Well, I'm finally getting the chance to sit down and write a few thoughts about my weekend, and shows 14 and 15 for me in Toronto and London.
I wasn't planning to go to the Toronto show at all. As difficult as it was to accept, my wife had convinced me that one show on this tour would have to do, and I decided that London would be a good choice. A great venue, smaller than the ACC, and a chance to visit and stay with my sister and her family in Woodstock. I hadn't really given it another thought until I was browsing through some Hip memorabilia on eBay last week, and spotted a pair of tickets, being sold separately, at only about $10 or $15 each, with only around 10 hours left in the auctions. I didn't know how I would be able to use them, since we're in Sudbury, my wife had to work on Friday until 4:30, and we’ve got a 14 month old baby who was coming to Woodstock with us on Saturday. Never the less, the tickets were such a good deal, and with the chance of a DVD being filmed, I just had to keep an eye on them. Needless to say, I did end up getting them, and although the price did go up in the last few minutes, I did manage to get them both, below cost, and with Fed-Ex shipping from Massachusetts included!
Luckily, my wife was able to trade shifts, and get off of work at 3:00. I arranged to meet a good friend downtown at whatever time we could make it there. My wife and son were going to drop me off, and carry on to Oakville to stay with family, while I was going to stay the night with my friend. It almost worked like a charm. I picked my wife up at work, and we were able to leave Sudbury at 3:00 exactly. Despite the forecasts all week, the conditions were fine, and there were no delays on the drive down. We were driving into downtown Toronto at just around 7:00, and it seemed like everything would work out perfectly. Maybe even time for a beer before the show? However, there was one glitch. It turned out that my friend had accidentally parted ways with his cell phone after getting off work, and we hadn’t picked any particular place to meet, since I wasn’t sure what time I’d actually get there. Luckily, communications through a third party (his mom) still allowed us to hook up without too much delay, and we actually made it into the ACC by 7:30. We sacrificed the first song or two of the JPE for a chance to line up for beer, and then settled in for the evening.
Obviously I'm a little bit late getting into the review game, and a lot has already been written about the actual show, but I’ll add that I thought both the content and the performance were great! For some reason, I thought that Gift Shop was fantastic. As much as I love the song, I have never considered it to be any kind of a favourite, but something really made it stand out for me. I think that Robby really tore it up on that one, but I’ll be interested to hear it again, and try to figure out what it was that made that one seem so special to me at the time. I also thought that the Gift Shop/Springtime In Vienna combo was pretty cool. Again, I’m not sure why, but just like the album they seem to work so well side-by-side. Three Pistols is an all-time favourite of mine, and it was a real thrill to hear it live again. Boots Or Hearts was also a highlight for me. It sounded absolutely great.
The only negative part about the show for me was the crowd. For the most part, as I looked around, the crowd seemed into it, and excited to be there. But, it was a very different story for the sections around me, and right where I was sitting was probably the worst of all. I was incredibly disappointed, not to mention confused, by the total lack of enthusiasm by almost everyone in my section. My friend and I were on our feet as soon as the lights went down, and as the music started apparently someone behind us shouted for us to sit down. I didn’t hear it, but my friend felt a little awkward and dropped back to his seat. As Vaccination Scar finished up, I felt a tap on my back, and was asked with a scowl if I planned on standing all night. With a big grin I answered yes, and turned around and started bopping to Fully. Thankfully, my friend very quickly took my lead, and got back up next to me, so that I wasn’t the only loser gyrating around in the middle of a sea of motionless bodies.
The crowd barely left their seats all night. There were a few songs that got about 75% of the people to stand up, but not a single song had everyone on their feet. Not Courage, not 100th, not even NOIS. Even those songs that did get the biggest reaction, didn’t keep the crowd enthused for long. For example, Bobcaygeon had one of the best reactions when it started. A lot of people did stand up, and seemed to be getting into it, but as soon as Gord finished singing “that night in Toronto”, to roaring applause, most of them actually sat back down again! It was as if simply saying the name “Toronto” were some great climax that nothing could possibly top, so there was no point standing up and moving around until even the end of the song! Very strange. I’ve witnessed less than enthusiastic crowds in the Sudbury Arena before, but I didn’t expect this kind of reaction in the ACC, especially not on a night like that.
There was a mass exodus when Gus started, as if some demented pied-piper was calling everyone to pee at once. Despite the claims that Nashville has been getting decent airplay in Southern Ontario, the reaction it got was as if The Hip were suddenly playing before a crowd of opera fans who were not only shocked, but perhaps even a little pissed off, to suddenly be subjected to this strange music. Even before the encores, many people didn’t bother to stand up unless they were leaving. Of those that did stand up to cheer the band back onto the stage, many of them sat back down once the music started again.
It was disappointing, and despite my best efforts to ignore it, it was a bit distracting too. It’s fine to say to yourself, “who cares what anyone else is doing, I’m having a good time, and the band seems to be having a good time”, but it is still a little bit off-putting when you feel all of those eyes burning a hole in your back! By the end, my friend and I kept looking at each other and wondering what was wrong with these people, and why they’d bother to come at all?
Regardless, the show was great, and I can’t wait to see it again. Thanks to Chris for the unofficial version, and I’ll be waiting with great anticipation for the official one!
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