Ancienne Belgique - Brussels, BE 11/29/2009

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The Tragically Hip
Ancienne Belgique
Brussels, BE
11/29/2009

Set I

New Orleans Is Sinking
The Depression Suite
Fireworks
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
Courage
Morning Moon
Fully Completely
Coffee Girl
Poets
Love Is A First

Set II

Thompson Girl@
The Last Recluse@
Fiddler's Green@
Gift Shop
Ahead By A Century
In View
Springtime In Vienna
Bobcaygeon
Nautical Disaster
My Music At Work

Encore
Family Band
Grace, Too

@ = Acoustic

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Paradiso - Amsterdam, NL 11/27/2009

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The Tragically Hip
Paradiso
Amsterdam, NL
11/27/2009

Set I

New Orleans is Sinking
The Depression Suite
Twist My Arm
It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken
Fireworks
Morning Moon
Locked in the Trunk of a Car
The Last Recluse
Fully Completely
Poets
Love Is A First

Set II

Courage @
Coffee Girl@
Fiddler's Green@
Last of the Unplucked Gems
Gift Shop
Ahead by a Century
In View
At the Hundredth Meridian
Long Time Running
Family Band
Grace, Too
My Music at work

Encore
Lonely End of he Rink
Blow at High Dough

@ = Acoustic

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Tivoli - Utrecht, NL 11/26/2009

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The Tragically Hip
Tivoli
Utrecht, NL
11/26/2009

Set I

New Orleans Is Sinking
The Depression Suite
Fireworks
Ahead By A Century
In View
Don't Wake Daddy
Morning Moon
Poets
Pigeon Camera
At the Hundredth Meridian
Love Is A First

Set II

Courage@
The Last Recluse@
Scared@
Springtime In Vienna
Bobcaygeon
Nautical Disaster
Coffee Girl
Family Band
Long Time Running
Yer Not the Ocean
Grace, Too
My Music at Work

Encore
Frozen In My Tracks
Little Bones

@ = Acoustic

Notes: First Pigeon Camera in 16 shows (Oct 3, 2009 Hamilton, ON).

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Oosterpoort - Groningen, NL 11/25/2009

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The Tragically Hip
Oosterpoort
Groningen, NL
11/25/2009

Set I

Love Is A First
Courage
Thugs
Ahead By A Century
Gift Shop
In View
Morning Moon
Looking For A Place To Happen
Gus: The Polar Bear From Central Park
At The Hundredth Meridian
The Depression Suite

Set II

Coffee Girl@
Flamenco@
Scared@
Grace, Too
Bobcaygeon
Nautical Disaster
Throwing Off Glass
New Orleans Is Sinking
Now The Struggle Has A Name
Family Band
Fully Completely
Blow At High Dough

Encore
Tiger The Lion
My Music At Work

@ = Acoustic

Notes: Unusual set list location for NOIS. Bobcaygeon and Nautical Disaster have been played side by side a lot this year in the 2nd set. Not as much as the Ahead By A Century > Gift Shop suite though. I may have to dig into the numbers on this. I'll let you know. Stay tuned.

Don't forget to let me know if your up for playing in an online poker tournament with other Hip fans. Send an email to mrjackstraw@gmail.com if you're interested so I can contact you with the details in the new year.

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Effenaar - Eindhoven, NL 11/23/2009

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The Tragically Hip
Effenaar
Eindhoven, NL
11/23/2009


Love Is A First
Courage
Twist My Arm
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
Fireworks
Morning Moon
Locked In The Trunk Of A Car
The Last Recluse
Fully Completely
Poets
The Depression Suite

Set II

My Music At Work@
Coffee Girl@
Fiddler's Green@
Gift Shop
The Last Of The Unplucked Gems
Ahead By A Century
In View
At The Hundredth Meridian
Long Time Running
Family Band
Grace, Too

Encore
The Lonely End Of The Rink
New Orleans Is Sinking

@ = Acoustic

Notes: Sorry for the late updates. The info is coming in slowly and unfortunately I am not able to pass along to you a first hand accord of these overseas events. Nice to see At the 100th Meridian moved around a bit. It had found a fairly common spot in the second-to-last-spot of the first set which just takes all the surprise out of it. A real tasty looking first set anchored by Hip stalwarts Twist My Arm, Locked in the Trunk of a Car and Fully Completely. A rare appearance by LEOTR in the encore for only the second time this year.

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Sam Roberts Interview with AVClub.com

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The Hip are talked about a lot in the interview. It's the whole Canadians trying to make it in America thing. I like what he has to say about those that think The Tragically Hip have not seen success down south.

Canadian rock fans living near the U.S. border might be tempted to take a road trip this week to see the Sam Roberts Band on its short tour through the upper Midwestern United States. Roberts has long since stopped playing small clubs in his home country, where he’s a big star who recently won Juno awards—basically the Canadian Grammy—for artist of the year and rock album of the year. But like a lot of popular Canadian acts, Roberts has struggled to make his name in the U.S. His latest release, Love At The End Of The World—the album that won the Juno—didn’t even come out here until almost a year after it topped the charts in Canada. Obviously there’s something us Americans don’t seem to get about Canadian rock stars. Before his show Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 7th Street Entry, The A.V. Club asked Roberts for a crash course in all the Canadian bands that we’ve missed out on.


Read the Q&A here.

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Luxor - Cologne, DE 11/22/2009

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The Tragically Hip
Luxor
Cologne, DE
11/22/2009



***This is an unconfirmed set list that may (probably) contains errors. I pieced it together from various sources and older set lists where certain songs were played. If you have anything to add, I'd be happy to hear from you. Word on the street is the venue only held about 400 people so first hand accounts will be limited.

Taken from www.thehip.com:

Set I

New Orleans Is Sinking
The Depression Suite
The Drop Off
Ahead by a Century
Gift Shop
Morning Moon
Courage
It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken
In View
At the Hundredth Meridian
Love Is A First

Set II

Thompson Girl@
Wheat Kings@
The Last Recluse@
Springtime in Vienna
Bobcaygeon
Nautical Disaster
Escape Is At Hand For the Travelin' Man
Poets
Now the Struggle has a Name
Yer Not the Ocean
Grace Too
My Music at Work

Encore
Frozen in my Tracks
Blow at High Dough

@ = Acoustic


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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Phishin' in Detroit

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It's not to often two of my favorite bands cross paths in real life or in print so I wanted to share this article/review of Phish's opening night on their Fall Tour from Cobo Arena in Detroit. The Tragically Hip are mentioned in this article because it where the material from Live Between Us was culled. They are mentioned beside some pretty impressive live albums and the significance of this Phish show is that it is scheduled as the last concert for the venue. The Cobo complex is comprised of several buildings (including the arena) and their biggest gig of the year is of course The North American Auto Show. The arena is coming down as part of an expansion project that will hopefully keep the auto show in downtown Detroit where it belongs.

Phish Tour


REVIEW (WJRT) -- Cobo Arena in downtown Detroit has cemented its legacy as the host of more than a half dozen iconic live albums.

From The Doors' "Live In Detroit" to The Tragically Hip's "Live Between Us" and Journey's "Captured" and Kiss' "Alive!" and Bob Seger's "Live Bullet," the venue has certainly made its mark in the music industry.

And Wednesday evening, it added one more stellar live recording to its collection as jam band Phish opened its fall tour on the banks of the Detroit River.

The fact that the show was recorded isn't news, as every Phish show is available for download at LivePhish.com. But not every Phish show is like what the roughly 10,500 fans witnessed Wednesday night.

From the opening notes of "AC/DC Bag" just after 8 p.m. to the close of "Character Zero" just after 11:30 p.m., the band was locked in and the audience was hanging on every note.

Highlights were abundant as the set list was overflowing with crowd favorites. "Bouncing Around the Room" and "Sample In a Jar" were sandwiched between the lone new songs of the night, "Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan" and "Kill Devil Falls" from "Joy," the band's latest album.

The mellow ballad "Mountains In The Mist" was used as a break for the crowd, which been on their feet dancing the entire set. And they'd need that break, as the first set ended with a flurry of "Poor Heart", "46 Days" and "David Bowie."

After a 30-minute intermission, the crowd packed the narrow concourse of the nearly 60-year-old building. Once the Vermont-based band got back to the stage, balloons and glow sticks rained from above on the floor seats as "Down With Disease" echoed through the hall.

As guitarist Trey Anastasio wound down his extended solo, he segued right into a trio of classics from their 1996 album "Billy Breathes." A blistering version of album opener "Free," Phish's most commercially successful song of their career, led to a crowd sing-a-long on "Waste" and "taste."

"Character Zero" finished things up with a mind-blowing, note-bending, furious solo from Anastasio. But the 45 year old also left plenty of room for exceptional bassist Mike Gordon and keyboardist Page McConnell to show their chops.

The music was just part of the overall experience. Young and old, hippies and straight-laced businessmen and fans with long dreads were all onboard.

As the house lights came up and the band left the stage, the buzz from the crowd was palpable, having just experienced yet another legendary Phish show, and one more historic performance at Cobo Arena. -- Josh Daunt

Setlist: "AC/DC Bag"
"Foam"
"Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan"
"Bouncing Around The Room"
"Sample In A Jar"
"Kill Devil Falls"
"It's Ice"
"Horn"
"Mountains In The Mist"
"Poor Heart"
"46 Days"
"DavidBowie"

Intermission
"Runaway Jim"
"Down With Disease"
"Free"
"Waste"
"Taste"
"Bug"
"Wading In The Velvet Sea"
"Mike's Song"
"I Am Hydrogen"
"Weekapaug Groove"
"Cavern"

Encore:
"Character Zero"


Original Article

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

The Tragically Hip Set List Archive

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Tragically Hip Tour Stat Pack Vol. 5

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v.5 Stats are from 04/24/2009 - 11/07/2009 (78 shows)

Hey All!

The Stat Pack is broken down into a few different categories. I have all We Are the Same songs at the top followed by the rest. It's pretty self explanatory. Enjoy.

We Are the Same

Total Plays:

1. The Depression Suite (76) - Only 2 shows not played: 4/29/2009 & 11/06/2009
2. Morning Moon (74) - 65 of 74 have come in the first set. Has shown up in the acoustic portion 3 times.
3. Love Is A First (72) - 60/72 have either been as a 1st set opener or closer.
4. The Last Recluse (66) - 28 first sets, 37 second sets (including 7 acoustic), 1 encore. Who are you? Drop me a line if you've got something to say. mrjackstraw@gmail.com or add a comment anywhere you like.
5. Coffee Girl (63) - Played in 11 of the past 12 shows with only 2 appearances in the acoustic portion during that time after a pretty extensive run there.
6. Now the Struggle has a Name(53) - 4 appearances in the last 12 shows represents a significant drop off for this song.
7. Frozen In My Tracks (46) - 25 of 46 playings have come in the encore.
8. Honey, Please (24) - Only played in 8 of the last 38 shows. Not sure why.
9. Queen of the Furrows (23) - Hey, at least they play it sometimes.
10. The Exact Feeling (18) - 6 of the last 38. C'ya.
11. Speed River (11) - Speed River is still froze over. 0 for the last 53.
12. Country Day (7) - No comment.

Notes: The top 3 songs are getting the NOIS treatment. The last Recluse and especially Struggle have dropped off some. Frozen is an encore machine. Honey & Queen could have used some of the air time that went to Coffee Girl, Morning Moon, Last Recluse, Struggle. The gap is just to big. Exact Feeling & Speed River are fine songs, but within this collection they are nothing more than filler. With regards to Country Day, I think a great opportunity was wasted with The Hip having the addition of a keyboard player and more time to play more songs. This is a beautiful, soaring number that the band could have had a lot of fun with. I don't think it's necessarily a set closer, but there are many set list placements that would have been quite effective. What might have been...

I can understand why they leaned so heavily on certain songs. This is a very, very solid album front to back and the weak links are only perceived as weak due to their immediate company. I think Love Is A First will have more of an effect when we don't hear it every show. The Depression Suite is something else though. This is the song I have been wanting The Hip to write forever. I'm having a hard time coming up with any Hip song I like better. It's fucking brilliant.

***********************************************************************************

Total Appearances (non WATS songs)

New Orleans Is Sinking - 71
In View - 62
Courage - 61
Ahead By A Century - 60
My Music at Work - 57
Poets - 53
Bobcaygeon - 52
At the Hundredth Meridian - 51
Blow at High Dough - 48
Grace, Too - 46
Gift Shop - 45
Family Band - 39
Fully Completely - 39
Nautical Disaster - 37
Springtime In Vienna - 37
Fireworks - 37
Yer Not the Ocean - 37
Wheat Kings - 31
Little Bones - 29
Locked in the Trunk of a Car - 27
Escape is at Hand for the Travelin' Man - 24
It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken - 23
Thompson Girl - 23
Fiddler's Green - 23
Scared - 20
Twist My Arm - 20
Lonely End of the Rink - 18
Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park - 17
Tiger the Lion - 17
Flamenco - 16
Drop Off, The - 15
Don't Wake Daddy - 14
Boots or Hearts - 14
Long Time Running - 13
Throwing Off Glass - 13
Dark Canuck, The - 12
It Can't Be Nashville Every Night - 12
Dire Wolf, The - 11
Pigeon Camera - 11
Puttin' Down - 11
Thugs - 11
Three Pistols - 10
Fifty Mission Cap - 9
Daredevil - 7
Yawning or Snarling - 7
Looking For A Place To Happen - 6
Rules, The - 6
Bear, The - 5
Eldorado - 5
Inevitability of Death - 5
Fire In The Hole - 4
Last of the Unplucked Gems - 4
Save the Planet - 4
Are We Family - 3
Emperor Penguin - 3
Goodnight Josephine - 3
Greasy Jungle - 3
If New Orleans is Beat - 3
Lake Fever - 3
On the Verge - 3
So Hard Done By - 3
Toronto #4 - 3
An Inch an Hour - 2
Something On - 2
Titanic Terrarium - 2
As Makeshift As We Are - 1
Chagrin Falls - 1
Completists, The - 1
Kids Don't Get It, The - 1
Opiated - 1
Stay - 1
World Container - 1



***********************************************************************************

Encore Appearances

32 different songs have been played in the encore:

Blow at High Dough - 26
Frozen in my Tracks - 25
Little Bones - 17
Grace, Too - 10
New Orleans is Sinking - 10
Tiger the Lion - 9
Now the Struggle Has a Name - 8
Locked in the Trunk of a Car - 7
Dark Canuck, The - 5
Fifty Mission Cap - 5
Love Is A First - 5
Fire In The Hole - 4*
On the Verge - 3
Ahead By A Century - 2
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken - 2
My Music at Work - 2
At the Hundredth Meridian - 1
Coffee Girl - 1
Country Day - 1
Don't Wake Daddy - 1
Emperor Penguin - 1
Escape is at Hand for the Travelin' Man - 1
Exact Feeling, The - 1
Family Band - 1
Fully Completely - 1
In View - 1
Last Recluse, The - 1
Lonely End of the Rink - 1
Queen of the Furrows - 1
Throwing Off Glass - 1
Yawning or Snarling - 1
Yer Not the Ocean - 1

* Appeared in Encore only.

Notes: Family Band and Fully Completely are new to the list within the last 12 shows.


***********************************************************************************

Acoustic Appearances

23 different songs have made up the acoustic portion of the show:

Wheat Kings* - 33
Coffee Girl - 29
Thompson Girl* - 23
Fiddler's Green* - 23
Scared* - 20
Courage - 17
Flamenco - 15
Boots or Hearts* - 14
My Music at Work - 10
Last Recluse, The - 7
Rules, The* - 6
Ahead By A Century - 5
Bear, The* - 5
Fireworks - 5
Are We Family* - 3
Bobcaygeon - 3
If New Orleans Is Beat* - 3
Morning Moon - 3
Toronto #4* - 3
An Inch an Hour* - 2
Greasy Jungle - 2
Lake Fever - 2
Titanic Terrarium* - 2

* = Only set list appearances have been in acoustic portion.

Notes: This is where 38 Years Old would have been played in the sets :(


***********************************************************************************
First Set Openers

Depression Suite, The - 35
Love Is A First - 18
New Orleans Is Sinking - 16
Honey Please - 4
Last Recluse, The - 4
Now the Struggle has a Name - 1

Notes: They ended up playing Last of the Unplucked Gems. I still love that one as an opener. Didn't happen though.

***********************************************************************************
First Set Closers

15 different songs have sent you off for a piss and some beer. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

Love Is A First - 42
Depression Suite, The - 14
Blow at High Dough -5
Now the Struggle has a Name - 3
Country Day - 2
Springtime In Vienna - 2
Escape Is at Hand for the Travelin' Man - 1
Fifty Mission Cap - 1
Frozen In My Tracks - 1
Last Recluse, The - 1
Little Bones - 1
My Music at Work - 1
New Orleans Is Sinking - 1
Tiger the Lion - 1
Three Pistols - 1

Notes: Set closers from one set shows are in this category.

***********************************************************************************
Second Set Closers

My Music at Work - 27
Blow at High Dough - 15
Little Bones - 8
Locked in the Trunk of a Car - 6
New Orleans is Sinking - 6
Poets - 2
Fully Completely - 1
Three Pistols - 1
Grace, Too - 1

Notes: MMAW is the King of this category. It's not even close. Songs that could have evened the gap include Three Pistols, On the Verge, Fifty Mission Cap, Fully Completely, Country Day, Fire In The Hole, 100 Meridian, Poets, Freak Turbulence and of course Highway Girl.

***********************************************************************************

Randomness...

- 84 different original Tragically Hip songs have been played
- 1893 songs have been played in 78 shows
- 24.3 songs per concert
- 531 songs from We Are the Same
- 1362 songs from the rest of the albums


Totals By Album

28.8% We Are the Same - 531 songs played
12.7% Fully Completely - 240 songs played
10.7% Phantom Power - 203 songs played
9.1% World Container - 173 songs played
9.0% Trouble at the Henhouse - 171 songs played
7.8% Day For Night - 147 songs played
7.1% Up to Here - 134 songs played
5.4% Road Apples - 102 songs played
5.0% Music @ Work - 95 songs played
3.1% In Violet Light - 59 songs played
2.1% In Between Evolution - 39 songs played
0.0% The Tragically Hip - Zero, Nada, Nil

Percentages of Albums Played...

100% We Are the Same - 12/12
85.7% Day For Night - 12/14
83.3% Phantom Power - 10/12
75.0% Fully Completely - 9/12
63.6% World Container - 7/11
58.3% Road Apples - 7/12
57.1% Music @ Work - 8/14
46.2% In Between Evolution - 6/13
41.7% Trouble at the Henhouse - 5/12
36.3% In Violet Light - 4/11
36.3% Up to Here - 4/11
0.00% The Tragically Hip


***********************************************************************************

Tidbits:

Top Ten Longest No-Shows:

These songs have all been played this tour, but not in a while...

10. Lake Fever: 62 shows (May 19)
9. Goodnight Josephine: 64 shows (May 15)
8. Something On: 64 shows (May 15)
7. An Inch An Hour: 65 shows (May 14)
6. Are We Family: 66 shows (May 12)
5. Greasy Jungle: 67 shows (May 11)
4. The Completists: 70 shows (May 7)
3. World Container: 74 shows (Apr 29)
2. As Makeshift As We Are: 76 shows (Apr 27)
1. Stay: 77 shows (Apr 24)

**These stats do not include the shows from LA & Toronto where other tickets or memberships had to be bought in order to attend.

Thanks for reading. Be good out there.

-mrjackstraw

Tragically Hip Tour Stats v.1 | v.2 | v.3 | v.4

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Landmark Theatre - Syracuse, NY 11/07/2009

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The Tragically Hip
Landmark Theatre
Syracuse, NY
11/07/2009

Set I

Love Is A First
Courage
Yer Not the Ocean
It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken
Fireworks
Morning Moon
Locked in the Trunk of a Car
The Last Recluse
Springtime In Vienna
Poets
The Depression Suite

Set II

Thompson Girl@
Coffee Girl@
Fiddler's Green@
Gift Shop
Last of the Unplucked Gems
Ahead By A Century
In View
At the Hundredth Meridian
Long Time Running
Family Band
Fully Completely
Little Bones

Encore
Frozen In My Tracks
New Orleans Is Sinking

@ = Acoustic
Notes: That concludes the North American leg of touring for 2009. They are off to Europe starting on Nov 22nd. I will be updating the stats for The Tragically Hip Stat Pack Vol. 5, so check back soon for that.

I am looking to put together an online poker tournament for Hip fans, most likely on Full Tilt Poker. Maybe once or twice a month, probably on Sundays. It wouldn't start until the new year, but please send me an email at mrjackstraw@gmail.com if you are interested.

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Seneca Allegany Casino - Salamanca, NY 11/06/2009

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The Tragically Hip
Seneca Allegany Casino
Salamanca, NY
11/06/2009

Set I

Love Is A First
Courage
Yer Not The Ocean
Ahead By A Century
Fireworks
Morning Moon
Looking For A Place To Happen
My Music At Work@
The Last Recluse@
Scared@
The Lonely End Of The Rink
Long Time Running
At The Hundredth Meridian
Coffee Girl
Fully Completely
Little Bones

Encore
Family Band
New Orleans Is Sinking

@ = Acoustic
Notes: A one set casino show. Get your money back out to the floor folks!

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

The Corporate Gig

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The Tragically Hip
Air Canada Centre
The Good Life Fitness Hard Glow Stick Extravaganza
Toronto, ON
11/05/2009

I am obligated for work to be present (physically) until 8pm. My sister Alie & I had gone back and forth throughout the day as to whether to make the effort to attend this one. A lot was going to be up to her as she would have to be the one to go down and make headway ticket-wise. I had seen tickets posted as recently as 4:30pm on Craigslist still asking $75 per. These guys were fucking nuts, but I don't think they knew it.

Alie got down there around 7:30 pm and had an initial offer of $60 for 2 tickets. I got there at about 8:15pm and she had ended up scoring us tickets for $25 per. You ain't going to beat that price on any continent The Hip have toured this year Bubba. We smoked a joint under the bridge by the GO Station during what would have been New Orleans Is Sinking and proceeded in. The security check was a non-factor, not that it mattered. We had seats in Section 104 Row 10 and we headed that way stopping off for a couple of giant beers. The seats were just great and we had a great view of the stage.

Ticketed Seats



We settled in just as The Depression Suite was ending and were completely established in our new domain as In View started up. Meh. We got up on out feet for the next song, Ahead By A Century and stayed up throughout Gift Shop. The Century jam was fantastic as was the rise up into Gift Shop. I think it would sound so cool if they could have played that ABAC jam down and segued into Gift Shop. Regardless it was solid and these two keep proving to be another solid suite within the live shows.

We sat down for the next song, Morning Moon, but it was hard. Everyone in our section was sitting and you don't want to be that one guy...Poets came next and fuck, we weren't sitting. It looked like there was no guard at the bottom of our section where it met the floor so we said, "Fuck it", and went for the floor. Wow, that was easy! We settled into row 28 on the right hand side. We were one row back of the first cross aisle. It was beautiful. $25 and we pretty much have seats on a par with the soundboard.

The Upgrade



Courage. Forgettable Coffee Girl. Crowd pleasing Wheat Kings. That was the acoustic portion. A solid, rockin' Springtime In Vienna brought us out of that followed by by a Toronto cock stroking Bobcaygeon. Grace, Too was next I think and then we got The Speech. This might have been the single worst moment for me as a Hip fan. The band had just canceled 2 scheduled concerts in Denver and St Paul. Fans going to those shows had had their tickets in hand for weeks. I guarantee you that at least 1 group of friend was planning what in their minds was an Epic Road Trip from Winnipeg down to StP with hotels booked, etc. The band made their Corporate gig for Goodlife Fitness and Gord proceeded to chastise the crowd for throwing hard, shitty for concerts glowsticks that who gave out to everybody? GOODLIFE FITNESS. He sure couldn't blame them could he? That would be biting the hand wouldn't it? Is there any evidence, any at all, to suggest that a crowd at a large rock concert who were given tickets to a great band, alcohol+ and glowsticks to suggest that they would merely hang on to these hard glowsticks and not throw them? I mean what concert was it exactly that glowsticks were given out and they weren't thrown? Seriously. You didn't see it coming? Plus you have a huge rookie factor at these events.

Goodlife Stick


"Just play", I thought. And they did to finish the set. It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken came next and Gord made me laugh with the intro. Things were going to be alright. Fully Completely is a top 5 for me. Tonight was evidence of why. Blow at High Dough shut down the set. The encore of Love Is A First & MMAW was as obvious as tits at Hooters. There is just nothing more to get out of MMAW beyond what's on the album. Fifty Mission Cap would have been a nice touch. A treat for the die-hards that found their way in. A Queen>50MC Encore would have been sweet.

We hit up Gabby's on King St for some $2.22 10oz Coors and some wings. We ordered 28. Half Hot and half Dusted Cajun. They brought us Chipoltele at first by mistake instead of the Cajun so we ended up with everything. What a feast!

I just rolled in and had to get this down before crashing. It was a great night and an unexpected experience for us both when the day began. It really is a Good Life if you don't weaken.

-mjs

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Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

The Corporate Gig

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The Tragically Hip are playing the ACC in Toronto tomorrow night as part of Good Life Fitness' 30th anniversary promotion. They ran draws and gave tickets out with new membership sign-ups. I have heard that Sarah McLachlan may be on the bill too along with a few others, so it's not strictly the Hip's gig. I would expect from 12-14 songs. Also, I don't believe this is a full arena sized show. It might be just the bowl. Tickets are being sold on Craigslist by a bunch of losers looking to cover their newly contracted gym membership that they won't use. If you are looking to over pay for a short show, by all means, feed the monster. Me, I'll probably go down with a twenty in my pocket and a nice J rolled up and see what happens. Worst case scenario is I'm shut out from seeing a mini Greatest Hits show and I'm down at Harbor Sports Grill watching Game 7*.

Either way, let's hope their health recovers not only for their Corporate Gig, but so they can also meet the expectations of the real paying fans who have had their tickets for months.

Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.

Shows Canceled in Denver & St. Paul

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The Tragically have canceled two shows citing the flu as the reason. The statement below was taken from www.thehip.com:

Due to the Flu, the shows in Denver, CO. and Saint Paul, MN have been canceled. The band expects to resume touring on Friday as scheduled.


If you're into conspiracy theories, how about this? Here's a story promoting The Hip's then upcoming show in Las Vegas. Check out the last paragraph:

By Patrick C. McDonnell

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 front man. 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.’ ”


So did they go on a heater. I mean you never leave when you're on a heater. Maybe they've been rollin' dice for days? Did they get stuck? Maybe they lost all their tour income, took out markers and are now on the Lam? Or maybe they really just did get the flu. Let's hope it's not that Pig Flu thing, eh?


Original content written and provided by mrjackstraw from Tragically Hip Tour at http://tragicallyhiptour.blogspot.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
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