i've waited a while to post my thoughts on what was an amazing amazing
show in new york, with a few exceptions.  The day started with my
girlfriend and I taking a bus from our hometown of Allentown, PA to Port
Authority in NYC.  we had a couple of hours to burn so whe thought we
might as well walk down to wetlands.  how far could it be?  well, we got
there eventually (3-4 miles) and were in plenty of time to get a great
spot between gord and paul about 5 feet back from the stage.  before the
show we passed the time talking to a couple guys from kingston who seemed
to have an endless supply of rum and cokes.  no problem.  we traded
stories about stoney's on king st. and dragon's breath ale.  pretty cool
guys.  the show kicked ass.  I would've liked to hear grace and save the
planet, but in a perfect world, I would've liked to hear every song from
every album during a 6 hour concert.  flamenco was beatiful, fire in the
hole and little bones were incredible.  it was an awesome show.  It was
well worth losing 10 pounds of sweat in the 110 degree club.
Now for the exception.  I've been reading this list for a while and one
topic that comes up is the whole "anti-american" deal.  let me just say
that at wetlands that night, I was proud to be an american hip fan.  the
place was full of canadians, which is ok, I love canadians.  sober,
respectful ones, that is.  A certain three individuals right in front of
Paul came really close to ruining the concert for my girlfriend and I.
one idiot insisted on jumping uncontrollably without any regard for who he
ran into(my girlfriend included)  the other morons were too busy screaming
at paul and yelling 'canada!' over and over again.  it made me wonder why
these people took the time to travel hundreds of miles to NYC.  was it to
see the greatest live act perform in a postage stamp of a club, or was it
to get so drunk they couldn't possibly remember the show and let everyone
know they were canadian?
I think if you care enough about a band to see them in concert, have the
respect for them and the other fans to control yourself for the 2 hours
that the music's playing.  I'd appreciate it, and I'm sure the the band
would appreciate it as well.
As for the canadian thing...it's no secret that the hip remain much more
popular in canada than in the states.  perhaps a reason for this is thats
shows i've been to in nyc or philadelphia double as maple leafs pep
rallies.  from everything I've read concerning hip shows, they aren't too
fond of the 'go leafs go' chant, and the canadian flag waving.  maybe the
canadian fans are selfish of their band and want to keep them canadian,
but respect the wishes of the tragically hip who, with extensive US tours
and album releases would really like to spread their influence.
to the tragically hip:  thanks for another awesome show
to the rude fans:  fuck you for almost ruining the show, and fuck you for
not respecting the band you pretend to worship

later
Jeremy