2004-06-23 - The Whiskey - Calgary, AB

[mrlayance]

Post Your Review

[Summiteer]

Ahoy, sorry couldn't post this in the review sextion: I'm listening to this write now via cellphone from my bro( all thanx goez to TLB for settin him up with Tix )

-->> Scar
-->> SKU
-->> Looking
-->> Joezephine

sorry thats all i got, lost the connection I'll revamp this if he callz back.......

[cferneyh]

Just got back from the show - wish I could remember all of the songs played and in which order but sorry, was too caught up in the moment. Pretty much every tune from IBE was played, and they actually played If New Orleans Is Beat followed by NOIS! Rest assured, all of the new songs sound awesome live. Some older stuff that I recall (other than NOIS):

- Courage (final song of the night)
- Springtime in Vienna
- At The Hundredth Meridian
- Silver Jet
- It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
- My Music At Work
- Fireworks
- Nautical Disaster
- Looking for a Place to Happen
- Gift Shop (sorry, missed this the first time around)

I think that covers it, sorry if I missed any.

Line of the night - after playing about four or five new tracks Gord announced: "Just want to warn you, we are going to play some new stuff tonight." (or something to that effect).

Also "Thanks for winning those contests or being friends of people who won those contests, or for entering the right password."

By the way, whoever was running the show at the Whiskey - you should be ashamed. I got in just before the show started, but there were at least 100 people stuck outside in the rain.

Enjoy Vancouver kids.

[direwolf74]

Just got back from the show - wish I could remember all of the songs played and in which order but sorry, was too caught up in the moment. Pretty much every tune from IBE was played, and they actually played If New Orleans Is Beat followed by NOIS! Rest assured, all of the new songs sound awesome live. Some older stuff that I recall (other than NOIS):

- Courage (final song of the night)
- Springtime in Vienna
- At The Hundredth Meridian
- Silver Jet
- It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
- My Music At Work
- Fireworks
- Nautical Disaster
- Looking for a Place to Happen

You missed Gift Shop.

[Stephen Dame]

"Looking" IS BACK!

I hope this becomes the "Long Time Running" of this tour. I've got my Jacques Cartier puffy shirt pressed and ready to go!

[direwolf74]

What a show! I've seen them up close down in the States a few times, but this was quite possibly the smallest venue I've ever seen them in. I had never been to the Whiskey before, and for some reason I thought it would've been much bigger. I'm guessing there were about 600 people there. As already mentioned above, the new album was played in it's entirety (I think), and the songs sound amazing. It was a rare treat to hear "Looking for a Place to Happen". I hadn't heard that one live since the first ARA in '93, and my friend and I were totally floored when we heard that familiar opening riff by Robby. And ending the show with Courage was stellar, especially with Gord introducing it by saying "This one's for your Flames!" Needless to say, the crowd went nuts.

Gord was in a great mood tonight, and really seemed to feed off the energy of the crowd. My favorite quote of the night: "Thanks for coming, and answering that skill testing question correctly."

I noticed it was kind of an older crowd tonight. I could be wrong, but I don't think there was a single person there under 21. Everybody was extremely well behaved. There was no moshing, body surfing, pushing or shoving of any kind. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to just stand in your own little pocket and groove to the music without getting an elbow to the head. Definitely the most laid-back crowd I've ever seen at a Hip show (although, the folks at the Somerville Theatre in Boston were pretty damn good as well.)

Anyways, great show! Can't wait til Tuesday!!! G'nite all!

Cheers,
Casey

[travellin'J]

alright... so it's been... um, years since i posted. no time like the present, right?

here's tonight's setlist from calgary, my 33rd show and counting:

Vaccination Scar
Summer's Killing Us
Looking For A Place To Happen
Goodnight Josephine
Fireworks
You're Everywhere
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
Heaven Is A Better Place Today
Gift Shop
It Can't Be Nashville Every Night
As Makeshift As We Are
At The Hundredth Meridian
Are We Family?
Nautical Disaster
Gus: The Polar Bear From Central Park
My Music At Work
The Heart Of The Melt

Silver Jet
If New Orleans Is Beat
New Orleans Is Sinking

Mean Streak
Springtime In Vienna
Courage


alright, some notes:

first off, i booked off sick from work to attend the show tonight. well worth the lie. i highly recommend trying it at least once <g>

vaccination scar - bobby plays this on a lap steel guitar... holy crap, is it good. when he sits down, you'd better stand up.

summer's killing us - if the album single disappointed you, listen to it live - a million times better.

looking for a place to happen - found it tonight in calgary

goodnight josephine - hard to hear the lyrics over the crowd, but it struck me as a love song. having been in love, i could relate. can't wait for the album to come out tuesday so i can examine every word.

fireworks - some loser shouted "go flames go". good thing that weapons were listed outside the show on the "prohibited" list, otherwise said loser would have taken a round or two.

you're everywhere - first reaction: nice.

it's a good life... - it's a crying shame that calgary's crap-ass radio station didn't give this single more airtime last album. i was hard-pressed to find even a die-hard fan singing along... which isn't to say that the song is bad (it's good), but when you're exposed to ac-dc thirty times a day, good music CAN bite you in the ass and you not notice...


heaven is a better place today - amen, gord. amen.

gift shop - thanks to the extended solo at the end, probably the best live playing of this song i've ever heard.

it can't be nashville every night - veeeerrrry catchy, found myself belting out the chorus after only the second verse.

as makeshift as we are - meh... sorry boys, didn't stand out compared to the rest of the new stuff. don't let me taint your opinion though - certainly deserves a few listens.

at the hundredth meridian - holy shit boys and girls... while reading a review of the show from edmonton, someone raved about this and i thought yeah, okay, of course it was good - you're in a small club and it's probably only the third time you've heard it live. well, i was wrong. the band does a "typical" jam halfway through... and it's great. they *really* speed things up, starting with johnny going nuts on the drums, and it kinda takes off from there. be ready and waiting for it, imho the second best take on the song that i've been witness to.

are we family? - hell, yes. this is the slow song sample (one of two currently cycling) on thehip.com. the sample reminded me slightly of grace, too - the song is nothing like it. a slower song, but damn fine.

nautical disaster - solid, as always.

gus... - this is the first (also faster, harder) sample from thehip.com. what is the problem with gus? aside from being on top of the food chain, he's in love, from what i could decipher. again, i could relate. can't wait to hear this on the radio (it's calgary, so sometime in 2006 i guess), just hope the long time doesn't put off the stations from playing it. good stuff!

my music at work - huh, i wasn't at work tonight... oh well. too bad. great to see gordie still flailing around on stage.

the heart of the melt - alright... gotta hear it a few more times off the album for it to grow on me.


someone posted somewhere that there were three encores in edmonton... is that true? i'm hoping you were drunk, as we only got two, and i hate to feel gyped <g>


silver jet - damn funny! usually it's gord who messes up the lryics... this time, i think it was the band. gord was still singing the verse when the band launched into the chorus, and everyone excluding gord looked at each other as if to say "ooops"...

if new orleans is beat - read that this has something to do with gord's fave coffee shop (in new orleans) closing down...? whatever. still a really solid song... one line in the song dealt with the mighty mississippi - again, waiting for the album to explore lyrics further.

new orleans is sinking - how do you make a 15 year old song new? keep reinventing it by being brave enough to try something new. tonight's version was the freshest version i've heard in years.


mean streak - honestly, i was suffering from some kind of euphoria high by this point in the show, so i can't remember squat about this song.

springtime in vienna - while i'm not a huge fan of springime, i'm a million times happier that they played this instead of, oh, say blow at high dough. what i love about the hip is this - the older a song gets, the more likely they are to try changing it, usually by playing a longer outro and/or building a longer solo into it. tres bien.

courage - has anyone ever heard a *bad* version of courage? i thought not. "courage, i can never find you. courage...?"

---

so that's damn near the whole new album, folks. the only new track they didn't play is "one night in copenhagen". 23 songs in total. i've never heard so many new tracks live before (as opposed to having album versions grow on me first), so i don't want to try comparing it to any other album. all in all, it was still classic hip, still as guitar driven as ever. during a painfully lame interview with the local radio station (no fault of the hip!), someone mentioned that the album was mostly written when they hit the studio in seattle last november, and it only took four weeks to record and two weeks to produce. it really shows... the songs are tight; short and to-the-point. forget trying to download the album beforehand... get off yer ass and buy a copy as soon as they go on sale tuesday.

and finally... a request:

the whiskey (where they played tonight) has a raised stage towards the back of the main room, with a railing going around the edge to keep drunks from falling a few feet to the main floor. there was a quiet, beautiful, seemingly shy girl with glasses in the south-east corner of that stage tonight... if you're on one of these lists, please say hi.

casey, since when is "over 21" an "old" crowd?? you're making me feel damn near ancient?

how did nearly 100 people end up outside in the rain? i can't imagine the hip over-selling the venue, so did the stupid radio station give away too many tickets, or were the people outside merely hopefulls who showed up trying to get in...?

that's all from cowtown, folks. i gotta say, it's good to be back on the lists again. here's hoping the new tour starts soon.


j, the polar bear from calgary

[cferneyh]

How did nearly 100 people end up outside in the rain?

When I was standing in line I was eventually told to move to another line to pick up my Ticketmaster tickets, and then come back to the longer line to get in (which was moving at a snail's pace, even though it was already 9:00). When I picked up my Ticketmaster tix they told me to go in, so I had to explain that my buddy was in the other line (of people with tickets waiting to get in). They let me go get him and when I did, there were still at least 100 people in the "we've already got our tickets" line.

We went inside and just as we did, the band was coming on stage.

[Stickboy]

First off, I thought nothing would ever equal being front and center at the Queen E in Vancouver, nearly being hit by gord's mike stand and clapping my hands on the stage in beat with Johnny. This show equaled or exceeded that experience.

I got to the show as early as I could, driving down from Drumheller after work. I was about the 30th person in line, and while hanging out in line with my buddy I met a couple other Hipbasers from Banff (mountainhip.com). Chatted with them for a while and then saw TLB and talked to him for a while. Once we got in, we were front and center right beside Tony (TLB) and Mark Sloggett, the king of all hip fans. I met these guys on the IVL tour when I saw 5 of the western shows and you couldn't meet two better guys, or two bigger hip fans. I honestly think the elite fans (Mark, Tony, Lance, Rory etc.) who help the rest of us out with info, boots, etc. should simply be given a golden pass to any and every show they ever want to go to. Tony introduced us to a couple other hipbasers, canuck courage and hippy lettuce, and it was nice knowing you were up front with a bunch of other people who truly deserved to be there, not some moron who got tickets from a friend and only knew NOIS before he got there! We may never get that hipbasers only show, but this was a close second to that.

Anyway, it was a long wait outside (hour and a half) and another wait once inside (hour and a half) but when they taped down the set lists (tony got one) things started to pick up. We could barely make out the list, but it was a great one, and once we saw Scar and Summer to open, I was jacked. The band was great and appeared to be in great spirits, and they ripped through the set. I won't go through each song, as that has been done, but definitely some highlights for me.

Scar and Summer - I have loved Scar from the first time I heard it but Summer was a bit of an enigma for me. To be honest, I wasn't a fan. After seeing it live, I love it. I listened to my puretracks - purchased version on the way home and now I get it. Different tune, but absolutely awesome live!

Looking for a place to happen - I am a FC freak and this is a great track. Great to hear it live again. Sure kept the momentum going. The crowd roared along with the song and you could actually hear them singing at times. It was a great crowd.

Joe and You are Everywhere - Joe is a great tune, and much better than hearing the boots. You are Everywhere was my favorite new song of the night, I can't wait to hear it on the album.

Nashville and Makeshift - Great tunes, the new album tracks have a great feel to them, and I think this is going to be an album with a great continuity to it, like FC and UTH.

Meridian - Wow, great jam in the middle, Gord was screaming right over top of me!

Nautical - I felt so spoiled, as this is my favorite hip song and they played it tonight. Awesome as always, and at one point where Gord decided to leave a couple of words out (not a screw up) you could hear the crowd singing the words for him. Gave me chills.

New Orleans is Beat - second only to You are Everywhere for new tracks. This album is going to be amazing.


It was a great show start to finish. Had hoped since it was mostly fans, that they might add some older tracks but I think playing the new songs was enough work for Gord. Plus they added Looking for a place to happen here and We'll go too in Edmonton, which is nice to see. I hope they pull more FC tracks for the arena tour - Locked in the trunk, Pigeon Camera, Lionized.

Want to say hey to Tony, Mark, Canuck Courage, Mountian Hip (forgot your hipbase name) and Hippy Lettuce...great company for a great show. Have fun in Vancouver boys (Tony and Mark).

Well I better get back to teaching my class, and boy I should have called in sick because I don't have a lot of patience on 4.5 hours sleep.

Until the Arena tour,


Stickboy

[direwolf74]

fireworks - some loser shouted "go flames go". good thing that weapons were listed outside the show on the "prohibited" list, otherwise said loser would have taken a round or two.

You must be a Canucks fan. I heard a few Go Flames Go chants throughout the evening and I didn't have a problem with it. Gord even dedicated Courage to the Flames.

casey, since when is "over 21" an "old" crowd?? you're making me feel damn near ancient?

Hey, I'm 29. I just meant that there were no drunken 18-year old angst-metal gangsta kids there...which was nice.[/quote]

[jacks]

Well, it has been many moons since I have posted too. I used to be all over the newsgroup (alt.music.tragically-hip)... but somehow got a bit distracted over the past few years. Anyway - nice to be back and to read some familiar monikers - GREAT to have another Hip season upon us!

Some of you may have read my plea for an extra ticket / guest pass to last night's show. When nothing panned out from that I decided to head on down to the Whiskey to hang out and see if any opportunities would present themselves. It was a very long few hours in the cold & rain (though not standing in the ticket-holders line up gave me access to the best awning on the block - so I was dryer than most - you poor lot), and I just stood there smiling. Smiling at security, smiling at Greg from Columbia, smiling at the priviledged few who seemed to be snatching buddies off the street randomly then slipping in VIP style.

Right about the time I could no longer feel the lower half of my legs, I heard the band start. I was very suprised there were still so many ticket holders, or more accurately, "name-on-list"ers, standing in the pouring rain.

Once all were inside I thought there might be a chance someone on a list hadn't shown - and one of the very nice security guards would slip me and my new friend Tyler (gotta love line buddies!) in. Sigh. No such luck. though they were very sympathetic and expressed a desire to help us out, noting how many 'casual' fans had not even stuck it out in the rain long enough to take advantage of their passes, they had rules to follow. Understandable.

Luckily the huge street-side windows of the bar were open and not only were we able to hear the show very well - but we could watch the whole thing on a big screen! Hey, the rain had stopped, I'd waited so long, what the hell - make the most of it! So Tyler and I hung out on the sidewalk (the kind of pathetic behaviour only the Hip can inspire in me) and had a great time!

Just as Silver Jet was starting, at the start of the first encore, some very kind Columbia people came out and fetched us off the sidewalk! In we went and within seconds I had great line of sight on the Gords & Robbie and plenty of space to dance my ass off! Woo hoo! Heaven!

So, even though I spent most of the night freezing on the sidewalk, those last few songs inside made up for it all, and were that much sweeter.

Having an opportunity to hear so much of the new albumn was wicked. I was really pleased by how many of the songs sucked me in right away. Fascinating, rocking, inspiring, thought provoking, dream inducing - why we love 'em. I can't wait for Tuesday!

23.5 shows and counting now...

djaks

[cferneyh]

djaks, you are hardcore my friend. Hardcore. Here's hoping you can get indoors for the entire show the next time they are in town.

[CARTER]

What a great night! Concert was incredible! I wish I could be at every other show they do next week. Only down side was me getting a little too drunk and forgeting what songs they played. Thanks for the setlist.
*PLEASE, IF ANYBODY FOUND A BROWN LEATHER WALLET AT THE WHISKEY BELONGING TO BRENT CARTER CALL ME @ 403-286-8336*
THANKS & LONG LIVE THE HIP!

[jacks]

djaks, you are hardcore my friend. Hardcore. Here's hoping you can get indoors for the entire show the next time they are in town.

Hey man, thanks. You can be SURE I will!!

BTW... did anyone manage to record the show? Or even see anyone with gear?

Me thinks it's time to boot up my bootleg database and start trading again too!

djaks

[MountainHip]

What an incredible show, Thanks to TLB, Tony, for taking a pic of the setlist for me, It was nice to hang out with a few hipbasers, Canuck Courage, TLB, Mark, and I think Stickman (Jesse?) I was in line with you??

The show was awesome got in line at 6:20, and got in quite easily, sorry to the folks who stood in the rain, and congrats to the guy who watched thorugh the windows, and got in after all, that's awesome!!

Stuck my head in around 2:30 and heard sound check that was pretty cool!

for pictures: http://community.webshots.com/user/HIPFAN101

MountainHip