Newfoundland and Labrador's Damhnait Doyle has released an album of interesting covers entitled Lights Down Low.
I caught wind of this new release because one of the tracks Doyle covers is The Tragically Hip's "Bobcaygeon", one of my favourite songs from my favourite band. You can hear it right here where Damhnait Doyle is streaming her entire album.
It's worth a visit just to hear her covers of other awesome songs, like Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart", The Clash's "Train in Vein" and Foo Fighter's "Everlong".
I share an MP3 from my collection every Wednesday. You have seven days to grab this week's MP3. Please right-click your mouse and select "Save Link As..." or "Save target as..." so you can download it to your PC before playing.
City And Colour - Sleeping Sickness I just got the new City and Colour album yesterday, but I've been spinning "Sleeping Sickness" for weeks. This track features guest vocals from The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie. Dallas Green and Gord Downie kill on this sweet little ditty.
Yes, I'm biased, but you are in Toronto Mike bias-ville.
You won't need a passport to visit this suspension bridge! The bridge in the video is the Buntzen Lake suspension bridge near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Of course you can just search "buntzen lake suspension bridge" on "everyone's photos".
While I haven't been to that one yet - I have been to 696 other suspension bridges. It's a hobby of mine; as a quick view of my postings to Flickr will attest. I've been to BC to visit suspension bridges, but just didn't get to Vancouver.
I first became aware of your request for this bridge's location through your Toronto Mike blog, but ended up here on Flickr which I'm very familiar with.
Best regards,
Patrick
So there you have it. If you want to see the bridge below, head to Buntzen Lake. Thanks, Patrick!
City And Colour, Dallas Green's solo project, is releasing a second album in February entitled Bring Me Your Love.
I'm most interested in hearing "Sleeping Sickness". "Sleeping Sickness" features guest vocals by none other than Gord Downie from The Tragically Hip. The first person to score me a listen wins a Coke.
Johnny Fay, drummer for my favourite band of all-time, once famously quipped that being the biggest band in Canada is "like being the world’s tallest midgets." I always liked the quote, and I was pleased to see it in an Aspen Times News headline today.
The Tragically Hip are in Colorado playing small clubs with Joel Plaskett Emergency opening and here's the little write up they got.
Tonight: 'world’s tallest midgets’
By Aspen Times Staff
Aspen, CO Colorado
October 15, 2007
ASPEN — It’s a big-name rock band headlining at Belly Up Aspen on Monday. Tragically, The Hip probably doesn’t ring a bell.
The Tragically Hip, better known simply as The Hip to their fans, are hugely popular north of the border, but the Canadian quintet has never hit mainstream success in the States. Consequently, a band that plays sold-out arena shows at home, judging from several web bios, appears in smaller venues and clubs below the boarder. The band heads from Aspen to the Boulder Theatre on Tuesday before turning south for dates in Texas and New Orleans.
Drummer Johnny Fay reportedly once quipped that being the biggest band in Canada is “like being the world’s tallest midgets.”
The heights of their U.S. success not withstanding, these guys were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2005. They’ve got some 10 studio albums, a couple of compilations and a box set to their credit since emerging from Kingston, Ontario in 1983.
Their latest, “World Container” was released in Canada late last year and in March in the United States. The third track “In View” quickly charted in Canada — the latest in a long string of homeland hits for the band.
When the group played Halifax, Nova Scotia last month, reviewer Stephen Cooke of The Chronicle Herald in Halifax, wrote: “Few Canadian bands thrive in the bloodstreams of their listeners like The Tragically Hip.”
The band’s current lineup features Rob Baker on lead guitar, Gordon Downie on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, drummer Fay, Paul Langlois handling rhythm guitar and backing vocals, and Gord Sinclair on bass and backing vocals.
Opening for The Hip is up-and-coming Canadian singer/songwriter Joel Plaskett and his band, Emergency, touring in support of their 2007 release, “Ashtray Rock.”
The band is dubbed Joel Plaskett Emergency; Plaskett has several East Coast Music Awards to his credit in Canada, including male artist of the year, single of the year and songwriter of the year.
Tickets to Monday’s Belly Up show are $40. The music starts at 10 p.m., after Monday Night Football (the Giants at Atlanta) on the club’s big screen. Doors open at 6 p.m. for the football (no cover until the music). 450 S. Galena St.
This Japan baseball update is about Aaron Guiel, a 34 year old from Vancouver Island. He plays for the Yakult Swallows and is a fan favourite at Jingu Stadium. He also loves The Tragically Hip.
What's your favorite music?
I play the Tragically Hip song "New Orleans is Sinking" when I bat at Jingu. I tried to get them to play a different Hip song for every at-bat but that was a little too complicated, we over-loaded somebody, so now we just get one song.
The Yakult Swallows actually play out of Tokyo. They're named after the Yakult Corporation. If you're in Tokyo, you know where to go to hear some Hip.
The article includes a great quote from Gord Downie regarding the effect downloading has had on the music business.
I’ve always felt that rock ’n’ roll is just melodious air. I get perplexed when music gets blunted at the border by some artificial demarcation line—whether a corporate border or a technological one. Music, or any kind of art, is like water, and it needs to be able to find its way. Fifteen years ago, we would have needed a licensing deal, some kind of emissary to chaperone our music into the same kinds of places that it’s getting to naturally these days. It’s fluid; it’s just doing what it should be doing.
We recently determined that the suspension bridge featured in the Tragically Hip's "Yer Not the Ocean" video isn't the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver. Some suggested it might be the suspension bridge at Scenic Caves in Collingwood, Ontario, but as you'll see below, that's not it either.
I recently posted the video for The Tragically Hip's new single, "Yer Not the Ocean". There's a suspension bridge featured in the video that I'm trying to identify. A couple of commenters think it's the Capilano Suspension Bridge in North Vancouver but I disagree.
Below is a picture of the Capilano Suspension Bridge and beside it is a screen cap from the "Yer Not the Ocean" video. As you'll see, they're two different bridges.
Unfortunately, Ontario tourism wasn't clever enough to post their "There's No Place Like This" ad on YouTube so I can't share it, but if you've seen it you'll have seen a suspension bridge that might just be the one in the Hip video. If you know where this bridge is, let me know in the comments.
Speaking of Ocean songs and videos, Pearl Jam's "Oceans" is still awesome. Here's the video.
The Tragically Hip's newest video is for "Yer Not the Ocean". It features a polar bear and seems to have an environmental message for us all. Gordie with a message about the environment? Shocking!
Can anyone tell me what park Gord and that polar bear are in? Where would I find that bridge?
I've been hearing from people since I posted a Tragically Hip hater's analysis of the band. Some agree with him, others know exactly where he's coming from. All of this has got me thinking...
I think you either get it, or you don't. If you get it, you get it large and you're hooked. If you don't, you don't, and that's just the way it is. Somebody has already stolen my thunder and written an essay on this topic that I think is pretty accurate.
I just get it, and there's little in this world that feels as good as being bathed in the poetic ramblings of Gord and being surrounded by those songs I know and love. I used to want Taryn to feel what I felt, and I dragged her to a few shows before I realized that she just doesn't get it, and that's okay.
When I shared Gord Downie's Hallelujah with a reader named Whorella Mundane, she told me I redeemed all of Canada. I must have thought that was pretty cool because it prompted me to write this.
I just got another message from Whorella Mundane. Here's her manically wicked email in its entirety.
Hey toronto mike – i'd have written earlier but pipes broke in the house and water flowed downward – oh it was dark I tell ya!
well first I mean you gave me this gordon downie track I actually tried to get the mp3 from the DVD – but I couldn't figure out how – so I'd sit there watching the movie – over and over and over. And I've heard two other versions of that song and I love them both but wow ... Gordon downie.
But I have a proposition for you ... You already have my complete respect and I saw your blog and thought it was funny. But how would you like to engage in a little banter on your blog? Like if I just show up and post stuff in comments or something? But I really am this hated character. When I met gordie many years ago he said I had quite a following and the band heard about me everywhere agh! I didn't dare ask what he heard ...
But yeah we could converse out there - only I'd be kinda dogging canada but in this way like 'aw canada I love you but 1 out of 6 of you is living in poverty and dogging the us isn't helping those people.'
I want to fight with canadians over one point: we shouldn't be fighting!
But see I would try to do this with the tragically hip fans and they didn't think I was funny at all!
I'd been to the maritimes – PEI, baby! I loved canada until I got to the internet. When I used to be famous ... Seriously it was hilarious. I was driven all over nova scotia in a big old bus with my name on the front. Well "kathy jo" - not whorella!
I added "mundane" after the tragically hip outtake from 'in between evolution", "the utlra mundane"
So the thing is – I gotta admit you canadians are ahead by a century – but I guess I kinda think you're just behind the US a little bit and the shit I see going on around me everyday – I know it's headed north
East
South
West
It scares the shit out of me – the border is not between countries, but classes defined by power. People gotta find a way to get together and to me, that means we gotta get 'em talking. But the effect I have is this: after ten years, the tragically hip fans gave up on being able to get rid of me on the band's usenet group and all left! I'm the only one there ...
Oh yeah I was famous for being a huge left wing political activists but still, the tragically hip fans hated me! I mean they flamed me – you can't imagine. Whew! And I kept saying, "but we all love the same music, right? That's reason enough to not to fight, right?"
But you know how those kids can get! So be careful – whew. Such a blend of the sweetest kids in the world with a scattering of drunken retards.
Hey – the phantom power tour – calgary saddledome – I was in the f'n phantom zone, dude! I was inches from gordon downie who started taking his pants off to show us a big bruise he got playing hockey! Tighty whities!
So yeah – I talked to him – he called me many years ago. But man I've been a huge fan since 1995.
So yeah a lot of canadians have hated me and one time a work some consultant comes in my office and goes, "I just talked to a client who said you're a big trouble maker and a legend in canada." and I thought I was gonna get fired but he just looked at me like 'wow'
Yeah you don't hear that everyday!
So when I said you redeemed all of canada – on one hand I really meant it – I've seen some brutal behavior on the part of the fans and even had a big love affair with a hard core canadian hip fan who killed himself.
Oh toronto mike! What I have seen!
The cowboy junkies sang 'sweet jane' for me and my friend madge when playing here in carnegie hall ...
See how cool I am?
I'm kind of a secret – well people read my shit, they just ... Don't admit it.
But they hated me 'cause they said they couldn't help read my shit.
And they couldn't! They couldn't just leave me alone and whew hew!
Yeah ... I met gordon downie after rob killed himself in the winter of 98. The hip were playing in state college PA and we got there early and the door to the club was wide open and no one was around, but we could hear the band rehearsing so we just went in and had our own concert! Well until we got kicked out but still.
But that night I asked gordie what he thought about a book – a collection of my columns I'd sent him – and he said he only saw a handful of times, where the music had really permeated the writer's life. And that was me, yo! And he said he wanted to name his next record, "my music at work"
And in 2000, that record came out and in the video, he's wearing a shirt I sent him with a copy of my final column which was mainly about him calling me. And still, the fans hated my ass dang! So then after awhile I just made a bunch of canada jokes – just jagging around ... But trying to warn them.
Oh we woke gordon downie up in the middle of the night once! Yeah ... But he didn't yell at us. But I had his phone number! And madge said he wouldn't have given it to me if he didn't want to call.
But I mean imagine it ... Calling gordon downie. What an f'n heart attack! And madge kept letting it ring and hanging up and calling back and letting it ring twice and hanging up and on the third time he picked up like he wanted to kill someone agh! You should have seen her face! Gordon? Gordon downie?
But he was real nice – aw we were all drunk and dancing up and down like adolescent nightmares after the call was over.
I just wished the canadians would have talked to me.
I can tell you what the story is down here and we gotta find a way to talk to the rednecks, christians etc -
I mean desperate times call for desperate discourse
Well
My real name is kathy jo kramer and I love you for sending that song
Oh and when I said you redeamed canada – I did mean it tongue-in-cheek like ... Canada doesn't need as much redeeming as the US.
Not yet – but power shifted up there and I fear for ya!
So yeah okay I'll go now ... Thanks for reading and for the best gift – a song by gordon downie ...
I googled Whorella Mundane and learned that fellow Hip fans really do despise here. Here's what direwolf74 said about her in The Titanic Terrarium.
She was an avid poster at the old newsgroup (alt.music.tragically-hip), and from what I've seen, she still is. Her posts are notorious for being incredibly long-winded, bizarre, and completely off-topic. They're actually more like personal diary entries. Often times we knew stuff about her personal life that we didn't really need to know. She also had/has a rather unhealthy obsession with Gord Downie, which frighteningly straddled the line between fan and stalker. She once claimed that the green shirt that he wore often during the Phantom Power tour (and in the "Poets" video) was one that she had personally sent him. I never really believed that one myself. I'll admit though, she was pretty fun to argue with. Anyway, that pretty much sums up Whorella. And that's all I have to say about that.
"Long-winded, bizarre and completely off-topic" sounds like an accurate description.
Last night, the number of times I've seen The Tragically Hip live in concert hit double digits. Ryan and I got to our seats at the Air Canada Centre early to catch Buck 65. This Nova Scotian is unique. He's got a DJ spinning wax while he raps, but it's Hip Hop heavily flavoured with bluegrass country. It's not easy to describe, but it's interesting and entertaining.
I far prefer outdoor concerts, under a clear night's sky, but in February that's not going to happen so 20,000 of us hooked up in the ACC to see our band. Other than a cover none of us seemed to recognize or care for, it was another great show, although I'm rather biased. Here were the highlights.
Fiddler's Green It took a single note of Fiddler's Green for me to realize I was finally getting my wish. I had never heard this song live, and it's one of my favourites. It's so damn pretty, and while Gord and the boys played it, time seemed to stand still. This song alone was worth the price of admission.
At The Hundredth Meridian Whereas I was hearing Fiddler's Green for the first time, I heard At The Hundredth Meridian for the tenth time. Anyone who's seen the Hip in concert knows the live version of this tune is quite different from the version you hear on Fully Completely. It's faster, zippier and manic. Then, there's the ultra fast "If I die of vanity" sequence that fuels me like organic speed. This time, Gord threw in some Police and even that couldn't ruin it for me.
Feelin' Those Lighters Let's see, Bobcaygeon, Fiddler's Green, Long Time Running, Wheat Kings... All had the joint lit up with lighters. I'm not talking about that crappy psuedo lighter thing people do with their cell phones, but actual fire. It was awesome, and all three songs killed. That night in Toronto...
In View Arrives I've written in the past about how good a single I think In View is. Last night, I heard it in concert for the first time and I'm certain it will become a live staple. It's a great sing-along with that hook and arena presence. Last night was In View's coming out party.
On this tour, however, Gord and the boys are singing a different cover each stop. Tonight I'll be seeing them at the ACC with my bro Ry and there's no guessing what we'll get. Here are the covers they've played thus far, courtesy of hipfans.com.
2007-01-07 - Victoria: "Queen Bitch" by David Bowie
2007-01-08 - Victoria: "C'Mon Everybody" by Eddie Cochran
2007-01-10 - Kamloops: "On A Night Like This" by Bob Dylan
2007-01-12 - Prince George: "It Makes No Difference" by The Band
2007-01-13 - Grande Prairie: "I Can Only Give You Everything" by Them
2007-01-14 - Edmonton: "Summer Side Of Life" by Gordon Lightfoot
2007-01-16 - Red Deer: "Somethin' Else" by Eddie Cochran
2007-01-17 - Lethbridge: "Four Stong Winds" by Ian & Sylvia
2007-01-19 - Regina: "Powderfinger" by Neil Young
2007-01-20 - Winnipeg: "2000 Light Years From Home" by The Rolling Stones
2007-01-22 - Thunder Bay: "Going, Going, Gone" by Bob Dylan
2007-01-23 - Sault. Ste. Marie: "Six Days On The Road" by Dave Dudley
2007-01-25 - Barrie: "Train In Vain (AKA Stand By Me)" by The Clash
2007-01-26 - Barrie: "The Weight" by The Band
2007-01-27 - Sudbury: "Sudbury Saturday Night" by Stompin' Tom Connors
2007-01-29 - Peterborough: "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell
2007-01-31 - Oshawa: "Hang On To Yourself" by David Bowie
2007-02-02 - Ottawa: "Like A Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan
2007-02-05 - London: "Lust For Life" by Iggy Pop
2007-02-06 - Hamilton: "Picture My Face" by Teenage Head
2007-02-08 - Toronto: ???
If you're going to the show tonight, I'm wearing my customary #5 Leafs jersey for Bashin' Bill.
They've announced the nominees for the 2007 Juno Awards in Saskatoon. The Tragically Hip received four nominations: Group Of The Year, Rock Album Of The Year, Jack Richardson Producer Of The Year and CD/DVD Artwork Design Of The Year.
I'm surprised they missed out on a nomination for single of the year for In View. For fun, here are the nominees for Rock Album of the Year.
Back in June I wrote about Sophie's response to my Hallelujah hunt. I finally had an MP3 of this elusive Gord Downie cover of Leonard Cohen's classic that was heard during the sweet Canadian flick "Saint Ralph". I had the MP3 and I wanted to share it with other Hallelujah hunters.
My offer was simple. Leave a comment requesting the MP3 and I'll email it to you. As of this moment, 108 people have taken me up on that offer and many others defied my orders and wrote me directly requesting the file. Replying to these requests has become a daily ritual of mine.
At 108 comments, that's my second most commented on entry next to "Humble Howard, Are You Okay?" which currently tips the scales at 393 comments. Had I not set Humble up with his own blog that figure could have easily doubled by now.
Reading the comments on the Homemade Hallelujah page reassures me that I wasn't alone in being haunted by that song. There are many on a hunt similar to mine. Paul wrote a comment that shed a little light on why we're all so frustrated by this.
My story is similar to yours looking for a copy of the song (not as exhaustive), a friend of mine works for Alliance Atlantis and I asked him about a soundtrack. He said (last summer) that they were trying to put it together but were having licensing issues and then interest kind of died out.
When was the last time a movie was released with great tunes but no soundtrack. Only in Canada...
I still think about that June 24 Tragically Hip show at Fort York. Here's the review I wrote the next morning. Besides being a fantastic show with great audio and a perfect venue there was "38 Years Old". My 13 for 38 entry sheds some light on why this was so special. Prior to that pretty June night about six months ago the Hip hadn't played "38 Years Old" live since July 24, 1993. That's thirteen years in the wilderness, thirteen years without playing a fan favourite and gem from their breakout album, Up To Here.
Someone at hipfans.com posted this performance on YouTube. I really like this footage because it was taken from almost the exact spot I was standing.
All morning I've been fielding emails from Hip fans wanting to know the password for this morning's presale. This happens every time The Tragically Hip announce a new tour. If you Google tragically hip presale password, I'm #1 with a bullet, making me a prime target for such queries.
When I bought tickets this morning for the February show at the ACC, the presale password was "rink". I hope that helps.
World Container World Album Premiere - Since today is national Hip day, I thought this was a cool link to share with fellow fans of Canada's band. This is Gord and the boys discussing the new album while they play each song. There's great insight and another opportunity to hear this fantastic new album that hits stores today.
When I first watched the video for The Tragically Hip's "In View", I was taken aback by a snippet of a song that interrupts "In View" at about the 32 second mark. We're bouncing around to "In View" when suddenly Gord is looking solemnly into the mirror as about 15 seconds of this hauntingly beautiful song is played. What was that song?
With The Hip streaming all of World Container ahead of its release date, I had a chance to hear the entire album. Seven tracks in, I heard that song. It's called "Pretend" and it's stunning. I've been through the album a dozen times now and a number of tracks stand out as winners, but "Pretend" has seeped deep under my skin. If you're streaming, it starts at the 23:26 mark.
In addition to "Pretend", I can't get enough of "The Lonely End Of The Rink" which just gets better and better with every listen. The lead track "Yer Not The Ocean" is very strong as is "The Drop Off" and "Fly". As for "In View", you already know what I think.
If you just want to check out the first four songs, "Yer Not The Ocean", "The Lonely End of the Rink", "In View" and "Fly", you can hear them on the Hip's MySpace page.
Fellow Hip fans should be aware that tomorrow night's Hockey Night In Canada telecast will open with The Tragically Hip's "Lonely End Of The Rink".
"Lonely End Of The Rink" is a new song from the upcoming World Container disc that I first heard at Fort York on June 24th. It's a sweet ditty that's ideal for Hockey Night in Canada.
This is where I'd tell you to tune into CBC at 7pm tomorrow night, but I know you'll be doing that anyways.
"In View", the latest single from The Tragically Hip from their upcoming release World Container, has been available for a month now. I've heard it dozens of times and I've had discussions about it with other Hip fans. We've reached a consensus. It's good!
It's damn catchy and bounces around in your head throughout the day. It's a fantastic single that can be thoroughly appreciated by the non-Hip fan as well. Dare I say this is the best Hip single since "Bobcaygeon". I'm not saying it's necessarily a better song than "It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken", I'm just guessing there's hasn't been as much mass appeal for a Hip song since "Bobcaygeon".
Feel free to disagree. I'm going back to my rendition of "In View". "I've been meaning to call you..."
This morning, at 10am sharp, tickets went on sale for a series of club shows featuring The Tragically Hip. The shows are at The Phoenix, my old stomping grounds. As a Hip club member, I was given the head's up but things don't always unravel according to plan.
I simply couldn't get to a computer at 10am sharp and by the time I logged on all the Toronto tix were gone. It's been a while since I missed a local Hip show, well documented here, but I'll be missing these four. Unless...
If anyone in the Hip camp sees this and wants to throw a loyal dog a bone, please contact me. My attendance at a Hip show ensures a great deal of search engine exposure to reviews, photos and other postive Hip stuff. Brother, can you spare a ticket?
I saw the Stereophonics at Edgefest back in 2003 when we were supposedly saying goodbye to Molson Park. In that entry I noted that The Stereophonics used to be called Tragic Love Company, partly because of their fondness for our very own Tragically Hip, one of their favourite bands. The Hip, it seems, played a role in the band member's recent recociliation.
This article explains that ex-Stereophonics drummer Stuart Cable and lead singer Kelly Jones have reconciled after not speaking for three years. The reconciliation took place over friendly pints of Guinness in a London pub, but that's only after they bumped into each other at a Tragically Hip show. In Cable's words:
We went to watch a band called The Tragically Hip and just had a bit of a chat and drink and got a few things off our chests. He was standing behind me in the toilets and I turned around and saw him and made a silly comment about something he was wearing and he made a silly comment and that was just it.
Everything seems to be OK. We've texted each other a few times since. I wouldn't say we're back to where we were - friends like before. There's a lot of water under the bridge but I apologised for a few things and he apologised for a few things. I think he's mellowed with age and being a father.
Time heals all these things.
Cable and Jones owe Gord and the boys a pint or two.
I share an MP3 from my collection every Wednesday. You have seven days to grab this week's MP3. Please right-click your mouse and select "Save Link As..." or "Save target as..." so you can download it to your PC before playing.
The title of The Tragically Hip's eleventh studio release (not including the live disc and Yer Favourites) has been unveiled. They're calling it World Container and it will be available October 17.
I'm itching for some new Hip, so this is welcome news. The first single is "In View". As soon as we know when that will be available, I'll let ya know.
I stumbled upon this news article about the launch of a new radio station on the Cayman Islands. Cayrock 96.5 FM began broadcasting yesterday but what gets me is the list of bands they're promising to play. Here's a direct quote.
Cayrock promises old classics to the most popular hits of today including Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, Green Day, Aerosmith, Collective Soul, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Nickelback, Rolling Stones, Tragically Hip and U2.
Yep, in the Caribbean Sea, when they want to rock, they don't only crave the standards like Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin, Green Day, Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Nickelback, Rolling Stones and U2, but they also want their Hip. Are the Hip so well known to Cayman Island locals and international tourists that they warranted a mention in the CaymanNetNews?
A couple of days removed from heaven at Fort York, it's time for a little perspective. Up To Here was, without a doubt, The Tragically Hip's breakout in this country. It got plenty of airplay, sold plenty of copies (1,250,000 at last count) and blew me away. Along with stellar tracks like "Blow At High Dough" and "New Orleans Is Sinking", there was a bittersweet little number called "38 Years Old".
When I would listen to Up To Here, which I did hundreds and hundreds of times, "38 Years Old" always rang out as one of my favourites. Sometimes I'd rank it as high as #1. When I wrote Gord in November of 2004 prior to a show at the ACC, I begged him to play "38 Years Old", unaware that it hadn't been played in over a decade but well aware that I had never heard it live. Amongst diehards, "38 Years Old" is the holy grail.
On Saturday night, Gord blessed 6000 of us with the Hip's first performance of "38 Years Old" since July 24, 1993. That's almost thirteen years ago. That's incredible.
It's amazing what a little perspective does to an occurrence like this. Some feel the band presented this particular setlist to their loyal fans as a gift of appreciation. The band would have been well aware the bulk of the tickets were sold during the club member pre-sale and in tune with what their true fans want, the Hip delivered. I like this theory and I choose to believe it. How else can you explain "38 Years Old"?
Having now seen The Tragically Hip live nine times, I can vouch for their consistency. They're nine for nine in terms of putting on an energetic, fulfilling, quality rock show. Because they never have an off day, ranking the nine shows relies on other factors, mainly ambience, venue, playlist and vibe. This is what made last night so special.
It was my first concert at Historic Fort York and I'm forever smitten. On a crystal clear, warm night, the location was ultra convenient to get in and out of and the stage was magically framed by the city around us. The CN Tower and skyline was the back drop and the old stone fort walls rustically kept us in check. I easily found a free parking spot on Niagara Street, just West of Bathurst which had us into the Fort and out in minutes. The only shame, which Gord Downie referenced in his farewell, was the presence of the Gardiner Expressway to the South. Half way through The Sadies' set I was ready to dismantle it myself. In an orgy of visual delight, she was the pig begging to be slaughtered.
Both The Sadies and The Weakerthans were a lot of fun while I waited in the sweet sun for Das Hip. The audio was as crystal clear as the evening sky. Gord and the boys hit the stage at about 9:00pm, opening with "Don't Wake Daddy". For the next hour and forty minutes, it was pure Hip magic. Highlights were "Courage", "It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken", "38 Years Old" "At The Hundredth Meridian" and "Greasy Jungle". "At The Hundredth Meridian", already my favourite Hip song live, has never been better. Gord delivered his microphone stand monologue half way through before stepping into the vanity velocity verse. There wasn't a weak number in the set and all of Gord's rants were clearly decipherable.
All in all, I heard five songs live for the first time. "Oceans" and "The Drop Off" were great new tunes that will be on the new album, "No Threat" was just released last year, "We'll Go Too", "Sherpa", and "Don't Wake Daddy" are gems I've just missed and then there was "38 Years Old". Not only is "38 Years Old" a personal favourite from the first Hip album I ever bought, but it's the rarest of the rare in concert. According to a good source at Hipbase, it hasn't been played since 1994 1993. That's freakin' incredible! The price of admission was worth it for this song alone. We were all lucky bastards last night.
The setlist has been posted to my Tragically Hip page and I'll be updating my song statistics in a bit. I took a bunch of pictures too, and they're in this photoset. Taking into account the ambience, venue, playlist and vibe, last night's show might just rank as the greatest Hip performance I've ever attended. Wow... it was fantastic.
Fort York, located just North of the Gardiner Expressway between Bathurst and Strachan, is probably our most famous fort. I remember first learning about Fort York in primary school during lessons about The War of 1812. Those damn Yankees overran the place during The Battle of York in 1813 but later that year we got her back and held off the Americans in 1814.
In addition to supplying Toronto students with a good field trip destination, Fort York is gaining quite the reputation as a splendid concert location. Tomorrow, I'll be seeing my first show at Historic Fort York where The Tragically Hip are playing a couple of shows. It's my 9th Hip show and I'll post a thorough review of both the band and venue Sunday morning.
Tragically Hip playlist selected... commence catalogue shuffle.
Last month I linked to a site that was sharing several covers of this Cohen classic. I left a comment on that site telling everyone about my search for Downie's version and asking for help. It's not on an album, it's not available for sale online and not even The Tragically Hip faithful seem to have a bootleg copy.
There seemed to be only one way to get this version of the song in MP3 and that's to create an MP3 from the audio output of "Saint Ralph". Sophie, a Hip fan from Germany, saw my comment on the site sharing the Downie covers and offerred to help. She rented the DVD, created an MP3 and emailed it to me early this morning. Hallelujah!
This will tide me over nicely until Downie releases something official. I know a lot of people have been trying to locate this song as I've heard your empathetic pleas since I first wrote about the cover last August. If that's you, leave a comment and I'll email you the MP3 Sophie shared with me this morning.
On May 2-4, The Tragically Hip will be honoured royally. The Royal Conservatory of Music, that big building on Bloor Street near St. George, is honouring the band at a Royal Occasion gala. "We’re proud to recognize the achievements of The Tragically Hip, a quintessentially Canadian band whose music resonates with millions of fans," said Peter Simon, president of The Royal Conservatory of Music.
Exactly one month later, I'll be seeing The Hip for the ninth time. I've been charting the setlists and tracking the song statistics on my Tragically Hip page. They've played "At The Hundredth Meridian", "Grace, Too", "New Orleans Is Sinking" and "Poets" every time I've seen them live, thus far.
Simon's right, they are a quintessential Canadian band and they are admired by millions. It's nice to see them get their due.
Last night, I finally watched "Saint Ralph". I first wrote about this movie last August when I learned The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie recorded a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" for the movie. Jeff Buckley's cover of Cohen's "Hallelujah" is one of my ten tracks and The Hip is my favourite band, so it's natural I'd be interested in this tune.
It turns out it doesn't just have a cool soundtrack but it's a fantastic little Canadian film. Adam Butcher as Ralph Walker is charming as all hell, the visuals of 1950s Hamilton are great and the story is sweet and inspiring all at once. I loved it and highly recommend it.
Now, back to the soundtrack. The use of Downie's vocals during the climatic scene are chilling. It's perfect, as if that song had been written to be sung by that man during that race. There are other great contributions from Canadian artists as well. "Dark Angel", performed by Blue Rodeo and featuring Sarah McLachlan works perfectly, "You Came Along" by Joel Plaskett Emergency is great and "Up The Road" from Ron Sexsmith is haunting. A tremendous non-Canadian contribution is "Goodnight Moon" by little known Will Kimbrough. With great tunes like these from great artists, why is the "Saint Ralph" soundtrack non-existent?
In typical Canadian fashion, a sweet Canadian movie with an exceptional soundtrack comprised of mainly Canadian acts doesn't see the light of day. It's a damn shame, but in the meantime, my Hallelujah hunt continues...
That's how PBS is billing "That Night In Toronto", airing Friday night at midnight. "That Night in Toronto", of course, was captured live at the November 2004 Air Canada Centre concert in Toronto by filmmakes Pierre and Francois Lamoureux, and I was there.
It was a great show and if you haven't seen the DVD that hit stores last year, you'll want to catch this PBS airing. Set your PVR, VCR or whatever the hell you kids are using to tape stuff off the boob tube.
Moments ago, I received the following message via my contact form.
hey...just browsing around...gotta love your a hip fan .we love all our fans.
see ya at the show !
the hip.
Immediately, I referenced the IP addy. It came from an Ontario city (not Toronto) and belongs to Bell Sympatico. It's a first time visitor who came to the contact form from my Tragically Hip page. I'm fairly certain it came from The Tragically Hip camp, but did it come from a band member? If yes, which one?
I wrote MapleMusic.com about my troubles this morning, and Josie wrote me back:
Hello Mike,
As far as I am aware, the Hip site is currently experiencing technical difficulties. However, if your problem is specific to your username and password, you should contact the webmasters at the Hip site.
No sooner did I get her reply than did the site actually accept my username and allow me to buy tix. Done and done... I'll be at my ninth Hip show in June!
For the past 30 minutes I've been trying to secure "front of the line tickets" for The Tragically Hip show in Toronto on June 24, 2006. It's not going well.
My destination is http://www.thehip.com/Store-Tickets.html but it's not liking my username and password. I've definitely registered, in fact, it's greeting me by name on the front page, but everytime I'm prompted for a username and password it denies me the privilege of buying tickets.
This is frustrating. I'm itching for a summer Hip concert in Toronto. Any ideas Hip fans? Is anyone else having this issue?
The Tragically Hip are playing a show in Toronto at the beautiful downtown setting of Historic Fort York on Saturday June 24, 2006. Joining The Hip for the show will be The Weakerthans and The Sadies.
I'll be trying to score tickets tomorrow morning to make it nine. For setlists, ticket stubs and song statistics from my first eight Hip shows, visit my Tragically Hip page.
The Tragically Hip wanted us to know they're currently in the process of recording a new studio album with producer Bob Rock. Once completed, they will be out on the road performing select shows in Canada, the USA and Europe this year. I've been itching for a Hip show, so this is great news. A Canada Day show at the Molson Amphitheatre would be perfect.
The Hip have also announced that they've blown away the old Hip Club we all joined back in 2002 in favour of new club that requires a paid membership. "With the paid membership, you will get front-of-the-line opportunities for concert tickets, special audio and visual content, an online and in-depth Q and A with the band, members-only merchandise, and EXCLUSIVE access to "Hip Club Only" special events, shows and other surprises". This sounds a great deal like Pearl Jam's Ten Club. They haven't announced the price yet...
Hip Music - I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to beta test the new official Hip site which went live a few days ago. This link is to the new Hip Music Player which will stream a bunch of good Hip tracks for you so you can truly have your music @ work.
Fans of The Hip should mark December 7th on their calendars. Global Television is airing a special entitled "That Night In Toronto" at 22:00 EST.
To borrow a piece I just read in The National Post, "If you don't love the Tragically Hip, then you just don't love Canada. Ergo, you must watch That Night In Toronto, their special at 10 ET on Global."
A few weeks ago, Stephen Dame wrote me to ask if it was okay to link to this picture from his Tragically Hip site. It was that day that I first visited A Museum After Dark.
It's a tremendous resource for Hip fans. I love the thoroughness of the extraordinary content as Stephen documents the people, places and poetry found in the music of The Tragically Hip. I recommend starting here and quickly getting lost. The only thing that bugs me about this awesome site is that I didn't do it first. It's an absolutely must-visit for any fan of The Hip.
I studied history at the University of Toronto and there was no Canadian course as interesting and encompassing as A Museum After Dark.
Update: Unfortunately, A Museum After Dark is hosted on shitty free Geocities space and frequently goes down due to exceeded bandwidth. If you get the dreaded "Sorry, this site is temporarily unavailable!" error, try again in an hour. And yes, I've offered to host the entire site so people can actually read it.
There's a neat interview with Gord Downie in today's Globe & Mail. At the conclusion of the interview, Brad Wheeler notes the declining sales of Hip albums. Here are the sales statistics.
The Tragically Hip (1987) 350,000
Up To Here (1989) 1,250,000
Road Apples (1991) 935,000
Fully Completely (1992) 1,035,000
Day for Night (1994) 780,000
Trouble At The Henhouse (1996) 575,000
Live Between Us (1997) 375,000
Phantom Power (1998) 405,000
Music @ Work (2000) 210,000
In Violet Light (2002) 130,000
In Between Evolution (2004) 101,000
These numbers speak volumes. New Hip albums don't sell particularly well. I'm shocked the excellent In Between Evolution only moved 101,000 units. 50 Cent can cough up that number in a good hour. Some will blame illegal downloading. I blame Music @ Work.
1998's Phantom Power was fantastic. "Bobcaygeon", "Fireworks", "Poets" and "Something On" instantly became classics and staples of their live shows. 2000's follow up "Music @ Work" wasn't up to snuff. The lead track was poppy and fun, but there wasn't much after that. "Lake Fever" was sweet, but only the diehards seem to appreciate it and even the diehards lack love for this disc as a whole. Phantom Power sold 405,000 units whereas Music @ Work sold just about half that amount. The next two releases, both outstanding in my humble opinion, sold even less.
Of course, there's rarely a correlation between quality and sales totals. This is not an exception. In Between Evolution may have stalled at 101,000, but if The Hip want to book a week of concerts at the ACC, you can bet they'll sell every seat.
Just thought I'd let you know. I heard The Hip's 'New Orleans is Sinking' (killerwhaletank version) on 97.7 on the drive home tonight. That's the first I've heard it since Katrina. Is the embargo officially over now?
Mike H.
Katrina struck New Orleans on August 29, over two months ago. It sounds as if 97.7 HTZ FM out of St. Catherines has boldly gone where no radio station has gone since. They're playing "New Orleans Is Sinking" again...
God bless 97.7 for playing the hell out of the killerwhaletank version. Back in December 2003 I wrote all about this version of the Hip classic. Gord delivers a fantastic monologue about his time as a clean n' scrub man in the C n' S union and you can read it in its entirety by visiting that December 2003 entry.
The Buffalo News posted a review of Hipeponymous this morning. Hipeponymous is the box set released to celebrate twenty years of The Tragically Hip.
In this review, the Hip are compared to opera. Here's an excerpt:
Hip fans get it. Trying to explain just what "it" is to non-believers is a murky, tiresome affair. Which is where "opera" comes in. Breaking down the Hip's sound to its core tenets doesn't do it; the whole is clearly above and beyond the sum of its parts. But there is something in there, something elusive, that makes this music, this presentation, compelling in a manner that doesn't bow to rational thought. It's dramatic. And its impact is most directly felt in the marriage of theatrical presentation, sonic exploration, ever-present groove, and full-bodied poetic text that the Hip manages to lay down to tape in the studio, and then somehow expands upon in concert.
The Hip show I attended last November was filmed for the DVD "That Night in Toronto", which coincidentally was exactly what I named my review of that show. "That Night in Toronto" will be available soon by its lonesome or as part of Hipeponymous.
Fellow Hip fans will definitely want to check out this awesome trailer for the DVD.
Hipeponymous is coming soon. Hipeponymous is a limited edition, 2 CD and 2 DVD box set from The Tragically Hip that hits stores on November 1 and the cover will look like this.
I own their entire catalogue, so I won't fork over this kind of coin for the two new songs, but I am intrigued by the DVD. "That Night in Toronto, a Film by Pierre & Francois Lamoureux" was filmed during their November 27, 2004 show after which I complained about the brightness in the ACC. If the DVD is as good as that show, I'll officially rescind that complaint.
Ask one hundred random Canadian music fans to name their favourite song from The Tragically Hip and over 80 will tell you it's "New Orleans is Sinking". While we watch the flooding in New Orleans this week, many of us subconsciously hear this bluesy rocker from Up To Here in our heads. I know I do.
Ottawa's rock radio stations The Bear 106.9 and CHEZ 106.1 have both decided to pull The Tragically Hip classic from their playlists at least until Hurricane Katrina abates and the Louisiana city gets back on its feet. I wonder if local Hip-playing stations Q107, HTZ 97.7, CFNYEdge 102, Y108 and 94.9 The Rock have followed suit.
Why does the cynical bastard in me think they'll play it more while New Orleans is actually sinking?
Unbeknownst to me, The Tragically Hip's Gord Downie recorded a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" for the movie "Saint Ralph". It sounds like Downie does the tune justice, adding to the incredible covers and almost-covers of this amazing song.
I can't wait to hear Downie's version. As for the other covers and pseudo covers by Jeff Buckley, Nick Cave, K-OS, K.D. Lang and others, I plan to share these with you all as part of my weekly Wednesday MP3. This Wednesday, we'll start with the best of the bunch, and that means Buckley.
Back in April I wrote about the poll being conducted by The Tragically Hip in celebration of their twentieth anniversary. We were asked to list our ten favourite Hip tunes so I did. Here's what I wrote that day, in alphabetical order.
Ahead By A Century
At The Hundredth Meridian
Blow At High Dough
Bobcaygeon
Courage
Grace, Too
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
Little Bones
New Orleans Is Sinking
Wheat Kings
On November 1st, the Hip have announced they're releasing "Hipeponymous", a limited edition box set consisting of two discs with 34 songs chosen by fans. The four disc package will also contain two brand new songs, a 48 page book, a live DVD called "That Night In Toronto", and a bonus DVD of all 23 Hip videos, plus 11 new video pieces. You don't have to buy the box set though because the two disc package, which they're calling "Yer Favourites", and the "That Night In Toronto" DVD will also be sold separately.
Remember when I complained about how bright it was during the November 2004 show at the ACC? It turns out those lights were there because they filmed "That Night In Toronto" that night. It was shot in High Definition and mixed in PCM Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound and should be great.
Hip fans voting for their top ten chose the following songs, listed here in alphabetical order. 8/10 appeared on my list as well.
I heard Rob Baker and Craig Northey on Y108 last night. They were live in the studio playing some songs from their Stripper's Union collaboration. Baker, of course, is from The Tragically Hip and Northey was from The Odds.
They sounded great, but that's not the purpose of this entry. Baker was asked for a Hip status update and he provided one. He spoke about the greatest hits project and provided a few new details. He referred to it as a double CD and mentioned a DVD or two as part of the package. He also said it should be available in October.
I love the idea of this collection being two CDs and I'm ecstatic at the idea of including a DVD. Giddy-up!
A reader of this site emailed me this link. The Tragically Hip are celebrating their twentieth anniversary and they're having a poll to decide what songs appear on their greatest hits. They're careful not to call it a "greatest hits" collection, instead preferring to refer to it as "an album chronicling The Hip's first 20 years of making music". Sounds like a greatest hits to me!
This particular poll is asking visitors to list their ten favourite Hip tunes. Ten is a pretty small number so I got to thinking how I would narrow my favourite Hip songs down to a top ten. It might look something like this...
Blow At High Dough
New Orleans Is Sinking
Little Bones
Courage
At The Hundredth Meridian
Grace, Too
Wheat Kings
Ahead By A Century
Bobcaygeon
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
Damn that was tough. I went through several edits before arriving at the list above. Songs like "Nautical Disaster", "Scared" and "Fireworks" were there and then they were gone. Feel free to send me your ten and I'll happily post the list.
The Tragically Hip will be performing two songs live tonight at the Junos. They're also being inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame so you won't want to miss that.
In addition to performing and being honoured, the Hip are up for two Junos. They're nominated with Billy Talent, Great Big Sea, Simple Plan and Sum 41 for group of the year and their "In Between Evolution is up for rock album of the year.
I'll post my post-Juno thoughts tomorrow morning. The telecast starts tonight at 20:30 EST on CTV.
I just chucked a Pearl Jam update on the fire so it's only fair I follow it up with a Hip update. Dan Aykroyd will be appearing at the upcoming Juno awards to honour Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees The Tragically Hip.
That's Sunday, April 3rd in case you don't already have it marked down on your calendars.
Newfoundland and Labrador's Damhnait Doyle has released an album of interesting covers entitled Lights Down Low.
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4 Comments
I share an MP3 from 
Last March 
The Sweet Hereafter, a great Atom Egoyan film, features a cover of 
I recently posted 
When I shared Gord Downie's Hallelujah with a reader named Whorella Mundane, she told me I redeemed all of Canada. I must have thought that was pretty cool because 
My favourite Hip concerts
"The Hour", George Stroumboulopoulos' show on CBC Newsworld and CBC, is dedicating tonight's episode to a performance by 
Last Saturday, 
I like the video for The Tragically Hip's "In View". I recently made 
I saw the Stereophonics 
The title of The Tragically Hip's eleventh studio release (not including the live disc and Yer Favourites) has been unveiled. They're calling it World Container and it will be available October 17.
I stumbled upon 
Fort York, located just North of the Gardiner Expressway between Bathurst and Strachan, is probably our most famous fort. I remember first learning about Fort York in primary school during lessons about The War of 1812. Those damn Yankees overran the place during The Battle of York in 1813 but later that year we got her back and held off the Americans in 1814.
Even before 
That's how PBS is billing "That Night In Toronto", airing Friday night at midnight. "That Night in Toronto", of course, was captured live at the November 2004 Air Canada Centre concert in Toronto by filmmakes Pierre and Francois Lamoureux, and 
Moments ago, I received the following message via 
In part one, I learned 
Anyone is welcome to 
Unbeknownst to me, 