Am I the first poster?!?  Great show as usual, strong setlist, no real surprises, highlights for me were Dark Canuck, Scared.  The guys really put on a show, the group on the pit really rocked, it almost seemed like our own private show, got a meet a bunch of henhouser's. Finally met Dana and his wife, (he got the drumsticks). ANd Mike (Drez) and Matt and Dave Holmes were right next to me, I didn't realize that until later. It was a long night, my wife and I had to leave right away and head back to Buffalo, so I am pretty tired this morning. I am sure a ton of people will post and they probably got the setlist. A bunch of tapers, myself and Matt and Dave taped from the pit, Mike shot video from the pit, and I saw a half a dozen others also. What I can remember of the setlist:

Jet
M@W
NOIS
Fully
Grace
are you ready?
bobcaygeon
nautical
use it up
courage(where were you, courage, I'm talking to you)
weaken
poets (dont' tell me, OK, do, Don't, OK do)
Dark Canuck
100th
Dire
gift shop
bones

encore:
Scared
Tore
Blow

I think I have it right, my mind is a little foggy, I also have about 60 shots from the pit, I was dirsctly in front of Gord D. I will find a site and post them later, now I must get to work!!!
-Sean E.


Landmark crowd gyrates to The Hip
Canadian rock band delivers cool light show with its hot tunes Saturday in Syracuse.

October 06, 2002
By Mark Bialczak
Staff writer
 

Gordon Downie took the Landmark Theatre stage Saturday night and began to have a conversation with himself.

It didn't matter that he's the lead singer of top Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, and he had a microphone in his hand to deliver his wisdom to an assortment of 2,000 or so stoked-up music lovers from above and below the border.

That's been the allure of The Hip since Downie got together with guitarists Robby Baker and Paul Langlois, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay in Kingston some 15 years ago.

Sometimes Downie goes into his flailing, Big Bird-like dance. Sometimes he's quiet as a mouse. Sometimes he's shouting from the core of his beliefs. Sometimes he's sharing quirky little between-song couplets like Saturday night's verse of "I'm in love with a cop, and I ain't gonna stop."

At all times, from the concert opener, "Silver Jet," from the band's latest disc, "In Violet Light," to the third encore song, the favorite "Blow at High Dough," he's the deserving center of attention.

What's Gordon gonna do next?

This crowd in downtown Syracuse dance and sang along to it all.

They already knew the words and moves to the new songs, which included "Are You Ready," "Use It Up" and "Dark Canuck." But they really knew the words and moves to Hip standards, such as "New Orleans Is Sinking," "Fully Completely," "Grace, Too," "Nautical Disaster," "Courage," "Good Life," "At the Hundredth Meridian," "Gift Shop" and even more.

So they shared all those mantras, the fans standing there in so many hockey jerseys, and Downie cavorting in a pea-green, button-down shirt.

A cool light show featured changing-hued strobes at just about head level and brights aimed at the house strong enough to tan in October.

It all came together in the favorite "Poets" - the mesmerizing atmosphere, the funky guitar work, the Rolling Stones-like sass with Downie the revved-up Jagger, and Langlois the reserved Richards.

Fellow Canadian Sam Roberts and his four-piece band tried to whip things up early, urging fans to stand and party along.

It was obvious that he's more popular up north; Canadians sang the words to his favorite "Don't Walk Away, Eileen" and Americans tried to catch up to the buzz.

"'Don't Walk Away Eileen' is for every girl who every broke my heart," Roberts told the crowd. "That's one girl. Eileen."

The fans felt his pain.

They also seemed to like his bluesy feel in "Taj Mahal" and the jangle-chime guitar attack and relentless beat of all of his rockers.

Roberts recently signed a contract to have his material released in the United States by Universal Records. He's bound to make more fans down this way.


Not the right order

Silver Jet
Music @ Work
100th Meridian (Life is forgetting, and I remember everything)
Grace Too
Nautical
The Dark Canuck
The Dire Wolf
NOIS
Little Bones
Courage
Poets
Fireworks
Fully Completely
Giftshop
Bobcaygeon
Are You Ready
Weaken

Encore (Correct)

Scared
All Tore Up
Blow at High Dough
 

Not a spectacular set but an above average crowd. Gord was in an extra energetic mood, constantly girating. During the last song of the encore he stated "Syracuse, there's no excuse!" It seems that during the end of All Tore Up "Drink Up Boys, it's time to go." is pretty standard. I saw these unkempt gentlemen walking outside the theatre before hand then when I got in the show it was Sam Roberts and his band. I was a Sam Roberts fan before but now I am a devoted fanatic. He rocked the house given the fact the 50% of the crowd was in the lobby getting boozed. Is it me or does Johnny Fay look like he's in pain the entire show? I hope they play arena's again like they did in the end of 2000!

Mike

PS I got to see Mark Malone from ESPN's NFL2Night at the Dinosaur BBQ before the show!


Good show. Especially considering my sister, Karen, & I took our brother, Nick, to his first show, but she fainted in line get a drink beforehand & they made her go the hospital so she missed the whole show. But we were able to persuade a security guard to get us a setlist (see attached) as a memento for her. We also got to meet Ian & his sister for which I am very grateful - I don't think I would have been so calm if we were by ourselves. Karen seems to be fine now, except for the obvious melancholy of having missed the show and Nick said his first show "was kickass". So all is well, until the next show ...

-Melissa

(I was thinking that if we had gone right to our seats - in the pit - instead of trying to get a drink and Karen had passed out there that just maybe the events could have made it into one of Gord's rants!)


Just got in from Syracuse. First things first...that has to be the coolest venue I have ever seen the Hip play. To top that off, front row in the pit is not a bad spot to watch the concert. The sound was great, the guys were on, the crowd was into it. No surprises in the setlist(which I hold in front of me). Did not meet a single henhouser, and stayed in the same motel as most. Met quite a few Hip fans in the hotel though.

After the show, the girlfriend and I went around back to see what we could see. Gord graciously signed the setlist(he was visibly depleted), and took a picture. Robby also signed it for us, so did Johnny. Didn't see Sinclair and Langlois. Anyone else notice that the tech-roadie with the cowboy hat was on ritalin or something?

Anyways, amazing time. Ate at Dinosaur's, thanks to whomever suggested it. I always get a good little smirk on the way home from New York State...Anyone else make a point to notice the "Last American Exit" sign?
-Andre C.


The Landmark was rocking last night! Eags' setlist is correct in the right order, thats a pretty good memory, we had to write them down. No surprises, but heard a lot of encouragement from the crowd for Three Pistols. Gord was definitely out of his mind, as always, wearing the same shirt he wore at Woodstock, first time I havent seen the white shirt this tour...playing with his imaginary guns, hiding behind Paul and shooting into the crowd during grace, attempting to jump on a balloon that ended up on stage, sleepwalking during courage, sitting on the side of the stage paddling the mic stand during nautical, chicken dances during bones, and going off about Syracuse at the end just before the encore. The Dark Canuck, Poets, Grace, Blow were highlights for me. The video from the pit turned out excellent, battery went dead just as the boys left the stage, what luck! Hopefully they will be back around soon for another show!
-dRez7

Having seats in the pit made for an exceptionally great show, and part of a fantastic day.
After a little golf, preshow found us in a little side bar called Cafe Demon, which was attached to a bigger bar a few blocks from the Landmark. The bar served great Belgian Beer (Delerium & Chimay among others) and all kinds of wines, and even offered tasting sessions. Felt like we were in Amsterdam or Brussels, and the beers offered good bang for the buck.
Great show by the band, although I was a little disappointed hearing the same set list for the third time this year. Didn't like that we had to turn in our ticket stubs for wrist bands in the pit.We tried waiting a bit after the show, first in the theater and then
behind it, but we lost patience and ended up at the Dinosaur BBQ. Heard some good blues, and the food there was great too.
Thumbs up to Syracuse, its got some good places. Made it home to Buffalo a little after 3.
-Rob M.

Well, Syracuse was a good show to say the least. Ian, it was nice to see you again. Highlights for me were BobC, Grace, Scared and Gift Shop. I know they are some standards, but I love to hear them live. Clarks was packed with a nice pre-show crowd. The Orchestra Pit was TOTALLY different than the October 2000 show. Saw a few Captain Canada's in the crowd. Oh, and guess who actually went in between Gord and Gord again!

This was my 6th show and being in the front row (not the first time) brings a new perspective to the whole experience. I was much more into watching the whole band this time. One of the tings I really noticed is the different playing styles between Bobby and Paul.Ý Paul slings his guitar very low and Bobby keeps his near his waist. The other thing I noticed is that Johnny doesn't seem to get any older looking. He still has a very boyish face. And yes, I did notice that he looks like he is in pain the whole time he plays.

All in all it was a great show. Hope to see the boys back in Syracuse soon.

Peace,
Brian


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