I got to Shepherd's Bush around 5, and headed straight for the Walkabout
Pub, which turned out to be literally right next door.
The place was *packed* with Hip fans, 95% of them Canadian. Managed
to somehow meet Detrious, Wot Gorilla, and several other people from the
group that I was too drunk to remember their names. (that reminds me, Detrious
I owe you 2 pints of lager)
Chris Murphy of Sloan was hanging out in front of the Empire, and several
people said hi to Gord Downie as he walked past them to the stage door.
(I can't believe I missed that! Had to go pee!)
Anyways, my tickets were for the 3rd level, so I went up there to watch
Sloan. They were pretty good; I'm a huge Sloan fan but I think they realized
everyone was there for The Hip. Did a quick (10 song?) set, with a decent
mix of Between the Bridges (which I don't like), and older stuff (G turns
to D, Money City Maniacs -- that "Hey You" routine is getting stale, etc...)
Anyways...
I snuck down to the standing room only on the ground level, where it
was *packed*. Seriously had to squirm for 20 minutes to get anywhere near
the stage! It was boiling in there; I heard the Hamburg concert was also.
The chants of "Hip! Hip! Hip!" went on for a good 15 minutes before they
came on, and then of course everyone went insane.
My memory of the setlist is pretty sketchy, so you'll have to wait
for the legit one... The crowd was really rowdy, with the mosh pit encompassing
pretty much the entire ground floor. How you mosh to Bobcaygeon? Oh well,
it just added to the mental atmosphere. That, and the guy in all black
who was obviously on some sort of drugs... became kind of the joke of the
crowd, I think. Lots of crowd surfing, too... that surprised me. Gordie
and the boys milked it, though; the crowd was in a constant frenzy.
After they finished, the chanting began again, and they did a 3-song
encore (er... maybe escape is at hand, BobC, something else), then went
off. Then the chanting again, this time with everyone banging on the walls;
absolutely deafening for about 10 minutes. Seriously loud! Even the two
women in the business suits (?) got into it! Came back on, did another
3 songs (uh... something, NOiS, something?) and then finished up.
Regarding the crowd insanity -- I was waiting for the tube afterwards
and 2 British guys who were at the concert said:
"I didn't think Canadians acted like that!"
"Don't forget about ice hockey, though!"
"Oh, that explains it..."
Thought that pretty much summed up the night :^)
Oh, did anyone catch any of Gord's monologue's? Something about Kingston and Cholera...?
Sorry about the sketchy memory!
Cheers,
Robin
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran out of History exam, changed, ran to Norwich station with a minute
to spare to find my train was delayed. I eventually got to London
an hour late, rushed to Shepherd's Bush on the tube and arrived there about
half way through Sloan's set. Got down near the front of the right
hand side and saw them play a couple of BTB tracks then G Turns to D, I
Wanna Thank You and finish with Money City Maniacs. Chris Murphy
kept not playing the bass and putting his hand behind his head in a poncey
gesture several times, let the crowd sing some of the last verse, and fell
to the earth in shock when they knew the words. They rocked.
I'm pissed off with Anglia Railways for causing me to miss half their set.
Andrew (I think) asked if anyone had
seen the band when they played in London seven years ago. Someone
cheered, and dedicated a song to "the Pheonix".
The place was pretty packed, there were scalpers everywhere outside
and apparently the gig had been sold out for quite some time. Plenty
of Canadians. I went to the toilets where I met a large Scottish
man who called his penis "Bessie" (presumably a reference to Jon Pertwee-era
Dr Who) and told me he was going to Summerstage in New York. Wot
Gorilla, was this
you? I wandered out and met Sam Oldknow and crew from the henhouse,
including his 7ft tall mate who was used to dissuade people from standing
behind us. We took a position about halfway back on Rob's side within
good distance of the bar. Warm-up music appeared to be Radiohead's
"The Bends" and I think they took the stage to Hendrix at about 9:20pm...
Band fashion check: Gord D in his now uniform green shirt and dark tie, with the dark brown jacket. Paul was wearing jeans and his 9:30 Club T-shirt, Gord S in that charming patterened number from the NYE show and jeans, Rob and Johnny in white.
The setlist may be a little out of order in the middle...
1. SOMETHING ON
Pretty good opener. Gord S arsed up the bass part a bit and him
and Rob laughed at each other. Gord D goes berserk with the mike
stand.
2. GRACE, TOO
This was absolutely sizzling, one of the best ever versions.
Gord continued to battle his mike stand, knocking it all over the place
and was shouting a hell of a lot. He let the crowd sing some of it
when he couldn't get his mike back in time.
3. PUTTING DOWN
First of the new songs. Gord on accoustic (which you could actually
hear during this song, which was somewhat remarkable). This is good
live, much better than the NYE version which was very bare bones.
Gord removed his jacket at the end.
4. GIFT SHOP
Big cheers, people really got into this when it "got going".
Gord on guitar.
5. ESCAPE IS AT HAND...
Nice mellow version, although I don't think it quite worked as well
as it could have done this early in the set, straight after a similar song
like Gift Shop. Johnny brought the drums straight in after the bass
intro rather than gradually introducing them as he has done in the past.
Gord on guitar.
6. AHEAD BY A CENTURY
"I know a 95 year old woman... yeah she's got boy trouble! This
is for all you young lovers..." Something about being "14 at heart" again.
Gord on guitar.
7. POETS
Absolutely arseing rocked. Big Honky Tonk Woman intro as well.
Gord shook the banana.
8. LAKE FEVER
Gord's intro to this was something about making love to a girl on a
beach underneath a yellow flag signalling that there's a cholera epidemic(?!).
Nice version although it should be even better once they get Chris on piano
on this. Different to the NYD version, much heavier drumming from
JF. Gord guitar again.
9. 700 FT. CEILING
More Gord guitar histrionics.
10. COURAGE
Crowd go berserk. Gord S does his funky bassline and the end
and him and Johnny grin at each other.
11. STAY
Something about you wanting a girl to "go, but actually to stay, which
means you really want her to go but than means that you want her to stay".
Lovely song, even if it is ripped off Nick Drake.
12. FULLY COMPLETELY
Stage bathed in red light. Crowd were really into it.
13. SCARED
Merciful lack of lighters. Paul was a little out of tune, Gord
played the inaudible accoustic once again.
14. MY MUSIC AT WORK
Cheers of recognition.
15. AT THE HUNDREDTH MERIDIAN (w/spoken Insomniacs in the middle)
During this song me and Sam decided to make our way to the front, and
got within a couple of people of the front in the middle by the song's
conclusion. Brilliant version. Gord let us sing the "if I die
of vanity..." bit as the band stop playing. All of Shepherd's Bush
seemed to be pogo-ing to this. End of main set.
1st encore, with Gord on guitar on all three songs.
16. FIREWORKS
17. BOBCAYGEON
18. NEW ORLEANS IS SINKING
I made it right to the front row for most of New Orleans, and it really
is great being so close to Gord, seeing what chords he's playing on the
guitar even if you can't hear them, watching his eyes, see the sweat dripping
off his head and off the guitar. He looked a bit concerned at all
the crowd surfing that was going on. Security, with the help of a
few people around me, pulled out this large bloke who was causing trouble
by elbowing everyone.
They go off. House lights stay down. I look at my watch and realise my train leaves in 35 minutes, and have to do a 25 minute tube journey to getto the station. The come back and play...
19. SPRINGTIME IN VIENNA
...with Gord tossing the grapes which he dropped at one point.
Paul plays some of this song with his fingers, and broke a string, but
carried on playing. Towards the end I wriggle out of my position
and leg it out of the Empire to the tube station in order to get home that
night. Various things go wrong with trains and I end up back at home
at 3am. I'm not sure what
the final song of the night though, but it might be 20. LITTLE BONES
as I think I saw that slated as the last encore on Gord's setlist.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was, as they only seem to pull out Little
Bones during the very best gigs and this was certainly one of them.
What a great gig, certainly preferable to seeing them with 20,000 other people at the ACC. The 'Empire is a great venue, but since it sold out so far in advance with appalling distribution for Music at Work, I wouldn't be surprised if next time they're here, they play the Brixton Academy. I was surprised to hear so little M@W material, even taking into account that its next to impossible to buy here. Anyway, great venue, great band, great gig. I hope its not three years until the UK gets to see them again.
--Lb.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRE[R]AMBLE:
You've heard of Little Venice...well, a corner of Shepherds Bush became Little Canada last night...I felt strangely like, er, a stranger in a strange land.
We made London later than hoped, but we still just had time to wander into The Walkabout...an Australian pub apparently temporarily annexed to Canada for the 'crepuscular'! Even the atmosphere in the pub contained a distinct frisson and flavour of what was to come...the place was literally buzzing. After settling on the corner of a table a young dark haired girl caught our conversation and suddenly interjected...
"You're not Canadian are you...where are you from?"
<I replied a little nervously, fearing we were about to be
deported>
"Uh...here, well, when I say here, I mean...Bristol, England, UK _here_"
"Born and bred?"
<Trick question?...should we have forged some Canadian citizenship
documentation?!!>
"Uh...yeah, born and bred"
"WOW!!!...you guys are my heroes! English Hip fans!...oh, oh, I must
take a picture! <excitably fumbles in bag for camera>
<Snap>
Hmmm...quite possibly the most surreal starting conversation I've ever had with anybody...ever! Well, look out for the photo, Ren, cos' the 'young dark haired girl' (apologies for not catching your name 8) was with this NG's very own Chris Bullee - quite possibly the most 'in the moment' laid-back contented individual I've ever met! [We bumped into Chris a couple more times inside the venue - apart from the fact he seemed to be on speaking terms with just about everyone in the place, he just painted this memorable image of someone who has made Hip shows his home :)]
As it turned out, we picked the right corner of the pub to bump into
some other NGers...briefly speaking to Jacks (not easy to look that gorgeous
on jet lag and 3 hours sleep...although it probably helps when you're a
bit younger than some of us! ;), Robin and Detrious (who looks nothing
like a Mutton Birds fan whose mother would worry about him driving all
that way! ;). Shame it was so late, really - as we wanted to catch Sloan
- and the pub being somewhat raucous (for us 'olds' :) meant
much more than small/individual conversations were somewhat unattainable.
Maybe we'll have more of relaxed opportunity/time at a Birds gig one day,
D?
It was quite humid, so we decided to grab 15 minutes of fresh air on Shepherds Bush Green before heading into the venue...'fresh air'...well, there's a 'Central London' oxymoron if ever there was...even the grass was, er, grey! So...we grabbed about 12 minutes (we couldn't handle the full 15! :) gasping for breath on Shepherds Bush Grey...and then the final countdown had really begun...
THE GIG, er, PRE[R]AMBLE:
Okay, so I introduced another category...so sue me! : P
The venue was extremely warm/humid. We were in the stalls, stood toward
the back of the lower floor when Sloan were on - and while their set largely
passed me by (mainly through lack of familiarity) - long before they had
finished, the 'room to breathe' quotient was fast evaporating. Being in
possession of a (slightly ;) vertically challenged wife and being a bit
of a fragile old fella myself, we decided to try and head for the upper
levels. We squeezed out to the back of the room, only to be met by a burly
security guard with a face like a bag of spanners (and all the charm to
match ;) who turned us around and sent us straight
back...'the Emperor (penguin?) has decreed you will dance with the
lions in the pit'...
Deciding to make the most of a bad situation, we then squeezed our way
back through the throng to within about 40 feet of the stage and found
ourselves stood next to the seemingly *ONLY* other two English people in
the house...subliminal osmosis?! With the sweat dripping from the walls
and us unavoidably exchanging bodily fluids, we struck up a conversation.
To cut a long conversation/story short (er, yeah right! - you all say :)
they had 'Level 2' tickets, but had 'sneaked' down, so offered to swap
...hmmm...nah, we're wedged in here now! Anyhoo...I was in the perfect
position for potentially being able to describe to Sue,
er, probably just the top of Gord's pate! Only a matter of minutes
away now...when suddenly...
...the lights dim, an almighty roar rises from the crowd, Gord mutters
something completely incomprehensible through the tumult, the band rip
into Something On, the floor disappears from under our feet and we're now
swooping like kelp in a pounding surf! Mid-song, another decision is made...we
swap tickets, fight the tide and attempt to beach ourselves at
the back of the room! We eventually reach dry land, towel ourselves
down and head out through the door, climbing the deserted staircase to
the brooding bass lines of Grace, Too...we open the door to Level 1...our
timing is perfect, Security are distracted by some fool completely [fully]
lost 'in the moment' (no, it wasn't Chris Bullee! ;) apparently contemplating
a leap from the balcony! We swiftly nip inside, slide down the aisle and
are somewhat surprisingly confronted with the very front
of the lower balcony, with the most PERFECT view you could ever imagine!
Throughout the gig, people would occasionally come and stand right next
to us and were IMMEDIATELY ejected (for blocking the aisle)...it was like
we were completely invisible to the no-necks in yellow T's. Lucked out'
doesn't even come part way to describing this series of coincidences...sitting
here now, I still find it hard to believe - fate and the Go[r]ds were certainly
conspiring/smiling...
THE GIG:
Well...over the years I've been to, quite literally, 100's of gigs (of varying shape and size), but in all those times I've never experienced an atmosphere quite like this - the U2 Unforgettable Fire/Joshua Tree tours had their 'moments' - but the sheer sustained intensity of emotion at this gig was altogether remarkable. The energy and enthusiasm just swept though the whole building, to all four levels. In fact, I would say there was probably enough energy generated in those two hours to keep a medium-sized Scottish Isle lit up like a Xmas tree for a year! Just breathtaking.
The air was constantly charged with the sound of 2,000 voices carrying the band's songs around on their collective shoulders, no more apparent than when they played a new song, when the unfamiliar seemingly cast an almost reverential hold - er, it wasn't exactly quiet!...but the contrast did possess a fascination in itself...then, with batteries seemingly recharged, the next familiar intro would reignite the blue touch paper and...vr-o-o-o-m-p!...off again.
The band: Gord was undeniably the permanent focus of my/our attention.
Whether it was simply tossing and catching the small percussive beads,
in perfect time, throughout Springtime In Vienna (he did drop them once,
only to deftly flip them back up over his head again with his feet! :)...revealing
stylistic high jump techniques over his bent mic stand during a jam...or
curled up on the floor in the foetal position to finish another song (damn!...what
was that?) ...he possesses a quite remarkable presence and his quirky movements
and gestures seem to have taken 'dad dancing' to a whole new level!! :)
Meanwhile...the band
played on - seemingly oblivious to both Gord's antics and what was
happening in front of them - a pure focused unit cranking out this wonderful
stream of atmosphere feed.
So...my personal highlights from a truly magnificent set...I revelled
in ABAC, Escape and Scared (when the latter began I exalted a breathless
'Y-e-s-s...only Nautical Disaster for the full set' to Sue, - the guy next
to us smiled, but we didn't get it...my only real disappointment - churlish
really :). Fully Completely and Courage (came together or quite close?
- it's a bit of a blur! :) and lifted the roof. 100th Meridian was, er,
intense! The brooding Gift Shop burned. But the thing that will live long
in my memory, simply as it seemingly encapsulated the whole experience...the
crowd responses (somehow picking up a gear!) for the
encores of NOIS and Little Bones and the mention of 'Toronto' in Bobcaygeon,
which brought a response akin to a last minute winning goal in the FA Cup
Final (er, that's a v-e-r-y big English football match/institution! ;)
...I just gazed all around the Empire in awe...this had been a truly special
night.
SET LIST:
(The first four songs and the encores are correct, er, I think! -otherwise
the order is approx.)
Something On
Grace, Too
Putting Down
Gift Shop
Escape
ABAC
Lake Fever
Courage
Fully Completely
Stay
Poets
100th Meridian
700ft Ceiling
Scared
My Music At Work
---
Fireworks
Bobcaygeon
NOIS
---
Springtime In Vienna
Little Bones
: O
...I do believe this was where I came in. :)
--
Wot Gorilla