[lord brazle]

How's this? Copy, paste and repost it with your edits...

"Dear Tragically Hip,

You are receiving this email due to disappointment in your leagues of fans. It seems your current set-lists are becoming increasingly bland and tiresome. Your dearly devoted fans, witnessing your every song, have decided that it may be time for a vote of sorts. You post on your official site the opportunity for your fans to vote for their favourite five (5) songs and, after a designated amount of time, the voting ceases and the top five are picked. Those songs are then played in November in Toronto as part of the new, revamped set-list. This email has been the result of a thread on the Hipbase (<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hipbase.com">www.hipbase.com</a><!-- w -->) and the fans that frequent it."

[dyersbay]

Yeah I think that's pretty good..but it should be all shows not just Toronto.

[clearlyentranced]

Damn, I'd go to a show if they played poets for a whole set...and that's all...it's The Hip people..

[Killer Whale Tank]

This is a brutal idea. Why would the band want to surrender creative control over what they play on a nightly basis? If I were a professional performer, up there playing material night after night, I would DELETE any such e-mail. Being a fan means enjoying an artist's creative process, and offering feedback, sure, but not dictating to the artist as though they are supplying a 'product' and the 'customer is always right.' LET THE HIP BE THE HIP. If you don't like it, then stay the f**k away from their shows.

[akoso]

This is a brutal idea. Why would the band want to surrender creative control over what they play on a nightly basis? If I were a professional performer, up there playing material night after night, I would DELETE any such e-mail. Being a fan means enjoying an artist's creative process, and offering feedback, sure, but not dictating to the artist as though they are supplying a 'product' and the 'customer is always right.' LET THE HIP BE THE HIP. If you don't like it, then stay the f**k away from their shows.

I hope I'm not reading into this too much, but can I assume you're not gonna participate in this e-mail sending?

Honestly, I don't see the Hip using the same setlist night in and night out as part of their creative process. They're not playing 90% of IBE because that represents the mood they're in that night or anything... it's not creativity, it's marketing the album so that they can make more money.

Then when they play NOIS, Nautical, Grace Too, M@W, Poets, etc, they're not doing it because they have a strong urge to... they're doing it because they know 90% of the audience wants to hear them. Then they pick a couple others that might reflect their mood and thus will change from night to night. So instead of playing those staple songs, since they're just being played because they're the biggest singles and the audience wants to hear them, play the top 5 songs the audience wants to hear from a vote.

Plus, the suggestion was only 5 songs to play some time that night... we're not dictating their entire setlist.

[Stephen Dame]

This is a brutal idea. Why would the band want to surrender creative control over what they play on a nightly basis? If I were a professional performer, up there playing material night after night, I would DELETE any such e-mail. Being a fan means enjoying an artist's creative process, and offering feedback, sure, but not dictating to the artist as though they are supplying a 'product' and the 'customer is always right.' LET THE HIP BE THE HIP. If you don't like it, then stay the f**k away from their shows.

There's no harm in trying it once, especially from a group of individuals who have sunk countless dollars and hours into the band. Do they owe us anything? Nope. Would it be a dream come true if they played our requests? Yep.

[Killer Whale Tank]

Hey, I can't blame you for trying, and you (or we) have the right to communicate with whomever we want, sure. But on the fundamental issue, I still say the idea of fans dictating to artists blows. Yes, sure, they want to please the crowd and factor that into their choices; yes, sure, they want to promote their material, and that also plays into their decisions. But the point is that the choices come from WITHIN the band and are a product of its internal dynamics, whatever they are. And I think this becomes even more important when enduring a grinding touring schedule and your life is heavily regimented---the freedom to have the stage be a place of expression, not one of taking orders like a french-fry jockey at MacDonald's. So the appropriate reaction to the kinds of demands you (we) want to make would be to tell you (us) to take a flying leap. And if it were me, I wouldn't be that polite :x

[dyersbay]

Honestly, I don't see the Hip using the same setlist night in and night out as part of their creative process. They're not playing 90% of IBE because that represents the mood they're in that night or anything... it's not creativity, it's marketing the album so that they can make more money.

Then when they play NOIS, Nautical, Grace Too, M@W, Poets, etc, they're not doing it because they have a strong urge to... they're doing it because they know 90% of the audience wants to hear them. Then they pick a couple others that might reflect their mood and thus will change from night to night. So instead of playing those staple songs, since they're just being played because they're the biggest singles and the audience wants to hear them, play the top 5 songs the audience wants to hear from a vote.

Plus, the suggestion was only 5 songs to play some time that night... we're not dictating their entire setlist.

Exactly!

[akoso]

But the point is that the choices come from WITHIN the band and are a product of its internal dynamics, whatever they are. And I think this becomes even more important when enduring a grinding touring schedule and your life is heavily regimented---the freedom to have the stage be a place of expression

My only argument is that I don't think that the Hip played
- NOIS
- M@W
- Nautical
- Poets
- Grace
- Blow
at almost all of the shows so far this year because it they were a "product of internal dynamics". Those songs were played, because they're fan favourites and thus fans expect to see them (I don't think the dynamics within the band result in the Hip playing NOIS virtually EVERY time). That's why they're always played. So if the Hip are going to play a handful of songs just because they know the fans want to hear them, what's wrong with the fans expressing what songs they want to hear?

[tigerthelion]

I actually think Killer Whale Tank makes some very good points. I understand the thinking on the other side also. What I don't understand is the pure hatred some people seem to have for NOIS, Courage, and Blow. Sure they are played a lot but if 90 percent of people want to hear them live, shouldn't those people be entitled to that. Myself, I don't need to hear them but most Hip fans at concerts just want to hear the hits, and who am I to decide what they should play? I mean, I have no strong desire to hear the most obscure songs like some people. Personally, I think songs like 'Blonde Solid' and 'Get Back Again' are good songs but not revolutionary enough that they MUST be played live. I only get to one or two Hip shows every two years so I'm just glad to see them when I do. I don't have the luxury of seeing them 20 times a year and if I did, I wouldn't be bitching about them not playing 'Maria' or something.

[The Darkest Canuck]

it should be done through the hipclub, so only the hardcores can vote...wait i lost my thc card/#...have any of you seen it? i want it back .

[The Darkest Canuck]

btw, the hip don't always play blow at high dough.

[akoso]

What I don't understand is the pure hatred some people seem to have for NOIS, Courage, and Blow. Sure they are played a lot but if 90 percent of people want to hear them live, shouldn't those people be entitled to that. Myself, I don't need to hear them but most Hip fans at concerts just want to hear the hits, and who am I to decide what they should play? I mean, I have no strong desire to hear the most obscure songs like some people. Personally, I think songs like 'Blonde Solid' and 'Get Back Again' are good songs but not revolutionary enough that they MUST be played live. I only get to one or two Hip shows every two years so I'm just glad to see them when I do. I don't have the luxury of seeing them 20 times a year and if I did, I wouldn't be bitching about them not playing 'Maria' or something.

Just to clarify, I don't hate NOIS, Courage or Blow (in fact Blow is one of my fav. songs to hear live). My point was just that they're always played. And the reason they're always played is because fans want to hear them (not due to any deeper motivations from the band). Therefore if the Hip are playing certain tunes just because the fans want to hear them anyway, why not let the fans choose what those certain tunes are. If those certain tunes end up being the staple ones that they would've played anyway, then stick with it.

[The Darkest Canuck]

Honestly, I don't see the Hip using the same setlist night in and night out as part of their creative process. They're not playing 90% of IBE because that represents the mood they're in that night or anything... it's not creativity, it's marketing the album so that they can make more money.

Then when they play NOIS, Nautical, Grace Too, M@W, Poets, etc, they're not doing it because they have a strong urge to... they're doing it because they know 90% of the audience wants to hear them. Then they pick a couple others that might reflect their mood and thus will change from night to night. So instead of playing those staple songs, since they're just being played because they're the biggest singles and the audience wants to hear them, play the top 5 songs the audience wants to hear from a vote.

first: if you think the hip are in it just for the money and to sell a ton of records you need to give your head a shake.

second: did you ever stop to think that they're playing all those new songs because, oh, i dunno, maybe...IT'S FUN! you gotta know the hip absolutely love playing this new batch of tunes for their legions for the first timel, and hearing the crowds sing along with them word for word even though the album has only been out for just under a month.

third: the people voting still wouldn't make up the majority of the people in attendance at the show, so it wouldn't really be fair to all of the people with favourites of their own that they'd like to hear that didn't/couldn't vote.

fourth: if i was in a band and i got an email like that it would most likely piss me off, so i don't think it'd be very wise to send the hip an email telling them their sets are boring, the only reason that anyone would think they were boring, would be if they'd already been to a number of shows on the tour, and that's not who the hip design the sets for. in all honesty, the people following the band around from city to city are probably the last fans on their mind when they're writing out the setlist. the hip write their setlists to try to make it a really special show for the people who haven't seen them in a long time, or for the people seeing them for the first time, those are the people they're out to impress, and those people are the majority. if you like them enough to follow them around from city to city then they've already done their job, the've got you locked down .

[akoso]

They're not playing 90% of IBE because that represents the mood they're in that night or anything... it's not creativity, it's marketing the album so that they can make more money.

first: if you think the hip are in it just for the money and to sell a ton of records you need to give your head a shake.

second: did you ever stop to think that they're playing all those new songs because, oh, i dunno, maybe...IT'S FUN! you gotta know the hip absolutely love playing this new batch of tunes for their legions for the first timel, and hearing the crowds sing along with them word for word even though the album has only been out for just under a month.

I never said, nor do I think, that the Hip are in it "just for the money". However, I also don't think that the Hip are playing 90% of IBE on their tours cause the songs are so fun cause they're so new. They're promoting their album... that's it. Every single band that tours after a new album is out plays the majority of the songs from that album. Why? Not cause they get such a thrill from playing new stuff, they do it to promote the album, which increases sales. Trust me, the Hip and their management don't think any differently.

(Please let me reiterate, that does not mean they are in it just for the money.)