I'll write some stuff, take some, leave some, whatever.

As Gord came out, it all began. The first song they played was "Poets", which sent everyone cheering. That set the atmosphere of excitment for the rest of the amazing night! The lighting and special FX were really great, they made it look spectacular. They played a good mix of both older and new songs for a little less then two hours, which was really good! It's safe to say that "The Hip" were at their best, as they finished and stepped off the stage, the crowd cheered as loud as they could, their lighters  flowing through the air, they insisted that the Band come and play some more. As they came out to do so, the crowd went wild, they played for another half hour! All in all, I think it was a great opening for their Tour!!!

C ya,
Nicole (:

poets
twist
coirage
membership
ABAC
lionized
escape
springtime
bobcaygeon
nautical
flamenco
something on
cordelia
vapor trails
gift
penguin
100th
encore:
planet
scared
NOIS
encore 2:
grace
fireworks
blow

-Mark

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Tragically Hip w/ By Divine Right
Friday, January 29, 1999 @ Harbour Station: Saint John, NB

We (my girlfriend Wendy, my brother, my brothers friend, and myself) got to saint john around 5:30 or so.  the doors did not open until 6:30, so we had a bite to eat, and then it was off to the show.  there was a sign on the doors that said "camera and small recorders are permitted". YES!  i thought. i guess there was no need for me to stuff my recorder in my pants. :) we were one of the first people in the doors, and the first thing that i saw was the stage. it was a theatre-like motife, and it even had a chandelier (sp?) hanging over head.  i thought it looked really cool.

we stop by the merchandise stand, and paid way too much money for a long sleeve golf shirt.  it was expensive, but very cool.  i also picked up a poster with the tour dates on it.  cool.

we find our seats, and they were GREAT.  we thought we would be back at center ice, but we were 2 or 3 sections closer to the stage, and up in the bleachers.  we sat on Bobby's side of the stage right below the speaker stacks.

7:30.  By Divine Right came on.  they played for 45 minutes, and it was the longest 45 minutes of my life.  i did not like them at all.  the lead singer insisted on doing this annoying feed back thing with his guitar at the end of every song.  anyway, enough about them.

8:20.  the hip should be on soon.  i check and double check my recorder, making sure the mic is plugged in right, the tape is set to go, and that i have my 2nd tape ready, too.

8:38.  the lights go out.  i get my recorder ready.  i let our a HUGE scream and WOOHOO and then i settle down.  i press record just as i hear gord say "hello.  what's up?".  the 1999 canadian tour is under way. johnny starts in the with the ever familiar intro to poets.  woooooo. this is going to kick ass.  my tape is going and i am dancing, mouthing the words to the entire song... wanting to sing sooo bad.  but i can't. gord tells a story about a guy talking on his cell phone, and he couldn't elaborate. cool.  gord is in a good mood, but uh-oh.  he vocals seem a little off.  it sounds like he has a cold.  damn. "thank you by divine right".

"thank you. uuuhh... twist my arm".  before the show, wendy said to me "they will open with poets and then right into twist my arm".  damn.  how did she get that?   as always, TMA rocks.

"and now.. we are going to dip down.  gonna get some courage".  f*ck yes. this song is sooo cool live.  most people are still sitting down for some reason.  i am still dancing (as much as i can when i am recording) and mouthing each and every word.

"we would like to do a song about a river if we could.  it just flows from one point to another.  like by divine right.  this is membership.. for by divine right".  the is were gord picks of the guitar for the first time. the lights are cool on this song.

"this is not topical..." ahead by a century.. cool.

next up is lionized.  i was surprised to see gord play the guitar on this one.  very cool jam introduction to it and a cool version, i didn't recognize it at first. check my watch to see how my tape is doing... good. still plenty of time.

escape is at hand and then springtime in vienna.  nothing too spectacular with them.  altho i really enjoy springtime live.  gord had the banana out and was shaking it, while dancing.  cool.

flip tape.

"this is a song about tolerance and hate... er... intolerance and hate" bobcaygeon... oh ya.  another VERY cool song.  comes off very well live.

nautical disaster.  during the line "... got kicked off our pant leg ... " gord started shaking his leg and was saying "get off! get off me man! get it off me!!".  hehehehe.

oh, about gord's voice...it sound ok by now.. as it turned out, it was just the way his vocals were mixed.  he never had a cold.

flamenco was up next.  this is such a pretty song.  gord continued his story about the guy on the cell phone (from poets).  he was talking about taking him to the park, and other stuff i can't remember right now, and i am too lazy to play my tape.

and now it is time for something on!  f**k yes!! i LOVE this song.  it just plain kicks ass..  yeah.  gord threw in a bit of a BDR song ("it's you.. it's you.. it really really you...") altho i am not sure what song it is.

"this is called 'shakespeare in doubt'." oh baby, thought.  they aren't going to play cordelia are they?!!  sure enough, they do.  i am just about to shit my pants.  i never thought they would have played this one.  gord threw in a bit of Prince's "1999" at the end. "we're gonna party like it's 1999".  cool.  i didn't notice this until after they show, and i was playing my tapes.

gift shop.  well... it is an alright song.

change tapes.

emperor penguin.  not a bad version.

At the 100th meridian.  oh, baby.  having only seen the hip 1 other time, i REALLY wanted to hear this song.  it was SOLID.  there was a bit of a new song (?) thrown it at the start "iiiiiiiiiii can only give you lovin' 'till the sun goes down... iiiiii can only love you in shades of brown. and i try and i try.. baby i try."  then came insomniacs and various ramblings.  then the band totally stopped playing.  the stage went dark and then a single white spotlight hit gord D. as he said (he didn't sing it, he said it) "if i.. if, if, if i die of vanity promise me, promise me you will bury me some place i don't want to be.  you'll dig me up and transport me. unceremonisly (sp is wrong) away from the swollen city breeze the garbage bag trees and the whispers of disease and the acts of
enormity and get ry cooder to sing my eulogy." then BANG the band launches back into the song.  wow!  i got shivers watching and still do when i hear it.

this is the end of the main set.   i stop my tape, and scream for more.

they come back out after about 5 or 6 minutes.

"save the planet in your spare time".  STP was cool.  wendy was excited to hear that one.  she was keeping the setlist for me, and wrote "woohoo!!" beside the title.  heheh

scared was up next, and it was haunting.  this is a really cool song. once again i was surprised to see gord with the guitar.

nois.  arg.  nothing special.  little bit of never ending present.  no lofty pines.

end of encore #1.

stop tape.  scream for even more. they were gone prolly 7 or 8 minutes.

grace too.  this is such a cool song live.  "he said i'm tragically hip". the whole crowd sang with this one.

fireworks.  cool again.

flip tape just to be safe.

blow at high dough.  this is where i almost lost it.  i was *this* close to sreaming out loud and totally ruining my tape. i had to put my hand over my mouth to stop myself. i figured they would end with little bones, but blow is a f**king great closing song.  wow!!  i love how it starts slow and then *BOOM!!!* the whole arena lights up and the band is kicking it.  this is the kind of song were the energy of the band really shows.

it was an overall great show, and a great start to the tour.