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Long time hipbase member... long time since I've posted. The tour, the news, the music brought me back. As nostalgic these shows have been, logging into hipbase after 10 years and flipping through old posts was equally as nostalgic and brought back just as many memories. I haven't poked around enough to see which old timers are still here, but if anyone recognizes my login and/or seeing me at a show, it's nice to be back (as temporary as it may be).
I haven't rewatched last night's show, but it looked like Gord lost his cue in the bridge of Bobcaygeon... missed about 3 lines. There were a couple other similar moments, but that one was the most apparent. If that doesn't show how wicked of a disease that man is fighting, I don't know what does. Obviously his energy and ability wasn't as high as in the past, but his passion, his dedication, and his love shone through fully and completely.
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Being in that rink last night was incredible. I thought I would be more sad or emotional , but it wasn't until Ahead by a Century that the gravity of it all really hit me. It really did feel like a massive celebration in there, and in person it didn't have the feel of a final show. Which I think was a good thing, at least for me. I watched the CBC broadcast today and it was almost more emotional watching it on TV. Grace Too brought me to tears, as did the speech about bringing the girls back because of the guys who "were scrapping and being really weird."
Some of these types of guys were a few rows ahead of me, and one was actually kicked out. After causing a scene and refusing to leave the Kingston PD finally had to drag him out. It was during Boots or Hearts as Gord was singing "when it starts to fall apart, it really falls apart," which definitely added some levity to the moment.
One of the best parts of the whole experience was just walking around downtown, or in the rink talking to strangers about their connection to the Hip and where they came from etc. I also ran into Kirk Muller. As a Habs fan who can remember the cup win in 93, that was a big thrill.
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My favorite thing about being at last night's show, which was my 60th , is that I now longer have to stop and think when people ask me what my favorite Hip show was !
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Driving home from Kingston today it hit me. Hard. What an honor to have been there. Kingston, Canada, Hip fans everywhere. Thank you.
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Couple add'l notes...
- might depend on where you were sitting, but from my vantage point in 114 the crowd was incredible during Grace... Honestly could not even hear Gord over the crowd.
- if you were in the venue, you saw most of the crowd turn and motion to JT for the Wheat Kings line "hung with pictures of our parents' prime minister", but I don't think they showed that on the broadcast....
- also, JT was clearly enjoying himself, snuck a peek a couple of times and he was totally rocking out to Three Pistols and Blow....
And man... was it hot in there or what....
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Haven't had time to post my reviews for this show or Ottawa yet, but I think most things have already been said about the Kingston show. I'm so thankful I got to be there and experience it. Opening with 50MC was awesome, easily the most powerful version I have heard live. They came out ready to rock and the crowd was insane. Some the standouts to me were Machine, which was easily the best live version I heard of the three shows I've been too (Victoria, Ottawa, Kingston). It was everything I had hoped for when I heard it on the album, and then some! The band was really tight on the MMP songs; they've clearly gotten more comfortable with them over the course of the tour. World Possessed was especially good as well from that set.
The M@W set was also killer; I loved hearing Toronto #4 for the 1st time (every show I've heard an older song for the 1st time, and something I haven't heard in a long long time. How awesome is that after 22 shows!) and M@W was incredible too. Probably the best version of that I've heard as well. It would take me too long to go through the setlist, but even NOIS was great, and I couldn't care less about that song. The crowd was just so powerful it made for a great moment. Fiddler's Green was especially powerful - the other times I've heard it, Rob played electric guitar, but this time he broke out an acoustic and it was beautiful. The DFN set was, as others have mentioned, fantastic, with Grace, Too being totally incredible. And when they came out and did the third encore it was a total treat. Even though it was more of a "greatest hits" type show, it didn't even matter. They have awesome hits and performance was just incredibly powerful. Even though there were only about 7000 people there, it felt like 20,000. The Kingston crowd blew the Ottawa crowd out of the water and the band clearly fed off of that.
All in all, if this is truly the last time I get to see them, it was a great way to say goodbye. The memories will last a lifetime and I'm so happy I got to be there in person!
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Escape@Hand Wrote:How awesome is that after 22 shows!
My 22nd show as well!
2004-12-03 - Saint John/2005-09-03 - Moncton/2006-06-30 - Charlottetown/2006-11-09/10 - Montreal/2007-09-11 - Fredericton/2007-09-13 - Halifax/2007-09-14 - Sydney/2007-09-15 - Charlottetown/2008-06-30 - Charlottetown/2009-05-01/02 - Montreal/2011-06-28 - Moncton/2011-06-30 - Charlottetown/2012-06-30 - Niagara-on-the-Lake/2013-02-01 - Moncton/2013-02-02 - Halifax/2015-01-10 - Toronto/2015-02-20 - Montreal/2015-07-17 - Ottawa/2016-08-18 - Ottawa/2016-08-20 - Kingston
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sean.bonner Wrote:Escape@Hand Wrote:How awesome is that after 22 shows!
My 22nd show as well!
Sean, you do realize that we need the details of your Kingston adventure, right?
"We're forced to bed, but we're free to dream"
Dana
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I went straight from Kingston to Elora on no sleep to go to Riverfest, and want to write this long rambling diatribe here. Will post possibly tonight if I don't just pass out when I get home. :lol:
I never met THE Sean Bonner!
Across The Causeway '04 | Big Music Fest '08 | Kingston '09 | Bobcaygeon '11 | Cobourg '13 | Bluesfest '13 | Danforth Music Hall '15 | Kingston '15 | Bluesfest '15 | Toronto I '16 | Toronto II '16 | Toronto III '16 | Hamilton '16 | Ottawa '16 | Kingston '16
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carebread Wrote:I never met THE Sean Bonner!
I kept my eyes peeled for familiar faces. Would have loved to say hello. Sorry!
2004-12-03 - Saint John/2005-09-03 - Moncton/2006-06-30 - Charlottetown/2006-11-09/10 - Montreal/2007-09-11 - Fredericton/2007-09-13 - Halifax/2007-09-14 - Sydney/2007-09-15 - Charlottetown/2008-06-30 - Charlottetown/2009-05-01/02 - Montreal/2011-06-28 - Moncton/2011-06-30 - Charlottetown/2012-06-30 - Niagara-on-the-Lake/2013-02-01 - Moncton/2013-02-02 - Halifax/2015-01-10 - Toronto/2015-02-20 - Montreal/2015-07-17 - Ottawa/2016-08-18 - Ottawa/2016-08-20 - Kingston
