05/09/09: House of Blues: Boston, MA

[BIGVDOGG]

Awesome! Thx Trevor and I assume Chris.

[Mr. Lahey]

They really like Poets, Nashville and ABAC so far don't they? I hope they start switching it up. Country Day really needs to be brought back.

[767F/O]

House of Blues was a great venue to see/hear the band and I thought the accoustics were great from the floors.

The new stuff sounded great live, especially Frozen In My Tracks, Speed River and Queen of the Furrows. I think that I liked the new stuff that much more without all the "fluff" that comes with the orchestra and back ground singing that you find on WATS. I also really liked Love is a FIrst - which I have grown really tired of lately (it is really over played on Toronto radio) sounded great live!

The accoustic numbers were great - nice seeing the boys sitting down relaxed and enjoying themselves.

Fun time in Boston! Nice meeting you Chris, Steve and Mark.

Looking forward to A Night In Toronto - next Friday at Massey hall !! Hoping for some jems!

Cheers.

[Mr. Dave]

Just getting back to the hotel after the show, some pizza and a Gatorade...

The venue was nice, the staff were pretty chill, and the sound was excellent from our spot right behind the soundboard.

There were six sets of mics being run tonight so I'm sure at least one will make it to the tracker soon...

PS: If anyone in Boston happens to find my passport, please mail it to me. I lost it between Newbury/Dalton and the Aquarium stop on the T!

[longpond69]

All around, a top-notch ripper.

[38Mike]

"Bobcaygeon into Nautical"

Whoa! Do you mean that they did a medley and jammed Bobc right into Nautical?!
Sounds deadly

[MAverick]

[chris]

Awesome! Thx Trevor and I assume Chris.

Yes.

[chris]

"Bobcaygeon into Nautical"

Whoa! Do you mean that they did a medley and jammed Bobc right into Nautical?!
Sounds deadly

Not really... they just kept the drum and bass lines going and started right into Nautical. It's commonly performed this way.

[Tthip]

Thank you MAv.

[canadarules99]

Increbile show... the newly opened HOB in Boston is a great place (not much change from the prior Avalon though...)

Its worth the 9 hour drive from Ottawa to watch these guys. To stand 10 feet from Gord and witness the increbile energy that this band possesses is amazing. Wish they toured every year but I always get 2-3 shows in States as seeing them play here in Canada is a different experience.

Hip Hip Hip... Go Leafs!

[cpierson]

Increbile show... the newly opened HOB in Boston is a great place (not much change from the prior Avalon though...)

It was actually kinda strange to see how much of Avalon was retained. I was expecting a completely new venue. It was a great place to see a show, though -- they spruced it up great.

I do wish there were fewer yutzes in the crowd, though. I got the usual hockey-shirted drunken meatball on my right yelling "HIP! HIP! HIP!" during the quieter parts of the acoustic set (and demanding Little Bones before every song -- dude, chill: they make the setlists beforehand) on my right, and three supremely unkempt hippies smoking up on my left, then stoner-dancing so that the packed crowd had to pack even tighter to keep away from them. Didn't mind the crowd surfers; at least they chose appropriate songs for it instead of being all "Wooo! Fiddler's Green! Boost me up!"

The band was amazing, and the new material was great. Frozen is a crowd-pleaser, as I figured it would be, and First, Furrows, and Speed were great too. And I'm glad I got to hear Depression Suite, because I doubt they'll unfurl that giant song too often in future tours. Struggle's a great sing-alonger, too, although I'm trying to figure out whether Gord was just being Gord when he dedicated it to Pope Benny 16, or if there's more subtext to it than I'm getting. 50MC was a fantastic and unexpected closer. And the B's won last night, so I guess it worked.

I do wish they'd gone slightly deeper into the catalogue for some of the older stuff; this was I think the first song of the tour that didn't include anything they hadn't already played at least once. I was hoping for a Dark Canuck/Emperor Penguin/Daredevil/Tiger the Lion "holy cow, they're playing that?" moment. I guess Throwing Off Glass and Toronto #4 were scarcer tracks, but they were repeats. I kinda envy the Massey Hall audiences, because I'm sure there's gonna be a whole slew of rare gems over the next week and change. But that's a minor quibble, really -- overall, a great show.

[hotmetal401]

Lessons learned on Lansdowne Street:

1 - If you're going to volunteer to do something, make sure technology is your friend before you try it. A big sorry to the 'Base for not being able to update through Twitter and a huge thanks for Chris for kicking in the updates. Those boys in the THE Union, they're kings among men (and perhaps queens among women - I'm not sure if they are any lady members yet, but I don't want to discriminate if there are). Next time, when focused solely on the show and not splitting the attention with *ahem, other pursuits, I'll be around to pay my dues (and by dues I mean a round of drinks). Also, sorry for the yelling Chris. It had been a long day. Hope the passport turned up.

2 - This band is on fire. Beg, borrow or steal to see them on this tour. GD's voice is in top shape, the new material sounds great, In View is a live track, finally, thanks to the keyboard addition, and the back cuts are coming off well (and the crowd's even being thanked "indulging the band" in some cases). The nine setlist comment is out the door. There's still enough variety in the song selection to make this a multi-show summer, if you haven't planned to do so already. Highlights had to be Suite, Joe, Furrows, and the acoustic set. TO #4 was so awesome to hear, as was the acoustic Music at Work. Fiddlers is always a gem and the response it got from the crowd was so fitting.

3 - Turns out the locals believe you can crowd surf to In View, despite the signs at the venue asking you not to. At least it was during Bobcaygeon. I'm really hoping the kids in Bruce County can top that at Wiarton.

4 - What ever is in a Scorpion Bowl, found at a bar called the Hong Kong in Faneuil Hall, is nearly enough to destroy an evening started with $1.50 Bud Lights (itself nearly enough to destroy a beautiful Saturday afternoon). That said, if you find yourself there and looking from some large Sangria like contraption with three of your closest friends (maybe even of the female persuasion) I say giddy up. You'll find your inhibitions thrown by the wayside while belting out "You're A God" by Vertical Horrizon.

All in all a great time. Photos are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pb401/ . Lots of GD - lead singers are easiest to get a good shot of. They could be better. And by could be I mean, dear God, I hope I get to shoot them professionally with my work camera at the Wiarton gig (it's a local news story, honest).

Cheers,

Pat

[chris]

Get it here: http://www.thehiptracker.com/details.php?id=219&hit=1

[Locked]

Chris,

Are you a very tall chap, no longer wearing your beard seated (standing really) in the upper VIP section of my fair city venue? I think you were wearing mostly white?

Scotty

BTW they nailed Fiddler's Green... Gord's vocals were as good as the studio version (yes that good)..