10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

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sean.bonner
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10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by sean.bonner »

Post your review.
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by Tthip »

Preview article:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/oc ... seen-here/

Band’s huge in Canada, but better seen here

The Tragically Hip live in two worlds on one continent.

In their native Canada and in some northern U.S. cities, the band’s members are full-fledged rock stars. But when they venture deeper into the States, they are relatively unknown despite 12 stellar studio releases.

The upshot is that music fans in places like Southern Nevada get to see one of the best live acts in the business at a bargain price and up close in a relatively small venue.

Rob Baker, the group’s lead guitarist and player of anything else with strings, told the Sun in a recent interview that the band has come to accept the Hip aren’t for everyone. Lead singer Gordon Downie’s voice is something of an acquired taste, and he’s by no means the conventional frontman. Lanky and bald, he spins free-form poetry in mid-song, throws in manic and often hilarious or slightly disturbing monologues and mutters seemingly to himself — all while working up a sweat with spastic dance moves that have him soaked through by the end of every show.

But Downie also is a key reason the Hip have, as Baker puts it, “something in the States that 99 percent of all bands would envy” — fans willing to beg, borrow or steal to be at every Hip concert that comes through their town.

The shows are filled with hockey jerseys and seem to bring out every Canadian within a 50-mile radius. (Canadians are the U.S.’s real immigration problem, Baker jokes.)

But no matter the country of origin, Hip fans know the repertoire the band has built over the past 26 years, with Downie’s brilliant lyrics matched perfectly with sounds from roaring rock to rolling acoustic, is a universe beyond “New Orleans Is Sinking.” That’s the one Hip song that has stuck with radio listeners since its release in 1989. And yet, the breadth of the band’s material, Hip fans’ devotion and the band’s chutzpah are such that the group is using its one U.S. semi-hit as an opener rather than a closer these days. Nobody does that.

“When we (first) tried it in Winnipeg, after the set I told the rest of the guys that I thought it was the best we had ever played that song,” Baker said. “It felt fresh. I played different things in it than I had ever played before ... To have that be the first number of the set, it was ‘tonight’s going to be a great night.’ And it was.”

It’s a world away from the months that followed Hurricane Katrina, when “no radio station would go near that song,” he recalls.

But the lyrics weren’t some dark prophecy of Downie’s, “just a fact, and still a fact,” Baker says with a shrug. “And really he just used the physical reality as a metaphor. It’s more about a state of mind and a celebration of the things that New Orleans is than it is anything else.”

The Big Easy has figured in at least two more Hip songs since then, and while plenty of other cities — from Mistaken Point, Newfoundland to El Paso, Texas — have been name-checked in his lyrics, Downie has yet to give Las Vegas a mention.

“We’ve played there four or five times over the years, so not that much, really,” Baker says. “I remember playing in an R&B club on Tremont Street ... or Fremont Street rather.”

But seeing as this tour has the band playing a Friday night just before Halloween, this might be the year Vegas finds a way to work itself into one of Downie’s books of lyrics and poetry. For one thing, the date of the show should add “a little extra madness,” Baker allows.

As Downie warbles on the band’s most recent CD, “Bring on the requisite strangeness” — the band will stay in town to see how Sin City celebrates All Hallow’s Eve.

When the tour itinerary was being finalized, Baker recalls with a laugh, “we were told that after the (Las Vegas) show we would be flying the next morning to Denver, and we said, ‘Oh no we won’t.’ ”
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by chris »

01: New Orleans Is Sinking
02: The Depression Suite
03: In View
04: Ahead By A Century
05: MF Fireworks!
06: Morning Moon
07: Poets
08: Courage (Acoustic)
09: Flamenco (Acoustic)
10: Fiddler's Green (Acoustic)

* I assume that Flamenco & Fiddler's were acoustic in keeping with the trifecta standard. Courage is the only song BigA noted as acoustic.

11: Springtime In Vienna
12: Bobcaygeon
13: Nautical Disaster
14: Coffee Girl
15: Fully Completely
16: Blow At High Dough

Encore
17: Love Is A Curse
18: Locked In The Trunk Of A Car (with Dan Ackroyd)

From BigA.

Dan Ackroyd introduced the band.
Last edited by chris on Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by nohochin »

This seems like an uncharacteristically short set (other than the Nokia type shows etc). What gives?
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by nhaste »

A lot of venues in Vegas will only allow 90 minute or so shows. This is so they can get people back into their casinos as soon as possible after the show to continue making them billions of dollars. I think that's pretty much the standard at any casino gig.
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by Smokey »

well I hopw they pull that in Salamanca, I would be sick about it
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by Tthip »

Smokey wrote:well I hopw they pull that in Salamanca, I would be sick about it
I hope it is not a short show either. The Black Crowes played almost 2 hours last year (110 minutes)
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by bstrauss24 »

O man....that logic makes sense in terms of the casinos....but I would hope for the price tag of that show in Salemenca its not the case!
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by direwolf74 »

Only 18 songs?? Wow, you folks got ripped off. I have no doubt the show was still great, but that set is even shorter than most non evening-with shows. Was there an opening band?
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by sean.bonner »

chris wrote:01: New Orleans Is Sinking
02: The Depression Suite
03: In View
04: Ahead By A Century
05: MF Fireworks!
06: Morning Moon
08: Poets
09: Courage (Acoustic)
10: Flamenco (Acoustic)
11: Fiddler's Green (Acoustic)

* I assume that Flamenco & Fiddler's were acoustic in keeping with the trifecta standard. Courage is the only song BigA noted as acoustic.

12: Bobcaygeon
13: Nautical Disaster
14: Coffee Girl
15: Fully Completely
16: Blow At High Dough

Encore
17: Love Is A Curse
18: Locked In The Trunk Of A Car (with Dan Ackroyd)

From BigA.

Dan Ackroyd introduced the band.
Was they're anything in between Morning Moon and Poets?
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by chris »

sean.bonner wrote:
chris wrote:01: New Orleans Is Sinking
02: The Depression Suite
03: In View
04: Ahead By A Century
05: MF Fireworks!
06: Morning Moon
08: Poets
09: Courage (Acoustic)
10: Flamenco (Acoustic)
11: Fiddler's Green (Acoustic)

* I assume that Flamenco & Fiddler's were acoustic in keeping with the trifecta standard. Courage is the only song BigA noted as acoustic.

12: Bobcaygeon
13: Nautical Disaster
14: Coffee Girl
15: Fully Completely
16: Blow At High Dough

Encore
17: Love Is A Curse
18: Locked In The Trunk Of A Car (with Dan Ackroyd)

From BigA.

Dan Ackroyd introduced the band.
Was they're anything in between Morning Moon and Poets?
Not that I know of... and I just re-edited my post, correcting the song numbers and adding in Springtime In Vienna.
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by jvjones »

direwolf74 wrote:Only 18 songs?? Wow, you folks got ripped off. I have no doubt the show was still great, but that set is even shorter than most non evening-with shows. Was there an opening band?
Well...I wouldn't say we got ripped off...and at the end of the show I probably would have guessed that it was a couple songs short of what was expected...but yeah 18 tunes is a little light.
There was no opening band, and I would say that they played from about 8:30 until a little after 10. The one thing that makes me agree with the time limit comment is that there was no break before the acoustic songs...a quick setup change for the 3 tunes, and quick return to the normal setup.
Overall still a great show in a great venue, with great crowd energy. Gord was animated as always and had a fair bit of interaction with the people down front...lots of references to the venue..."the blues are essential, the blues are necessary, the blues are still required"...a great setlist overall, with not many surprises...I don't think Locked has been a closer very often lately, but it's always been a personal favorite...I don't know that Dan on harp added that much to the sound, but it was still cool to see.
This was my first trip to Vegas and it was a long tour (the rerouted flight path took me from Regina-Edmonton-Vancouver-Vegas...Vegas-Denver-Regina), but definitely a fun trip.
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by barc2 »

any one look sick on stage? they cancelled very shorly.l after this performance,or perhaps just burnout.
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by duoglide »

They were in Vegas after all, perhaps they wanted to have a bit of a night on the town? Can't blame them if that's the case. Still sounds like a solid show to me.
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Re: 10/30/09: House Of Blues: Las Vegas, Nevada

Post by The Travellin Man »

Wow.

8 songs less then most of the other gigs. Have to admit I am a bit choked as this show was shortened and then the Denver show was cancelled...I had flown into Denver before I got the email saying it was cancelled...

The show was pretty good...Didn't have the same energy they normally do...turns out one of em was sick. The guy at the ticket booth at the Ogden says it's Gord.

Things happen...people get sick and I totally understand it...it's still tough to swallow after shelling out $1200 for that trip (I do not have a good paying job either).

Get well soon Gord!
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