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The Commodore got me as close as I've ever been to the esteemed Mr. Downie in mid-performance - like, 10 feet away - and although I always kinda knew this, I got to see up close just how demanding his performance style is. Which raises the question in my thread title. This is not a style one can credibly carry into, say, one's late 50s or 60s, is it? At some point doesn't it just get to be impossible to maintain?
I bring it up because of interviews where Gord has commented about the band's 'stage of career,' saying that they're entering the 'Bob Dylan' stage (which I take to mean, older, more vocally damaged, not necessarily inferior in terms of craft or passion, perhaps even more profound) ...and his admiration for the Howlin Wolfs and other blues legends who carried on with performance into their 70s...and that he's tense before every performance because he knows it's going to hurt...etc..
How long can Gord do it? And where does he take it, once he scales back back the manic physical intensity of his shows?
Thoughts?
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Wow, what a fabulous question. The simple I answer, I suppose, is, "As long as he wants to."
Mick Jagger springs to mind as a geezer who puts on a pretty high-energy show. Now if Rob can keep from falling out of trees, the band should be okay.
The other question is how long can his voice hold out. I'm among the minority on this site (I think) who love the Hip more for the lyrics and textures as opposed to how hard they rock, which is usually irrelevant to me. But then I see the DVD and realize that Gord can still sing melodically when he chooses. He growls in other concerts (I can't listen to the London livedownloads, even though it seems to be most people's favourite) presumably because he likes it and the crowd likes it, and whiners like me be damned.
I think that the band has made it sound as though they'll go on forever (provided family or illness doesn't get in the way, I suppose.) Will it be different if they're still performing 15 or 20 years from now? Maybe. Maybe they'll pull a Rolling Stones and keep it the same hanging-from-the-rafters kind of show (preferably Justin Timberlake-free).
Or maybe they'll go the old blues man route, sitting on bar stools for intimate crowds.
Either way, I hope I'm there.
Cheers,
John
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I'm not sure it's a question of longevity. When you mention an artist like Bob Dylan, it brings to mind phases. The changes to his career came abruptly and swiftly, and they were mostly brought on by himself. When I take a step back and look at the Hip's career, generally, the transitions have been smooth, Gord evolves as an artist as does the rest of the group.
I'm not going to try and predict where the band will be in 15-20 years, because the journey is up to the boys. One of my favorite qualities about the group is that they don't stagnate. Knowing that, I can say with a certain amount of confidence, that the Hip album that will[might] come out in 2021 will be easily distinguishable from the stuff they are doing now.
Now, as far as performance goes, we're all bound by age, I suppose. Mick may keep going until his hip gives out, but maybe before that ever will happen to Gord he'll have a new stage style.
In any case, I'm not worried, I have yet to be disspointed with this little canadian troupe, and I doubt I ever will.
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Paul would kick his ass if he ever stopped...
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I think that this is the article: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/T/Tragically_Hip/2004/12/07/781238.html">http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/T/Tra ... 81238.html</a><!-- m -->
The Hip does the evolution
By ROB WILLIAMS -- Winnipeg Sun
The NHL lockout is just road apples to Gord Downie.
Surprisingly, the frontman for Canada's unofficial national band Tragically Hip -- passionate fans who have penned their fair share of hockey songs over the years -- doesn't care about the lockout and cancellation of the country's national sport.
"It doesn't exist for me unless it's being played. It only exists in 60-minute time frames. I don't miss it at all," he says.
Downie doesn't stickhandle around the issue. He believes commissioner Gary Bettman doesn't want an end to the lockout until the players revolt against their union. He is firmly on the side of the players.
"My theory is Bettman wants to wait out until his southern expansion teams fold, that's 100 jobs lost that will break the union. He can't fold those teams but he can't admit he made a mistake, so he has to starve out various owners in terms of revenue sharing," he says.
The band's latest hockey song isn't so much about the sport as a player. Heaven is a Better Place Today was written about Dan Snyder, a member of the Atlanta Thrashers who died in a car crash last year.
Downie didn't know Snyder but was touched by his life story and the reaction to his death by his family, friends and fans.
"I wanted to commemorate it in some way, so this is an addition of everything that would go in that time capsule for Dan Snyder."
On a compilation album, the song might go well next to 50 Mission Cap, a song from 1993's Fully Completely about the disappearance and death of Toronto Maple Leafs player Bill Barilko.
The Kingston, Ont., quintet -- which also includes guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay -- have virtually defined and personified CanCon over the course of 10 albums in almost 20 years. Their latest CD, In Between Evolution, features some distinctly Canadian songs but expands their worldview with songs about the U.S. and the war in Iraq, as told through Downie's metaphorical poetry.
In Between Evolution -- named after the painting on the cover by Cameron Tomsett -- marks both a (duh) evolution and a return to the band's roots, thanks to the hiring of Seattle rock producer Adam Kasper (Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age), who helped them punch up their sound with a live off-the-floor recording approach.
"It's a common misconception we're happy. We're always pushing and challenging ourselves," Downie says. "Now we're at a position, 'Why don't we do it the way we used to?' Just go in and pound them out and tear them up.
"To me it plays to our strengths and makes it a natural progression from the studio to the stage. They feel and sound live."
Live is where the group are at their strongest. Downie compares them to an aging blues artist: Giving it all on stage every night until it hurts.
"I figure all our records are blues records. We're a band created for the long haul, like Howlin' Wolf or Muddy Waters. These are people that played well into their 70s. Howling Wolf, they would have to coax him down from the curtain from above the stage and he was 60 years old. That's rock 'n' roll," he says. "I'm going to be up there at 70. I'm too old to take a typing course."
Even though The Tragically Hip are arguably the most popular group in Canada, Downie is his own harshest critic. He and his bandmates aren't content to rest on their laurels. They are constantly working on their craft.
"Some would say we've proved nothing in Canada. I don't look at it and stand and look at what we've proven or accomplished. I'm sitting in a hotel room in Vancouver working on new material. I'm trying to get it down," he says.
The Tragically Hip will get down Tuesday when they make history as the first touring band to play the new MTS Centre, two days after their appearance as the halftime entertainment at tomorrow's Grey Cup in Ottawa.
The Joel Plaskett Emergency open the show. Tickets are $35.50 to $45.50 at Ticketmaster.
cratch: Second, you eventually risk becoming a parody of yourself - a danger the Stones have flirted with all too often. 
