[AndGraceToo]

All the Hip show's I've seen I've relished the energy. Being in the States, it's a really different type of rowdy, and I mean that in a good way.

I've been puked on, shoved, you name it in many, many different shows. That is something that goes hand in hand with high energy rock shows. I'm also a huge Widespread Panic fan, and the same problem is happening with the crowd with that band. An older band, has older fans, but there are youngsters that will continue to whip up the energy and chaos..and that's a good thing.

But I'll never forget the bear hug I got in Atlanta 97, because I was wearing a T-shirt I bought in Toronto...

I kept gasping for air "i'm not candian, i'm not candian" but he didn't care. Just kept on hugging. :lol:

The only problem last tour was the bonehead who jumped on stage in Asheville..we go our encores cut short because of him :x
Not even sure if he was Canadian or not..so who knows.

[Killer Whale Tank]

Skippy makes the point that the Hip simultaneously criticise the rampant Canadian nationalism they attract, and exploit it in their merchandising, lyrics, etc.. That's a perceptive observation, but it overlooks the fact that there are many different kinds of nationalism.

For instance, nothing in the Hip's lyrics (except, possibly, 'Last American Exit') expresses a thoughtless or unproblematized rah-rah nationalism. The lyrics express, instead, what I would see as a genuine, sensible nationalism---that is, committed engagement with the place you come from, an attempt honestly to express its realities in your work. For Canadian musicians to do this is a 'nationalist' act inasmuch as it requires a conscious commitment to the place (unlike America musicians who can routinely refer to American locales, events, and people, because America is simply part of the air they breathe, and because doing so is completely normal in American music). The *normal* thing for a Canadian musician with aspirations to major commercial success would be to de-Canadianize their lyrics in the manner of, say, Brian Adams. So a healthy assertion of 'Canadian-ness' is built into the Hip.

That being so, why shouldn't they weave maple leaves into their merchandise, for example? Sure, they know it's the whooping, CANADAKICKSASS rowdies that are going to snap it up, but the idea that the Hip are symbols of such mindless nationalism could only be endorsed by those who haven't paid attention. Is it the Hip's fault if their actual 'message' is distorted by the fans? So I'd argue they aren't responsible for what people read into their merch, etc.. The bozos are responsible for being bozos, period.

[The Horrible Esthete]

All the Hip show's I've seen I've relished the energy. Being in the States, it's a really different type of rowdy, and I mean that in a good way.

I've been puked on, shoved, you name it in many, many different shows. That is something that goes hand in hand with high energy rock shows. I'm also a huge Widespread Panic fan, and the same problem is happening with the crowd with that band. An older band, has older fans, but there are youngsters that will continue to whip up the energy and chaos..and that's a good thing....

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother posting on here, because nobody really seems to be able to make a simple distiction when the time calls for it....

I've been to ten Panic shows, and I agree, the typical concert rowdiness is present at those high-energy shows - bumping, spilling, spliffing, shouting, puking, etc...... lots of people proudly wearing their "HAVIN A GOOD TIME" t-shirts....all of those types of things are common to the concert experience. But Grace, have you ever seen people draping themselves in the Stars and Bars, and donning red, white and blue Uncle Sam top hats, screaming "U-S-A! U-S-A!" as they push other loyal Brown Cat disciples aside so John Bell might catch glimpse of them and anoint them the greatest American Panic Fans Ever?

I haven't, and I'm glad, because it's just plain stupid, and I would certainly loathe that type of behavior and would have ZERO respect for those acting in such a manner.....

p.s. ....brought back my last avtar for 'moontimes' sake...

[cferneyh]

I've been to four shows in the States and a dozen or so in Canada, and I have to say that I kind of get embarrassed about the RAH RAH I'M CANADIAN AND SO ARE THE HIP!!!!!!! stuff that goes on. Of course there's nothing wrong with being proud of where you are from, but it is annoying to have it shoved down your throat. If I went to a Wilco show in Calgary and there were a bunch of USA! USA! USAA! chants and stars and stripes everywhere, I'd be annoyed.

[skippy the wonder dog]

Skippy makes the point that the Hip simultaneously criticise the rampant Canadian nationalism they attract, and exploit it in their merchandising, lyrics, etc. [etc., etc.]

kwt, I agree with all that. The problem, of course, is that very few fans pay much attention to what the lyrics actually say.

Most of the attention focused on the lyrics is seeking external references (and preferably Canadian ones). So people say to themselves, "They're singing about hockey, they're singing about Bill Barilko, they're singing about Tom Thomson," and that's good enough.

Ooh, they're so Canadian, everyone oozes. Rah rah Canada, etc.

Fireworks ain't about hockey, but just think of how often it is described as a hockey song. Or consider Heaven is a Better Place today, which was dubbed a "hockey song" simply because it refers to a hockey player. (Is Three Pistols a "painting song?")

The band isn't responsible for the misinterpretation (or misappropriation) of their message. In some respects, their dilemma resembles that of Dylan as "voice of a generation": the aim of any artist should be to act as the voice of his times, but if you're too good at it, you get mistaken for a prophet rather than a reporter.

Dylan's own prophetic pose in his early material encouraged this. Similarly, the Hip have deliberately mined nationalism, with unintended results.

[Dilly_sAm]

Fireworks ain't about hockey, but just think of how often it is described as a hockey song. Or consider Heaven is a Better Place today, which was dubbed a "hockey song" simply because it refers to a hockey player. (Is Three Pistols a "painting song?")

Many people I know think that 50MC is called "The Toronto Maple Leafs Song". Pathetique.

[longseason]

I haven't, and I'm glad, because it's just plain stupid, and I would certainly loathe that type of behavior and would have ZERO respect for those acting in such a manner.....

Word. It's been said a million times before, but what if some of our southern compadres road tripped up to the Molson Amphitheatre and donned the stars and stripes and proceeded to drink themselves silly and act like asses?

You would dismiss it out of hand (and not even know your doing it) as typical Yank patriotism and gripe about the way they rally around their flag. Frankly, it would piss you off.

Don't buy into it, I say. No need to jingo to what you're told.

Gord summed up his take on the most patriotic of all days when he greeted the crowd with a "Happy Stupid Day"!

[Chris Tanz]

It's amazing how everyone, myself included, gets goaded into posting in this topic time and time again.

I'm bringing a goddamn Ontario flag to the next concert and I'm gonna sing the "Onter-i-er-i-er-i-o" song. Does Kingston have a flag, and where can I get my hands on it? Anyone know what street Gord was born on and if it has a flag?

And for the record, I think Three Pistols is a painting song. I think they're all painting songs: "You said you didn't give a fuck about painting"; "They don't know how old I am, they found paintings in my belly"; "Puffy lips, glistening skin, and everything comes painting in"; "Don't tell me what the poets are painting ..."; the list is endless.

ct

[The Darkest Canuck]

hahahahaha, did i just read that?


it was so damned funny that it made me completely forget what i was going to say! damn you! :lol:

[Ponch]

I think the 'Happy Stupid Day' comment had more to do with a Molson sponsored event which had the Hip playing in Barrie for a short set, and then being whisked off to Vancouver to play another set that very same day.

So I am not so sure the 'Happy Stupid Day' comment had much to do with Canada Day inparticular. Gord and the boys were not very impressed with all the Molson hype during that long day in 1992, and he made serveral references to it during both shows.

So I don't think you can question the Hip's patriotism. They are quite patriotic, but they don't need to be waving flags around during their shows both in the US and Canada to make that statement.

Their patriotism comes out in their music by showing respect to many things Canadian in the stories they tell, whether it be Tom Thompson, Bill Barilko, and a girl from Thompson, Manitoba. And I think that is what endears us to them, and may bring out pouring patriotism in the fans, whether the Hip's intentions are to do so or not.

But I do agree that actual Canadian flag waving at a US show can be annoying. Though it did look quite cool at Woodstock '99.

[longseason]

I think the 'Happy Stupid Day' comment had more to do with a Molson sponsored event which had the Hip playing in Barrie for a short set, and then being whisked off to Vancouver to play another set that very same day.

That's a fair assessment--I've always assumed, however, that it had to do with the get drunk and wave the flag nature of the event than it did with Molson Park--which Gord refers to as Molsonia at one point during the show.

A total aside, but on the henhouse tour in Syracuse, a fan was waving a "Fiddler's Green" roadsign that was pilfered from up the mountain in Hamilton. Thought that was pretty funny and a nice departure from the typical flag waving.

I can't remember who opened for the Hip that day, but I do remember my buddy letting rip a "Freebird!" from the balcony and the band started into a Skynyrd tune, not Freebird, alas, but close enough to get a chuckle out of the crowd.

[AndGraceToo]

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother posting on here, because nobody really seems to be able to make a simple distiction when the time calls for it....

Spoken like a true bitter Panic fan...(:lol)

No, I don't see Nationalism at Widespread shows, because there isn't any. I have at Bruce Springstein shows...and walked out, 'cause Bruce sucks..but that's another day.

Flag waving is saved for Garth Brooke shows and other lug head concerts here in the States, but it happens, oh, it happens..

There is a difference. The Hip sings about Canada, they praise it, debate it, and obviously love their country...I can just hear JB sing about the glorious Kudzu covering Athens, GA, ..(yea, right)

I won't even put a US flag on my damned car cause I'm so pissed off at my country right now I could spit..."move to Canada" is the token response I get for my sentiments :roll: I am at odds with my country now..and so are many artists and musicians, and the last 8 years have been hard on us wanting to "Wave that Flag..wave it wide and High" (cue Jerry lick, "Summer time has, come and gone..my oh my.."

hummmm

[NMAS]

I won't even put a US flag on my damned car cause I'm so pissed off at my country right now I could spit..."move to Canada" is the token response I get for my sentiments I am at odds with my country now..and so are many artists and musicians, and the last 8 years have been hard on us wanting to "Wave that Flag..wave it wide and High" (cue Jerry lick, "Summer time has, come and gone..my oh my.."

And You should be, good on ya. :thumb:

[kelman66]

I won't even put a US flag on my damned car cause I'm so pissed off at my country right now I could spit..."move to Canada" is the token response I get for my sentiments I am at odds with my country now..and so are many artists and musicians, and the last 8 years have been hard on us wanting to "Wave that Flag..wave it wide and High" (cue Jerry lick, "Summer time has, come and gone..my oh my.."

And You should be, good on ya. :thumb:

and rightly so. good for you.

[The Horrible Esthete]

I won't even put a US flag on my damned car cause I'm so pissed off at my country right now I could spit..."move to Canada" is the token response I get for my sentiments I am at odds with my country now..and so are many artists and musicians, and the last 8 years have been hard on us wanting to "Wave that Flag..wave it wide and High" (cue Jerry lick, "Summer time has, come and gone..my oh my.."

And You should be, good on ya. :thumb:

and rightly so. good for you.

This would be an example of the anti-American sentiment common to this board which I spoke of earlier.

I guess "Canada" is French for "our shit don't stink"?