[sean.bonner]

Must have phoned a million times no
answer came
What kind of fool am I to play the
game with...

[canuckeh]

going to this one, excited as always, 9th row centre, not spectacular but nothing to sneeze at. Spectra Place is a very new building

going in with a "greatest hits" mindset so any surprise will be a nice treat but not really expected


I live-updated the set with the arkells in regina earlier this year and felt it kinda distracted a bit from the experience so i'm just going to sit back and take this one in without a piece of technology in my hands and post thoughts afterwards.... unless something incredibly rare/surprising happens

[Jack Straw]

The Tragically Hip
Spectra Place
Estevan, SK
2013/07/08

Setlist:
At Transformation, Grace Too, Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin' Man, Man Machine Poem, Gift Shop, Ahead By A Century, Streets Ahead, Flamenco, Poets, We Want To Be It, Fully Completely, Wheat Kings, NOIS > Nautical > NOIS, Fire In The Hole, Goodnight Attawapiskat, Blow At High Dough

Encore:
My Music At Work, At The Hundredth Meridian, Bobcaygeon, Courage, Little Bones

Setlist live tweeted by @whatz_wrong. Thanks!

[canuckeh]

^^
poets was there and it came between flamenco and we want to be it, otherwise correct!


another solid show, i agree with most in saying gord's screaming delivery is distracting if and only if you are listening to a soundboard or some sort of pro recording. Live, in the audience, man does it ever fit the scene and i fully (completely?) understand the style now.

The crowd from where i sat (9th row center) was polarizing at best, the center and left sections, rows 2-8 actually sat down for Flamenco, got back up for Poets, and then sat again for We Want To Be It and Fully Completely which was a bit weird but they got right into it with the "known" songs and hits. Blow At High Dough was the highlight for audience participation. There was a small kid on his dad's shoulders down near the front near the end just boogying away which caught gord's eye and he tossed him his hanky which the kid waved around for the encore, i have a pic or two which i'll try and upload shortly.

Just a solid show through and through. No "surprises" but going in with that mentality made it that much more enjoyable. Holy cow was the venue hot. Easily and I mean easily the hottest venue i've ever seen an indoor show for any band at. And it's a hockey rink to boot! Gord made mention of it at one point

Gord asked if there were any sled dogs in the house, which of course made me think of the exciting swerve of Don't Wake Daddy, but it led to Streets Ahead, which led to a massive bathroom break in the crowd it seemed, just streams of people filing past me

For my 11th show, with expectations of greatest hits, and despite having a keen awareness of gord's screaming vocals (he even missed a few cues, notably in nautical) it was well above average and well worth the time and money. thumbs up. :thumb:


edit: although it's just my 11th show, this is the first time i've heard every song previously performed live, still made for an enjoyable night!

[canuckeh]

You can see the kid waving Gord's hanky between the H and I during the encore break and he kept it up through the encore break and 5-song encore!... a new fan was made a nice touch to the evening. Gord posed for him quite a few times

[canuckeh]

a little catch-and-release with the youngster:




and a pose:

[direwolf74]

Ok, I think it's time for Rob Baker to hand the setlist writing duties over to someone else. He seems to be suffering from a severe lack of imagination. Let's give Paul or Johnny a chance. Or even better, give the job back to Gord Sinclair. How 'bout it, Hip?

[BeerBaron]

*yawn*

[hefner]

*yawn*

Way to contribute to the conversation, BeerBaron.

I was lucky enough to be front row for this show with 3 friends who share my passion for the hip and we all loved it.

Rural Alberta Advantage was a great opener and is an awesome band in their own right. Watching their drummer Paul's lightning fast beats is worth seeing on its own! Those who made it to their seats to see them were more receptive than I'd have guessed... opening for the hip can't be an easy job but they sounded great and I distinctly remember a bit of clapping and some sparse cheering after every song. Gord joined them near the end of their set for an excellent cover of Canada Geese from his first solo album, Coke Machine Glow. I actually overheard someone ask 'who's that guy in the hat?'

I went into the show with no expectations of setlist surprises from the Hipand in turn was not disappointed. Deep cuts would have been wasted on the majority of that audience, as only their biggest hits seemed to get a decent rise. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it from start to finish and thought the boys worked as hard as they ever do, especially considering how poorly the show sold. Being front row gave us the rare opportunity to see the band up close and also interact with them a bit in between songs; chanting "Robbie" and "Robert" between songs got a few chuckles from Mr. Baker. My voice still hasn't recovered from all of the cheering and sing alongs.

Gord Downie certainly didn't hold anything back, even though it was in a half-empty small town hockey rink, nor was he phased by the 'fans' in the second row who refused to get up out of their seats for most of the show (22 songs). The few times I turned my back to the stage to see the crowd, the response seemed lukewarm at best. It was obvious a lot of people went to this show for no reason other than that it was something to do in their little town.

I should mention I was born and raised in Estevan so going back to my hometown to see my favourite band was fun, albeit a strange and somewhat disappointing experience. Talking with a lot of locals afterwards was frustrating. Many who I spoke with hadn't seen them in a while (or ever), and there was a lot of shock and dismay that Gord doesn't 'sing the songs the way they go' or that 'he screams too much' and some people were even put off by his 'bizarre behaviour' and excessive ranting... these are the qualities that make me love the Tragically Hip's live experience! I'm not saying everyone hated the show, but the majority of people I spoke with certainly weren't impressed, many comparing it to Motley Crue's show in the same venue a couple months earlier, described as "fucking awesome" and "way better". While buying my wife a shirt from the merch table, one 40-something lady even suggested I 'must be a fruit' for having enjoyed Gord's spectacle and called me a sucker when I admitted I'd paid to see them repeatedly over the years. Bitch, don't kill my vibe! I guess I should also mention Estevan is a small town, in the middle of an oilfield boom. It was hard not to notice the staggering number of massive trucks that filled the freshly paved the parking lot of Spectra Place that night, many bearing oilfield related business decals. I remember being so excited to get out of that city after high school, and hearing so many disgusted reactions to such a great performance was a reminder of some of the closed-minded attitudes I often experienced in that town growing up. Note to self: Money ≠ taste.

My friends and I are lucky enough to again have front row tickets for the Moose Jaw show in a couple months. It looks like that show has no opener and is being promoted as 'an evening with the hip' - I'm hoping they'll play a nice long set and I'll get my deep cuts fix then. If I can say anything, this polarizing show in Estevan only made us Hip fans more excited for Moose Jaw!

[spottrax]

*yawn*

Way to contribute to the conversation, BeerBaron.

I was lucky enough to be front row for this show with 3 friends who share my passion for the hip and we all loved it.

Rural Alberta Advantage was a great opener and is an awesome band in their own right. Watching their drummer Paul's lightning fast beats is worth seeing on its own! Those who made it to their seats to see them were more receptive than I'd have guessed... opening for the hip can't be an easy job but they sounded great and I distinctly remember a bit of clapping and some sparse cheering after every song. Gord joined them near the end of their set for an excellent cover of Canada Geese from his first solo album, Coke Machine Glow. I actually overheard someone ask 'who's that guy in the hat?'

I went into the show with no expectations of setlist surprises from the Hipand in turn was not disappointed. Deep cuts would have been wasted on the majority of that audience, as only their biggest hits seemed to get a decent rise. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it from start to finish and thought the boys worked as hard as they ever do, especially considering how poorly the show sold. Being front row gave us the rare opportunity to see the band up close and also interact with them a bit in between songs; chanting "Robbie" and "Robert" between songs got a few chuckles from Mr. Baker. My voice still hasn't recovered from all of the cheering and sing alongs.

Gord Downie certainly didn't hold anything back, even though it was in a half-empty small town hockey rink, nor was he phased by the 'fans' in the second row who refused to get up out of their seats for most of the show (22 songs). The few times I turned my back to the stage to see the crowd, the response seemed lukewarm at best. It was obvious a lot of people went to this show for no reason other than that it was something to do in their little town.

I should mention I was born and raised in Estevan so going back to my hometown to see my favourite band was fun, albeit a strange and somewhat disappointing experience. Talking with a lot of locals afterwards was frustrating. Many who I spoke with hadn't seen them in a while (or ever), and there was a lot of shock and dismay that Gord doesn't 'sing the songs the way they go' or that 'he screams too much' and some people were even put off by his 'bizarre behaviour' and excessive ranting... these are the qualities that make me love the Tragically Hip's live experience! I'm not saying everyone hated the show, but the majority of people I spoke with certainly weren't impressed, many comparing it to Motley Crue's show in the same venue a couple months earlier, described as "fucking awesome" and "way better". While buying my wife a shirt from the merch table, one 40-something lady even suggested I 'must be a fruit' for having enjoyed Gord's spectacle and called me a sucker when I admitted I'd paid to see them repeatedly over the years. Bitch, don't kill my vibe! I guess I should also mention Estevan is a small town, in the middle of an oilfield boom. It was hard not to notice the staggering number of massive trucks that filled the freshly paved the parking lot of Spectra Place that night, many bearing oilfield related business decals. I remember being so excited to get out of that city after high school, and hearing so many disgusted reactions to such a great performance was a reminder of some of the closed-minded attitudes I often experienced in that town growing up. Note to self: Money ≠ taste.

My friends and I are lucky enough to again have front row tickets for the Moose Jaw show in a couple months. It looks like that show has no opener and is being promoted as 'an evening with the hip' - I'm hoping they'll play a nice long set and I'll get my deep cuts fix then. If I can say anything, this polarizing show in Estevan only made us Hip fans more excited for Moose Jaw!

Nice and honest review!

[BeerBaron]

*yawn*

Way to contribute to the conversation, BeerBaron.

I was lucky enough to be front row for this show with 3 friends who share my passion for the hip and we all loved it.

Rural Alberta Advantage was a great opener and is an awesome band in their own right. Watching their drummer Paul's lightning fast beats is worth seeing on its own! Those who made it to their seats to see them were more receptive than I'd have guessed... opening for the hip can't be an easy job but they sounded great and I distinctly remember a bit of clapping and some sparse cheering after every song. Gord joined them near the end of their set for an excellent cover of Canada Geese from his first solo album, Coke Machine Glow. I actually overheard someone ask 'who's that guy in the hat?'

I went into the show with no expectations of setlist surprises from the Hipand in turn was not disappointed. Deep cuts would have been wasted on the majority of that audience, as only their biggest hits seemed to get a decent rise. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it from start to finish and thought the boys worked as hard as they ever do, especially considering how poorly the show sold. Being front row gave us the rare opportunity to see the band up close and also interact with them a bit in between songs; chanting "Robbie" and "Robert" between songs got a few chuckles from Mr. Baker. My voice still hasn't recovered from all of the cheering and sing alongs.

Gord Downie certainly didn't hold anything back, even though it was in a half-empty small town hockey rink, nor was he phased by the 'fans' in the second row who refused to get up out of their seats for most of the show (22 songs). The few times I turned my back to the stage to see the crowd, the response seemed lukewarm at best. It was obvious a lot of people went to this show for no reason other than that it was something to do in their little town.

I should mention I was born and raised in Estevan so going back to my hometown to see my favourite band was fun, albeit a strange and somewhat disappointing experience. Talking with a lot of locals afterwards was frustrating. Many who I spoke with hadn't seen them in a while (or ever), and there was a lot of shock and dismay that Gord doesn't 'sing the songs the way they go' or that 'he screams too much' and some people were even put off by his 'bizarre behaviour' and excessive ranting... these are the qualities that make me love the Tragically Hip's live experience! I'm not saying everyone hated the show, but the majority of people I spoke with certainly weren't impressed, many comparing it to Motley Crue's show in the same venue a couple months earlier, described as "fucking awesome" and "way better". While buying my wife a shirt from the merch table, one 40-something lady even suggested I 'must be a fruit' for having enjoyed Gord's spectacle and called me a sucker when I admitted I'd paid to see them repeatedly over the years. Bitch, don't kill my vibe! I guess I should also mention Estevan is a small town, in the middle of an oilfield boom. It was hard not to notice the staggering number of massive trucks that filled the freshly paved the parking lot of Spectra Place that night, many bearing oilfield related business decals. I remember being so excited to get out of that city after high school, and hearing so many disgusted reactions to such a great performance was a reminder of some of the closed-minded attitudes I often experienced in that town growing up. Note to self: Money ≠ taste.

My friends and I are lucky enough to again have front row tickets for the Moose Jaw show in a couple months. It looks like that show has no opener and is being promoted as 'an evening with the hip' - I'm hoping they'll play a nice long set and I'll get my deep cuts fix then. If I can say anything, this polarizing show in Estevan only made us Hip fans more excited for Moose Jaw!

What would you like me to say? That this was yet another stale and boring looking setlist?

While I appreciate that to a person such as yourself who was at the show (great review by the way!) might have a different opinion of the show, the setlist leaves a lot to be desired. We continue to see no creativity at all from the band in these setlists.

And while I also agree with and respect your opinion that many of the people in the audience of these shows would not appreciate the deeper cuts, there are ways to vary the setlist while still appealing to the more casual fan.

Glad you liked the show.