Just got back from holidays. Part of the trip including catching the Hip at WOMAD in Seattle on July 31. Here are some thoughts for you to think about.
First, the Hip was featured in a WOMAD interview prior to their show. It was held in this small building called The Fireplace Room. There was about 100 people in the room - that's all it would hold - and it was hot. Um, so Gord and Rob Baker came out and there was a host Interviewer. Can't say I was too impressed with him - one of his questions started, "I remember the first time I heard one of your albums, about two years ago..."
As he asked the question Gord was looking at the table, but when he said that "two years ago" bit I watched Gord's head pop to sort of look at the guy to his side, there was sort of a look of bewilderment and like "Why are YOU running this interview?" It was funny.
So most of the interview was like "So you're like the Canadian equivalent of Pearl Jam, right?" To this Gord simply put his head down and shook it as in "Um, no" with an edge of dissapointment.
All in all it was very cool to sit there and watch Gord and Bobby answer questions for an hour. Gord was his usual talkative self "um, I guess so...um,...yeah, I suppose....um..." so Bobby picked up and answered a lot of those un-answerables ie "Why aren't you more popular in the US?"
After the interview Gord and Bobby stuck around to sign things (and some body parts - some girls, sheesh!) and shake hands. It was really neat to say Hi and talk to the guys.
The funniest part was this one obnoxious guy who pushed is way to the front. He was pretty big and obviously loaded and he yelled from about 10 feet as he came to the front "Hey Gord! Why the f*** can't I do this is Canada, man?"
It was hard to ignore this guy and Gord looked up, somewhat stunned
and said "Can't do what?" And the guy grabbed Gords arm and yelled
"I'm touchin ya man! This is awesome." Then he got an autograph
and shook Gord's hand and said "Thanks Gord, you've got it all, man."
And Gord
responded Thanks, and the guy disappeared into the crowd.
There was a guy video-taping the interview. I talked to him and
will be getting a copy, so if anyone wants one let me know and we can arrange
something.
With the hip playing that night it was obvious the WOMAD organizers
were trying to attract folks from Vancouver to stay for the weekend - a
big Canadian draw would maybe sell some tickets, they probably thought.
There was a LOT of Canucks there. I was wearing my Watchmen t-shirt, so when someone yelled, Hey that's a good band, I was like "That's my flag, man." Um, a few people know the Hip down there, but the Watchmen? The Americans I met kept asking me if the shirt was about the old DC Comics Watchmen.
After the interview there was about 2 hours before the Hip took the stage. We went and saw Ashley MacIsaac whip up a crowd of about 1000 under a big top tent. That guy is awesome, but I think he should stick to fiddle playing. That "singing" or rap-stuff he tries is just annoying to me - sorry if that offends anyone, but it sounds terrible to me.
Ashley also had an interview at 9:00 pm, but like who was gonna go with the hip taking the stage at 9:30? I felt sorry for him in that respect.
After Ashley MacIsaac we took in some beers at the Beer Garden. Wierdest experience of the whole event for me, really. First there was no line up to get in. Then there was no line up for beers. Then we were able to find a table quite easily. And strangest of all, there were only two Johnny-on-the-spots! Remember the Canadian festivals? Beer Gardens take up 50% of the total site, and there must be 10,000 cans!
I had to tell the organizers that I was really amazed by the lack of crowd at the Beer Gardens. Definitely not a Canadian event.
The Hip came on at 9:30. It was awesome. Ah, I can't even begin to relate what it was like, but you know what I mean. Really awesome. I was freakin out!
I had my camera and got some real cool shots (no security check! I could've brought in a tape recorder - damn!). Did anyone manage to record the show? Please advise.
Highlights for me included all the new stuff. Thompson Girl was
done really well, people went apeshit when they played it. 100th
Meridian was about 15 minutes long (huge solo, new song in there too).
Gord was going on and on about the whispering pines. He had this
amazing poetry he
was just screaming and then whispering and then screaming again. Totally
typical, but great fun to jump around to. Emporer Penquin was really
cool, Gord acted the whole thing out.
The best was the last number, Fire in the Hole. Man I have never seen The Hip rip to any song ever like they did there. It was over the top, they must've played a 5 minute guitar-drenched intro, then the song, and shit just over the top - y'know Gord was "throwin the grenades" and ducking behind the monitors. He just freaked. He broke his mike stand in half by putting all his weight on it. Well not quite broken, but he bent it about 120 degrees down. He was really OAC.
Towards the end of the song he fixed the mike stand and walked off the stage early. Cool.
After the show I turned around to see that there may have been only abou 2,000 people there. Really wierd. I remember Roadside last summer in Camrose Alberta where there was 35,000 people. Just wierd.
I got some cool pictures. On our voyage home we stopped in at The Golden Rim Motor Inn and chatted up the owner (see The Luxury lyrics, Road Apples). That copy of Road Apples is still above the desk. Cool.
I can just imagine Gord riding on the tour bus from Vancouver to Calgary
about 8 years ago and spotting the sign from the Trans Canada Highway.
"golden rim motor inn." I wonder if he was writing on the bus, or
if he just wrote it down for later reference, or if he just remembers these
things. Probably has a "song idea" journal or something.
If you evey travel across southern BC from Alberta on the TransCanada Highway, be sure to stop in at this place. Someone filled in the owner - he didn't know about The Luxury, apparently hadn't even heard of the Hip, but now he's quite proud.
Got a picture of the motel too.
Hope those folks in Salmon Arm are doing alright. Saw the flames from town when we drove through. Pretty scary.
Gonna try to post these photos. Can anyone there on the Web Ring help me out? I'll email ya the photos if you can post them.
Later, Your Friendly Neighborhood Bri-Guy.
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WOMAD Festival, Redmond, Washington July 31st, 1998 review by
Amit Saha via Henhouse
mailing list
There have been some pretty good reviews of the WOMAD show in Redmond last Friday.
Did anyone tape the interview? My flight was delayed and by the time I got close enough to hear anything, the interviews were almost over. Gord was on his personal seven second delay ;) with his head resting on the microphone part of the time. He was very lucid - it just took a few moments for the neurons to fire! :)
The last question the interviewer asked was "Do you have anything to say to your fans?". Rob Baker put on this sheepish grin and mockingly gushed "We love you guys". Gord just smiled and said "I think we say it with our music".
The show itself had more ferocity and was alot looser than usual. The guy who took advantage of the more open musical framework was Gord Sinclair - he was doing alot more improvs and embellishments than usual. Really cool stuff!
There were a number of typically snide Gord D comments that, as usual,
were totally lost on the crowd. At one point, some bonehead in the front
propped his girlfriend up on his shoulder. Gord leaned over and said "I
see you got your girlfriend on your shoulder. She's a woman, not a prize."
Of course, others interpreted this chastising as encouragement and hauled
*their* girlfriends on their
shoulder. Ah, well... :)
100th Meridian went on for-freaking-ever. :) I think this was where Gord went on about the Mississippi paddle boat and the church burning with the one member for the Georgia Tabernacle Choir stuck in the fire. I'd love to hear this on tape!
I was right up front but moved back after the encore started. It was incredible to see the steam rising up off the crowd. The air was about 65F and the crowd was definitely overheated. At times, it looked like someone had set off a smoke bomb. :) :)
Anyhow, another great great great great Hip show. Looking forward to seeing them out on the west coast again later this fall! (Rob...roadtrip?)
Amit.