2006-09-09 - Stratford, ON - Ovation Music Festival

Been to a show and would like to give a review?

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Naga
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Post by Naga »

Maybe it was because it was my first show, but Downie's voice sounded really odd to me. It sounded like it was too high, or something. Nothing like the concert's I have on DVD, or audio concerts. It surprised me. Was that normal?
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Corby
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Post by Corby »

Naga wrote:Maybe it was because it was my first show, but Downie's voice sounded really odd to me. It sounded like it was too high, or something. Nothing like the concert's I have on DVD, or audio concerts. It surprised me. Was that normal?
That happened to me at the last show i saw, he almost sounded like a chipmunk. I just popped in some earplugs and everything turned out fine. I've been curious about the phenomenon, maybe it has something to do with volume.
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IMissMyLungBob
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Post by IMissMyLungBob »

Wow, simply amazing. I was dead center about 50ft back. In View was great, had a more rock style to it without the keyboard and xylaphone. Gord had a few problems with hitting the high note on In View but it didnt ruin the song.

Heard Pretend and The Ocean for the first time and they were both amazing in their own ways. When the stage crew was setting up for the Hip and me and my brother saw pauls black and white acoustic guitar being brought out and we knew Wheat Kings was coming.

The only disappointment for me was that I have been waiting to hear Drop Off live but they havent played it at any concert I've been to this year. I didnt get a chance to meet any other Hipbasers but its good to hear the show was recorded by a few people.

I cant wait for the new album to come out, and its not just because of a new album... its also because we get to hear the shows that were recorded! All in all it was a great night. I still wish the setlists were longer but the concert was still amazing.
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Post by d_alex_d »

The show was great all in all.

Got there just in time to down a few beers before Hawksley Workman took the stage. I was suprised by him, he was pretty good. Played his guitar like a machine.

I don't know about anyone else but the hard bumpy ground was terrible on my feet. I was so sore by the end of the night.

50MC was a great suprise. In View was awesome live and I love the other new songs as well. I'm still waiting to hear Drop Off live, I love the recorded version I have, but it's just not cutting it anymore.

Like everyone else, I can't wait until the album comes out. I need to hear it, and all the shows to download as well. It will be a busy week that week, lol.
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Post by thehip11 »

Great setlist. Out of the 6 shows I've seen this summer, it was nice to hear 4 songs I haven't heard yet; Wheat Kings, 50 Mission Cap, In View and Pretend. It was a chilly night but once the hip started, I totally ignored the cold. Holly and I met this really nice guy from Stratford who was there with his 14 year old daughter. They were having a blast dancing to the tunes. They gave us a quick way out of the venue and it took us only 15 minutes from the second Nautical was over until we were out onto highway 8. Home and in bed by 12:30am.

It was great to see Hugh again but he dissappeared and was MIA for the whole concert. Very crazy of him to make the drive back right after the show. Big shout out to all the hipbasers I saw and kudos Steve on that wicked recording gear. See you next Monday (18th) in Whitby.

Show number 49 is in the books.

Jamie
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Post by dreyfuss »

My favorite quote was as In View was starting and Gord said "Here's one for Bob"

Mr Rock was at the show.
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Post by ceebuler »

I rank this show pretty low on my list, probably in the bottom 5 of the 25 or so shows I have seen. The sound was just off in parts - sometimes it was the soundboard's fault (master volume seemed to change and get really quiet sometimes) and other times it was the band. Someone mentioned Gord's voice being too high. It wasn't the pitch, it was the treble. It was sometimes piercing...way too much treble, not enough bass (earplugs would help that, I'm sure)

The past few shows I've seen, I've been mildly distracted by worries that Gord's voice wouldn't hold out for the show, but never have I worried as much as this show. He screams too much, too early, and you can see/hear him paying for it through the whole show. I'm distracted throughout the show, wondering if his voice box is going to explode, and if he'll be able to keep this up for many more years.

Overall I did enjoy the show, but it wasn't up to par for the Hip. However, the new songs all sounded great. I disagree with the people who have said that Pretend doesn't fit as an encore song - this has been my highlight of the last two shows I've seen, by far. In England, and now again at Stratford, I left the shows singing this song the whole way home. Ocean is great too.

And In View sounded great. I thought Gord sounded great in this song, except, surprisingly, at the end ("Day erases dark of night..."). He couldn't hit these notes; it's not like he was off key, it was more like he couldn't get any sound out of his throat. It's strange because this part is actually lower in pitch than the beginning of the verses (eg: "I love you..." and "I trust you") but he hit those notes just fine. Live, this song sounds like a typical, great Hip song, and yet it still sounds like the studio version. They haven't tampered with it at all. It's just missing the keyboard bits.

The only new song I don't love is Rink. I do like the crescendo part, but the lyrics and the chorus don't do anything for me, and I'm actually quite surprised that people have bashed In View so much, while people seem to love Rink. It's another Hip-hockey song, and this time with a simple, somewhat boring chorus - one line repeated over and over again (at the lonely end of the rink: you and me....etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.).

Pretend makes up for Rink, with its simple yet unique arrangement (this won't make sense if you haven't heard the song, but it sounds like there's one more "Yes I can" in each chorus than naturally fits ("I can pretend, yes I can, yes I can, yes I can" - when you hear it the first time, it sounds like the second "yes I can" doesn't belong...at first)...but it makes the song more interesting that it's there.

Anyway, all in all, an enjoyable show, but not nearly as good as the London show or any other Hip show I've seen in the past few years.

CB
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Post by nstaples »

great show , great venue but damn chilly. The VIP section was worth the money..didn't have to wait in line for beers and the view of the stage was great. I love the way they are mixing their setlists up from show to show....you never know what you are going to hear. I knew when they opened with Springtime, we were in for an interesting song list.

"In View" sounded fantasic!! I was wondering if they were going to break out the keyboards but they didn't so the song rocked a little harder. I just can't get that tune out of my head..phone rings once, phone rings twice..

Highlights for me were.. In View, The Ocean, Don't wake Daddy, music@work.

I did a double take when I saw Bob Rock. Wasn't expecting to see him there. and what about that Bobnoxious... I thought that were awesome. Sorta like The Ramones meets Spinal Tap.
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Post by chris »

A big thanks (again) go to MAv for helping the tapers out. Without him, this show may not have been captured.

As well, I think that a lot of the complaints about the sound have to do with the fact that it was a big open air space and the wind, temperature and everyone moving around plays havoc with the way it sounds. I was standing dead centre in front of the soundboard and I didn't hear any fluctuations that others have spoke of; mind you, I didn't move from that spot. As well, Hugh mentioned that there was a different road crew this time around - although some of the more well known faces were not present, some of these guys have been with The Hip for a while.
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Post by dreyfuss »

Yeah, it was a different soundguy then Mark, but the guy doing the sound is part of the normal crew as well.

As for the sound, there were a couple points where things went a little funny but nothing too crazy, Gords voice sounded the same to me as it has at pretty much every show I've seen, no different than any of
my other recordings. As Chris said it may have had something to do with where people were etc.

According to Canoe's website there was an estimated 25000 people there last night, about 5 times more than we (the tapers) had thought when we were discussing it before we got to the show.

A big thank you to the kind folks near the soundboard that shared some space with us after we got our stands in. We were rushing to set up and probably got in your way far more than we ment too, for this I appollogize, and I hope you kept your fliers with the appropriate web addresses so that you can get this and other shows when the new album comes out.

I'd also like to send a huge thank you out to MAv, this guy goes way above and beyond his duties when it comes to helping fans.
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Post by direwolf74 »

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IMissMyLungBob
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Post by IMissMyLungBob »

Did anyone get any good pics from the show? (we forgot our camera)
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Post by emperor penguin »

I noticed Billy Ray was adjusting the microphone by one of Johnny's symbols for most of the end of the concert.

The only time I really noticed a sound issue was during Wheat Kings when all of a sudden one of Paul's strums was extremely loud, I dont know if it was a soundboard issue or he just strummed that note extremely hard. After it happened he started laughing.

I forgot to mention too that Bobnoxious was really good, they played a great set and I'll definatley be checking out more of their catalouge in the future, and I really enjoyed Hawksley Workman as well. I have only ever heard Anger as Beauty and Jealous of your Cigarette before and I don't particualrly like either of those songs, after hearing more Workman songs live I am interested to hear more of his work. Does anyone have a setlist for Hawksley Workman, the second last song he played was really good.
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IMissMyLungBob
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Post by IMissMyLungBob »

emperor penguin wrote:The only time I really noticed a sound issue was during Wheat Kings when all of a sudden one of Paul's strums was extremely loud, I dont know if it was a soundboard issue or he just strummed that note extremely hard. After it happened he started laughing.
Ya I remember that but my brother who was there with me thought it was Rob's guitar and I was almost sure it was Paul's by the sound of it. So was it Paul for sure?
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Post by hipgirl from stratford »

Having THE TRAGICALLY HIP play live in Stratford was pretty cool. It was a beautiful night of music that kept me dancing under the moonlit sky till the last song. I had alot of fun and thought that the band did a great job. They really kept the crowd rockin. I can't wait to get the chance to see them again.
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