2004-07-23 - Arts Center - Darien Lake, NY

[thehip11]

Leave work at 1pm to pick up Darren (D-Man) at the Clarkson Go Station. I had never met him before so it might be a task to find him but luckily he was wearing the 1999 Gargoyle Tour shirt so a quick wave and he saw me. Darren was kind enough to burn me a copy of the Wasaga Beach DVD. Anyways, so we're off and heading to Guelph to meet up with Brendan (the wheat king) and Josh (the heron outside). We arrived at Josh's a little after 2pm and Brendan had just arrived as well. A knock on the door, a little meet and greet with everyone. Everyone brought some bootleg shows to listen to on the way. A quick stop to Tim Horton's and we're off. We reached the Peace Bridge praying for no hassles or line-ups and to our luck only 5 cars in front of us at the border. The guy working said, "Let me guess where you guys are heading". You think THEHIP11 license plate tipped him off. He asked when we're coming back, we said after the show and he said have a good time and we were off. We couldn't believe how easy it was. We arrived at Darien Lake around 4:30pm, parked near the exit and headed over to the park. As we're walking over, we hear a nice loud basey sound which we thought might be the sound check, a little closer and what do you know, it's Chagrin Falls. A group of fans are at the top of a hill behind the theatre trying to grab a glimpse of the boys warming up. Security makes their way over and asks us all to leave. BUMMER for sure. We ended up hearing Chagrin Falls, Vaccination Scar, Lake Fever and Scared in the sound check. This was a nice treat because 3 of the 4 never got played. After sound check ends we decide to take a walk around the 500+ cars tail-gating, bbq'ing, drinking beers and just hanging out. Not 1 minute into our wander around, this nice guy says hello and offers us all a beer. We stay for a quick chat about hip-related material and hockey. We kept wondering around, people saying there hello's while looking for Ontario license plates. We met a few people and enjoyed the stroll around. 6pm was looming so we head over to the gates and wait in line. We then noticed a wrist band booth where you would need to show I.D. to get a wrist band to buy beer inside. All but 1 of were 21 so I lent my I.D. to Josh to hopefully get a wrist band. He heads over to the booth, shows the I.D. they slap a wrist band on and we're all set. As we get inside, we head to the Merchandise booth and scope out the new stuff. The only new thing from the Molson Amp show was a light grey All Canadian Surf Club t-shirt. Very cool indeed. D-Man picks one up and also buys us all IBE stickers; a nice gesture for sure. We then head to our seats just to get an idea where we sitting. We get to the seats and are in complete shock. There's only about 15 rows in the 100 section and we were dead centre, section 200, row 10, seats 11-14. Completely astounded we sit down and are the only 4 guys sitting in their seats at about 6:20pm. After enjoying that quick moment, we decided to go grab some beers and food. We down a few beers, hot dogs, pretzels and popcorn. As more people enter the park, we're being approached by other hip fans just exchanging hello's and stories. Around 8pm, I hit the washroom and upon exiting, spot Bob n Fran. I first met them at Places Des Arts in Montreal on October 12, 2002. They had made the 10 hour drive from Maine for the show. These guys are hard core concert goers. Over 100 dead shows and counting. Really nice people with lots of stories to tell. If anyone out there has a copy of the Albany show on October 4th, 2000, it's the only show that Bob n Fran need to have and they'll own all the shows they've been to. Bob n Fran had signed bananas, signed hockey jersey's and even made a sign for Locked in the Trunk of a Car in hopes of the hip seeing the sign. No luck there though. Attention Rory Young, Bob n Fran say their hello's and send their best wishes on to you and your family. We take a few pictures with the crew of people and as concert time looms, we said our good byes.

On to the show. We head to our seats around 8:30ish and as we got to our row, Jen (highwaygirl28) stops by to say hello. What a nice girl she was. A few introductions among hipbasers, a couple pictures for the memories. It was great meeting Jen as we had spoke on hipbase quite a few times so it was nice to put a face to a name. 9pm is reaching the crowd is filling in. People are setting up their cameras and audio devices getting ready to hopefully land a great recording.

The Hip come out and everyone is going nuts. Opening with Vaccination Scar followed by Grace, (We all predicted this would happen).

Setlist:
Vaccination Scar, Grace Too, Summer's Killing Us, Poets, It's A Good Life if You Don't Weaken, Goodnight Josephine, Courage, It Can't be Nashville Every Night, Bobcaygeon, Nautical Disaster, Are We Family, Fireworks, At The Hundredth Meridian, Meanstreak, Springtime in Vienna, New Orleans is Sinking, Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park, Music at Work, Encore 1: Heaven is a Better Place Today, Wheat Kings, Fire in the Hole. Encore 2: Ahead by a Century, Blow at High Dough.

A great show, no surprises of course but the experience in itself was awesome. For the 4 of us hipbasers, it was all our first American Show and a show we'll never forget. Constant high 5's during the show singing every song. Just AMAZING!! Show ended about 5 minutes to 11pm and we made our way to the car. Josh and Darren passed out in the back seat and Brendan and myself listened to IBE, IVL, M@W and HH on the way home. Going through the tolls and borders were easy, my license plate speaks volumes and no worries with the questions. Dropped off the boys and into bed around 3:30am.

A big thanks to everyone for making this trip a delight. Can't wait for the tour dates in September. I think a few more U.S. shows are in order and I think I found the right guys to party with. Talk to you all soon. Can't wait to see the photos Josh and Jen.

Jamie

[hipkid33]

Hip Trip

Portland, ME - Darien Center, NY USA (Bob, Fran, Sonny and Dave)

It starts...long after Sonny begins his 57 day count down. It's been a long time since we've seen TTH. Far too long!! We travel to Albany and spend Thursday night there. When we reach the lot at Darien Lakes Friday there are already many Hip Heads in full party mode. We pull in and set up house, make friends with our neighbors, share TTH stories of past, wonder if we'll see any henhousers that we know.

And we wait...

We finally make our way in as show time nears and we run into Jamie and crew. We chat like old friends. This is what we love about going to TTH shows. The camaraderie of the fans. One big happy family. (okay, there are bad apples in every crowd...but you know what I mean!)

When the warm-up band finishes we wish all a good show and head to our 5th row seats. We are close, but well to Bobby/Robby Baker's side of the stage. I spot Dave, another henhouser in the front row center with video equipment all set up. Bob and I go over and say hello. Then he points out Mark a little to his left...who is also all set up with his equipment. Looks like we should be able to score copies of this show!!

We make more friends in the crowd. Everyone is checking out our Hip autographed Maine Hockey Jerseys. We get our banana's and our "LOCKED" sign ready.

And we wait...

How can I explain the emotion that is bursting at the seams of my soul? I am at a Hip show. The band is on fire. The new songs are coming off beautifully. The old songs are a wonder to hear yet again.
It's worth every second of the trek from Maine. We all agree!! We are re-energized. Yes, all the band acknowledged the "LOCKED" sign, but it wasn't meant to be at this show. But that's okay. We got a Hip Fix at last...one that makes us crave even more. A drug to be reckoned with!!

PLEASE...let the (USA) tour begin...

And we wait...

Fran and the banana shaking maniacs

Nice to see you guys found this great site. My wife and I spoke to your friend, Dave? (Tie dye hat). We were sitting right behind him (6th row)and my wife held on to your sign while he went to the boys room. Nice to see you guys come all the way down from Maine (great jerseys!). Would have been great to hear Locked though. The bananas were classic. I actually had someone ask me what the bananas were all about. After I told her she said "Oh, like the mac 'n cheese at a BNL concert?" I thought that was kinda funny.

Anyone else park in the driving range on Sumner? What a sweet deal that is huh $5.00 I'll only park there from now on. I was in and out in seconds (got to love back roads)! We got there about 4:30 and drank a few and spok to a few. Did not get to meet any of you kids except BobnFran, oh well, maybe next time. We were able to hear some of the soundcheck depending on how the wind was moving. I was crapping my slacks when I heard Chagrin, hoping they would play it, but alas, no. We were both happy, she got her Wheat Kings and I got my Springtime. Definately an excellent show, they sounded great, although I still cannot hear being 2 feet from the speakers (Sec 101 row 6). I would definately agree that the boys seemed to feed off the electric crowd. Great energy, my only complaint is that they should mix up the setlist a little more. Would have loved to hear Luxury, Silver Jet, 700 ft and a few others. Great seats, great show couldn't ask for a better time. Now the waiting begins for Rochester?...

Anyone remember who the opener was? I thought they were great. I heard a lot of people complaining that the were too heavy. Maybe for a Hip show, but they were fantastic. I usually opt out of the openers, but I had to see the rest of the set. Good stuff.

Anyone else notice all the drunks on the road that night? Holy Fu*k! I may spend the night next time. Way more than usual, almost got hit 3 times on the thruway alone.

Till next time...

Cheers!

Chad

[thehip11]

Oh yeah, the Canadian Flag beach ball you may have seen floating around...we had spent the night before decorating it up. The maple leaf had The Tragically Hip written inside, it had 7-1-04 (where the ball was born) and 7-23-04 (where the ball met its end) written on the sides in large marker. Also, as a bit of advertisement... www.hipbase.com was written in large print on both sides of the ball.

You were about 5 rows in front of us. We saw you pull the ball out and start tossing it around. Good job with the hipbase advertisement.

[jen]

Anyone remember who the opener was? I thought they were great. I heard a lot of people complaining that the were too heavy. Maybe for a Hip show, but they were fantastic.
Cheers!

Chad

I believe they were called 'Idle Sons'

[jen]

Can't wait to see the photos Josh and Jen.

Jamie

I'll get them up as soon as I can
It was a pleasure meeting Jamie, Brendan, Josh, Darren, and Ron as well!! All are super cool guys!

[TTH04]

I agree with most in here that it would be nice to see an expanded setlist. I guess after 15 years of seeing them live, the old songs have lost some of their excitement. I was disappointed in the IBE songs that were played at Darien, was wishing for Heart of the melt, Makeshift or You are Everywhere. I don't understand why The Hip seem to think that their most loyal audience only wants to hear the "greatest hits" in concert. We are the fans who have been with them the longest and are craving some variation in setlists. I am currently rethinking my regular tour stops in Cleveland, Rochester and Syracuse (assuming the are coming) if I am going to see 95% same songs.

[D-man]

My thoughts are that these setlists are staying somewhat constant in an attempt to ensure a solid show. With the release of IBE, I believe The Hip are trying to show fans (old and new) just what they can do in concert. Although I've seen 3 setlists that were almost the exact same, the shows have each been phenomenal in their own ways.

[bobc50]

if anyone has the bootleg from this show and is interested in trading or B&P, please email me at [email protected]

[sesabeach]

awesome concert :thumb: if u werent there u shoulda been

[millionbeavers]

the show was great and wasnt a trip to go to since i live in Orchard Park. if only if outside it wasnt cold and shitty things wouldda went a little bit better, but what do you expect, this is buffalo. the opening band sucked and didnt get much of an applause on exit. plus they were loud and muffled.

another thing was that the security guards acted like they made $400,000 a year and you couldnt bring anything in the concert. i tried to bring some peanutbutter crackers in, in my pocket, but they cavity searched me and confiscated them from me.

[sesabeach]

yes the opener did suck dick and the secruity guards did confinscate having to much arm and yes the weather did suck dick but the concert itself was great

[hipkid33]

Thats too bad that a lot of you thought the opener sucked. I liked 'em. Very tight. They sounded great. Not the best choice for a Hip opener though.

[sesabeach]

most people thought the opener snuck on stage because they sucked so bad :rambo:

[ron]

i don't remember the weather being that bad
the opening band was a replacement band since joel 's band had prior gig

the band was from burlington i think and have the same management as the hip

they were just a little too heavy for the room

Ron

[thehip11]

Here is a cover and back for the show if anyone wants it.

Jamie