Well, I have to take back a lot of my bitching.  Yes, the set for tonight was a lot of the same stuff, but nothing sounds stale by the Hip live.
Higlights include- On the Verge (YES!)
                             - The stoner across the asile dancing
                                 the    night away
                              - 50MC -The crowd went nuts at
                                  "won the leafs the cup"
                              -the condom baloon trying, but never
                                getting to the stage
                               -NOIS...the makings of a new
                                 song 'Blackflies off my back' etc..
                               -So Hard done By  (Oh yeah!)

Gord intro'd the song with the bannana "If it makes a sound it should remind you of a dick"

Well worth the money and Don Cherry introduced them!  I saw Paul and Gord S. wandering before the show, and Don C in the stands.  BDR were good, wouldn't go out of my way to see them though.  All in all, a great night.  Now, sleep...need sleep..

Lars


What can I say...I still feel all tingly inside...(I'm sure some of you know how that feels).

One of the best shows I've been to thus far.  The boys were introduced (like they need an intro), by none other than Grapes himself.  To quote him he said, "This is the first show in this great arena, and I'll tell you it's a beauty show, and I'm the first guy to ever introduce the guys...without further a due, here's these great Kingston boys, TTH!"

Here's the setlist:
1.      Something
2.      Courage
3.      700 Ft.
4.      Bob C
5.      Grace
6.      Escape
7.      Poets
8.      Gift
9.      So Hard
10.     ABAC
11.     Membership
12.     Nautical
13.     Fireworks
14.     Spring
15.     Bones
16.     Chagrin
17.     New O
1st Encore
18.     Planet (Hotel Fire)
19.     Scared
20.     50 MC
2nd Encore
21.     Rules
22.     Verge

Gordie actually fell during Grace...what a performer.

BTW, my MDR made a surprisingly very fine boot...listened to it all the way home...

See you on the checkerboard floors...

Sam


Hershey Centre Rocked!!
by the horrible esthete , 2/20/99

What a show!!! Downie was on, and so was the rest of the band. An incredible version of " so hard done by" really went over well with the 5000 plus roaring hipsters. Consistant with the rest of the tour, they allowed us to boot. It came out great. As per a previous post, Grapes was a nice surprise. They closed with " on the verge" and left the crowd satisfied. Anyone who was there, also probably enjoyed the song in the middle of New Orleans. What was it anyway??? the horrible esthete.


Well, I was very pumped to see the Hip from the 8th row of the floor seats in the Hershey Centre Friday, and I did not go home disapointed.
The Hershey Centre was a pretty intimate venue, and the sound was good from where I sat. The crowd was electric when Don Cherry came out to introduce the band and they stayed enthusiastic throughout the performance. Something On was the opener again, and I have come to love this song live. It makes an incredible opener! Courage was next - another great live song. Grace Too was a nice surprise in the early going. Gordie was as animated as ever, tripping on his face while dancing with his microphone! Sound problems plagued some songs. There was awful feedback during a couple tunes but the band wasn't to blame. They played an amazing set. So Hard Done By was a nice surprise. As was the Rules, the 2nd last song of the night. Not big on this song on the album, but live, Gordie really nailed it! Scared was good, but the highlight of the night was 50 Mission Cap!
The crowd roared with the line "Won the Leafs the Cup!" Don Cherry aluded to this song during Coaches Corner Saturday night. He was evidently as impressed as the rest of us. 100th Meridian was not played unfortunately, but New Orleans had a song in the middle (not sure what it's called, but includes the lines "I hope the blackflies don't carry me away"). It was AWESOME!!! He said "The anesthiologist washed her hands" and then found that word quite humorous and repeated anesthiologist several times with a grin. "I'm an anesthiologist" he laughed. All in all, a great show!
Too bad about the sound problems, but the performance was amazing. Johnny broke his drumsticks during the closer (On the Verge) and never missed a beat. Paul Langlois also broke a guitar string during Chagrin Falls, and never missed a beat either.
What a band!
James

The Tragically Hip, Don Cherry, a hockey arena, Canadian flag waving, the Queen, and charity.
Things don't get much more Canadian than that!

Last night's charity concert for Camp Trillium was the first concert ever held at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. It was a night of great music and Canadian culture, under a big photo of Queen Elizabeth, who watched her subjects from above. The crowd was pleasantly surprised when Don Cherry introduced the Hip. What a great way to start the Hip's set! The crowd was electrified with
the phantom power pumping from the stage. As usual, the boys played a mix of new and old. From Phantom Power, they played songs like Something On, Bob Caygeon, Membership, and Fireworks. It was cool to hear these songs live for the first time - and they rock live. The fireworks intensified even more for fan favorites like Little Bones, New Orleans, and 50 Mission Cap. The gloves came off when Gord Downie and his mic got into a fight that sent them both tumbling to the ground. The mic had had enough, but Gord kept on feverishly going. Gord played acoustic guitar and his banana on some of the songs. But he also added two new instruments to his repertoire: a gourd and a bunch of grapes! On their next tour he's going to come on stage with a fruit salad! :-)

In the middle of New Orleans is Sinking they played what seemed to be a couple of new songs. The first one, I'll call "Black Flies", was about up north, or cottage country as far as I could tell. Part of the lyrics were "I hope the black flies don't carry me away", and there was something about snow, ice, and mist. The second song, I'll call "Elaborate", had a groovy bass line. Based on the lyrics I caught for that one, it was about an Anesthesiologist. Gord kept trying to pronounce it different ways until he got it - I mean, he meant to do that, that is. It was also about a guy on his cell phone who "couldn't elaborate". I guess he couldn't elaborate because he had no privacy on a cell phone where people like Gord Downie could hear him and use his words for song lyrics :-). Basically both song's lyrics were said/sung in a very story telling type of style. After New Orleans, the guys took a break.

The cheers for the first encore were extremely enthusiastic and loud. A guy with a Canadian flag stood up on the chairs in the third row with another guy and held the flag up, which made the crowd even louder. Then the Hip came back out for the encore that capped off with 50 Mission Cap, which was one of the highest energy points of the night.

Much more flag waving, cheering, and Hip chanting and the Hip came back on for the double encore. Gord Sinclair was wearing his new Ice Dogs jersey. It turns out Don Cherry gave jerseys to the whole band. They played The Rules, which lulled the crowd into a false sense of mellow-ness, and then they slammed into us with the hyper-energized, On The Verge. My favorite show ending song.

I will always look back on this concert as a very special moment. Fifth row seats in a great arena for concerts! The coolest thing about the Hershey Centre is that there isn't a bad seat in the house. Let's put it this way, if it was the Maple Leaf Gardens, the seats would only go: floors, golds, and then half way up the reds!!