[sonichka11]

I think all of Canada is a little sadder today. Just imagine how the band is feeling.

[Green Mountain Bot]

my way back to Saint Paul from Kingston now, having attended the show with my wife and six year old son. What an amazing show, and crowd. The people in front of us were high-fiving my boy throughout the night, making sure he always had a good view, while he gave updates to anyone listening about what song just started - though I'm sure no one in attendance needed them, they appreciated the young fan's enthusiasm. One guy knew Paul Langlois's guitar tech, who apparently gave him a bunch of memorabilia to hand out to any super fans he saw, and my kid made the cut.

The crowd was insane - as joyful as you could hope for, and all of one mind - one mindfulness, if you will. Four three hours, it was all about being in the moment.

And what a moment it was. The band played all of the standards, but poured everything they had into it. Gord was as energetic as he has been all tour, chatting with the crowd, thanking/pressuring the prime minister, howling wordless improvisation over the band. Sometime he'd be dancing, bouncing around like a healthy man twenty years younger than he is, and sometimes he would stand still, channeling the man across the street who doesn't move a muscle though he's covered in dust, looking out at the crowd with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.

I'm reminded of my next door neighbor who, while dying from cancer, would stand outside in winter, watching the streams of fine snow blowing over the icy street and absorbing the beauty of snow coated pines across the way. He knew his beautiful moments were finite, and was doing his damnedest to simply be in one when it was there. We all got a lesson in that on Saturday night.

Thanks to Canada for sharing the Hip, and to the Hip for sharing Canada. We are all richer for having seen them.

[redhill]

my way back to Saint Paul from Kingston now, having attended the show with my wife and six year old son. What an amazing show, and crowd. The people in front of us were high-fiving my boy throughout the night, making sure he always had a good view, while he gave updates to anyone listening about what song just started - though I'm sure no one in attendance needed them, they appreciated the young fan's enthusiasm. One guy knew Paul Langlois's guitar tech, who apparently gave him a bunch of memorabilia to hand out to any super fans he saw, and my kid made the cut.

The crowd was insane - as joyful as you could hope for, and all of one mind - one mindfulness, if you will. Four three hours, it was all about being in the moment.

And what a moment it was. The band played all of the standards, but poured everything they had into it. Gord was as energetic as he has been all tour, chatting with the crowd, thanking/pressuring the prime minister, howling wordless improvisation over the band. Sometime he'd be dancing, bouncing around like a healthy man twenty years younger than he is, and sometimes he would stand still, channeling the man across the street who doesn't move a muscle though he's covered in dust, looking out at the crowd with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.

I'm reminded of my next door neighbor who, while dying from cancer, would stand outside in winter, watching the streams of fine snow blowing over the icy street and absorbing the beauty of snow coated pines across the way. He knew his beautiful moments were finite, and was doing his damnedest to simply be in one when it was there. We all got a lesson in that on Saturday night.

Thanks to Canada for sharing the Hip, and to the Hip for sharing Canada. We are all richer for having seen them.

beautiful post man... cheers

[SoylentGreg]

Screwy, I haven't talked to you in FOREVER, but I'm really glad you're doing good, man.

[ashtrayrock]

i will save my review for the 2016 show review section but

having seen 50+ shows and to start kingston with 50MC had me a complete mess for the first 2 songs of the show. i did recover though!

then to leave this as the final words sung....
"And disappointing you is getting me down"

[Killer Whale Tank]

Yeah, lost in all the praise and celebration is how incredibly poignant those final sung words are. 'It's been a pleasure doing business with you' would have been slightly vexed in its reference to the commercial underpinnings of the fan/band relationship, but wouldn't have been so damned sad.

The line could be a confession of the kind of anxiety and inadequacy that Gord has said he routinely feels after performing live. In that sense, it's an admission of the inadequacy of all live performance, really, to truly make the intimate, life-altering contact that both performer and audience ideally want. A philosophical closing statement about the limits of art.

Or the point could be something narrower but much more poignant: an admission from Gord of the difficulty he's had on this tour, relying on the teleprompter, not 'ranting,' needing to be bailed out on the middle-eight of 'Bobcageyon,' etc.. No doubt, WE all forgive him these slips because we understand the fantastic gift that he is giving all of us just by doing the tour and giving it his incredible all. But he could have been effectively saying, 'I can't, ultimately, be what I used to be...and that's why this is ending, now.'

[rivum]

Just heard that Blue Rodeo also paid tribute tonight with a cover of Bobcaygeon at their Molson Amphitheatre show.

[youtube]4gi4K36v6tc[/youtube]

[Dagger]

I was fortunate enough to make it to the last 4 shows of the tour and all I can say is "Looked up to the Gord above and said hey man, thanks"