[Jack Straw]

This topic was long overdue. Wouldn't it be great to walk into a building and have no idea what they were goig to play. I mean none. Then if you call a set opener, it means something.

Anybody know a bookie who will take bets on NOIS song position this tour?

At least it sucks good, eh?

[opiated]

easy solution if you're sick of hearing songs..don't go to the shows...it's that simple..if we all know that there will be certain songs played, accept it..deal with it..move on with it..and enjoy the moment for those 2 hours of pure bliss the hip bring everytime i see them..no matter what they play.

[Corby]

I was starting to get a bit tired of listening to NOIS, myself. Whenever it would pop up I'd skip the track. I noticed eventually that I had been skipping it out of habit(along with a couple others), so the next time I let it play and it had all the thrills that it used to elicit. I'd say that happens with repetition.

God only knows how the Hip are able to play it show after show. I think it will gain some of its lost appreciation by some fans now that it doesn't seem to be a guarantee that it will be played at a show.

[The Horrible Esthete]

Sit down and listen to that song again. The studio version... not the live version .... Listen to that song again and try to forget about the 5-diget-number amount of times you've heard it before. Listen to it like it's your first time ever listening to the song. All I have to say is it's a phenominal song and it's a classic/staple for a VERY good reason.

The Hip should NEVER retire that song because it's one of the best songs ever written. Period.

Amen.

[The Horrible Esthete]

easy solution if you're sick of hearing songs..don't go to the shows...it's that simple..if we all know that there will be certain songs played, accept it..deal with it..move on with it..and enjoy the moment for those 2 hours of pure bliss the hip bring everytime i see them..no matter what they play.

Your point is legit; the problem is that such 'solution' isn't an "easy one". That's the most difficult solution there is. I want to see that band play. I want to hear the new material 'live'. Badly. Must I be forced to decide whether buying tix, making time, travelling, etc. is "worth it" because there are only 7 or 8 songs in the set that I haven't heard them do 15+ times? There has to be a better solution.

Answer me this, ope, and be honest -- if you were to see a string of 5 Hip shows, which setlist would you opt for seeing AT ALL 5 SHOWS, if given the choice:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Example Setlist #1

- an assortment of SEVEN songs off the new record
- an assortment of TEN songs from their list of staples*
- a random mix of FIVE songs from the remaining 99 songs in their catalogue of original studio recordings

-or-

Example Setlist #2

- an assortment of SEVEN songs off the new record
- an assortment of FIVE songs from their list of staples*
- a random mix of TEN songs from the remaining 99 songs in their catalogue of original studio recordings

*ABAC, Meridian, Courage, BobC, Poets, Fireworks, Springtime,
M@W, Giftshop, Nautical, Grace, Fully, Bones, Blow, NOIS

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seriously -- is there anyone who would choose #1 over #2, besides someone just hopping aboard the bandwagon after 18 years of recordmaking? There's a HUGE difference between the two. And it's not as if #2 is AT ALL unreasonable, is it?

So somebody please explain why they can't model the setlists after example #2 instead of example #1. Is it because they specifically choose to cater to "casual" fans over "dedicated" ones? Is it because they figure that attendance and future sales will suffer if they model setlists after example #2? Or do they figure that attendance and future sales will remain constant no matter what they do, so they simply do what's easier for them?

I'm not trying to be critical as much as I am highly curious. I can tell you one thing for sure -- I, personally, would attend more dates if I knew the setlists looked more like #2 than #1. From 1996-2002, I averaged about 5 shows per "tour". But unless setlists begin to look more like ex. #2, I might hit 2 shows MAXIMUM per tour from this point forward.

[Escape@Hand]

easy solution if you're sick of hearing songs..don't go to the shows...it's that simple..if we all know that there will be certain songs played, accept it..deal with it..move on with it..and enjoy the moment for those 2 hours of pure bliss the hip bring everytime i see them..no matter what they play.

Well that is a pretty dumb solution because they're my favourite band. I'll I'm trying to say is that it would be nice if the mixed up the setlist a bit more. Play sets like they did for the club gigs; those were the best shows I've ever seen period. I know they will never retire NOIS, and I like the fact that they seem to be playing it earlier in the show, but I guess I would like to have a few more surprises. That's why the club shows were so good, you just didn't know what to expect. I think the Hip do a pretty good job of mixing things up but it would be nice if they didn't play NOIS, Blow, Little Bones, and Courage at virtually ever single show. Like some other people have said on this post, play some of those tunes on one night, and some another.

[grimes]

Esthete obviously your second option there would be preferrable to most of us. And that's pretty similar to what they did for most of their 2006 dates in Canada. Most casual fans probably would pick option 1 though. They're only interested in the hits and when Sherpa, Terrarium, Lionized, etc, are played they don't recognize the song so they go to the washroom or get in the beer line or just stay in their seats and look bored. I'm not sure what it's like there in the US, but on this current arena tour in Canada, the casual fans vastly outnumber the hardcores, and I'm guessing the boys take that into consideration. Also right now they're playing a lot of cities they haven't played in quite a while, so that may also contribute their feeling that they need to play more staples.

There's way too many bands out there that go out on tour and play the exact same setlist night after night, or make only a few changes. I'm greatful The Hip aren't one of those bands and change things up as much as they do.

[opiated]

yeah..option 2 would be great..the danger with that though, is that there's songs they haven't played in so long, would it be a disappointment to hear it? would it be anti-climactic? the trouble lies in that they may not know how to play them that well anymore, and we all know how gord is with lyrics sometime..i'd hate to hear put if off for example, butched just cause they thought they'd try it out to surprise people...know what i mean?

and i'd still rather hear NOIS than courage or Gift shop

[skippy the wonder dog]

and i'd still rather hear NOIS than courage or Gift shop

I'd rather hear the business end of an electric drill entering my left ear than Courage, but I know I'm stuck with it....

On second thought, I think I'll go with Courage. I only have two eardrums.

[surferguy]

I agree with the idea of set list option #2. In fact being a "fan" vs casual I'd love to see them push the extent of screwing with the setlist, which is why I started the other forum about theme nights on stage. But that said the band will play what they want to. It's like the scene in the movie RAY when he plays an entire show his slow tunes like GEORGIA when the crowd was anticipating all his upbeat music.

I think one of teh biggest factors here is now that we "fans" have been in attendace of many shows the surpirse factor is a bit awash. We know what songs to expect everynight. That is why I think the club tour was so exceptional this past fall. When they took the stage you had no idea of what was going to be played. But right now you can almost predict the setlist for the upcoming shows.

For me, I'd love to see them take a complete about face during their next tour. Come out and play nothing but covers one night, except one song (eg Grace Too). Or all the album enders. The options are endless really. That said the band has never sounded better on-stage and I don't mind hearing the "new" energy being dumped into the older songs. Simply put, I feel that band is in it's prime and we should feel lucky to be at these shows. You will remember these for a long time.

[opiated]

it's the internet age y'know?? we all know what they play every single night...if we didn't have hipbase, or thehip.com, we wouldn't have an idea, or as good of an idea of what to expect..but i still stand by the fact , you don't know what you'll get at a hip show....

[Ballgame]

I think its great live and a staple for the set. People love it. Plus I love watching Rob play that because he is shredding it up!

[NegPhil]

When the levy failed in the south ward of New Orleans, the world sat watching thousands of people screaming for help that never came. One of the casualties of that disaster was NOIS. The song was another innocent victim of a terrible event that could have been prevented. I am proud of The Tragically Hip for the decision they made to pull the song from the air waves. I am even more proud of them for having the COURAGE to return the song to it's rightful place in their catalogue of hits. The Tragically Hip have not allowed the song to be a victim. Like the survivors of New Orleans they have chosen to move forward while not forgetting who they are and where they came from. The lads are in the difficult position of being living legends. They are expected to make us all happy every time. That's a tough gig. When they roll through Seattle in March I pray to God that they do play NOIS. The fact that I have survived long enough to hear the song for the millionth time is a fraken miracle in the first place. I promise to grab that moment, give thanks and get my dance on. :jump

[tigerthelion]

I've seen The Hip six times in all. I'm appreciative of every concert whether they play the hits or not. I'd love to hear rarities but I'd rather not (as Opiated alluded to) hear Gord Downie mutter through botched lyrics for 4 minutes either. From my seat at home, reviewing setlists and listening to boots of concerts, I pick apart setlists and think about how great shows would be if more of DFN songs were played BUT when I am there in person seeing them live, I would be happy to hear almost anything Hip. NOIS is overplayed but it is a great song. It isn't as spontaneous as before and the band doesn't look as excited to play it but I still look forward to seeing Robbie jam out at the end and the excitement the song elicits from the crowd. On the other hand, I'm just as excited to hear "Lionized".

[The Horrible Esthete]

..if we didn't have hipbase, or thehip.com, we wouldn't have an idea, or as good of an idea of what to expect..but i still stand by the fact , you don't know what you'll get at a hip show....

See, that's where I disagree, based completely on my own experiences.

I've been to lots of shows, but can tell you off the top of my head which songs what I've rarely heard and which I've heard regularly. I can remember that during FC, DFN, & TATH tours, you might hear anything, mostly because they hadn't released enough "hits" (singles) to fill up a setlist. "Setlist Redundancy" hadn't become an issue for me until maybe the IVL tour. And it only gets worse as there's an apparent sense of "obligation" to play most of the singles from past records.

If I were heading to a Hip show, say, in Cleveland right this minute, I could make a list of about 30 songs and pretty much guarantee that the setlist would not include anything that wasn't on that list. And Given that this is a band with ten - TEN - full-length records, I'm left to conclude that as a whole, the band's setlists are becoming downright redundant, dull, and predictable.

Again, I'm not trying to criticize the band for this as much as I'm just pointing out that my interest in attending gigs is waning, and honestly, it makes me a little sad. What used to be an event that I feverishly looked forward too, and that used to be a magical experience, is no longer, when that simply doesn't have to be the case. There's plenty of material in that catalog to keep things interesting and keep me guessing.

How many times have we heard Gord refer to us, the audience, as "music lovers"? I'd like to think that he is onto something there -- that the average Hip fan is a little higher on the scale of loving music than the average Joe. If so, why then would you feed them only what is "familiar", what is "recognizable", and what is "expected"? Why?

Please -- forget any sense of obligation and let us enjoy more of your wares in concert, free of expectation. Open that setlist to the expanse of your vault of art -- let us experience and appreciate all you have created.