The Hip, Me n' Some Other Freaks in Syracuse

                             or

                I was a Teenage Combos Whore

        It all began bright n' early on Saturday  morning. With the wind in my hair, and a smile on my face, I set out for Chez Rob, where I'd be meeting up with our driver for the weekend, who surprisingly enough was named Rob. After a healthy dose of caffeine, we made with the picking up of Sam and finally we 'cherche le Trevor' ( which is like 'cherche la femme', but
wholey less satisfying ).
        We were off, on the road to adventure. With a quick pit stop in Brockville for food ( Yo Quiero Hardcore Porn ), and directions to the nearest ( and dearest ) Beer Store(tm). There, amidst a room just brewing  (pun intended) with love, we isolated our beverages of choice. Since our host-to-be, the lovely and talented Brian, had specifically requested a few different brands
of beer, we decided to get just about everything but those brands. So, with beer ( and thanks to Rob, some Anti-beer ) in tow, we once more leapt unto the breech. Or something like that.

        The border crossing was smooth as silk. Well, except for the cavity search on Sam, but we think the border guard just had the hots for him. From there on in it was the rolling hills ( and rolled up signs ) of New York State. Things were going great until about 25 miles ( 4.6 million kilometers, with the current exchange rate ) outside of Syracuse. Seems that the city council must have gotten word about all the incoming Canucks, and did their best to stave off the invasion. For about three miles, the I-81 turned into the most wretched hive of scum and villainy... er... wait.... that's Mos Eisley. Well, it got really slow due to some 'construction' that all those 'construction men' ( all of whom had SEAL and Spec. Ops. tattoos) were doing. We were pinned there for about 40 minutes, until we finally managed to break free. We were tto late, however, for they had given the people of Syracuse enough time to line up for the Dinasaur BBQ. Hoarding, as it were. Trying to prevent us from tasting the sweet taste of freedom. Bastiges.

        Still, we made it through and one into pre-Syracuse positions, which happened to be conviniently located in Brian's apartment, which was fully equiped with not only a floor but a roof, too. Opulence. Sheer opulence. And he had a fridge as well, which was good since our beer ( and Anti-beer ) was getting warm. After a quick meet n' greet with all of the us' ( uses? usi? ) and the thems ( being the Bri, the Sue and the Chrissy ), and a quick beer for the road, we departed for one of the restaurants the fine folks of Syr had given us a list of and directions too. Only to find them all filled to the brim. 2 hour waits were de rigeur. It was skanky. To top it all off, we couldn't find a bank machine that liked us, and it looked as though we would be broke for the evening. With grim determination, Rob, Bri and myself bundled ourselves against the cold and set out for adventure. But then we
found a friendly bank machine about a block away, so we got out some money and walked back to the group. So, after a quick stopover in the Empire Brew Pub, where I scared a man twice my considerable size, and had the most pathetic attempt at hefe wiessen beer ever brewed ( although their amber was very tasty. A bit bitter like a St. Ambroise blonde, for those lucky enough
to have access to St. A's blonde ). A quick hop across the street got us sustenance, although in all honesty, the calzone I got could hardly be described as 'food', with or without the quotes. It was more of a 'spiced grease pocket'. The pizza looked tasty fine, though. ( For the record, I had the misfortune of orde4ring a whole bunch of stuff that I really didn't like in Syracuse. I'm quite certain that the town's restaurant industry is extremely cabapable. )

        It was time. We had about 20 minutes until the show started, We walked over to the venue, and were stunned. It was really purdy, what with the ornate stuff and all. And it was small. Not small in a cramped way, but small in a cosy, intimate kinda way ( although I kept having to take Rob's hand off my knee and put it back on Bri's where it belonged.  ) Just minutes before the
Watchmen came on, the original Canadian losers walked in and took a seat behind us. To be truthful, there were 5 of them, 3 men and two women. ALthough they all wore their Leafs jerseys with pride, the women folk looked like they didn't wanna be there. I'm sure they liked the Hip, but the loud, booridh behavior of their male counter parts must have been very embarassing to them. Not only were these supposed 'proud as heck' Canadians throwing the flag around between them, and having a tug of war over who would get to block the views of the people behind them with it, but they were also making loud, obnoxious statements about Americans. An example would be when some drunking fool came up and took a 'wild guess' that they were from TOronto.
They asked if he was from the States, when buffon boy sudden puffed up his chest and threatened to fight them because of that statement. Turns out he was from the Toronto as well ( which many folks will tell you is the least Canadian of cities out there, out ranked only by Vancouver and Montreal ).

        Then, the Watchmen came on. Sparkling show. COuldn't give you a set list if my life depended on it, but it was really great. Except for the Leaf boys behind us, screaming, out of time and out of tune randomly.

        Then there was an intermission, punctuated by more 'Hey, are you guys from Toronto? Me too!' crap. Luckily, there was lots and lots of fine jailbait to keep the eyes and mind active, so I didn't punch Capt. Obnoxio who was sitting behind me.

        And then it happened..... The lights came down, the people got up, and the music got rockin'.

        Gordie came out, and with a short greeting ( Hello, Syracuse ) and then straight on into... ' He said I'm tragically hip...... come on just let's go...', they launched into Grace, too.

Set List ( cut n' pasted from Bri's post )

Grace
Fireworks
Fully
Membership
ABAC
Lionized
Something On
Bobcaygeon
Nautical Disaster
Flamenco
Vapour Trails
Gift Shop
Poets
NOIS

Encore 1
Save the Planet
Springtime in Vienna
100th

Encore 2
Escape is at Hand for the Traveling Man
On the Verge

        My Highlights:

        - Fully. Kicked. Ass.
        - Gordie's intro to ABAC ( ' This is a song about a tree, with a good solid root. Heh heh heh. I said solid root. Heh heh heh' )
        - The intro to Something On ( ' And now it's OBVIOUSLY time for Something On' )
        - 100th Meridian ( the string boys stayed back and let Johnny do a little something for a few seconds there that sounded     kinda sweet)
        - they didn't play Boots or Hearts! Yippie!

        All in all, it was a fabulous show, regardless of teh way some of our Canuck brethern may have acted.

        We decided to cap of the evening with a beer at the Zoo bar, aptly named, as the woman standing behind me was wearing leopard skin lycra. And, no Sam, I don't care if she's drooling all over me, I'm not interested... which part of 'celibacy' did you not understand? Heh heh heh. While trying to find a place more with more sitting room, and less shouting volume, we ended up near the exit to the Landmark, where a few of the fans were standing around, obviously waiting for the band. We decided, hey, what the heck, and stood there with them. A short while later, Bobby Baker came out, and he chatted with us for a bit, posin' for pictures and signin' stuff. I also took the time to a) give him shit for the way the band had mocked me durin' the national radio premiere of PP, and b) thank him and his family for being such good folks, since his brother had saved my butt after last year's ARA Ottawa. All in all, a right cool meeting.

        Oh, yeah. We also met Johnny, who seemed to be a bit of an litist snob. Seems we wern't young and female enough for him to waste his time with us. (' Hey, sweet heart, there seems to be something on your chin...' )

        The rest of the evening was a blur. Sufficed to say, it involved combos, beer and anal leakage. 'nuff said.

        Mucho thanks go out to Rob, for the liftage, and to Bri for the crashage. Nice to meetchas to Sue n' Chrissy ( hands off, Rob ), Sam n' Mrs. Sam.

        Um, hi Trev.

        That's it fro now kids. This is your unca Sili signing off. Remember, get a good nights sleep, love thy neighbor and eat your olestra.

        MMm mmmm. Now that's good leakin'.

SiliRat.
Gone dat train.

SiliRat
Official Mockee of the 1998 Phantom Power World Premiere
You know it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Landmark Theater, Syracuse, New York  October 10th, 1998 review by Jeff Schnurr via Henhouse mailing list

Pre-show warm up at AWFUL AL's... Great draft selection topped off with a buffet of Cigars! Food...none too late now...we were sitting in lounge chairs & couches and Vapour Trails was echoing ....it started to fill up..& we met a few great fans
2 from Vermont...this was there 7th show this tour!..& a few boys from Kingston.
        7:40pm ....time to hit the theatre for a beer & check out our seats & the Watchman! Very talented!Great set!...the lead singer did this solo...vocals only ...while the other guys left the stage...this was what this type of venue was built for...I had know idea of what he was singing ..but what kick ass sound! On to the show!.....into the Orchrestra Pit(only 36 seats) Yes...front
row and what security! we settled in...leaning on the base bins in front of Paul....Perfect for the 800 film I had in my camera.(security said nothing) What can I say ...the band was tight & solid!
The sound from our spot was very good and I could make out most of Gord's ramblings.
At the end of the show I received Paul's set list from the guitar dude for gord & paul I think his name is Billy-Ray????..I beleive he was at the same bar we were before show?
Here's the list...      GRACE TOO
                        FIREWORKS
                        FULLY COMPLETELY
                        MEMBERSHIP
                        ABAC
                        LIONIZED
                        SOMETHING ON
                        BOB C
                        NAUTICAL
                        FLAMENCO
                        VAPOUR TRAILS....(this was solid!)
                        GIFT SHOP
                        POETS
                        NEW ORLEANS
        encore#1        SAVE THE PLANET
                        SPRINGTIME
                        100TH MERID...(with full song..purple paint possibly? help?)
                                        ..and CANADIAN MYTH...for 1st line...!!!!
        encore#2        ESCAPE....actually replaced ELDORADO-on setlist..good-switch!!!
                        ON THE VERGE!!!
19 songs truly amazing.......and appreciated the well behaved crowd..comes with the venue
remember this when choosing your shows..general admission e.t.c. usually means surfing!

as for my pics...not done yet but...I have no where to disply them if they do turn out with the quality I'm expecting!! about 13 of gord d were snapped & a few of gord d and paul together... setlist....I am sure the hip will post theirs... and finally a confirmation of the song in 100th... would be greatful??
 
                                later, jEFFro