10-23-2014, 09:13 AM
Thanks Sean, I don't frequent the site like I once did, but I will always stop by when there are Hippenings.
I should say that I fully, completely understand why those who have seen many a show might choose to pass on this tour's steeper cost. Though from a personal perspective, it just isn't the least bit exorbitant. I realize $60 (or even $75) is a far cry from the $135 levied for some of these gigs, but the fact is, $75 would be the cheapest ticket price I've paid for any show in the last 5 years that wasn't a local or fledgling act. I paid $110 to sit in the in the top level opposite the stage in a 20,000-seat area to see Springsteen. Paying $75 to stand ten feet away from the Hip (if I so choose) is pocket change. If it's not for others, I get that. I told the my fellow Ohio Hipheads that we needed to snag tix as soon as the Presale started, because this show will sell. They scoffed. I said that lots of 'veteran fans' will be all over the chance to see them rifle through FC in a 1,200-capacity venue on Lake Erie. They scoffed again. Presale tix sold out immediately, as did the rest at public onsale.
There's no question that Gordie's voice doesn't sound like it did in 1993 when they toured here in the States in support of the initial release of FC. I remember conversations with my buddies after those shows where we'd wonder, "how can he do that, an do it all over again tomorrow night?". There was a period between then and now where I remember having different conversations addressing a sort of change in his approach...whether it was a product of a deliberate effort to protect his vocal cords, or of a style that was bred for the material they were doing at the time, or of something completely unintentional resulting from playing hundreds of shows across the globe...I can't say. Perhaps they realized they were likely going to be doing this for awhile, and he needed to protect his asset, so to speak? And maybe now they realize they're toward the end of the run, and there's no reason "save" anything? This talk about 'screaming and yelling'... it seems to me that this is the same approach I remember witnessing in the early 90s, and the observable differences between now and then are a result of tonal characteristics due to both wear and age. This, for me, doesn't sully anything. The band, as a whole, sounded terrific in the middle and at the end of the NFPA tour. I was quite impressed actually, given the fact there were almost 20 years and hundreds of shows between then and now. Would I like to hop in a time machine and see them perform in 1993 again? Well hell yeah I would.
I'd also like to be able to do everything exactly as I could at age 25.
I should say that I fully, completely understand why those who have seen many a show might choose to pass on this tour's steeper cost. Though from a personal perspective, it just isn't the least bit exorbitant. I realize $60 (or even $75) is a far cry from the $135 levied for some of these gigs, but the fact is, $75 would be the cheapest ticket price I've paid for any show in the last 5 years that wasn't a local or fledgling act. I paid $110 to sit in the in the top level opposite the stage in a 20,000-seat area to see Springsteen. Paying $75 to stand ten feet away from the Hip (if I so choose) is pocket change. If it's not for others, I get that. I told the my fellow Ohio Hipheads that we needed to snag tix as soon as the Presale started, because this show will sell. They scoffed. I said that lots of 'veteran fans' will be all over the chance to see them rifle through FC in a 1,200-capacity venue on Lake Erie. They scoffed again. Presale tix sold out immediately, as did the rest at public onsale.
There's no question that Gordie's voice doesn't sound like it did in 1993 when they toured here in the States in support of the initial release of FC. I remember conversations with my buddies after those shows where we'd wonder, "how can he do that, an do it all over again tomorrow night?". There was a period between then and now where I remember having different conversations addressing a sort of change in his approach...whether it was a product of a deliberate effort to protect his vocal cords, or of a style that was bred for the material they were doing at the time, or of something completely unintentional resulting from playing hundreds of shows across the globe...I can't say. Perhaps they realized they were likely going to be doing this for awhile, and he needed to protect his asset, so to speak? And maybe now they realize they're toward the end of the run, and there's no reason "save" anything? This talk about 'screaming and yelling'... it seems to me that this is the same approach I remember witnessing in the early 90s, and the observable differences between now and then are a result of tonal characteristics due to both wear and age. This, for me, doesn't sully anything. The band, as a whole, sounded terrific in the middle and at the end of the NFPA tour. I was quite impressed actually, given the fact there were almost 20 years and hundreds of shows between then and now. Would I like to hop in a time machine and see them perform in 1993 again? Well hell yeah I would.
I'd also like to be able to do everything exactly as I could at age 25.