05/07/09: Theatre of Living Arts: Philadelphia, PA

[emperpenguin]

Had a great time, the show was well preformed...fantastic. Everything from the new album sounded great live. . Lots of fun. I got there early(with my wife and another couple) and was right in front of rob and gord. Then all of a sudden during love is a first this crazy bitch pushes her way up front and begins to flail her arms, elbowing my wife and my buddies wife in the head, and the couple who was next to us all night from Montreal. We asked her to calm down and she blatently ignored everyone, then she took it too far and my buddies wife pushed her and a big commotion ensued. At this point we are in grace too, I step in and tell her to get the f**k out of here, but she is not listening. The security gaurds came over, and all I am thinking is that I'm going to be the one booted since there is a chick involved, but he saw the whole charade and escorted this looney toon out. and the show continued.... Great time from there on out. The acoustic set was fantastic. I was especially happy with frozen in my tracks(after the acoustic set), where gord encourages the crowd participation with the 'woo ooo'

If I have any complaints, it is courage. I was really hoping to get a show minus courage, but I never do. hopefully one of my artpark shows will omit that song. With these "new" set list choices, please stick anything in there besides courage.

I hear you. I've been on the other end, but when people ask me to take it down a notch, I know I've crossed the line...especially if I'm the one jumping in front on the floor well into the show. At least it is a good story, the ladies were perseverating on the incident the whole ride home..lots of laughs
Hopefully the "overserved and out of control" gal wasn't one of our hipbase friends....lol

[brian1175]

Great show... I could pick out 3 hockey players....danny briere, scott hartnell and glen metropolit.

Can't say enough about the show. Great show. I thought It's a good life was excellent. Nice variety, although I would have to agree that courage needs to be retired. Also, I could do without the encore...getting old...at 11:30 pm when most have to work the next day.

The songs off of "we are the same" were awesome. Gotta be the best album since Phantom power.

[bstrauss24]

Son of a bitch, I think this is my favorite set list yet....so many of my personal faves made the cut. Even the singles they chose are some of my live favorites. Really wish I was there. Haven't seen the Completist since my first Hip Show in the summer of 2000

[knightrider]

Great, great time. As mentioned by others, it turned into an Evening with the Tragically Hip AND Philadelphia Flyers. As a huge fan of both, that's a hell of a night for me. For the record, these are the Flyers who were there. I was pretty close to them for much of the night & talked to a couple: Mike Richards, Joffrey Lupul, Riley Cote, Luca Sbisa, Danny Briere, and Glenn Metropolit (I know Habs - he said they are his favorite band btw, just another reason we shouldve never let him get away this season). I definitely did not see Hartnell, but Cote has longish curly hair like him. There were a couple other guys with them who might have been minor leaguers or whatever, but that's all the Flyers who I saw with them. We happened to sit next to most of them on the patio at Jon's Grille at 3rd & South before the show as well.

I was happy with alot of the setlist, especially Pistols & Yawning (with a shoutout to my hometown of Harrisburg). The new songs came across very well, I thought, but particularly Last Recluse, which has taken some time to grow on me. I would not have thought it would make a good opener, but couldnt have been more wrong. It was actually incredibly performed and I was personally moved by it. Gord reached out & took hold of the audience with that song, within seconds of the start of the show & had the whole place in the palm of his hands. The whole theater was bellowing the whoa, ooo, ooo, ooos at the end while he exulted us on. It was fantastic. I definitely didnt really expect to hear so many of the standards I've heard at nearly every show I've been to (NOIS, Grace, Gift, Nautical, Courage, Bones, Bob C). They're all great songs but it wouldnt have been my 1st choice to hear ALL of them again in these mixed-up lists. But hey, I'm nit-picking cause it was an awesome show. I'm sorry to see that here that they crossed off Opiated for Thompson Girl, but again I'm not going to complain. It was a fantastic night. I may have more thoughts later, but gotta run. Chris

[SteveHebe]

I haven't missed the Hip in Philly since 1998. For reasons too involved to discuss, I was not I was not really as psyched about this show as I would normally be. I was not overly crazy about "We are the Same", it's good but I was afraid it was too mellow for the shows that I have come to expect. After the show, all I can say is, THESE GUYS F***ING BRING IT!!!! WOW Loved it from beginning to end! They rocked the sh!t out of Three Pistols & Twist My Arm, I thought the new tunes blended in great. The crowd was great & and the boys were in top form! It was ANOTHER great show. Cya tonight in NYC

[BDS28]

Also, I could do without the encore...getting old...at 11:30 pm when most have to work the next day.

Are you freakin kidding me?

If you don't want to stay up late then go home. Why in hell would you not want there to be an encore?

Blasphemy!

[emperpenguin]

I definitely didnt really expect to hear so many of the standards I've heard at nearly every show I've been to (NOIS, Grace, Gift, Nautical, Courage, Bones, Bob C). They're all great songs but it wouldnt have been my 1st choice to hear ALL of them again in these mixed-up lists.

That was my 1st thought too, I was hoping for less of the same old.... But the show was still great.

[Jrock1818]

Thank you chris for letting me know, i assumed it had something to do with wha guirtar or what notes hwe had to play orsomething like that, and yes it was pausl ,i was right in front of him. I would agree courgae is plaeyd a little to mch, i pretty much called it a few seconds before they started playing , i actually called a lot of what they where about to play, that will happen after 20 some shows. I also agree, what a jackass comment about not playin an encore, it is one of the best parts of the show, every damn band has one, i would be beyon pissed if there was no encore. and 1130 is to late? come on if thats to late ofr ya dont go or a le ast do not complain about it. and maybe opiated will be played sometime later is the tour, i would of really enjoyed to hear that, and thanks agin for that info.

[MAverick]

:D14. Thompson Girl ( Accoustic) Opiated was crossed here in place of Thomson Girl. Opiated could of been a treat

I really miss the old days when TheHip.com would post actual pictures of the setlists the day after the show.
I loved seeing what they crossed off and replaced, and what the encore was thought to be and then actually was.

I am trying to resurrect this

[Ballgame]

didnt see this thread so made my own
http://hipbase.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14243

Setlist

The Last Recluse
Ocean
Honey
Gift
Morning
Bobcaygeon
Love is a Curse
Grace
Nautical
Struggle Has a Name
The Completists
Pistols
Encore
Acoustic Are We Family
Acoustic Thompson Girl
Acoustic Wheat Kings
Frozen in my Tracks
Weaken
Courage
Depression Suite
Coffee Girl
Twist
NOLA
Encore
Yawning!!!!!
Little Bones

[brian1175]

Im not saying don't play the songs. Im saying play the dam songs and maybe fit 1 or 2 more in during the time you would be off stage.....And not every band does encores.

[MAverick]

[thecompletist]

:D14. Thompson Girl ( Accoustic) Opiated was crossed here in place of Thomson Girl. Opiated could of been a treat

I really miss the old days when TheHip.com would post actual pictures of the setlists the day after the show.
I loved seeing what they crossed off and replaced, and what the encore was thought to be and then actually was.

I am trying to resurrect this

While you are resurrecting things grab "another midnight" out of the vault and throw it into Sinclair's Sharpie for Massey this week

[Tthip]

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainm ... first.html

The Tragically Hip at sold-out TLA
By A.D. Amorosi


First things first: In Canada, from which they hail, and across Europe, where they're adored, the Tragically Hip are a stadium-filling band whose intensity precedes them.

Ask any "Hip" fan, and you'll hear that word: intense. That is, after those same fans remind you that the "Hip" sell out stadiums around the world. Maple Leaf hockey-jersey-wearing dudes and the women who love them, they all say it: intense, then stadiums.

This writer has another word: unsubtle. It's a compliment of sorts. But give me a minute.

At the Tragically Hip's sold-out, nearly three-hour TLA show Thursday called "An Evening With" - a title usually reserved for the likes of Liza Minnelli or Elaine Stritch - the 26-year-old band ran through its smart-rock catalog, old and new. With passionate potency, the six-piece band gave weighty treatment to songs from 1989's "New Orleans Is Sinking" to this year's "Coffee Girl," off the new album We Are the Same.

In a singing voice that seemed equal parts Michael Stipe (at his clearest) and Ethel Merman, tall bald vocalist and guitarist Gordon Downie pronounced each word sharply, as if teaching a foreign-language class. He seemed to want everyone to know exactly what he was thinking as he was thinking it - before, after, and during songs - as he strayed from lyrics to embrace the audience with rapid-fire monologues.

"This show starts with a conversation and ends with one too," Downie said, as the Hip kicked into the epic, chiming "The Last Recluse," with its "ay-oh" and "oh-oh" choruses evoking the chants of Vikings while sailing at sea. The band grabbed hold, one after the other, of songs with giant melodies, anthemic choruses, and overly talky lyrics - the throb-rocking "Yer Not the Ocean," the piano-rollicking "Honey, Please," the power-popping "Love Is a First."

"After a glimpse over the top / the rest of the world becomes a gift shop," Downie sang, during the overblown drone of "Gift Shop." That song's mix of grandeur and oddball observation is what marks the Tragically Hip, and makes them bold.

The Hip find simple subjects such as standing at the Grand Canyon's lip and glancing downward, and create rich, weird, detailed narratives and loud music about the experience. And that isn't so tragic after all.

[NegPhil]