06/20/09: Save On Foods Memorial Centre: Victoria, BC

[sean.bonner]

Post Your Review!!!!!!

[restlesssoul]

wow, nothing?? what happened at the gig tonight?

[The Bear]

Oh man... I usually rely on everybody else at this hour to have posted a recap for me, but since reviews are apparently scarce, I'll donate a boooozy quickie... I'm sure I'll remember a few highlights after I post this, (had a few celebratory beers afterward!) but until then, here's what stood out for me...

Went to both shows in Victoria and if I had to choose, tonight's was a cut above yesterday's (barely of course). Both nights Gord was very engaging and a lot more talkative and interactive than in recent years. During the last song of the 2nd set (pre-encore) he jumped down and sang with the folks in the front row (Did this both nights). Lots of handkerchief action. During 'Locked' he had it over his face and was screaming 'Let Me Out' through it! Awesome! Grace, Too was another screamer at the end.

Really cool setlist with a good difference between last night and tonight. Got an acoustic Fiddler's Green with a heartfelt intro as to why they couldn't play it live for all those years. Coffee Girl and Boots or Hearts rounded out the acoustic set. Sorry I don't have a complete setlist... (Not the right place to mention it, but last night Courage was acoustic - sweet! Would love to have a soundboard of Acoustic Courage surface!)

Frozen in My Tracks - hasn't yet spoken to me from the disc, but my God, live it was incredible. He got the crowd to sing the 'Whoaa Ohhhh' part and they willingly obliged.

He claimed Morning Moon was the best song they ever wrote, then after- hmmm... don't want to say a false start- but there was a brief delay or a few attempted notes at which point Gord said, 'Okay, the 2nd best song we ever wrote.'

Don't Wake Daddy was tonight's 'deep track' I wasn't expecting. I'll say last night's was Thugs.

NOIS both nights with a 'What if Victoria was sinking?' intro that the crowd ate up.

Crowd went nuts when they started ABAC....

The Drepression Suite and The Last Recluse are both killer imo, and live they were even better. During the first few lines of Recluse, Gord was singing them to Paul.

Awright... I guess I'll wrap it up for now. Really killer shows both nights. The energy was very reminiscent of past years - and I mean like 10 - 15 years ago!

Thanks for letting me share Hipbasers! Yer the Ocean! (Yeah they played that one tonight too!)

[BeerBaron]

Got an acoustic Fiddler's Green with a heartfelt intro as to why they couldn't play it live for all those years.

Care to elaborate on this point?

[ikky99]

Got an acoustic Fiddler's Green with a heartfelt intro as to why they couldn't play it live for all those years.

Care to elaborate on this point?

I'm too lazy to answer that, but, again, the SEARCH option is a beautiful thing.

[restlesssoul]

wow, yeah that fiddler's green intro sounds awesome. would have loved to hear it.....and morning moon is easily one of the best songs they've ever written, but my fav is esacpe is at hand or leave.


for the poster above:


FIDDLER"S GREEN - too personal to play live

"...September Seventeen
For a girl I know it's Mother's Day
Her son has gone alee
And that's where he will stay"

From Have Not Been The Same: The Can-Rock Revolution: "The album's most moving image was saved for the acoustic vignette "Fiddler's Green," written as a tribute to Downie's young nephew Charles Gillespie who had died of a heart ailment the previous September."

"...Tearing blue eyes sailor-mean
As Falstaff sings a sorrowful refrain
For a boy in Fiddler's Green"

The song itself is a lament-in-lyric for a mother, related to Downie, who has lost her son. It is an elegiac, mournful and beautiful farewell and reassurance all at once. Falstaff, another reference to a Shakespearian character within Hip lyrics, is a comic creation who appears as relief in four of Shakespeare's plays. His presence here sheds light on just how sad this moment is, as even the legendary literary clown is moved and reticent.

Fiddler's Green is a kind of Celtic Heaven for men lost at Sea. It is said to be "...the happy land imagined by sailors where there is perpetual mirth, a fiddle that never stops playing for dancers who never tire."
Due to the personal nature of the song, it remained famously unplayed for fifteen years. There were no known instances of "Fiddler's Green" being played live until October 28, 2006 in Calgary, Alberta.

[chris]

Got an acoustic Fiddler's Green with a heartfelt intro as to why they couldn't play it live for all those years.

Care to elaborate on this point?

I'm too lazy to answer that, but, again, the SEARCH option is a beautiful thing.

Careful ikky... you're on a slippery slope suggesting that people search for answers on their own!

BeerBaron... I don't know what was said specifically at this show, but....

From "Have Not Been The Same" via scottitude.net:
"The album's most moving image was saved for the acoustic vignette "Fiddler's Green," written as a tribute to Downie's young nephew Charles Gillespie who had died of a heart ailment the previous September."

[Ry222]

but for the most of us who do know why they did not play fiddlers for so long, it would be nice to know exactly what Gord said prior to playing the song last night, and that could be what BeerBaron meant. After all, he did ask the question in the show review thread.
I'd like to know how Gord opened the song, as no live versions of fiddlers green that I've heard have opened up with a lengthy intro that explains its absence.

[HandsInTheRiver41]

Great show last night, much better than Friday night's.
The two shows complimented each other nicely, but last night had all the energy.

Here is the setlist the best I can remember it (I know I've messed up some song orders in middle of both sets... and one of the set 2 songs was probably actually played in set 1... maybe ABAC but I'm not sure). I thought it was cool they reversed the opening and closing songs of set one between the two nights.

Love Is a First
Poets
Don't Wake Daddy
Family Band
Nautical Disaster
The Last Recluse
Springtime in Vienna
Morning Moon
In View
The Depression Suite

Boots or Hearts *
Coffee Girl *
Fiddler's Green *
Grace Too
Ahead By a Century
Yer Not the Ocean
Courage
Now the Struggle Has a Name
Bobcaygeon
Fully Completely
Queen of the Furrows
Locked in the Trunk of a Car
My Music @ Work

Frozen in My Tracks
New Orleans Is Sinking


If I could have changed anything about last night's set, I would have replaced MM@W with Tiger the Lion, and replaced Frozen with Country Day (no I don't always prefer the track that comes next!). But I would love to finally hear a different song off of MM@W, and they had Frozen in the opening encore slot LAST night! Where's my country day!?

Oh well, this was overall either my 2nd or 3rd favourite hip show I've been to (out of 5).

[HandsInTheRiver41]

I'd like to know how Gord opened the song, as no live versions of fiddlers green that I've heard have opened up with a lengthy intro that explains its absence.

Before Fiddler's Green Gord said something like (and I'm obviously paraphrasing here):

"This is a song that we never used to play because it was emotionally draining on us. But now with the passage of time we are able to play it and it brings us joy that so many of you enjoy it."

[direwolf74]

Before Fiddler's Green Gord said something like (and I'm obviously paraphrasing here):

"This is a song that we never used to play because it was emotionally draining on us. But now with the passage of time we are able to play it and it brings us joy that so many of you enjoy it."

He made a similar introduction for "Fiddler's" in San Francisco, and mentioned that when they first wrote it they were all crying their eyes out, and they couldn't play it for the longest time. But when they play it now it brings them joy.

[direwolf74]

Frozen in My Tracks - hasn't yet spoken to me from the disc, but my God, live it was incredible. He got the crowd to sing the 'Whoaa Ohhhh' part and they willingly obliged. The Drepression Suite and The Last Recluse are both killer imo, and live they were even better.

Agreed. Those three tunes are hands down the best live songs from the new record. Frozen in My Tracks is absolutely ferocious in concert, and I love the crowd sing-a-long during the chorus. Morning Moon sounds fantastic as well. I noticed a lot of folks are still pissing all over the new album in the We Are the Same discussion thread. But these new songs are excellent in a live setting. To me the only song that doesn't seem to translate well to the stage is Coffee Girl. I don't mind it on the album, but Jim Bryson's cheesy synthesizer parts during the live show are very tough on the ears. I much prefer the live acoustic version from the KMTT Radio interview in Seattle where Robby played the lead in place of the trumpet/synthesizer.

[pprusha]

(Not the right place to mention it, but last night Courage was acoustic - sweet! Would love to have a soundboard of Acoustic Courage surface!)

I recorded Friday night's entire show, with the exception of Courage! My apologies, I went for a beer run too late into intermission, and ended up getting back just after Thompson Girl started. I'd be happy to share MP3's of any of the other songs they played on Friday Night, complete with Gord's introductions where applicable. Just let me know which songs you'd like me to post:

Depression Suite
In View
Gift Shop
Coffee Girl
Twist my Arm
Morning Moon
New Orleans is Sinking
It's a Good Life if you Don't Weaken
The Exact Feeling
100th Meridian
Love is a First

(intermission)

Courage (sorry, not recorded)
Thompson Girl
Wheat Kings (Rob Baker played an acoustic beautifully on his lap with a slide, Johnny Fay did an incredible job with the marraca in his right hand, all the other rhythm with his left hand)
Nautical Disaster
The Last Recluse
Springtime in Vienna
Gus the Polar Bear from Central Park
Thugs
The Lonely End of the Rink
Now the Struggle has a Name
Fireworks
Little Bones

Encore:
Frozen in My Tracks
Blow at High Dough

[chris]

Share them all, please. And do you only have it in MP3? What did you record it with? And in what format?

[The Bear]

Frozen in My Tracks is absolutely ferocious in concert, and I love the crowd sing-a-long during the chorus.

Ferocious is the perfect word to describe Frozen in My Tracks live! Has a life of its own that's not captured on the disc - but maybe now I'll hear that 'je ne sais quoi' now that I've had it launched at me like that.

(Not the right place to mention it, but last night Courage was acoustic - sweet! Would love to have a soundboard of Acoustic Courage surface!)

I recorded Friday night's entire show, with the exception of Courage!

Awwww your killing me! But thanks for grabbing the rest of the show... can't wait to hear it.

And sorry about that - I should've been more detailed about Gord's intro to Fiddler's. HandsInTheRiver41 and direwolf74 pretty much nailed it if you put them both together! I definitely remember Gord saying they would cry their eyes out if they played it, and then going into the 'but with the passage of time...' bit. While I was lucky enough to see Fiddler's on their last tour, he never intro'd it like that. I think the acoustic set's atmosphere is a bit more conducive to these types of intros. On Friday night for Wheat Kings Gord explained that it was about David Milgaard. Even though many of us know these tidbits already, it's still kind of cool to hear it come right from him.