The Whig - Hip up for First Concert - Printable Version
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The Whig - Hip up for First Concert - thompson girl - 02-23-2008
In today's Whig:
Quote:Hip up for first concert
Posted By Greg Burliuk
If Rob Baker could choose, it would be Diana Krall and not his band opening the K-Rock Centre as a concert venue tonight.
"I didn't want us to be the opener," says the guitarist for The Tragically Hip.
"It helps foster this ill-begotten notion that this whole thing has been a self-serving promotion for The Hip. They'll look at us playing there and say it's for nothing but a bunch of stoned rock bands making a lot of noise.
"But if you had Diana Krall or Norah Jones or Celine Dion, people could see no reason against it. They'd have a fabulous evening and leave satisfied."
People don't seem unhappy with Kingston's native sons - Baker, Gord Downie, Gord Sinclair, Johnny Faye and Paul Langlois - being the baptizers of the new venue, since all 6,800 seats were snapped up immediately when tickets went on sale in December.
Of all the members of the celebrated band, Baker was the most public about supporting a new arena, appearing several times to publicly endorse it.
He doesn't, however, have any sense of personal triumph now.
"I don't take it personally," Baker says.
"I think my involvement was over-blown. I did feel like my neck was being stuck out. And I still wake up thinking that they'll just absorb the cost and not open it."
A few weeks ago, Baker had a tour of the new centre and came away impressed.
"From outside, it's not a gigantic imposing building, but it all fits," he says.
"I was pleasantly surprised. ... I thought 'how ever are they going to shoe horn it into the space?' but it seems really big and open and spacious. I'm just so glad to see it get done."
Baker has even done some glad-handing for the new venue.
"I know people in this industry from different management companies and some of them manage major acts," he says. "And I've certainly mentioned to them that there's now a place in Kingston for the Diana Kralls and the Norah Joneses to play."
For The Hip, the concert comes in the middle of a hiatus from performing. The band had been promoting its latest disc, World Container, which produced the radio hit In View.
"We were out for a year and a half and the touring ended in early November," he says.
To get in performance mode, the band played a concert for its fan club members Thursday night at the Brockville Arts Centre. It was a small crowd of just 760 diehard fans.
The last time the band played in Kingston was at the Across The Causeway concert on the grounds of Royal Military College in September 2004.
Before that, their last major gig in Kingston had been at the Memorial Centre way back in 1995.
For that reason, The Hip aren't planning on playing any brand new material.
"We haven't been able to play our show here for a long, long time," Baker says.
"That'll be enough. It's going to be a special night for that alone. There'll be a core of songs that people will expect to hear, for the casual fans. And then there'll be the songs for the hardcore fans, a few of the unplugged gems."
Asked what specific songs the casual fans could expect to hear Baker said, "Just flip the radio dial in Kingston."
And, yes, people can expect to see more frequent performances by The Hip here in the future.
"Kingston's back on the map as far as the band's touring goes," Baker says.
"Physically, we couldn't bring the show to the Memorial Centre anymore. We like to tour during the winter in Canada. We get a better deal on trucks and crew. You can get your dream crew then, whereas it's hard to get the people you want in summer during the outdoor-concert season. Canadians need it the most in the winter.
"Plus, we don't want to be inside a shed in the middle of August," he says of the industry term for "arena."
Almost like clockwork, the band has released a CD at least every two years since its first full-length album, Up To Here, in 1989.
With World Container being released in 2006, that would mean a new album is due this year.
And that is the plan.
"Our hope is to get one out by the end of the year," Baker says.
"Some time in the spring, we should start that process. We're working a little differently these days. Before, we'd take five weeks and record an album. Now, we'll record five songs and and then sit on it for a month and record five more. We're ever adjusting the process."
Ace veteran producer Bob Rock will once again be at the helm. Last time, the band spent two sessions in Vancouver with him and another at his studio in Hawaii.
"This time, we're hoping we can persuade him to come to our studio [in Bath]," Baker says.
The Hip's one and only live album was Live Between Us in 1997, recorded in Detroit's Cobo Hall.
Might Kingston be the venue for a future live album?
It's certainly possible.
"We've taped every show for the last 15 years," he says.
Back in 1989, Baker said in an interview with the Whig-Standard that playing before hometown fans made him nervous. Almost 20 years later, he still feels the same way.
"If we rolled into Kansas City, we'd have no idea what to expect," he says. "You judge yourself on internal criteria and you do what you can.
"But it elevates expectations when you look out and there's a sea of faces that you know. It's a lot harder."
Baker and his family have always made their home in Kingston and a Rob Baker sighting is not uncommon in Kingston, whether it be at his son's soccer or hockey games, a sporting event such as a Golden Gaels football game, or even at the grocery store.
"Basically, when I'm home, I'm a glorified chauffeur," he says.
"I don't believe in hiding. I don't want to become some crazy recluse.
"For the most part, people come up and say nice things about my job and that's a really nice feeling. But some will also come up and say 'Your band sucks.' You can't please everyone."
<!-- e --><a href="mailto:gburliuk@thewhig.com">gburliuk@thewhig.com</a><!-- e -->
Whig-Standard Entertainment Reporter
Hip discography
ø The Tragically Hip EP - 1987
ø Up to Here - 1989
ø Road Apples - 1991
ø Fully Completely - 1992
ø Day For Night - 1994
ø Trouble at the Henhouse - 1996
ø Live Between Us - 1997
ø Phantom Power - 1998
ø Music@Work - 2000
ø In Violet Light - 2002
ø In Between Evolution - 2004
ø World Container - 2006
Who: The Tragically Hip perform the inaugural concert at the K-Rock Centre, 1 Barrack St., Saturday at 8 p.m. The 6,800 seats are sold out.
http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=915185&auth=Greg+Burliuk
- colinjardine - 02-23-2008
Nice article, thanks. getting pumped now.
- adam - 02-23-2008
woot
Re: The Whig - Hip up for First Concert - sullivand - 02-23-2008
Quote:"If we rolled into Kansas City, we'd have no idea what to expect," he says.It'd be just fine, Rob. I promise. :thumb:
- NegPhil - 02-23-2008
"Ace veteran producer Bob Rock will once again be at the helm. Last time, the band spent two sessions in Vancouver with him and another at his studio in Hawaii."
:thumb: