Gift
Train
Planet

Bob
Bones

GREAT energy, muddy sound. The band were clearly pumped to be on stage. There wasn't a point in the show where I was wishing they were playing something else (the one drawback of seeing a lot of shows is boredom with certain overplayed
songs). But the setlist was heavy with songs from the last 2 albums (15 of 21 songs), and only one pre-Fully song (Bones). Still, the songs they played were solid and nobody has the right to complain about anything at this show.

Chris and Kate (sau-caaaay) didn't play part of the show with the band. They played ALL of the show. But they were kind of lost in the mix, at least where I was sitting (near the soundboard). Most of the people I talked to critiqued the sound, which is surprising because it's usually a great venue for it. The only time Kate really got to shine a bit was during T4. The only time for Chris was in the intro to Giftshop.

Of the new songs, the stripped down Tiger worked best (not a big fan of it on the album, thankyouverymuch). They took out most of the Floydesque part and went straight into Something instead. I thought Putting and T4 were a bit thin, but I think they've got to work out the whole sound dynamic now with the extra 2 people on stage. They probably didn't want to drown each other out.

There were some ramblings. But who could make them out?

Videotaping! I saw 4 people in the rows around me along videotaping the whole thing, and I know someone else who did it from the balcony. Weird. Keep your eyes open...

Setlist: Planet replaced Bastard in the encore.

We met Gord S. and Bobby (Bob?) after the show. Well, actually after about 2 hours of drinking after the show. Hmmmm. Anyway, I asked Gord S. about Canadian concert plans, like ARA, and he joked, "What? You think they tell me anything?"

Good times. Good times. It was good to see that all area Henhousers seemed to have gotten tix.

Rob B.
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I've gotta say that was the best Hip show I've seen.

It didn't start out so hot, since when I went to pick up my tickets, the row 21's they quoted me on the phone last week had turned into row 31 seats (did anyone else have this happen to them?  I'm still trying to figure it out.)

Even from row 31, the sightlines were great, and Gordie was just about the closest I've seen him since WOMAD a couple years back.  And the energy was incredible in there.  As great as it is when there are 15,000 fans in a stadium, 2200 in a small theatre, singing along and cheering every tune and every move Gordie made was great.

As someone pointed out in another thread, I think I'll always remember hearing the first strains of Tiger the Lion (and the last notes of Little Bones.)  I really wasn't overly impressed with the setlist.  They played about a half-dozen new tunes, which I'd expected, but didn't venture much earlier than DFN.  I'd always seen setlists of these small gigs where the boys pulled out one or two of the less-played tunes, but there was none of that last night.

Chris and Kate were great as the openers.  I didn't know what to expect, and I was thoroughly impressed.  It's a shame your really couldn't hear Chris's playing during the Hip's set, and I was starting to feel sorry for Kate ... she almost looked uncomfortable up there beside Paul ... sang backup on the tunes she did on the album, but basically stood there and tried a couple of lines on the other tunes.

Overall, well worth the trip, and the 1/3 of a paycheque I managed to spend in 36 hours.
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Neil Faba