05-24-2009, 05:05 PM
...from Fort Wayne, Indiana's newspaper. It's quite good - the dude's a big Hip fan.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20090524/BLOGS19/905249954">http://www.journalgazette.net/article/2 ... /905249954</a><!-- m -->
Last updated: May 24, 2009 1:36 p.m.
Triumphantly Hip
by Steve Penhollow
Whenever I get ready to write about the Tragically Hip, I always think, "How am I going to do justice to this band?"
In their home country of Canada, they're gods whose songs are pored over like psalms.
But as the band journeys further south from our northernmost border, the venues where it performs get smaller and smaller until they are non-existent.
There doesn't seem to be a whole lot that American journalists can do to convince most American rock fans to give the Tragically Hip a listen.
The band recently released its 12th studio album, "We Are the Same," and it probably won't do much good for me to mention that it's the best of their career – a CD that reduced longtime fans to a puddle of astonishment and gratefulness.
When’s the last time Bono did that for you?
The Tragically Hip has just embarked on a tour of the few American cities where it commands what a marketing guru might refer to as a solid share and brand awareness.
The band will perform two shows in Detroit next weekend.
I spoke with the band’s lead singer Gord Downie by phone last week and he admitted that it’s not just American journalists who keep asking why the Tragically Hip isn’t very popular in America.
"Canadians ask that one too," he says. "It’s one of the motifs attached to the band. The pithy answer is, ‘Either Americans are stupid or Canadians are’ and if you print that, I’ll deny it.
"For me to defend our record in America," Downie says, "anything I say will border on immodesty and tastelessness. ‘No, we’re bigger than you think’ – that sort of thing."
Downie says the band loves to play the States and in fact must play the States for artistic rather than commercial reasons.
"The music we play is steeped in American R&B by way of the U.K.," he says. "Naturally, anyone who makes this kind of music wants to make pilgrimages to the States. Our need to play there is deeper than any notion of success.
"If you told me we couldn’t go there anymore, I’d be heartbroken," Downie says. "What I can say is that every time we go down there we play for more people."
If you do go see Downie in Detroit next weekend, what you will encounter is a lead vocalist unlike any in rock or popular music.
Where the stage presence and personality of most rock vocalists says, "I am sexy. You want to be with me. You want to be me. I am master of my domain," Downie’s stage personality and presence says, "I am hearing the music of the spheres. I may speak in tongues. I may forget you are here. I may do seemingly nonsensical things that will prove quite powerful in the end."
I can’t think of any act in popular music that gives its audiences so much that is worth watching without resorting to pyrotechnics or laser lights.
Downie says his stage antics grew out of an attempt to figure out "what to do with my hands."
"I like to think I have refined it over time," he says. "I make a concerted effort to sing the song first and dance the dance second. I try to live in the moment and I guess that’s what living in the moment looks like.
"I am not unlike a dog," Downie says, laughing. "A dancing, singing dog."
Despite his obvious – if idiosyncratic – charisma, Downie has always struck me as a fairly humble guy.
That is how one knows Downie is not just whistling "Oh, Canada" when he says the band is currently performing its best shows ever.
"It usually takes 20 or so shows to get rid of that new car smell," he says, "but this new material has upped the ante and pushed the margin.
"We can do ‘hear a pin drop’ and we can do ‘blow the doors off the place,’" Downie says. "It’s a real journey; a real trip. I just think we have figured something out after being on the precipice of that for a long time.
"Then again, perhaps I am overstating things, which is something I am known for," he says.
All a fan needs to do is revisit "We Are the Same" to know that Downie is, if anything, understating things.
"I feel like this set of tunes has kind of definitely tipped the balance," he says, "I think we finally have an identity now after 20 years.
"It makes sense given our glacial pace," Downie says. "Our puberty has been a prolonged one."
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20090524/BLOGS19/905249954">http://www.journalgazette.net/article/2 ... /905249954</a><!-- m -->
Last updated: May 24, 2009 1:36 p.m.
Triumphantly Hip
by Steve Penhollow
Whenever I get ready to write about the Tragically Hip, I always think, "How am I going to do justice to this band?"
In their home country of Canada, they're gods whose songs are pored over like psalms.
But as the band journeys further south from our northernmost border, the venues where it performs get smaller and smaller until they are non-existent.
There doesn't seem to be a whole lot that American journalists can do to convince most American rock fans to give the Tragically Hip a listen.
The band recently released its 12th studio album, "We Are the Same," and it probably won't do much good for me to mention that it's the best of their career – a CD that reduced longtime fans to a puddle of astonishment and gratefulness.
When’s the last time Bono did that for you?
The Tragically Hip has just embarked on a tour of the few American cities where it commands what a marketing guru might refer to as a solid share and brand awareness.
The band will perform two shows in Detroit next weekend.
I spoke with the band’s lead singer Gord Downie by phone last week and he admitted that it’s not just American journalists who keep asking why the Tragically Hip isn’t very popular in America.
"Canadians ask that one too," he says. "It’s one of the motifs attached to the band. The pithy answer is, ‘Either Americans are stupid or Canadians are’ and if you print that, I’ll deny it.
"For me to defend our record in America," Downie says, "anything I say will border on immodesty and tastelessness. ‘No, we’re bigger than you think’ – that sort of thing."
Downie says the band loves to play the States and in fact must play the States for artistic rather than commercial reasons.
"The music we play is steeped in American R&B by way of the U.K.," he says. "Naturally, anyone who makes this kind of music wants to make pilgrimages to the States. Our need to play there is deeper than any notion of success.
"If you told me we couldn’t go there anymore, I’d be heartbroken," Downie says. "What I can say is that every time we go down there we play for more people."
If you do go see Downie in Detroit next weekend, what you will encounter is a lead vocalist unlike any in rock or popular music.
Where the stage presence and personality of most rock vocalists says, "I am sexy. You want to be with me. You want to be me. I am master of my domain," Downie’s stage personality and presence says, "I am hearing the music of the spheres. I may speak in tongues. I may forget you are here. I may do seemingly nonsensical things that will prove quite powerful in the end."
I can’t think of any act in popular music that gives its audiences so much that is worth watching without resorting to pyrotechnics or laser lights.
Downie says his stage antics grew out of an attempt to figure out "what to do with my hands."
"I like to think I have refined it over time," he says. "I make a concerted effort to sing the song first and dance the dance second. I try to live in the moment and I guess that’s what living in the moment looks like.
"I am not unlike a dog," Downie says, laughing. "A dancing, singing dog."
Despite his obvious – if idiosyncratic – charisma, Downie has always struck me as a fairly humble guy.
That is how one knows Downie is not just whistling "Oh, Canada" when he says the band is currently performing its best shows ever.
"It usually takes 20 or so shows to get rid of that new car smell," he says, "but this new material has upped the ante and pushed the margin.
"We can do ‘hear a pin drop’ and we can do ‘blow the doors off the place,’" Downie says. "It’s a real journey; a real trip. I just think we have figured something out after being on the precipice of that for a long time.
"Then again, perhaps I am overstating things, which is something I am known for," he says.
All a fan needs to do is revisit "We Are the Same" to know that Downie is, if anything, understating things.
"I feel like this set of tunes has kind of definitely tipped the balance," he says, "I think we finally have an identity now after 20 years.
"It makes sense given our glacial pace," Downie says. "Our puberty has been a prolonged one."
made me smile
