Tragically Hip thrills faithful Artpark crowd
By Christopher Michel NEWS STAFF REVIEWER

LEWISTON — The Tragically Hip hit the Artpark stage performing “Ocean” Saturday night, with a sea of fans packing the amphitheater for the first show of the group’s two-night, sold-out stand.

And even though the Hip started later than expected, fans roared their approval as the Canadian group’s musicians came into view.

Exploding onto the stage, the Tragically Hip — Gordon Downie on lead vocals, Bobby Baker on guitar, Paul Langlois on guitar, Gord Sinclair on bass and Johnny Fay on drums — immediately followed up with “Music at Work,” while the entire venue lit up as Downie crooned the song from one of the band’s untraditional albums, released in 2000.

Since 1987, the band has released 13 albums, including its first, self-titled album, as well as “In Violet Light,” “Phantom Power” and “Road Apples.”

The band became popular in Canada and, with the release of the album “Fully Completely,” broke into the U.S. market, selling out practically every show.

The show at Artpark was no exception. The Hip, as devoted fans refer to them, played songs from their new album, “World Container,” released in 2006.

The band treated fans to the group’s most memorable songs, like “Grace, Too,” in which Downie pandered to fans by pretended to take bullets to his chest.

The Hip also entertained the crowd with its classic “New Orleans Is Sinking,” featuring firework sound effects. Downie told fans the fireworks were representative of war and then picked up his guitar as fellow band members strummed the opening of the song. Regardless of any positions fans held about war, the entire venue came alive as fans jumped, danced and sang along.

Fans ate up the Hip’s downtempo “Ahead by a Century.” Even as the mood in the amphitheater calmed down, fans swayed with the beat and sang along with Downie.

Spectators cheered as the band extended the ending of the song to rock out even more.

As the show wound down, the Hip treated the audience to newer music, like “The Lonely End of the Rink” and “The Kids Don’t Get It.” No matter what song, the energy level from band and fans never waned.

The Tragically Hip will perform again tonight.

cmichel@buffnews.com

Niagara Gazette – JOINED AT THE HIP: After 20 years, The Tragically Hip remains a big draw

BY Brent Hallenbeck GANNET NEWS SERVICE
Greater Niagara Newspapers

Why is it, Gord Sinclair, that The Tragically Hip is so popular around these parts?

Sinclair, the band’s bass player, says their roots in Kingston, Ontario, which is a little more than a dozen miles from Watertown, places The Tragically Hip’s home base closer to a host of U.S. burgs than to Canadian cities. He also mentions their tendency to play sold-out shows in Vermont and their close proximity to New York.

When the band’s vocalist, Gordon Downie, sings about intrigue on the ice on “The Lonely End of the Rink” from the band’s new album, “World Container,” fans in hockey-absorbed communities say, “I hear ya.”

“World Container” is the 12th Tragically Hip album and they are currently touring nationwide through September. The band leaned on producer Bob Rock, who is known more for his work with hard rockers Metallica and Motley Crue and not so much with anthemic pop-rockers like The Tragically Hip.

“What he brought to us was a real focus on each individual song,” according to Sinclair, speaking recently by phone during a tour stop in Seattle. Rock helped refine the arrangement of “The Lonely End of the Rink,” Sinclair says, turning the track into a Who/U2/Midnight Oil-styled rampage that’s one of the disc’s highlights. His contributions weren’t all about frenzied moments, though; Sinclair says Rock also steered the band toward an elegant piano texture on the track “Pretend.”

“He just has a really focused ear,” Sinclair says. “He became the ersatz sixth member of the group.”

Speaking of The Who, an obvious influence, The Tragically Hip recently played several opening dates for the legendary British rockers. The Tragically Hip have been around more than 20 years and the band members are in their 40s, but they still feel a rush of teenage hero worship around The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend.

“It’s impossible to divorce yourself from when you’re 15 years old,” Sinclair says. “We grew up with that group.”
Opportunities like that make you a better band. You have to get up and you have to entertain these rabid Who fans,“ according to Sinclair. ”In terms of a dream come true, that’s right up there.”

The Tragically Hip might be aiming toward their own Who-like longevity. It’s already rare for a band to have the same five members it started out with more than two decades earlier. Sinclair says there are moments when they get together after time away and find themselves saying, ”How can we do this again?“ Yet they always manage.

”We’ve grown up together, put the band together as young men doing this. It’s based around our friendship and the bond we have as a group. It’s a collective experience, a shared experience,“ Sinclair says.

”It is a lifelong bond.“

Air Canada is featuring “That Night In Toronto” as part of its in-flight entertainment options; both on the projection screens, and the seatback personal entertainment systems.

Hey folks…

I’ve been in discussions with Chris on this project, and I’d like to propose it to the Hip fans around the world!

My compilation idea is inspired by the HipStory section of thehip.com. What if we had a compilation of favorite versions of live songs chosen by Hipbase members, with added introductions recorded by the actual person who chose the song? The introduction must include your Hipbase username (and/or your real name; that’s optional), and could include reasons why you like that particular version, a road trip story relating to that particular show or a chance meeting with the band, or maybe you just love the recording or energy of the band, maybe a particular Gord rant….most importantly, though, at the end of the intro, name the song, the date, and the venue of the show. For example: “This is Courage, from the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, December 3rd, 2000”. Best if you were actually at the show that you picked your song from, but not at all necessary. Now, for the vocal recording: if you have the means to do it yourself, great! Do so, in .wav or .flac format, and upload it to Chris’ FTP. If you have the song that you chose on your hard drive, upload that as well. If you have no means of recording your intro, Rory will do it for you. Simply post a comment indicating that you are interested and I’ll email you the details.

If you don’t have your favourite song on your hard drive, we’ll try to provide it for you. So here’s how it will work:
1. Starting today, post a comment with your favorite live version of a song. One pick per person please. First to comment me gets the song of their choice. If someone posts a song that has already been chosen, they will get a reply asking to choose another song. Either way, getting the song you chose or not, you will get a reply from me.
2. Once your reply has been received, record your intro. Once THAT is done, upload it to the site using the details that I provided in the email message. If you have no means of recording your intro, then reply after you have received your song confirmation with the text of your intro.

IMPORTANT: Please name your intro audio file in this format:
tthYYYY-MM-DD-USERNAME-SONG_TITLE.FLAC
Insert the corresponding date after the “tth”

3. Upload your audio intro and your song to the FTP, and Rory will take care of the rest.
There is no cap to the amount of members that can submit entries. ONE SONG PER PERSON ONLY PLEASE. The entire compilation, when edited and finished, will appear on The Hip Tracker for all to enjoy.

OK, start listening to your boots, and post a comment with your choice! Try to put your song choice, and which show it’s from, in the comment.

It would make a great road trip CD, hearing Hipbase & Hipfans members’ favorite live songs, and to actually hear the person THEMSELVES give their reasons as to why they like it. I think it would give a personal touch to a unique fan compilation.

Cheers!

Rory Halifax