06/27/09: Wiarton Airfield: Wiarton, ON

[Tthip]

bridge to nowhere "let's keep the peace"

I hope this does not mean a pain in the ass crowd.

[chris]

No one updating the setlist?

Setlist
01: Love Is A First
02: In View
03: Gift Shop
04: Ahead By A Century
05: Morning Moon ("This is the second best song we ever wrote")
06: Springtime In Vienna
07: The Depression Suite
08: Yer Not The Ocean
09: Poets
10: Wheat Kings (Acoustic)
11: Coffee Girl (Acoustic)
12: Courage (Acoustic)
13: The Last Recluse
14: Grace, Too
15: Bobcaygeon
16: Fully Completely
17: Now The Struggle Has A Name
18: My Music At Work
19: New Orleans Is Sinking

Encore:
20: Frozen In My Tracks
21: Blow At High Dough



------
RE: "second best song..." Gord's been saying that about different songs on this tour. I just listened to one of the Vancouver recordings and he referred to Bobcaygeon as the second best song they ever wrote.

[JT_Stone]

How is the "Evening With" working out in the outdoors?

[hotmetal401]

How is the "Evening With" working out in the outdoors?

It doesn't. No break. Four less songs.

Interesting day. Better Hip set than last year's Big Music Fest set. But Bellevegas had Sarah Harmer, so therefore it probably holds up. The crowd were a lovely mix of drunk, douchebags and rock and rollers. Sometimes all three mixed. I bailed from the front when the moshing starting during In View. Photos are coming (hopefully) once this week's issue is put to be

The Wiarton set was Sam Robert's 80th time opening for Das Hip. And every time they get closer to accepting that torch and upstaging the headliners. Man, they keep getting better.

More to follow later. I'm still digesting the night (and the escape from the "parking lot") over a cold beverage.

Also, thanks to Chris and Sullivand for following the Twitter tonight. Greatly appreciated! As well, the Sam set opened with Love at the End of the World, followed by the 2 min intro -> Good People

Cheers,

Pat

[38Mike]

[quote="chris"]No one updating the setlist?

10: Wheat Kings (Acoustic)
11: Coffee Girl (Acoustic)
12: Courage (Acoustic)

So did they switch over the stage on the fly while everyone was just standing there with no intermission?

[aseriesofdots]

the stage was switches over with no intermission. took about 1 minute but gord did a big lead in to wheat kings talking about how lucky we are to live where we do, yet to remember how falable it can be too.


just some passing thoughts:
this was my 6th show, and must admit sound wise it was the best (at least from where i was standing). everyshow i've seen up to this point gord's voice was too low in the mix and struggled to hear his voice. in wiarton he was loud and up front in the mix which was awesome.

on paper maybe it wasn't the most varied setlist, but some of the songs came across really really well. i would vote that that was the best grace too i've heard yet. gift shop also 'felt' epic with it getting dark and a few rays of sun peaking through the clouds.

although this was probably my favorite time seeing the band, one observation was that the set wasn't paced very well. i am a huge 'we are the same fan' but i felt the new songs (especially the slower ones) were placed in weird spots.

for example. the acoustic set felt intimate during wheat kings, everyone's lighters up, but then a stripped down coffee girl really got lost on the crowd (it's a much better electric song ... as i heard it at massey hall this spring). then courage acoustic which was a nice touch, but after that people were really looking forward to a good rocker... you could taste it, but then to play the last recluse really lulled for a few minutes.

the combo of morning moon, springtime and the depression suite also seemed to drag just a touch... all of this being said, i think i'm thinking more from a casual fan perspective, those who showed up for a party. me being a fan of the newer music was glad to hear the tunes being explored by the band. but i want the new songs to be given a real chance in the setlist... now the struggle has a name right after fully completely that late in the show made it sound less impactful too.

one other boarderline 'complaint'. i'm a huge morning moon fan (i'm actually a radio dj and have put it in my station's rotation. i feel it is one of the band's strongest written tunes (or as gord said 'the second best song they ever wrote' ). however i don't feel it's a song that works live for them. the intimacy that is captured on the album didn't across last night, nor at massey hall.

those ideas aside, incredible show, gord in top form, sound was powerful. crowd may have been a touch basic, yet very appreciative, the guitars i felt especially felt beefed up and i don't think i've heard johnny's drums sounds so boomy before either (in a good way).

all in all the best i've seen the boys yet, but those looking for thoughts on the show, i wanted to pass 'em your way.

[Mr. Lahey]

How is the "Evening With" working out in the outdoors?

It doesn't. No break. Four less songs.

Pat

I expected this because it wasn't an Evening With... show. Because it was part of a festival I expected the same format as last years Big Music Fest. I figured a 25 song show with an intermission would be too long as well, with the Hip likely coming on around 9 instead of 8.

[sullivand]

the Sam set opened with Love at the End of the World, followed by the 2 min intro -> Good People

That's what your posts said -- I just figured the intro would have been first. Too much thinking. I went back and edited the setlist above. Thanks for keeping us up-to-date last night.

[Tthip]

"Dedicated 'Fully Completely' to the memory of Michael Jackson"

[sadohert]

but then a stripped down coffee girl really got lost on the crowd (it's a much better electric song ... as i heard it at massey hall this spring)

That was probably my highlight!

Loved the show overall. My first reaction woudl be to complain about not hearing enough rare gems, but what the boys played for last nights crowd was perfect. I was in a big group of people with a wide spectrum of Hip fan-dom-ness and interest, and it seems like everyone was really pumped wiht what they heard in the end.

[thebends]

Just got back from "the Bruce" and yet another great performance by the Hip. We set up shop right in front of the sound board and were rewarded with fantastic sound and sight lines. Sammy kicked ass, every time we see this band they seem to get better and this was no exception. The closing Mind Flood included some of the finest jamming I can remember from any artist in the last couple of years. Paul and Rob were left side stage for most of the set and seemed pretty stoked with Sammy's performance. Their sound guy was kind enough to give us the set list - sweet!

The Hip's set was solid and IMO was well received, although the new material seemed to have some of the crowd perplexed and wondering if they were at the right show. A drunken a-hole beside me who went nuts for every "oldie" kept razzing the band (loudly) when there was a song he didn't recognize; what a tool! I thought this was a mellower show for the boys which is fine by me, but after the electrifying set by SRB it didn't seem like crowd was willing to sit back and enjoy the "cottage songs". I also have to shout out to Paul - its been a while since I've focused my attention on him and I have to say he kicks some serious guitar ass. Not to take anything away from Rob but last night I thought Paul during NOIS was about as good as a guitarist can be. Seroiusly awesome.


The event logistics were disappointing and I'm sure there were lessons learned for next year. The "beer garden" was a joke, at least one hour line up for beer and wine, and if you left you had to line up again. We arrived at about 5pm (2 hours after gates) and the water vendors had already run out of water with no clear indication if or when they would be replenished. I also thought the field layout was awkward, almost like a thin rectangle that went way back to the parking area with fencing on both sides. It made for a most uncomfortable shoulder to shoulder crowd setting that got some people frustrated an grumpy. We saw several fights and police\security interventions throughout the show. It got so bad at one point Sammy actually made comments about keeping the peace and being safe.

It will be hard to forget the spectacular vistas of the stage with the sun's rays bearly glimmering through the cloudbase in the background. All in alll a great experience.

[ikky99]

Update one : spades close set with first verse of Get Back Again

WHAT? Seriously? You're joking right?

[ikky99]

Funny pseudo review. I post only due to the "reefer" reference - I wonder if this writer is 77 years old? I hadn't heard that word in years!

http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/Articl ... ?e=1633621


Concert-goers go Big
Posted By Scott Dunn
Posted 6 hours ago


Big Music Fest producer Mark Higgins promised a safe rock show instead of a “drunkfest,” and he said that’s pretty much what he delivered Saturday at the Wiarton airport.

Higgins said the event drew “slightly less than 15,000” paid visitors, 60 per cent of them from outside the area. Aerial photos show some 2,000 cars, plus 20 or more school buses coming and going.

There were long lineups for food, water, and particularly for beer in the 5,000-strong beer garden.

“The show was outstanding, the music was great, the audience, from what I can tell — and I’ll stand by this — was very well behaved. They came there to have a great time and they did have a great time,” Higgins said Sunday morning.

The bowl in front of the stage really started to fill for Juno award-winning acts Sam Roberts and show closer The Tragically Hip Saturday night.

Shortly after 9 p.m. the audience sang O Canada before the Tragically Hip took the stage. Most fans stood through the 90-minute set. No lawn chairs were allowed.

Front man Gordon Downie strutted back and forth across the front of the stage with a white handkerchief in hand, at times punching the air with it.

His distinctive singing voice, a melancholy and at times growly drone, and the band’s sound carried over an excellent sound system.

A screen high on either side of the stage projected Downie’s equally unmistakable image — his white, shaved head, black vest over untucked white dress shirt and dark pants.

The crowd seemed more relaxed than excitable through much of The Hip’s performance. Some people swayed and danced to the music and most others stood, at least in the back half of the audience. Reefer smoke was noticeable too.

“I thought it was great,” said Ryan Coish, of Tottenham, west of Newmarket, who was bussed from the Fiddlehead Resort at Oliphant, where he was camping. Though the delays to get beer were long, it didn’t diminish the good time much, he said.

“Fantastic,” said Jason French. “Awesome,” said Laura Callen, who came with French from Guelph.

Teresa McVety, who lives in Whistler, B.C., watched the show from atop a bus, “which turned out to be far better than being in that crowd.”

Police reports weren’t all available Sunday. Grey County OPP Const. Steve Starr said by 6:30 p.m. Saturday there were the “usual incidents” concerning the beer garden, which led to some arrests for public intoxication.

“At the end of the evening, the police I talked to were quite happy,” concert producer Higgins said.

Starr said there were liquor offences and traffic tickets issued outside the gate, but by early evening police weren’t too busy outside the concert fence.

Higgins witnessed three or four visitors succumb to heat exhaustion. The day’s hot sunshine gave way to a cloudy and cool evening, but ambulances were still departing the site with patients after 10 p.m. Someone in the emergency department at Wiarton hospital declined comment and ambulance officials couldn’t be reached Sunday.

By 8 p.m., Shane Marcella, an Owen Sound realtor, reported he’d waited two hours in the beer garden line. As he neared the entrance he understood he faced up to an hour longer.

“No, it’s not OK. Not for a concert. We haven’t seen any bands because we’ve been waiting for a drink.”

Many others expressed dismay in interviews at the wait for beer.

Higgins confirmed his intention to bring the concert back to the airport next year but he’ll double the beer taps for that event, he said.

The 5,000-person beer garden capacity, five-ticket limit per person and purchase limit of two beers at a time won’t change.

Some people were butting in the beer line, a security guard said. OPP Const. Delisa Schieven, who works out of Chatsworth, was one of more than 50 officers working the event. She spotted some guys trying to cut in but she swiftly told them to leave. “Everything’s been pretty good,” she said.

Higgins sympathized with beer-thirsty fans, but only to a point. He doesn’t want people loaded with beer mixing it up in the concert bowl.

“And that’s a good thing because it is not a drunkfest.”

Higgins has been careful to emphasize that he runs a squeaky clean event because he wants to come back.
Article ID# 1633621

[aseriesofdots]

but then a stripped down coffee girl really got lost on the crowd (it's a much better electric song ... as i heard it at massey hall this spring)

That was probably my highlight!

Loved the show overall. My first reaction woudl be to complain about not hearing enough rare gems, but what the boys played for last nights crowd was perfect. I was in a big group of people with a wide spectrum of Hip fan-dom-ness and interest, and it seems like everyone was really pumped wiht what they heard in the end.

I agree acoustic coffee girl was great to hear... I enjoyed it as I am sure some others did. But from where I was everyone just started talking and kind of shuffling about during it. I feel if it had been done electric it may not have gotten that same response.

[thebends]

The bowl in front of the stage really started to fill for Juno award-winning acts Sam Roberts and show closer The Tragically Hip Saturday night.

I've seen references to a "bowl" a couple of times (including the Big Musicfest web site) and there was no such thing. I was actually looking forward to this since you can ususally get better sightlines from a bowl type venue but it was just a regular flat field.

Higgins witnessed three or four visitors succumb to heat exhaustion.

While this always happens at this type of event I think it some of it could have been avoided ... as I mentioned earlier water vendors had run out of this precious commodity when we arrived at about 5pm, and then later in the evening when we went back we stood in line for 45 minutes to get a bottle of water.