Well - what did everyone think? I get that they were playing some hockey related tunes but it is unfortunate that a national audience saw them play Lonely End of the Rink (not one of the band's best) over , say , Fireworks. Having said that 50 Mission Cap was awesome - gives us Leaf fans something to cheer about! I'm afraid it looks like Gord will still be screaming on the upcoming tour but it won't stop me from going!
From the two songs I saw on TV, I thought the band sounded great, and he sounded terrible.
LEOTR is also not a good song (in my opinion - don't hurt me), especially to show a national audience that aren't die hard Hip fans. Fireworks would have been a better, and likely less yelly choice.
50MC sounded off, for lack of a better word.
i absolutely LOVE lonely end of the rink and it's the only song i saw last night...gotta watch the rest this weekend.
not sure what makes me a fan of that song. maybe because it doesn't get played often enough or maybe it's the way it ebs and flows and isn't straight up.
anyways it's all good!
I love this band to death, and would take a bullet for any one of them, but I really wish Gord would go back to singing instead of yelling.
That being said, I was hoping for back to back songs or something more. But, enough complaining out of me. The Super Deluxe box set is already ordered, the countdown to the presale is on, and I'm listening to Radio Show in my ear buds. Life is good.
The band sounded great. Gord on the other hand was awful. Honestly, that was so bad it was uncomfortable. Here's a question: do the other people in the Hip camp (the guys, their management, etc...) realize how bad he sounds and just sweep it under the rug while pretending everything is ok? Or do they honestly believe that he sounds good? I'm just curious. Because somebody needs to confront him about it. Considering how great he sounded in the summer with the Sadies, it's a shame that he chooses to butcher his day job like that. And on live TV with millions of people watching...yikes. I was on the fence about buying tix for the upcoming tour, but after last night I'm now firmly in the "not going" camp.
Didn't hear 50 Mission Cap. They used to kill that song live. Did come inside to see Lonely End of The Rink. Poor choice of song for a live television audience. Whoever is completing the setlists need to maybe take into account what sets Gord up for a good performance. That's sad to see a performance like that from one of the greatest bands of all time. When they showed the crowd it didnt seem like a rock show, but, these are different times and different fans. It certainly wasnt that dead at Massey Hall in 92 for the FC Tour (the real one).
My 7 year daughter out of the blue asked "What's wrong with his voice, do you think it's sore?". Sad when she even notices how poor it sounds now, without ever even hearing the discussion on Hipbase or having ever having heard me mention it!
Posted this in the other thread.
BIGVDOGG posted a video of the show in the reviews section. I'm halfway through and it sounds good to me. Good energy from Gord and the band is tight. I watched it on TV last night and thought 50MC sounded really rough but it was mostly due to how shitty the mix was for TV. Check the video out.
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=17947
I wonder where my band went too, I love them so much, it hurts me to see them not at the top of their game. I'm thinking about sending an email to Eggplant. A friend would ask a friend if something was wrong. So why don't any of us who have something to say we should speak on this. Would it change things? I don't know, but I'd like for them to know I'm concerned, saddened, wondering.Maybe if management sees all the worry, they could pull him aside, if they haven't already.The bottom line as far as ticket sales is another worry. Don't like seeing my band go down this road. #HashbrownStillintheircorner
Is that who manages them Eggplant entertainment?
I was in attendance at dundas square, yelling or passion, call at as you will. Passion conquers all
I didnt know what to expect being a televised event, would it be a full setlist? would there be broadcast interruptions? Would the band and gord be more reserved with all of Canada watching? I wasnt sure but open minded.
There was no reservement at all – they got fired out of a canon! Some great and hilarious intro / banter.
Grace too was loud and proud with a nice end jam, then into fully (gord was giving it to ppl standing on others shoulder in the best way, picking out kids and what not), possessedness took over, then you see Jeff (sports caster) come from the side of stage with the intention of plugging rogers – poor guy got caught in the headlights .. gord was still riding the song and pretty well got interrupted .. he was yelling at Jeff in full before they cut to him for airtime lol. It was fantastic lol.
Then (intro: “Im a bruins fan”) lonely, (‘this is not a bruins song’) 50C, (‘billy… Ill blow you, I don’t care) Drip, BobC, Heaven is a better place today!!, Man Machine, and Courage to Close! (I think this was the setlist)
The energy of putting it all out there is what came through steadily throughout the set
Let the tour stops roll.
GD just needs to calm down a touch, with a more controlled energy, if that's possible for him. No different than a hockey player. You get too worked up, too high and can't perform up to capability.
I was there, Gord sounded great at the show, we recorded it on our tv at home, when watching it on the tv we both thought it sounded worse on tv, just so you know, after he was filtered thru the air at the show, then thru some wires all the way to hockey central and then out to space and back to your tv and thru your wires then into your tv and out of your crappy tv speakers, it sounded bad. So put it aside and go see it live, its way better. That's my opinion.
I've only managed to see 50MC online. After the last tour, his solo performances and the live Sadies I've heard I feel ok about his voice, but wish he'd bring it down a notch on the "girlie" screaming he's gotten into. Last tour "You want Daltry at the end of Won't get fooled again" was a constant out of Gord. I wanted to say No, I want Gordon Downie in all his frantic, (somewhat) spastic disjointed self. Honestly the only thing that worries me about The Hip is that Gord seems removed from the songs and the rest of the band. He seems to float above the music instead of living it like he used to and I wonder what effect this might have on the rest of the band.
Regardless, The Hip have enriched my life through sound and lyrics so much I will never turn my back on them again.