2006-10-30 - Calgary, AB - MacEwan Hall

surferguy · Post by **surferguy** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:32 pm

Here is my view of the night...

Three people back from the barrier on the left side... and I saw Gordie take the mic in the face too...Good stuff

Mic stand-4 Gordie - 0

Monday October 30, 2006

The more I listen to the new album the clearer the message becomes. World Container is a protest album about the current state of the world ranging from environmental issues to politics. I have always found it tough to decipher lyrical metaphors but this time the message in the bottle is clear. The band wrote an album out of passion and it is clearly their best since Day for Night and it remarkably stand outs on stage. That fire burning within the heart of this group of men has given them the ability to deliver such a powerful performance showcasing the gritty soul of the new disc.

The rusty growl of front man Gord Downie enveloped the room on tracks like “Drop Off” and “Love Sic”. “The Kids Don’t Get It” was astounding once again as Downie stomped and paced while belting out the lyrics. During the chorus he would stop and crouch over in an attempt to use all available energy to express his message. That savage emotion packed into the new album has granted them a license to re visit the very songs that got them to that stage in the first place. “Don’t Wake Daddy” was spectacular, displayed in a way that would not be possible when it was released in the mid-nineties. The same goes for the shows closer “Fire in the Hole”.

The show wasn’t all grit however. “Lake Fever” and “Sherpa” showed the melodic side of their repertoire. “The Last of the Unplucked Gems” helped to solidify this as a show bound for the books as being one filled with songs I never expected to hear live. A long drawn out intro which built as Downie slowly re-enacted the evolution from monkey to man before dropping into the few lyrics that the round out The Road Apples album. “Escape is Hand for the Travellin’ Man” needs to be mentioned just because it was the song I wanted to hear most.

An unfortunate loss was “Bobcaygeon”. I am sure it was good, but I don’t remember because I was sent reeling by the mid-set power bomb of “Grace, Too”. This was the crowning achievement of the October 30th show at the MacEwan Ballroom. Never before have I seen a crowd anticipate a song so much in my life. It all started with a small rhythmic tap on the symbols, followed by the distinctive baseline and the instantaneous roar of recognition from the assembly. The extended intro allowed time for the concert fog to thicken and subsequently transformed the audience into a frothing mob just waiting for the chance to sing along with the bands most self-defining lyric. Downie finally slid to the mic and exploded with a luxurious growl “We’re Tragically Hip!” It was an outstanding resource for goose bumps. The entire song was put forth with that newly acquired license and I have never seen anything better. If you plan on attending any of these club dates, wish with everything that you have that Grace, Too is written on that small piece of paper taped to the floor of the stage.

I really feel that the band has walked through a brand new door before doing these club dates. These shows will go down in Rock and Roll history as some of the best productions from a band that is clearly in their prime. If you have a ticket to any of these intimate shows feel privileged and be excited. Seventy dollars buys you a ticket to a life long memory. Buy the ticket, take the ride.

Dion J. Brake
Concert Goer

Family
Courage
View
Lake Fever
Drop Off
Don't Wake Daddy
Puttin Down
Luv (Sic)
Grace Too
Bobc
World
Fully
Fly
Gems
Kids
Sherpa
Ocean
Locked
Rink

Pretend
Escape
Fire

Billy · Post by **Billy** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:49 pm

Nice review. I would have loved to have been there, but 2 nights was all I could afford. Grace is always on my list of songs that i'd like to see every time I see them. There is always so much energy from both band and crowd.

I agree that the band is in the best form they have ever been in.

bigA · Post by **bigA** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:56 pm

Gems

Enjoy.

Zenith · Post by **Zenith** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:02 pm

bigA wrote:Gems

Enjoy.

Thanks very much!

I love Gord's monkey dance!

How many camera's have there been at these gigs?

bigA · Post by **bigA** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:07 pm

we had 3, I did a quick edit with only 2.

surferguy · Post by **surferguy** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:10 pm

please tell me your working on Grace too...

Zenith · Post by **Zenith** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:14 pm

bigA wrote:we had 3, I did a quick edit with only 2.

Excellent!

I've just left a comment on your video of Poets from the London show. It looks fantastic!

disciple · Post by **disciple** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 5:18 pm

Hello all,

Just got back from the show last night at MacEwan Hall. I made the trip down from Edmonton to see it.
As usual the hip put on a great show. I was VERY suprised to see Last of the Unplucked Gems. That song made the trip worth it for me.
Compared to other Hip shows I've seen (this would be #5) it's tied for #2. Best show I've seen was the even smaller show at New City in Edmonton, and this is tied with the first time I saw them on the Phantom Power tour on their Edmonton stop.
I got some great videos from up at the front on my little camera. Got all of Courage, all of Grace Too except for the first verse, and most of L.O.T.U.G. Once I get a chance to edit, I'll probably youtube it.
If you want to see some photos from the show I put them up on my flickr account. Here's the addy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pessimist
I'm just sad I couldn't go to any of the other shows.
Enjoy.

Escape@Hand · Post by **Escape@Hand** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 7:48 pm

Well here's a longer review of the show than the one I posted last night. Again, this is easily the best show I have ever seen. The set list was amazing and I would be hard pressed to make a better one myself. The more I hear the new songs live, the more I like them. Family band is a great tune; when Gord yelled "Get the kick drum loaded..." Johnny just pounded the kick and really set a great groove. Courage was spectacular as usual and they kept things rockin' with Drop Off (one of the best tunes the band has written in a long time) and Don't Wake Daddy. I've seen them play Daddy numerous times so it's not one that I get too pysched to hear, but the band had a lot of energy and it went over really well. As other's have mentioned, Grace Too was amazing; there's nothing like Gord opening up with "We're the Tragically Hip!" I never get tired of hearing that song. Last of the Unplugged Gems was something else;the band slowing built up the song for a couple of minutes before Gord finally started singing. It was a great jam and a real surprise. I had a HUGE grin on my face after that - it was totally unexpected. Sherpa was really good too, especially the build up at the end which led nicely into the last three songs, Ocean, Locked and Rink. Locked in the Trunk was amazing; the crowed went nuts when Rob started the lead lick. That is one of my favourite tunes; it's what turned me on to the hip when I was 12 years old . It was a great rendition of the song and one they don't play enough in my opinion. They ended the set with Lonely End of the Rink which is a good closer - a good rocking tune and the fans seem to like it alot. The highlight, however, was the encore. After opening it up with Pretend - they seem to be playing mellow encore openers, which is cool - they broke into Escape is at Hand for the Travelling man. This is my absolute favourite hip song and the only time I've heard it (apparantly) was at my first hip show in '96. I believe it was part of 100th Meridian, but as the song wasn't released until 2 years later, I obviously didn't know the song. So I've basically never hear this song live, and after seeing them on ever tour since TATHH, I have been rather frustrated by this. I was screaming at them througout the set to play the song (I'm sure some people were annoyed at me but I decided to take things into my own hands, so I appolgize to any who were bothered by this) and when Gord Sinclair started playing the bass line I absolutley FREAKED out. I had the biggest smile on for hours after that. It was sooooo good to hear it live, even though Gord forgot the the lyrics and had to start over again. They closed with Fire in the Hole and it was actually pretty bad. For the first half of the song Johnny was way off, doing fills a bar early or late, and you could see he was struggling to find his place. The band was able to play through it so it didn't screw the song up, and Johnny was able to figure it out for the second half on the song. It was funny to see this but it didn't spoil the night. Besides, it didn't affect the rest of the band and once they got it all together it was great. All in all this was a terrific concert; the band was tight, and the set list was special. I also noticed Gord seemed really into the music. He was dancing around like he was 20 years old. He also didn't play guitar too much; only a handful of times through the set, which I thought was a bit odd. It seemed as though perhaps he was channelling the spirit of the band from their early years when they developed their reputation of being a great live band and he developed his rep as a frontman. That may sound a bit strange but my point is Gord was way more animated than I have ever seen him. I am still so pumped from this show and I wish I could see all their club dates.

day_for_night · Post by **day_for_night** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:13 pm

don't say i never did nothing for ya...

courage, pt 1

http://www.mediafire.com/?2mss4l2wjs4

courage pt 2

http://www.mediafire.com/?7xdxoaqiber

fully animated gord... don't wake daddy pt 1

http://www.mediafire.com/?9rm6287dojo

more gord craziness...don't wake daddy pt 2

http://www.mediafire.com/?d18io4jsge1

grace, too

http://www.mediafire.com/?e31tu5ew1yo

LAST OF THE UNPLUCKED GEMS INTRO
http://www.mediafire.com/?d5aepb8sfwt

disciple · Post by **disciple** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 2:57 am

Here's a couple of videos:

Last of the Unplucked Gems (no intro)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygsq3V70hjA

Grace, Too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0oclypI0OU

I have Courage as well, but need to compress it... keep an eye out for it thou.

Enjoy.

thecompletist · Post by **thecompletist** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 11:47 pm

bigA wrote:Gems

Enjoy.

...
that might be one of the best live moments of Gord doing a fulll acting out of a scene......

the Primate.... walking around... discovering things, then evolution... standing up abit more and more..discovering how to walk followed by the cigarette lighting....takes a drag...with a little buzz... he spins his way over to the mic.. sings his verse and fights the mic, drops mic and then does the hacky sack kick up - miss, then gets it on the 2nd try.....

thanks for the share on this one!

dr tongue · Post by **dr tongue** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 3:12 am

I've just registered to post my Flickr link for the show for those who are interested:

http://flickr.com/photos/dr_t/sets/72157594353428378/

Sun and Wed are in there, too, but I thought Mon's show was AMAZING, the best of the 3 I went to. Locked was by far the highlight of that night. Meeting the band - and obviously especially Gord - was Wed's highlight.