Re: 2012-11-16 - Syracuse, New York
Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2012 5:22 pm
http://blog.syracuse.com/entertainment/ ... ips_t.html
To guitarist Rob Baker, trips to Syracuse with The Tragically Hip are memorable
So, Rob Baker, if the phrase “Now for Plan A” hadn’t won over the band, what was Plan B?
The guitarist for The Tragically Hip laughs over the phone.
“I don’t know for the album title,” Baker says. “It’s just a little joke, that after making 12 records, we’re going to get serious, roll our sleeves up, get working. The title was thrown out very early on, and everybody liked it. Sometimes naming a record is a very hard process. The songs can come more easily than putting a name on them.”
The Canadian favorites have worked songs from “Now for Plan A” into the live show, which hits the Landmark Theatre on Friday night, Nov. 16.
“I think there are themes of friendship and themes of getting on with stuff,” says Baker of the album, which was released on Oct. 2. “You know, putting aside petty differences and focusing on what’s coming. Which is a really good measure for the fractured state of politics, north and south of the border. Focus on the common good.”
Baker and his bandmates — front man Gord Downie, bassist Gord Sinclair, drummer Johnny Fay and guitarist Paul Langlois — formed the band three decades ago in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario.
Baker says Syracuse has played a role in his life that predates the trips to play the Landmark Theatre and other venues with the band.
“I have a lot of memories about coming to Syracuse,” he says. “My mother is American. So, instead of taking the two-hour jaunt from Kingston up to Toronto or over to Montreal, we’d take the two-hour jaunt down to Syracuse. We’d stay old-school, at the Hotel Syracuse. After that, I used to take my son to lacrosse camp at Syracuse University. I’d drive him down every day from Kingston.”
His son, Morris, didn’t stick with lacrosse. Now he’s a student at Queens University in Kingston.
But with The Tragically Hip, Baker keeps coming to Central New York. He remembers well a story about what he’s pretty sure was The Tragically Hip’s first show at the Landmark Theatre.
“People had rushed up to the front of the stage, which was the orchestra pit,” Baker recalls. “The whole orchestra pit is on a hydraulic lift. Somebody from management got panicky, probably justly so. Gordon (Downie), he’s wearing this earpiece (monitor), and suddenly there’s this voice in Gordon’s ear, telling him he’s got to get everybody to clear out the pit. He did that by making like God was talking to him in his ear. He made a moment out of it.”
Downie indeed has been a compelling figure out front of the band.
In other Landmark Theatre concerts, he has sprawled on the floor, pretended to climb out of trunk and basically cut a dramatic figure waving long arms to go with his big rock voice.
“He’s extremely committed to what he does, to the show, to the point that sometimes he has a hard time loosening up,” Baker says. “He’s very strict, or dogmatic, if you wish. Everything we do, it’s good to be good and challenging, for the band and for the audience. He never wants to be on auto pilot. That’s good for all of us. In part for that reason, we try to change set lists up (from night to night) and take different approaches.
“I like playing with all these guys,” Baker says. “They’re friends before workmates. If you can play music for a living with people you know, you are blessed.”
To guitarist Rob Baker, trips to Syracuse with The Tragically Hip are memorable
So, Rob Baker, if the phrase “Now for Plan A” hadn’t won over the band, what was Plan B?
The guitarist for The Tragically Hip laughs over the phone.
“I don’t know for the album title,” Baker says. “It’s just a little joke, that after making 12 records, we’re going to get serious, roll our sleeves up, get working. The title was thrown out very early on, and everybody liked it. Sometimes naming a record is a very hard process. The songs can come more easily than putting a name on them.”
The Canadian favorites have worked songs from “Now for Plan A” into the live show, which hits the Landmark Theatre on Friday night, Nov. 16.
“I think there are themes of friendship and themes of getting on with stuff,” says Baker of the album, which was released on Oct. 2. “You know, putting aside petty differences and focusing on what’s coming. Which is a really good measure for the fractured state of politics, north and south of the border. Focus on the common good.”
Baker and his bandmates — front man Gord Downie, bassist Gord Sinclair, drummer Johnny Fay and guitarist Paul Langlois — formed the band three decades ago in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario.
Baker says Syracuse has played a role in his life that predates the trips to play the Landmark Theatre and other venues with the band.
“I have a lot of memories about coming to Syracuse,” he says. “My mother is American. So, instead of taking the two-hour jaunt from Kingston up to Toronto or over to Montreal, we’d take the two-hour jaunt down to Syracuse. We’d stay old-school, at the Hotel Syracuse. After that, I used to take my son to lacrosse camp at Syracuse University. I’d drive him down every day from Kingston.”
His son, Morris, didn’t stick with lacrosse. Now he’s a student at Queens University in Kingston.
But with The Tragically Hip, Baker keeps coming to Central New York. He remembers well a story about what he’s pretty sure was The Tragically Hip’s first show at the Landmark Theatre.
“People had rushed up to the front of the stage, which was the orchestra pit,” Baker recalls. “The whole orchestra pit is on a hydraulic lift. Somebody from management got panicky, probably justly so. Gordon (Downie), he’s wearing this earpiece (monitor), and suddenly there’s this voice in Gordon’s ear, telling him he’s got to get everybody to clear out the pit. He did that by making like God was talking to him in his ear. He made a moment out of it.”
Downie indeed has been a compelling figure out front of the band.
In other Landmark Theatre concerts, he has sprawled on the floor, pretended to climb out of trunk and basically cut a dramatic figure waving long arms to go with his big rock voice.
“He’s extremely committed to what he does, to the show, to the point that sometimes he has a hard time loosening up,” Baker says. “He’s very strict, or dogmatic, if you wish. Everything we do, it’s good to be good and challenging, for the band and for the audience. He never wants to be on auto pilot. That’s good for all of us. In part for that reason, we try to change set lists up (from night to night) and take different approaches.
“I like playing with all these guys,” Baker says. “They’re friends before workmates. If you can play music for a living with people you know, you are blessed.”