Вторник 15 Дек 2009, 9:13

Fri 27 Nov – The Tragically Hip

As a Hip concert is always worth your money, I wasn't expecting that they would surprise me. I've seen them live maybe 6 or 7 times, and maybe once they were slightly disappointing, but the other appearances ranged from quite good to good. But they outdid themselves this time.

I'm not sure what the difference was - but it sure sounded different. Maybe it was their last record. Although I can't say that I like it, live the songs from this album may have added a bit more mellow tone, which did the band good in the end. Because if there was one thing that set them apart this time, it was their mixed and surprising set list.

That the concert would be different, was clear right from the start: they started with New Orleans Is Sinking, which is normally one of the most important parts of a Hip concert. This time it wasn't - the crew was obviously still working on the sound, so it sounded - pun intended - muddy. But they got the sound right quite soon afterwards, and the rest of the gig was quite memorable.

They played a nice overview of their back catalogue, including not too often-played gems like Long Time Running and The Last of the Unplucked Gems from Road Apples. (See the other review for the setlist.) And, they played for two-and-a-half hours - the only drawback being a pause in the middle of the setlist (which kinda looked like they were giving themselves, or the audience, a smoking opportunity…).