The Titanic Terrarium

Great show! The Hip blew the roof off the Fillmore. For some reason, Johnny's performance on the drum kit stands out the most for me. He was cooking so much on Streets Ahead, I thought he might burst into flames. More later...

Who's picking out Johnny's shirts for him? That's hideous.

Rye wrote:Who's picking out Johnny's shirts for him? That's hideous.

You're right, that was a pretty godawful shirt he was wearing. The rest of the guys were nattily dressed, though. I really dug Rob's ruby red boots/shoes.

Now that I have a few minutes, I can give my two cents on the Detroit show. This was show 18 for me (seems like more via boots, vids etc....lol) and it rates right in the middle of the pack. A very entertaing show from the Hip in nearly every way. The band was enjoying and working through the rarer material. They are at a stage were gratitude is overpowering the redundancy of playing shows. You can feel the excitement the band feels when the walks out to a roaring crowd still after 30 years. After seeing this tour I feel it is somewhat better than 02 and 04 but not in the same league as 07 and 09. The 09 being my personal fave and I am sure a very expensive tour to produce (extra musician, much more lighting, extra stage work with the acoustic sets etc).

That all said, the show was filled with gems, energy and a very enthusiastic crowd (except the jack-assery that was on main floor with dudes on dudes backs and shoulders with no shirts etc....wtf?). As a matter of fact, I have been to many shows at the Filmore/State and I have NEVER seen main floor that packed...damn. Even a little scary!

Lionized was really cool. You could see everyone working to remember their parts but the song really rocked. GD was one-legged on the monitors giving it his all...not referencing the words at all from the telepromter. At the end of that song, Rob and JF locked smiles as if to say....yes we got through it and it was good!

Thugs was another treat, very solid version with an extented intro...lots of guitar noise etc.

GD was really animated. Not the subdude version that has been talked about recently. There were rants, screams, in-between song banter with the crowd.... He even stated he "planned to not sweat" but by the end of Grace Too he was soaked.

It struck me odd (and I'm sure others as well) that someone tossed their bra on stage late in the show. I don't think (in light of GD's recent family issues) he knew quite what to say other than "thank you for the bra" as was stated earlier by someone. In past tours when stuff like this has happened, he has really played it up..... I think a little irony was at play.....odd moment.

There were a couple of gaffs. One was during (i think) the Lookahead, the PA clipped just for a split second. That is always a dicey thing and will rattle a less experienced band but the Hip played through it and never encountered it again. BTW...during parts of the show, the sound was really and I mean really LOUD!

In my opinion, the crowd was split down the middle on folks who wanted more hits and folks who were totally into the album cuts. Most people around me were rocking and all smiles with songs like Rules, Greasy and Fire in the Hole. Speaking of which, the band got a bit lost in the bridge section. Funny thing is....just like Downie said in an interview lately, Johnny Faye (even with that unflattering shirt...lol) knew exactly where they were and got them back on track!!!!

All in all another solid show. wish there was a night #2 but glad I got to catch them once again.

Oh and......did I mention how epic the encore was? 6 songs ending with 50 Mission Cap!

spottrax wrote:Now that I have a few minutes, I can give my two cents on the Detroit show. This was show 18 for me (seems like more via boots, vids etc....lol) and it rates right in the middle of the pack. A very entertaing show from the Hip in nearly every way. The band was enjoying and working through the rarer material. They are at a stage were gratitude is overpowering the redundancy of playing shows. You can feel the excitement the band feels when the walks out to a roaring crowd still after 30 years. After seeing this tour I feel it is somewhat better than 02 and 04 but not in the same league as 07 and 09. The 09 being my personal fave and I am sure a very expensive tour to produce (extra musician, much more lighting, extra stage work with the acoustic sets etc).

That all said, the show was filled with gems, energy and a very enthusiastic crowd (except the jack-assery that was on main floor with dudes on dudes backs and shoulders with no shirts etc....wtf?). As a matter of fact, I have been to many shows at the Filmore/State and I have NEVER seen main floor that packed...damn. Even a little scary!

Lionized was really cool. You could see everyone working to remember their parts but the song really rocked. GD was one-legged on the monitors giving it his all...not referencing the words at all from the telepromter. At the end of that song, Rob and JF locked smiles as if to say....yes we got through it and it was good!

Thugs was another treat, very solid version with an extented intro...lots of guitar noise etc.

GD was really animated. Not the subdude version that has been talked about recently. There were rants, screams, in-between song banter with the crowd.... He even stated he "planned to not sweat" but by the end of Grace Too he was soaked.

It struck me odd (and I'm sure others as well) that someone tossed their bra on stage late in the show. I don't think (in light of GD's recent family issues) he knew quite what to say other than "thank you for the bra" as was stated earlier by someone. In past tours when stuff like this has happened, he has really played it up..... I think a little irony was at play.....odd moment.

There were a couple of gaffs. One was during (i think) the Lookahead, the PA clipped just for a split second. That is always a dicey thing and will rattle a less experienced band but the Hip played through it and never encountered it again. BTW...during parts of the show, the sound was really and I mean really LOUD!

In my opinion, the crowd was split down the middle on folks who wanted more hits and folks who were totally into the album cuts. Most people around me were rocking and all smiles with songs like Rules, Greasy and Fire in the Hole. Speaking of which, the band got a bit lost in the bridge section. Funny thing is....just like Downie said in an interview lately, Johnny Faye (even with that unflattering shirt...lol) knew exactly where they were and got them back on track!!!!

All in all another solid show. wish there was a night #2 but glad I got to catch them once again.

Oh and......did I mention how epic the encore was? 6 songs ending with 50 Mission Cap!

Nice review, thanks!

Spottrax wrote:

"It struck me odd (and I'm sure others as well) that someone tossed their bra on stage late in the show. I don't think (in light of GD's recent family issues) he knew quite what to say other than "thank you for the bra" as was stated earlier by someone. In past tours when stuff like this has happened, he has really played it up..... I think a little irony was at play.....odd moment."

I agree about the bra throwing moment. My wife leaned over to me and said, "Do people still do that?" (Apparently so, but odd to see it at a Hip show. Gord Downie is not exactly Tom Jones or Neil Diamond).

Did anyone have any run-ins with the drunk, obnoxious, and slightly unhinged woman in the balcony? She was escorted out of the theater by security about four or five songs into the show. Really strange situation.

spottrax wrote:There were a couple of gaffs. One was during (i think) the Lookahead, the PA clipped just for a split second.

We Want to Be It actually, everytime I listen to the recording it makes me do a double take

Bookhead wrote:

Spottrax wrote: "It struck me odd (and I'm sure others as well) that someone tossed their bra on stage late in the show.

I agree about the bra throwing moment. My wife leaned over to me and said, "Do people still do that?" (Apparently so, but odd to see it at a Hip show. Gord Downie is not exactly Tom Jones or Neil Diamond).

I think at this point in time people tossing bras/panties on stage are doing it in a sort of ironical, playing around with the expectations of what happens at a rock show thing. Like the jackass who yells Freebird at every show regardless of whose on stage..

li99sh79 wrote: I think at this point in time people tossing bras/panties on stage are doing it in a sort of ironical, playing around with the expectations of what happens at a rock show thing.

One of my favorite concert happenings is from Buffalo 2007 when a bra was thrown on stage.
Skip to about the 3:45 minute mark when Gord is playing along and then puts it on as a blindfold.

li99sh79 wrote:

spottrax wrote:There were a couple of gaffs. One was during (i think) the Lookahead, the PA clipped just for a split second.

We Want to Be It actually, everytime I listen to the recording it makes me do a double take

Bookhead wrote:

Spottrax wrote: "It struck me odd (and I'm sure others as well) that someone tossed their bra on stage late in the show.

I agree about the bra throwing moment. My wife leaned over to me and said, "Do people still do that?" (Apparently so, but odd to see it at a Hip show. Gord Downie is not exactly Tom Jones or Neil Diamond).

I think at this point in time people tossing bras/panties on stage are doing it in a sort of ironical, playing around with the expectations of what happens at a rock show thing. Like the jackass who yells Freebird at every show regardless of whose on stage..

Yes...Thank you, it was We Want To Be It where the PA clipped. I didn't realize how loud the band was until I went for a bathroom stroll about mid-set. I think the Mezzenine was the loudest... All good of course, great to hear those tunes full volume!!!

I recall an 07 bra thing before Blow at High Dough. It's on one of the live shows I have on cd... Can't recall where though.

spottrax wrote: I didn't realize how loud the band was until I went for a bathroom stroll about mid-set.

I didn't realize it either, until after arriving home to a quiet house at 3:30 a.m. and crawling into bed, when i noticed a very annoying ringing in my left ear (I stood just left of center, about 8 deep on the main floor).

Tthip wrote:

li99sh79 wrote: I think at this point in time people tossing bras/panties on stage are doing it in a sort of ironical, playing around with the expectations of what happens at a rock show thing.

One of my favorite concert happenings is from Buffalo 2007 when a bra was thrown on stage.


HAHA the camera guy turns this vid into a story mode. awesome

The Lookahead from my POV -- smack dab in front of Paul! <3

This was my 21st Hip show and as always they did not disappoint. The almost religious experience that comes when the band is playing and the brotherhood that is felt in the crowd will give you goose bumps. Detroit shows are always special, "being in Red Wings territory", as well as across from Windsor is mentioned. Thanking the Windsor Side always gets a big cheer.
The Band came out looking refreshed and really looked like they were enjoying themselves. The set list was great, the new tunes blended in wonderfully with their older deep cuts and shows that they haven't lost the traditional Hip feel so to speak. At Transformation was a great tune to open and really got the momentum going, Lionized was as tight as ever and hearing Thugs again live was a real treat and you could tell the band was thinking "damn, we nailed it", it sure sounded sweet. Goodnight Attawapiskat was ending and the band was so well tuned that the guys looked like they wanted to keep going because of the sound I would think.

All and all is was a great show, a few rookies on the main floor who thought trying to start a mosh pit was acceptable but whatever, it didn't last. It is always a good crowd in the "D" and the Fillmore is a great venue to see a show.

Top notch boys, Keep it up.

Probably to late for anyone to read this haha. Almost decided not to go but glad I did. One of the most passive shows I've been to- by that I mean no one was pushing AT ALL which I've never experienced from second row. Gord did seem pretty amped up which has its pros and cons- he was very talkative/funny, but when he's like that I feel songs like "Escape" suffer.. because he likes to scream instead of sing.

One of my favorite rants was when he started talking about the Red Wings... mentioning how there was no hockey this year. "Sorry to bring it up... I know it's a sore spot for some. It's kinda the giant white elephant in the room," he said with a huge mock-grin. Hard to make out a lot of his rants with all the applause. A couple songs in dripping wet, he said, "I promised myself I wouldn't sweat tonight.." Also did the microphone stand rant late in the show.

Going from 2 detroit shows last tour to 1 this year def. upped the adrenaline for this show. The girl front row that threw her bra was either embarassed or she thought she was going to get kicked out or she realized she hadn't had enough alcohol to make this decision, because she hid a few rows back for a little and then came back.

Thugs/Fully completely back to back was awesome. Also can't get over how awesome At Transformation is, especially live. Best opener in years.