up a storm.  The most that I've ever heard.  I didn't get a setlist because I was singing along to all the songs like 14 year old at a Hanson concert.  It was simply the best show of my life.  I had a great time

I think the Hip are recording these shows for another live album.  They had all the gear there for it and had mics at each end of the stage for the audience.

Gord did forget the lyrics to Bobcaygeon and was obviously miffed about that.  Other than that, they were sooooo on.

Highlights:

~ Seeing the boys in person and speaking with Paul.
~ Gord's impression of a seagull.
~ 100th meridian (best version I've heard)
~ Rands about his two tours of Vietnam as a Canadian
~ Stepanie the dancer "On loan from the Jimmy Buffett band."  An 11 on a scale of 10

Lowlights:

~ Flagwavers - It's not patriotism folks, it's just blocking the view of people behind you, especially short people.  And jumping on stage to try to wrap Gord in the flag was especially tacky.
~ Stagediver that ran on stage and jumped high into the crowd.  Judging by the rant afterward, Gord was *really* impressed.
~ The end of the show.  Two encores wasn't nearly enough.  I was ready for several more hours of fun!

It was simply the best show I've ever seen.

Phil