2006-07-03 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues

Post by **mrlayance** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:43 pm

Post Your Review and see you at the show!

u8555 · Post by **u8555** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:00 am

Going to the Sunday show in Milwaukee, and the Monday in Chicago, but have no ride from Milwaukee to Chicago. Can a 12 pack buy a fellow hipster a ride from his 9th show to his 10th????

thehip11 · Post by **thehip11** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 7:11 am

I'm surprised there is no review yet.....no late night posters on here go to the show?!?! Anxiously awaiting a review from Hugh when he gets home today.

mxsteve · Post by **mxsteve** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:39 am

Good show, got the setlist but not with me right now. Im very surprised at the selection, its good tho to mix it up.
Opened with Daddy, had gems, lionized, sherpa, escape and the three new ones.closed the show with Fire in the hole. The best part was when Gord's mic pack flew off and he looked at the cord and then tried to plug it in the guy in the front row's ear. Moth opened up, they were good, going to look them up.

Good show, but my wife who is a fan, hadnt heard 9 of the songs that they played. So from a non-die hard POV, it was just ok.

srb · Post by **srb** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:46 am

I was surprised last night that there weren't any late night posters either. I started to write a quick review, but was too tired to think straight, so figured I'd wait until this morning. Great setlist, Gord was in full force as usual. My wife and I got in line about 6:30 when the doors were supposed to open. Took about 15 minutes to get in, as everybody's ID was being checked, and they had some sort of metal detector at the door that everyone had to succumb to. We had a couple of drinks, then made our way onto the floor. Probably got 15 feet from the stage for the Hip (closest I've seen them in years). The opening band, Moth, sounded really good. I picked up their CD at the merch table, and will look forward to hearing them again. Actually saw the bassist for Moth at the back, and told him we enjoyed the performance.

Our only dissapointment last night, was that it was such a long wait for the Hip to come out. Moth finished at 8:30, and the Hip didn't come out until 9:30, and the room was so hot, my wife wasn't sure if she was going to make it through the show. (she did.....)

Anyway, about the Hip! Lyrics changed during Bobcaygeon to "that night in Chicago......". Gord bent the mic stand while riding it during 100th, then his head set seemed to completely go on him as he had to switch it while the band played through..

Songs that were played (in no particular order)

Don't Wake Daddy
At The Lonely End Of The Rink
New Orleans Is Sinking
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
Fly
Escape Is At Hand For The Travelin' Man
Gus: The Polar Bear From Central Park
Twist My Arm
Bobcaygeon
Fireworks
The Last Of The Unplucked Gems
Are You Ready
Grace, Too

Encore:
The Drop Off
Sherpa
Fire In The Hole

can't remember the rest off hand. All in all, a great venue, and a great show!

Captain Canada · Post by **Captain Canada** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 2:31 pm

Poets was played as well.

I only thought they played 2 new songs. I reconized the others.

Ive seen the Hip many many times but never in such a small venue and never as close up as that. Amasing, absolutly amasing. My friend that was with me was from Indiana and hes never seen the Hip before now, and I think its safe to say hes a fan.

Great setlist, iffy encore but when your a band that has some 50 songs they can play at any time its tough to pick just 3. I hope they come back again.

Post by **mrlayance** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:57 pm

Just got into Fargo. I will post my review later tonight. Our hotel in Chicago didn't have highspeed and we couldn't get a open network from our room. I wrote down the setlist in order. Chicago is a crazy city, nothing like it.

Hugh23 · Post by **Hugh23** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 6:01 pm

Setlist in order:

Don't Wake Daddy
Rink
NOIS
Gus
Good Life
Fireworks
Fly
Twist My Arm
Escape
Poets
Bobcaygeon
Lionized
Gems
100th
Are You Ready
Grace Too
M@W

Encore
Drop Off
Sherpa
Fire in the Hole

An estimated 1 million people gathered in Grant Park, located in downtown Chicago, to view the city's Fourth of July fireworks display over Lake Michigan. As downtown filled for the patriotic celebration, the House of Blues quickly filled with excited Hip fans. It wasn't long before we were treated to a high energy show filled with Gord Downie antics and excellent musicianship from all the band members.

After the powerful tones of the opener Don't Wake Daddy ended, the band played one of their soon to be released songs, Lonely End of the Rink. As many of you know, this song is filled with hockey references. When Gord sang the line "Jump into the rush" he became a hockey player stickhandling through the opposing team. When Gord sang the line about "fakes and the sweetest of dekes" he became a goalie trying to make a stop on a break away. The fan favorite NOIS returned to the setlist in a U.S. venue for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. The temperature was literally rising within the HOB as the fans danced to the pulsating beat of The Hip's music. One of the best songs of the night was Twist My Arm. To start Gord suddenly grabbed his mikestand and held it like a spear or javelin. He spotted something, then threw his spear into the crowd almost releasing it. As the song continued Gord became more animated. He danced and strutted his trademark rooster/peacock. Instead of using his hand for his tail feathers, Gord held his red bandana behind himself and it became a flowing tail. It fluttered behind him as he gyrated back and forth. Gord changed personas and he was a matador taunting a bull with his red cape/bandana.

The next song was Escape. Gord explained how the song was inspired by Jim Ellison, the lead singer for the now defunct Material Issue. Gord related that Jim had slept in The Hip's van overnight on a past tour. The band had lost touch with Jim when they heard of his death a few years later. During the 100th Meridian Gord was dancing about wildly and riding his motorcycle mikestand. Then suddenly Gord was fiddling with his earplugs. The portable battery on his waist that powers his earplugs went dead. He took the earplugs out and stuck them in a guy's ears in the front row. Gord took them back and quickly changed batteries. The fan was very suprised to say the least. During the musical break near the end of the song the entire venue clapped in unison to the beat of Johnny's drums and Gord Sinclair's bass. It was at this point that Robbie and Paul had a blues guitar battle. Robbie began with an excellent riff then he would fade out and Paul would amp up and play a bluesy riff of his own. They went back and forth displaying a little flair along with their technical skill. It sounded so good. By this time it was hot and steamy inside the HOB. During the intro to Grace Too Gord said, "It's hot! It's Afganistan hot! I want to go home. I don't want to die! Bring them home. End the war"! With one last song in the main set and an encore that included Sherpa, our musical adventure ended.

Robbie Baker was kind enough to leave us some back stage passes for a meet and greet after the show. We were all taken to a small area in the upper balcony of the HOB. There all five band members chatted with a good sized group of family members and friends. It was difficult to speak with the guys because so many wanted to say hello to them. Robbie eventually made his way to us. He is very easy going with a great sense of humor. He told us the interesting story on the difficulty of obtaining the master tapes for the Hipeponymous compilation. We were able to say hello to the other band members before we left. Is it possible for a person to be totally satisfied and drained, yet still be yearning for his next Hip show? I would say yes, because that is exactly how I feel.

john cage · Post by **john cage** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 8:44 pm

It's great that a bunch of songs have been pulled out of the vault. Hopefully, this trend will continue on the tour in support of the new disc come fall / winter. I like Don't Wake Daddy as an opener. The Drop Off is my favorite of the four new songs I've heard live over the past two days.

This show was taped (not by me). Hopefully, it will find it's way out to general Hip Fandom via Tracker or another medium.

A detailed show note:

At the end of Meridian, Gord S. was rocking back by his amp when he realized he was about to miss his backing vocal part. While running up to his mic, he accidently kicked the cord out from his bass to the foot pedal on the ground, causing a mad scramble to get it plugged in again. He also clanged his head into the mic/stand!

When Meridian was done, Gord D. asks the crowd "Are you ready?" several times, not realizing the bass-pedal-amp hookup was being attended to. So I played my front row interactive part - I pointed at Gord S. and yelled to Gord D. "He's not ready." Gord D. took a look then said something like, "It appears our bass player, Gord Sinclair, isn't ready. The rest of the band is ready. Now everyone's ready." And then they played Are You Ready. I'll take credit for saving the song from a trainwreck beginning until proven otherwise!

smadabeer · Post by **smadabeer** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:00 pm

Finally back to Pittsburgh... The past 3 weekends have been awesome seeing the HIP as well as meeting\revisiting hip fans from all over

. I managed to add about 1800 miles to my car which i would do again in a heartbeat.

Hugh - I think you summed up most of the event in your recap. Line wanted me to pass along another big thanks for the setlist

As well your last comments in your post couldn't be said any better, I'd love to keep our little run going

What a great show... From Suzy getting soaked during dinner, the front of line line-up, watching Moth (which turned out to be much better than anticipated) and The Hip from front row and wrapping up in a the corner bar Hugh found to finish the night.

Here's to hoping for a great Detroit - Toledo - Cleveland tour before X-mas

nnyvt · Post by **nnyvt** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:24 pm

the only thing i can think to add was during the intro to are you ready. gord sinclair disappeared for a moment. gord downie was asking are you ready and then realized gord sinclair was missing. he mentioned something about most of the band being ready but they were missing a bass player. he them improvised about the house of blues and chicago before gord sinclair reappeared. kind of humorous at the time. maybe somebody has a better recollection.

FighterAndLover · Post by **FighterAndLover** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:44 pm

Wow, only four of the songs from Milwaukee got repeated. I'm really regretting not hitting this one up too, as this setlist would have pleased me more.

clutchcdn · Post by **clutchcdn** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 4:57 pm

Decent show.
Too short.

Great meal at the HOB. Friendly staff, including overwhelmed bartenders.

Was it me....or was that one of the worse renditions of Fire in the Hole?

I would give this show.....a 7.5/10

FighterAndLover · Post by **FighterAndLover** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 5:28 pm

clutchcdn wrote:Decent show.
Too short.

Great meal at the HOB. Friendly staff, including overwhelmed bartenders.

Was it me....or was that one of the worse renditions of Fire in the Hole?

I would give this show.....a 7.5/10

20 songs is too short- or are you just saying time flies when you're at a Hip concert?

I think that's a better setlist than any of the shows I've been to...

PRINCESS · Post by **PRINCESS** » Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:10 pm

Hi to the Hipbasers we met,,, not as many as I was hoping but oh well,,, next time...

One really cool thing was that at 10pm on the money they played Fireworks,, right when the Fireworks were going to go off in Chicago for the 4th of July. Gord even said something like "you want to see fireworks tonight? We've got our own in here"

Lynette