AWmusic

Being The Tragically Hip fan that I am, I have yet to miss a single tour after each new album release. With the release of “We Are The Same” I knew another tour was on its way so as soon as I caught wind of their May 19th show, I got the best tickets I could and waited a good month or so for this highly anticipated event.

I had never been to a concert at Massey Hall before but found the acoustics were amazing for the theatre which may not house as big an audience had they played a venue such as The Air Canada Centre but man was the sound phenomenal. Having front row seating on the right hand of the stage I was in prime view of all that was happening and was this ever a sight to behold.

Starting the night off with one of their latest tracks “The Depression Suite” and then moving into an old favorite “Fireworks”, the night was already off with a bang as eclectic and colorful as real fireworks. The night was strewn all over the place with most of their newer pieces off their latest album and then tons of old favorites targeted at the more hardcore Hip fans including “Opiated” and “Titanic Terrarium”.

As I mentioned in my last review concerning the actual album “We Are The Same”, some of the songs off that album just felt totally out of place and could have been left out. Well concerning when the band would play these certain songs, the audience would go from being fully alive and singing along to sitting down in their seats and looking totally out of it and disinterested. The worst came when Gord Downie exclaimed that all the previous songs that night were just for him and that he was now going to sing a song just for us; “Now The Struggle Has A Name”, the weakest song off the latest album, like we all wanted to hear it.

Once again though, as soon as a more lively song such as “My Music @ Work” would start up, Gordon Downie would go off on one of his usual tirades across stage; throwing the microphone here and there, pretending the mic was something else, prancing about, ranting, and overall just being the energetic and unpredictable individual that he is.

Everyone in the band played solid that night, including members Johnny Fay, Gord Sinclair, Paul Langlois, Rob Baker and newcomer Jim Bryson helping out on keyboard. You could see the band cuing each other in on various parts and there was only one noticeable screw up the entire night which came in the form of a broken microphone which had been completely battered by Downie at that point. As they say “the show must go on” and it did as soon as one of their techies brought out a new mic for the poet as he launched the broken one into the crowd.

The concert overall was paced quite awkwardly as the show never actually sped up or slowed down. The choice of songs that night for the setlist and the way they were put in order put the pacing of the concert all over the place going from a fast song straight back to a slow song and then straight back again to another of faster pace. In the end it didn’t matter much to the fans as they clung onto every word of almost every song standing in ovation and respect to the great poets that are The Tragically Hip.

The concert was split into two sets and an encore, but to say which set I liked more would be hard as both had their good share of great songs along with some that just didn’t fare as well in the end. One thing I can say is that both sets opened up and ended off great with the first set starting with “The Depression Suite” and ending with “Country Day” and the second set starting off with Gord Downie in new attire sitting and singing “The Rules” and finishing with an over the top performance of “My Music @ Work” adding in at one point an amazingly funny and spot on Bob Dylan impression. To exemplify the two sets you could actually use the expression “in with the new and out with the old” as the first set started and ended with new songs and vice versa with the second set.

The best part of the night was when Gord Downie first stepped back onto the stage for the encore and exclaimed that “the world is indeed a stage and we are merely players”. I was thinking of just where I had heard that line used before and then it hit me, it was from the song “Limelight” by the legendary Canadian band Rush. I was in awe thinking that there was no way Rush would be there to come out on stage and then all of a sudden Gord Downie introduced Alex Lifeson and I was left standing there stupid with my jaw hitting the floor. Two of my favorite bands coming together to play one show, this was a once in a lifetime thing for me that I knew would probably never happen again in my lifetime. This had now just turned into a night that I would never forget.

Alex Lifeson had done various other things with Downie in the past including appearing side by side as cops in a cameo appearance in The Trailer Park Boys movie but seeing them both onstage together that night was something even greater. The band and Lifeson played out “The Last Recluse” and finished with the best performance of “Little Bones” I have ever heard since I had seen The Hip way back when they had filmed the concert I went to that became “That Night in Toronto”.

Overall The Tragically Hip showed that they truly are the same as they ever were and I just hope that they can keep this going for as long as Gord can keep thinking up new lyrics or Rob Baker can keep playing those amazing riffs. The Tragically Hip are one of Canada’s leading bands for a reason and are an act that should never be missed, because with a band as unpredictable as this, you never know what you’re going to get.

Yer Not The Ocean by The Tragically Hip
Country Day by The Tragically Hip
Opiated by The Tragically Hip

Tags: concert