Tragically Hip on Rockband

Pin It Now!

 Kingston-based rock band The Tragically Hip sent out a tweet today to announce some exciting news to their fans:

“Now available for Rockband – Blow at High Dough” with a link to their Facebook post.

“Blow at High Dough” was the first single by The Tragically Hip from their premiere full-length album “Up to Here”, released in 1989. Many Canadians may also recognize it as the opening theme song for the CBC Television satirical TV comedy ‘Made in Canada’, which aired from 1998-2003 and starred comedian Rick Mercer.

Listen to a sample of the song – and XBox360 owners of Rock Band can order & download to play – at the Rock Band website.

Continue reading at the Kingston Herald...

11th Fret - The Lost Video

Pin It Now!

Hey All!

Here's Gord rippin' it up. Cool filming and the tune's not bad either :)





********************************************************
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.

Summer Tour

Pin It Now!

I love this time of year. It's the time of year I dream about throughout the winter season. Summer tours, festivals and outdoor shows. Last year at this time I already had 4 Hip shows under my belt and was just about to head down to Pittsburgh & Indianapolis to catch my first shows from Phish 3.0.

As it is this year, a few things have been lined up with more that will likely fall into place as we go along. My first Big show is next weekend on June 12th. I am heading down to Cuyahuga Falls, OH to with my sister & our significant others to see Phish. My sister & I have been on that crazy ride many times before, but the others are virgins and I'm sure this will be an eye-opener to say the least. You would have a hard time convincing me there's a better live act, period. No 2 shows are ever the same.

June 25th is a boys road trip to Rochester, NY for the first show of Furthur's Summer Tour. Dancing with the Deadheads is always a blast and the venue, The Highland Bowl, is perfect for this scene. I swear the trees were breathing last time I was there. They are playing at Artpark too if anyone's interested. Never a bad time:) Great musicianship from living legends.

I'm on the fence about going to Ottawa for the Bluesfest. If I did, it would only be for 1 day, July 7...to see Steel Pulse. It's shitty that they are playing a the same time as Furthur.

As far as the Molson Amphitheatre goes, I'm holding tickets for the Santana/Steve Winwood show and for RUSH. If I opt out of Steel Pulse, The Flaming Lips may also make the list.

I have nothing scheduled for August due to the fact that the woman & I are due to head out west. We're not sure whether we're going to San Fran or Seattle, but I'm sure we'll catch something wherever we go. We usually like to anyways. If it's the bay area I will be paying a premium to see Phish at The Greek in Berkeley, a venue that I haven't seen a show at (yet).

My buddy Sameer was able to secure us tickets for Roger Waters at the ACC. The Saturday night show. It's going to be fucking Epic. We'll have to bring edibles since the place is controlled by Nazis. That's Canada's big problem with concerts and the such (beer gardens??? WTF?), but I will lay off that topic since I have schedule some American stops. Ha ha.

I am going to catch Gord this year. I just haven't decided where. He's playing a free show over in Niagara Falls, NY which may be something to check out. Plus there's the poker rooms over there....

If you have any summer concert plans, I'd love to hear about them. Post a comment or drop a line.

-mrjackstraw

************************************************************
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.

No More Virgin Fests

Pin It Now!

So I read they canceled all the "Virgin Festivals" across Canada.  Good.  It was all bullshit anyway.  Just another way to wrap their logos around music and bands and try to sell you shit, to get you to sign up for this or that and tell you what's cool.  Branding.  We're sinking in it and starting not to notice.  The funny thing is most of the bands who played these things probably railed against such social antics during their rise to prominence only to now suck the Teet of a big payday.  The article suggest that maybe it's the economy, but I'm holding out hope that it may be society (youth) smartening up a bit.  You can only be shoveled shit for so long, right?  Maybe folks want to go somewhere where the music comes first, interactions with friends and others come first.  Maybe they just don't want to be sold something every step of the way.  Can you draw a parallel between this and the lack of attendance at Blue Jays games where Rogers is force fed to Everyone?  I don't know, but you could argue...

Another chit-chat with Gordie put into print ahead of the release of The Grand Bounce.  This time it's by Mike Doherty of the National Post.

If Gord Downie didn't exist, Canada would have to invent him. After all, who else unites such a wide spectrum of Canadians, from sensitive nature-worshippers to surly, lager-swilling brawlers? On his new solo album, The Grand Bounce, the Tragically Hip front man even sings about how the two extremes can have more in common than one may suspect -- although he comes down on the side of the softies.

"This country maybe needs to feel more vulnerable, act more vulnerable," Downie says. The rangy singer is elaborating on his song The Hard Canadian in an east-Toronto coffee shop, with a cup of java in front of him. The character is as uncommunicative as a sheet of rock in coldest February, but as Downie sings against a howling backdrop, the Hard Canadian drags a "brush through ... wet pigment," remembering the "glow" of someone's nightgown. His hardness is really just an act.

Read on where it was written...HERE.


********************************************************
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.

Gord Downie Tour Dates

Pin It Now!

OK.  Here's the list so far of Gord's scheduled stops in support of his album The Grand Bounce.   A lot are at folk and blues festivals so there's an opportunity to catch many other great acts as well.

06/19/10 Belleville, ON
07/01/10 Mississauga, ON
07/03/10 Niagara Falls, NY
07/09/10 Ottawa, ON
07/10/10 Sudbury, ON
07/11/10 Winnipeg, MB
07/15/10 Bala, ON
07/17/10 Windsor, ON
07/18/10 London, ON
07/24/10 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
07/25/10 Guelph, ON
08/05/10 Edmonton, AB
08/07/10 Hamilton, ON
08/15/10 Salmon Arm, BC

More detailed information is available at www.gorddownie.com

***************************************************************
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.

CHART Attack Gord Downie Review

Pin It Now!

By Aaron Brophy @ CHART Attack....

I'm so jealous of Gord Downie. And it's not because he's considered a Canadian icon, or knows Harry Sinden, or because he's an independently wealthy rock star in The Tragically Hip.

No, it's because I increasingly get the sense that Downie lives his life in a world of magic realism, where the mundane frequently and suddenly becomes the fantastical and with a simple technicolour whirl of his wrists every newspaper clipping or geographical peculiarity he encounters transforms itself into a song.

Meanwhile, I'm back here down on earth worrying about my cat puking more when it gets really hot outside and trying to figure out why my hydro bill is 20 per cent higher.

In short, I'm jealous because Downie gets to be the art. With each passing year it feels more and more like he's transforming into some kind of art elemental, a living-in-his-own-head supernatural vacillating between our terrestrial world and a more sparkling one of his own creation.

The latest prompt for this jealous bolt would be The Grand Bounce, Downie's third solo record. Produced by Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla, it's outwardly the most straight-forward and least "arty" record of his solo career, but that should be considered with some context.

...continue reading HERE.

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

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.

Review - Exclaim.ca

Pin It Now!

Gord Downie and The Country of Miracles
The Grand Bounce
By Vish Khanna

Seven years since The Battle of the Nudes, the informal charm of the Country of Miracles is refined on The Grand Bounce, another remarkable offering by Gord Downie. In an introductory essay, Downie playfully recounts the inspiration for these songs, tonally encapsulating his open mindset for this band. Since emerging with 2001's Coke Machine Glow, Downie has explored a looser, relatively more lo-fi sound than that of the Tragically Hip's. And by recruiting underground aces Julie Doiron, Dave Clark, Dale Morningstar, Josh Finlayson and John Press for his band, Downie is surrounded by friends who inspire risk. Overseen by Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla, there's a hazy summertime vibe to The Grand Bounce that's perfect for cottage escapes and easy evenings. The mood is best exemplified on "Yellow Days," featuring a murky groove propelling its imagery to slow dance like no one's watching. But it's present elsewhere too; the festive stomp of "Moon Over Glenora" features a sweet Downie/Doiron duet and even the dynamic build of "The Dance and its Disappearance" is celebratory fun. Downie's songs may be more structured on The Grand Bounce, but that doesn't curb the Country of Miracles' enthusiasm.

Why spill so many beans in that essay?
Downie: Well, probably like any good fox, to throw off the scent to more beans that could be spilled, I suppose. In the past, I've held onto them like a pie maker who doesn't want you to see how I make it. But there's connectivity; people make things and go through a long, beautiful process to do it. I'd be selfish to not allow people to be part of that.

Your solo work seems less rickety now.
I hear what you're saying. On the earlier records, you could hear chairs scraping, doors closing, muttering and things that gave them a lot of personality. I was more interested in Chris getting together with these guys; his sonic sense with their spirit. It was a hunch that together we'd do something interesting and I think it does still hint at process.

Do you delineate songs for the Country of Miracles and the Hip?
No, I still adhere to the Raymond Carver adage: "Use it up; don't save a thing for later." That lets me sleep at night. I get it and use it and then whatever's up next, I do. (Universal)

Article

***************************************************************
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.