04/24/09: The Danforth Music Hall: Toronto, Ontario

[Escape@Hand]

Thanks for posting Titanic; I can't get enough of that song right now. I keep listening to it over and over on the LFTV 4. Hopefully it stays in the rotation for this tour.

[chris]

And Chris, as you may have seen by now there was another video camera in the balcony on the right side.

Raises hand.

I know. Dana mentioned it in an earlier post. I just forgot to include him in my post.No we just need to get all the footage in one place to create a DVD.

[tth50mc]

Hey All... just a few thoughts / my take of the show. overall it was a thumbs up night... over 2hrs of Hip for $20 bucks, you can't beat it.

First off, the venue... what a great music hall. a fairly small, cozy music theater. not much place to park around it tho... LOL... coming from the Falls and not knowing the area... all i can say is thank-you for GPS's. Got inside around 6:45... handing out the tickets on the sidewalk because very little lobby space... and the security dudes taking their job VERY seriously. lol. After a near debacle trying to get those tickets online from ticketmaster... i ended up with 3rd row balcony. Beer line was a lot shorter upstairs! Also for those looking for merch.. they got some old t's back... road apples, phantom and DFN albums t's are back. very nice!

where i was a lot of ppl were sitting during the show. this was my date's 1st show... this is getting to be around 30th show for me. the 2 ppl sitting to my left stood and the girl was boozed up... she kept telling ppl to stand up, "we are at Hip concert, HELLO PPL"... it was quite funny. but her cries were to no avail. lol. i was thinking these were going to be the diehards so it was a no brainer to stand. so with ppl sitting all around... it lacked some atmosphere, therefore it wasn't as fun as it could have been. i was looking down at the floor seats (i had those seats 5 times but ticketmaster kicked me out every time b4 i ended up with balcony tix, it was brutal)... wishing i was down there! BTW some guy i met in the lobby told me ticketmaster is giving us $15 off our next ticket purchase because of the goof. I haven't seen an email yet, nor logged into ticketmaster.

the show for me was missing my favs from the new album... i like Speed River, neither played here or on the ciniplex show. Dude beside me was beggin for queen of the furrows which is another fav of mine that wasn't played. I was surprised more there was no Love is a First (being the radio play song) or Now the Struggle has a Name (being where the album's title comes from).

I must say pigeon camera is a huge fan fav... I was also glad to hear ppl singing the lyrics to the new songs (ie "it didn't take to much to upset her"). Morning Moon sounds soo good live. i was hoping for an acoustic music at work like the ciniplex... i really digged that but i think they have a lot of stuff they can play for that acoustic set. and with all the new songs, when paul pulls out the black acoustic... it's no longer an automatic Wheat Kings. i think this tour is going to have a lot of Music at Work flavour because now there is a keyboard again. I'm looking fwd to the artpark shows which are as close to niagara the Hip will come... i wish they would build a good size arena in this area, it's about time dammit!

one of my fav hilights from the show was Gord D running on the monitor pretending it was a treadmill. that shit cracked me up.

BTW thanks to those posting the youtube clips! cheers everyone.

[aaronck]

Looks like an AMAZING night, with all sorts of setlist gems in there....Titanic has always been one of my favorite songs, and I hope it makes it to Alberta. And Tiger the Lion would be an amazing closer, they sure rocked it up on the last tour....

[fingernailsonhull]

Any chance The Depression Suite video will end up on YouTube?

[trevor]

I've posted some photos here: http://hipbase.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... 7&start=15 and the rest of the set on my Flickr site here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevorconn ... 398026498/

Enjoy!
t.

[Great Waiting List]

I know everyone gets tired of it, but it doesn't seem like a Toronto show without Bobcaygeon or 50 mission cap. Those are my favourite parts of the night when Gord says "That night in Toronto" or "...won the Leafs the cup" and the whole crowd goes crazy. Hopefully they pull them out for the Saturday Massey show =D

[The Horrible Esthete]

I know this show is now old news now, and the things I found notable have generally been addressed, but I did want to comment on a couple things....

After seeing nearly 50 shows in the good ol' US of A, I had always wanted to see the boys in their native land, and this show fit the bill perfectly. A big, BIG 'thank-you' goes out to the individual who made that happen -- we are deeply indebted.

There indeed was something special in just being at this show; witnessing the inauguration of "The Bear" and some of the new WATS material onstage (which sounded fantastic) was a treat in itself, but I now feel as though a small void in my personal history of Hip fandom has been filled. As an American Hiphead, certain old feelings of being somewhat of an 'outsider' vanished right there on the Danforth.

Some more bits 'n' pieces re: the show itself....I thought the sound of the band in that venue was incredible. I also thought the new material all sounded great live, with the exception of Coffee Girl (a song I really like, btw) -- perhaps the EQ levels were a bit askew for that one so early in the set, or perhaps it's just the nature of the tune, but it just didn't have a 'Hip' sort stage-feel, imo. MorningMoon, on the other hand, sounded spectacular. So did Exact Feeling and Recluse, imo. I was geeked to hear Stay, which sounded phenomenal, and Terrarium, a huge favorite of mine, and of course, The Bear -- for which I've always had a soft spot. And Tiger The Lion, which has always been sort of "hot-and-cold" for me, was mesmerizing and spectacular. Just incredible.

I must also comment on the warm hospitality we received. It was nothing short of an open-arms welcome by everyone we met, which included several Hipbasers, MAv included, as well as some great folks who have yet to join this board. It was great to meet some of the folks we've chatted with over the years. Another huge thank-you goes out to Chris and his wife, who took a large chunk of their Saturday afternoon to show us around the fair city of Toronto. We were extremely impressed with the city, especially its residents, its history, and its culture. Seems like a great place to live, work, an play. We had a fantastic low-key dinner at Peter Pan on Queen St. W (awesome Carbonara, excellent beef ragout ) and grabbed a few brews at the famed Horseshoe, where I blindly walked past the band's doorperson to grace those legendary checkerboard floors.

We look forward to visiting again sometime. I'm thinking Massy Hall for the next Hip tour?

Oh, and btw -- while a group of us Hipbasers were downing a few coldies after the show, i think I someone (Trevor maybe?) say that his favorite beer was Steam Whistle, so I soon tried one. YUM. Lovely pilsener. Superb. So from then on, i drank it every time I ordered a brew in Toronto. When we got back home, were looking online for a place i could find it locally....no dice! Apparently they don't export it? Bummer.

[trevor]

Well that's a heartfelt review if I've ever read one!
It was great to be able to spend some time with you and Jenna and I hope that you'll consider returning to Toronto soon!

Steamwhistle is Chris's favourite beer - and I'm glad you partook in a pint or two!

Enjoy the rest of the tour!

(and cheers!)

[Jenna_Bird]

I don't feel like I can really add to Esthete's post without muddying it. However, I echo his sentiments, both in terms of the show and the hospitality exhibited by our fellow 'basers. It was a night I won't soon forget. There was something quite special about being in attendance, surrounded by fans, and those from the board. Thanks to all!!

-Jenna

[Hard Canadian]

Here's a few more videos from the show....

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_t ... forth&aq=f

Still no Pigeon Camera though.

[inaworldcontainer]

I loved the WILL CALL idea for the tickets. One of the best HIP shows that I have ever seen. Great set list.

It was almost as great as their Road Apples tour show at Yonge & Bloor.

[chris]

I'm going to post the DVD of the first set to the tracker this week.

[mojo_mattv]

Shweetness, how many cameras were involved Chris?

[chris]

Shweetness, how many cameras were involved Chris?

Three. Mark, Dana and me.