11-18-2004, 11:18 AM
Great show last night, got to see some old material some new material and some very old material, very cool.
Some thoughts from the show...
Gord Downie and Michael Stipe have a lot of simliarities and a few differences while on stage. Both are very energetic and have piles of charisma on stage, they share the obvious chrome dome haircut, and they both can sing rockers and ballads really well. The differences would have to be how interactive with the audience Stipe gets, while Gord stays in his zone, where ever that is. Also, Stipe is a very good dancer, Gord not so much.
I was also very amazed at how both the Hip and REM are extremely tight on stage (except for the odd missed lyric by Gord) and how they both seem to be having a lot of fun up there. I had great seats in the 8th row on the floor right infront of Mills and you could see them joking around and smiling all the time.
I did like how REM mixed their setlist with oldies from their back catalogue and didn't focus solely on the releases. I wish the hip were as free as REM is with their setlists.
At one point Stipe stopped and talked for a good 2-3 minutes about his lyric writing process and it seemed very similar to Gord's...he said that he doesn't right from a personal place but rather creates characters and narratives that he takes from observation, and he finished with "and I do it very well"...Stipe can pull off pretentious poses and cocky comments because he is so damn charismatic up there.
Highlights from the setlist --> Wake up bomb, Finest Worksong, Don't go back to Rockville (Mills on lead vocals), Leaving New York (much better live), and of course Man on the Moon as the closer!
Knowing that Stipe HATES to tour I am very glad I got to see them last night, and I do see a lot of comparisons between the Hip and REM, I knew there had to be something to it!
Stickboy (Jesse)
Some thoughts from the show...
Gord Downie and Michael Stipe have a lot of simliarities and a few differences while on stage. Both are very energetic and have piles of charisma on stage, they share the obvious chrome dome haircut, and they both can sing rockers and ballads really well. The differences would have to be how interactive with the audience Stipe gets, while Gord stays in his zone, where ever that is. Also, Stipe is a very good dancer, Gord not so much.
I was also very amazed at how both the Hip and REM are extremely tight on stage (except for the odd missed lyric by Gord) and how they both seem to be having a lot of fun up there. I had great seats in the 8th row on the floor right infront of Mills and you could see them joking around and smiling all the time.
I did like how REM mixed their setlist with oldies from their back catalogue and didn't focus solely on the releases. I wish the hip were as free as REM is with their setlists.
At one point Stipe stopped and talked for a good 2-3 minutes about his lyric writing process and it seemed very similar to Gord's...he said that he doesn't right from a personal place but rather creates characters and narratives that he takes from observation, and he finished with "and I do it very well"...Stipe can pull off pretentious poses and cocky comments because he is so damn charismatic up there.
Highlights from the setlist --> Wake up bomb, Finest Worksong, Don't go back to Rockville (Mills on lead vocals), Leaving New York (much better live), and of course Man on the Moon as the closer!
Knowing that Stipe HATES to tour I am very glad I got to see them last night, and I do see a lot of comparisons between the Hip and REM, I knew there had to be something to it!
Stickboy (Jesse)
