Went to see The Tragically Hip last night at Massey Hall here in Toronto. Here's what I wrote for the Tragically Hip Tour Blog...
The Tragically Hip
Massey Hall
05/11/2009
Toronto, ON
The Depression Suite
In View
Courage
Pigeon Camera
Poets
Morning Moon
It Can't Be Nashville Every Night
Fully Completely
Now The Struggle Has A Name
Yer Not The Ocean
Love Is A First
Set II
Toronto #4 @
Fiddler's Green @
Greasy Jungle @
The Last Recluse
Twist My Arm
At The 100th Meridian
Coffee Girl
Ahead By A Century
Speed River
Bobcaygeon
Tiger The Lion
Blow At High Dough
Encore
Frozen In My Tracks
Locked In The Trunk Of A Car
This was the first show on this tour I attended. I went down with my sister and had a blast. She got her ultimate request fulfilled, Greasy Jungle, and I was happy for her.
We started out riding the 504 streetcar down King and worked out way up to the Hard Rock Cafe. I remember coming into Toronto back in my youth to see The Hip play Maple Leaf Gardens and we would go there because we didn't know anyplace else in the city. I relived old memories overlooking Dundas Square sipping on Mojitos on the HRC patio getting my pre-show on. That Night In Toronto played in the background. I followed that up with some beer and weed cookies. Nothing like a good body buzz to set things right, right?
The crowd was lined up down the block from Massey. Too bad they didn't notice all the doors were open for entrance. Anyways, we hit the bar first. Is there anything harder than drinking at a show in Canada? Knock the States about whatever you want, but concerts are a better overall experience there. Period.
First set highlights for me were The Suite, Pigeon Camera, Poets, Fully Completely and Struggle. I wish they wouldn't open with Depression Suite every show, but this one is going to stick folks. It could be placed just about anywhere in the setlist and work. The Camera has always been a fav of mine ever since it came out. I don't think I've heard it in 6 or 7 shows (for me) so I was happy about that. Poets had a real nice groove to it. Fully Completely for me may just about be the best Tragically Hip song live. It's just a showcase tune. Hey, Honey Watson...Struggle is just a really solid tune. I don't know if it will stick long term, but I'm enjoying it while it's out there.
The second set started with the acoustic trio as usual. Toronto #4 & Fiddler's Green started it off. These were the same two songs as the previous show. I was happy to see them and truth-be-told, didn't expect them based on the last setlist. Greasy Jungle came next and as soon as Gord said, "This one's for a mother from the Ottawa Valley", I told my sister, her dream was about to come true. She's been trying to catch this one for some time now and was quite relieved to not have to go into Saturday's show fretting over the matter.
From here on things were pretty standard. No surprises or breakouts and everything was played pretty standard. Twist My Arm was a highlight for me. 100th Meridian was probably the biggest disappointment for me. It just didn't "pop". It was mid-tempo and might have been less than 5 minutes in length. This version would be embarrassed if listened back-to-back with the Lofty Pines Meridian in which Gord quotes Steve Yzerman. Coffee Girl was Coffee Girl. ABAC was a crowd favorite and did what it does. Speed River was great. That song really gets going and comes off really well live. Bobcaygeon was expected. Tiger the Lion was a first for me live and it rocked. There was a noticeable difference in the crowd of those who knew the song and those who didn't.
Compared to other shows on this tour the setlist doesn't jump out at you, but it was a well played show. I don't know if the band feels any extra pressure playing T.O. or not, but it was like they slid into the water instead of diving. There are still five more shows to go at Massey Hall. I will save further opinion until the end of the run here and we can take a look at the entire body of work.
I had a great time tonight. I always do. Thanks Alie. You rock.
-mrjackstraw
PS: Where the fuck did Country Day go?
@ = Acoustic
