The Phoenix Theatre was filled with excited Hip fans anticipating the 9 pm start of a nearly two hour rock show. The temperature was quickly rising along with “The Hip” chants, as our boys from Kingston took to the stage to play every song from their new album. The new tracks were intertwined with many long time favorites. Fans old and new, were singing along to many of the new tracks, but the seldom played Pigeon Camera and Titanic Terrarium were the suprises of the night.

The show started with Family Band and went into the classic Courage. Gord battered his mikestand back and forth throughout the song, finally sending it crashing to the floor. He then walked over to the dislodged mike, grabbed it between his feet and used a common soccer move to kick the mike backwards over his shoulder and into his hand. A few songs later Gord asked the crowd if anyone remembered Gus as he roamed from side to side on the stage like an angry polar bear, just before the song began. This was followed by Poets and an animated Downie who strutted back and forth like a rooster/peacock, fluttering his red handkerchief behind him like a tail. Gord ended the song by holding the base of his mikestand to his crotch and extended it like a giant penis out over the crowd. The fans responded by screaming wildly at him.

The Hip are always a hard working band, but I noticed that each band member’s shirt was as sweat-soaked as Gord Downie’s this night. The 100th Meridian was awesome as Gord danced wildly next to Robbie as he ripped through his solo for that song. I was impressed by Johnny Fay’s drumming all night, but he was more than exceptional on Titanic Terrarium. Johnny brought the song to a loud cresendo and back to a quiet beat with his drumming. He was switching back and forth between his regular drumsticks and his padded toms. In fact, the song ended with him using one of each.

The Hip played a 20 song main set, then returned for a two song encore which ended with Fire in the Hole. Gord D. is always very entertaining to watch because of his on stage antics and the emotion he puts into the delivery of his lyrics. During the last song, he did something I have never seen him do before. We are all familiar with his mikestand battles and how he deftly kicks it back and forth. Last night he “stickhandled” the mikestand using only his feet. The mikestand was just like a hockey stick as he manuvered it from side to side, never losing control for over a minute, never touching it with his hands!

Overall this was a great show. I really enjoyed how all the World Container tracks sounded great live. It seemed as if the band really enjoyed playing them. It was also good to see all the fans singing along to all the new songs less than one week after the new release.

This was a wonderfully enjoyable show. It definitly had a southern Ontario feel to it, and that’s a good thing! The show took place in the middle of a huge plowed-under cornfield on the outskirts of Stratford, Ontario. (As a tribute to Lord Brazle I dub it the ” Dope Deal in the Middle of a Cornfield” show. The setlist involved a great mix of old and new songs. The surprising thing to me about the show was that THe Hip’s long time road crew was replaced by faces that I assume came from the new management company. Leather-hatted Billy Ray is the only roadie left from the previous crew. Just before The Hip came on stage I thought I spotted Bob Rock standing in the stage left wing on Paul’s side. I wasn’t sure, but that blond mane of hair is almost unmistakeable. This was later confirmed when Gord D. dedicated Don’t Wake Daddy to “Bob”. Who else could it be? After hearing of the great live performances the band is known for, I guess Bob had to see it for himself. He wasn’t disappointed in my opinion. I loved the show and this is number 30 for me.

The Hip played four new songs from their upcoming CD release. “In View” made it’s live debut. I think it rocks and I throughly enjoyed it. Just as Fort York 2 had its 38 Years Old suprise, this setlist included 50 Mission Cap! As the song played on, Gord walked along the feed back speakers at the front of the stage like he was balancing on a log placed precariously between two nearby cliffs. He “fell off” then began using his speaker like a Stair Master machine. He was pumping his arms and legs in a running motion while going up and down on the speaker. His antics had Gord S. and Robbie laughing between each other as they played different songs.

The best songs of the night for me were numbers 12-15 in the 17 song main set. These included “In View, Don’t Wake Daddy, Wheat Kings and Poets”. Gord broke out my favorite peacock imitation during Poets. I almost forgot to mention the very unusual camera angle used for the two big video screen feeds. It was directly above the band members head’s looking down. It provided great views of the finger work of Paul, Gord S. and Robbie as they played their guitars. Robbie’s guitar playing was magical. His guitar riffs were bluesy, crisp and hard. The last thing I want to mention was Gord’s almost full display of his acting/pantomime repertoire. During the jam just before the rant in 100th Meridian, Gord began crazy dancing and kicking his mikestand back and forth as he does so skillfully while reeling the mike back in with the cord. Next he jumped on his motorcycle straddling the mikestand. He put his full weight on the mikestand as he gunned the throttle and burned rubber down the road. Great camera views on the video feed, including the overhead I mentioned. Gord threw the mikestand down and it was bent in a moderate “U” shape. Gord squated down like a weight lifter and placed the bent bar on his shoulders and it appeared to be groaning from to much weight on each end. He pressed it to the top and let the feet of the mikestand slide down his shoulders until it landed on the stage in a somewhat upright manner. The bend was unmistakable. Gord used only his arms and hands to muscle the mikestand into a near straight position again. Now Gord used the mikestand to stir the giant cauldron of witch’s brew in front of him. Lastly he paddled up and down the stage with his mikestand/paddle and canoe before launching into the ending rant. Entertaining to say the least!

Good to see Chris, Jamie, Mark and all my pals from the Hipbase. As Chris mentioned there were numerous recording rigs. The crowd was intense in front of Gord and he asked them to tone it down a couple of times. There was a little minor pushing and shoving in the VIP section I was in on Robbie’s side, but not enough to ruin anything. Like everyone else, all I can do is wait for the album to drop and wonder what the touring schedule will be like.