Friday, September 24, 2004
If you have a favorite band, every once in a while you need some kind of validation to reassure you why you've put them on the top of your musical list. When it happens, it's exhilarating and confirming of your taste and time. So last night, when The Tragically Hip once again showed why they are my favorite band, it was particularly rewarding.
The Hip returned to the Landmark Theatre and thrilled a packed, raucous and Canadian-rich crowd. Syracuse is a special stop for the band, as it's one of the closest U.S. stops they have to their hometown of Kingston, Ontario. The rockers long ago established themselves as Canada's favorite entertainers, and the throngs from the Great White North were in evidence around Armory Square hours before the concert began.
The fans -- Canadian and USian alike -- were rewarded with a non-stop high-energy show filled with tracks from the new album In Between Evolution and a healthy helping of favorites from previous discs. Any longtime Hiphead looking at their Syracuse setlist would see plenty of music to like -- 22 songs, including two encores, spanning 15 years of albums. Curiously, they only included one song from their previous release In Violet Light -- its lead single, "It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken" -- and nothing from their landmark 1991 album Road Apples. And their second encore consisted of only one song, "Ahead By A Century," while their previous stops on the tour had two-song encores.
But that's as much as I can complain. Those are minor points because the show was awesome, as The Hip always delivers in concert. They can cram in so many songs because they specialize in quick-hitting, catchy rocking tracks as opposed to extended noodling jams. And if they do engage in an occasional musical diversion, or lead singer Gordon Downie segues into a lyrical tangent, these passages often bloom into a full song on a future album. When an old favorite comes through -- like "New Orleans is Sinking" or "Blow At High Dough" from their 1989 debut Up To Here, or the always-intense "Nautical Disaster" -- the crowd just waxes ecstatic.
Gordon was his crazy, hyperactive self in concert, belting out the tunes like a man possessed. Most of the crowd was singing along throughout the show, and I know my voice was strained this morning. What's especially impressive is that the band seems to develop musically into an even more skilled and tight unit as the years go by. Their talent level is an easy thing to miss, since they make it all look and sound so easy, but their chops merit high praise.
As if the great show wasn't enough, we actually met one of the band members in rhythm guitarist/backup vocalist Paul Langlois. We'd stopped at Clark's Ale House on Armory Square for the famed roast beef sandwich and sampling of beers. There were Canadian bunches at the outside tables on either side of us. I went in to get the sandwiches, and when I returned Colin said we were right near one of the members of The Hip. I thought he was referring to a long-haired gent passing by, so I shrugged it off. Finally, he put it through my thick skull to turn around and look at the table up the street. I did and saw the unmistakable Langlois, his curly black hair tumbling around a craggy, exhausted-looking face. He was having a beer with some people he seemed to know well.
It says something about the Hip's fans that Langlois was mostly left alone. Indeed, most people going up the street to the Landmark didn't even notice. The Canadian chums on the table on the other side definitely noticed and did take a surruptitious picture of Langlois (part of me may be unintentionally in that shot, serving as evidence of the encounter). I would have liked to have had one of those camera phones at this instant, as I would have had something worth emailing to my friends all over Canada.
Finally, as he left, passing our table on the sidewalk toward the back doors of the Landmark, I knew I couldn't let the opportunity pass without saying anything. "Have a good show, man!" I said, extending my hand. Langlois stopped, looked a bit amused, and shook my hand. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you," I replied. Yes, I'm a professional communicator, but put me in front of someone from my favorite band and I come across like a complete moron.
But it makes for a great story. And it makes the experience -- one confirming why The Tragically Hip are my favorite band -- even more memorable and compelling.
posted by Tim 6:31 PM
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