06/19/09: Save On Foods Memorial Centre: Victoria, BC

[pprusha]

Thanks for posting the vids, Tthip!

For those interested, here is a recording of Gord's intro to Wheat Kings, as well as the entire song. I believe his words served a dual purpose: to call attention to the security and police that brutally removed the topless girl during intermission on Friday night. Or maybe that's just my wish, since I saw the whole thing happen. Coincidence perhaps...
http://www.designoverflow.com/TheHip/Wh ... 9-2009.mp3

-Paul

[NegPhil]

Review: Tragically Hip show a tale of two bands
By MIKE DEVLIN , Times Colonist June 20, 2009
http://www.timescolonist.com






It's almost as if there were two Tragically Hips last night at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

The lesser-rocking version opened the night with an 11-song set, complete with intermission, a full hour of music that was restrained to the point of being somewhat unexciting. But the saving grace was the second installment, a buckshot blast back to days when the Hip set the nation ablaze with a string of recordings that have, two decades later, gone down as certified classics.

Chalk these up beside Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and the Band. They're that good.

Despite the slow start, the latter set saved the evening. It was a killer mix of gems (new, old, and lesser-known) better and badder than any other: A sinewy rendition of Nautical Disaster, an angry version of Springtime in Vienna, a reeling and stumbling Gus: The Polar Bear From Central Park. Call me crazy from the heat.

"This next song has been miscast as a hockey song," frontman Gord Downie said at the outset of The Lonely End of the Rink, one of the better cuts from World Container, the band's 2006 return to bar-rocking form. The spirit of songs such as this -- tunes that recalled the band's blue-collar origins -- were highlights of the night, no matter what age you were or tax bracket you claimed on your T4.

"Now we're on the same page," Downie said after a free-flowing passage. "Now, the struggle has a name." It would have been a serious statement if the song that followed Downie's proclamation, Now the Struggle Has a Name, hit like a hammer. Instead, the song's so-so result left the crowd wondering if the band still had the goods.

The Hip does kill, let it be said. But there's divided camps, to be sure. The folks nearby us seemed to love the early stuff; others within earshot wanted rarities. Sadly, few wanted to hear new songs.

Such is life as legendary Canucks with a massive catalogue now nearly a dozen albums deep. Following a version of Coffee Girl, a new tune that was slow as molasses, Downie remarked, "Victoria, come out, come wherever you are."

The crowd, a modest 3,000 or so, wouldn't show its colours until the latter half. Lulls were evident, but let's lay the blame at the feet of the band for that: The old Hip would have stuck the laconic crowd with a virtual cattle prod in the early going. The Hip circa 2009 seemed content at meeting the audience half way, at least during the first portion.

The second half was amazing, so all sins were forgiven. The band returns to the arena tonight (Saturday) for a sold-out concert. Expect the unexpected, folks, which means Downie and Co. will be up to the task. They're legends, after all. It behooves them not to be anything but.

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© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

[direwolf74]

Yet another critic who pines for the bar-rock days of yore and won't let the band evolve past 1994. No love at all for any of the new songs. Typical.

[pprusha]

Yet another critic who pines for the bar-rock days of yore and won't let the band evolve past 1994. No love at all for any of the new songs. Typical.

I totally agree, I was actually really looking forward to hearing Queen of The Furrows, Morning Moon, and The Depression Suite. I got two out of three, not bad. And the acoustic nature of some of the new songs sound so great live. You can actually hear the individual instruments and voices clearly, even in a crappy venue.

To Mr. Devlin: if you're going to review a show, get familiar with the new stuff. The Cd has been out for months, buy it, put it in your car, and really give it many listens. I think Family Band, from World Container, is one of their best songs ever. It's my new Little Bones or 100th Meridian

[Tthip]

[Tthip]