Allright so maybe I am wasting some bandwith here but I felt
it was worth it for
devoted hip fans. Just dont accuse me of being a Kathy jo!
It just so happened that
I was to be in the Capital of Capital's (Washington Dc)
at the same time the hip were scheduled to play the new 9:30 club,
coincidence? I think
not.
After weathering 5 days
of rain, and cold not unlike that of my native Buffalo
the day had finally arrived. We were unfmiliar with wheer the club
was and decided to
take the subway down there early to find it.
As soon as we got off the
subway we realized we " were'nt in Kansas anymore".
needless to say we strapped on the flack jackets and trecked the three
blocks to the
club. When we got close I recognized their tour bus out front, which
was the only way we
new this was a club, and not just another building.
As we got to the front of
the building there was a car that had just pulled up
front, and someone was getting out with a funky sportcoat, and a straw
hat. You guessed
it the man himself.
So here we are on the sidewalk
in the hood face to face with Gord. After
exchanging hellos he briefly went to his bus, When he came out we asked
him how the road
was treating him? He replied "Can't wait to get some rest". After introducing
himself,
he asked if we were from CANADA. We talked for some time about how
bad the neighorhood
was.
Appearing as if he was in
a hurry he asked what we were doing? We replied we
were just trying to find the place for later. This is where it gets
good. He says to us
" would you like to come in and watch the sound check, and hangout?
If I did'nt misss it
already." So we go inside and the rest of the band was already warming
up.
He leaves us to take the
stage, and says " If anyone gives you a hassle have
them find me and I'll set things straight". It was great. They played
5 songs including
one which must be new. It is not on TATH, andnot on any boots I have.
Also trying ti get
the sound right Gord sang ABAC alone with no band, talk about powerfull!
The hardest
thing was to just stand there after each song and hear the silence,
and refrain from
cheering.
After meeting the rest of
the band, and thanking Gord we made aour way back
downtown to get ready for the show. The show was great. They played
three encores. They
were also taping it, video, for some resaon, so the band was
really tight. Alll in all
a great experience.
The only dissapointment
was one member of the road crew. I dont think it was
Dave Powell, But another big guy, wearing a Pink Floyd jacket( maybe
Hip Security) was a
total dick. Just stared at us, and when we said hello a few times he
just stared.
Dissapointing.
Anyways, I got some good
pictures which as soon as I get developed, and scanned
will be up on my web page at
http://www.canisius.edu/~hahns
stop back often to see if they are up. Probably middle next week. If
anyone tap0ed the
show, or knows why they were videoing the show please contact me.
Peace,
Scott
"The bitch set me up", said Marion Barry, exhaling crack smoke as the
FBI
busted into his room at the Mayflower Hotel.
The District of Columbia is named after Christopher Columbus, one of
Gord's heroes. I've seen the Hip each time they've been to L'enfant's
dream city, first at an outdoor festival (WHFS?) in Virgina, The Bayou,
the old 9:30 club and now the new 9:30 club. (Also, each of the 3 times
they've been to Harrisburg, PA, but who's counting?)
I got there just as they were finishing the opening song, Gift Shop.
They
must have started by 9:35. Awfully early I'd say. Government
town I
guess.
Immediately apparent was the clear crisp sound. Certainly not
the old
9:30 club, which while intimate, was marred by plenty of obstructed
views
and muddy, bass-heavy acoustics. The new place is completely
different.
Anyway......
The set list continued with: springtime in vienna (references to eva
braun
and bob dole at the start), grace too, butts wigglin, coconut cream,
nautical disaster, hiccup song> daredevil, flamenco, 100th meridian
("where the real narcissim begins"), don't wake daddy, [ I didn't
get the
next few songs down ] , encore 1:sherpa, ("from the Himilayas in your
mind
to New Orleans") NOIS - abridged ("said, *Sarah* thanks")>new song
(something about two people living in the same apartment building,
on
different floors, getting together and then breaking up), put it off
("satan, your name is procrastination"), encore 2: we'll go too, apartment
song, little bones.
100th meridian was cool, Gord was riding the mic stand around like a
bucking bronco, and then they went into the beginnings of perhaps a
new
song, gord singing in a high voice: "peel back the onion skin, and
find
the embryo within....."
He's been wearing some sort of earpieces and a unit in his back pocket
with an antennae sticking out. Remote control?
Gord Sinclair's mic has something attached to it, looks like an automobile
radar detector, but I guess it's some sort of vocal manipulator, like
those in kareoke (sp?) machines to smooth out the sound. (While
we are on
the subject, did you know kareoke is Japanese for empty orchestra?
Fashion Good Boy American-style.)
Gord-quotes:
On coconut cream:
"It's about vanity and trying to get into heaven by yourself."
At the start of we'll go too:
"A song sung by the vaquished throughout the centuries.
The battle cry of the vanquished."
The G-man changed a few of the lyrics from the latest cd:
700 ft. ceiling: "we can aim the dish for hardcore *information*
"
put it off: "had to find the *beauty* in *something so
forlorn* "
apartment song: "the horrible esthete" was changed from female
to male
Well, keep those cameras safely rolling........
All the best-
--
jestus