The Tragically Hip official Thread 2009******

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

I was shocked to look back at past Hip setlists of shows I've attended and I've actually heard Fiddler's Green. DAMN! It was during the World Container tour. Surprised I don't remember that.

I do this all the time. And I sit and think to myself, "Holy crap. I'm losing my gawddamn mind."

Maybe I'm not. If it's happening to you as well... maybe that's normal for old crappers like us!

TheBeardedFellow said:

I tell this story, my Tragically Hip story, every PJ Board since 1998 or so, and i don't think i've told it on this board, and i don't think anyone cares,lol.. but eh... i like retelling it.

It's summer 1996...The Black Crowes are coming to town and, well, it's 1996--you have to camp out for tix!

Now I live a solid 45-60 minutes west of Detroit, depending on how fast you drive. There are about a dozen or so of us in line at our ticketmaster out in the suburbs. They're running a ticket lottery for placement for this show cause, you know, the Crowes sell out fast. Well the guy who wins...is a dude from Toronto, who is in town for a wedding.

He's not here for Crowes tickets, no. He starts spinning some tale of a band called the Tragically Hip...how huge they are in Canada. He tells us they are lined around Maple Leaf Gardens twice just for wristbands for a chance at tickets to their show there.

He's not sure he can get Hip tickets here in Michigan for this. The people who at the store aren't sure either. So we wait. And as we wait, he evangelizes how great they are for the half hour between the lottery draw and tix going on sale. 30 minutes might not seem like a lot..but try talking for 30 minutes straight on one subject and see how much you can actually convey in that time!

10am hits..he's first in line...and the s.o.b. jumps all the wristband people in Toronto and gets tickets,lol. Good on him. Me? we get tickets, the Crowes....usually awesome...Chris seemed a bit too fucked up that show, but thats here nor there for this thread.

Fast forward to the point of this thread...the Hip. I'm at a record store a couple weeks later...and all this dude's talking them up has me in front of their albums at the store. One problem---I don't know which to buy! So....i go with the album that has the little sticker on it with the most "hit songs included"....Fully Completely.

So i pop it into my CD player...and briefly look through the liner notes and do you want to know my first thought. My first honest-to-God reaction?

They have TWO guys named Gord?? wtf, Canada....


I put it in...I listen. I'm not impressed. You know how it is. I'm sure this has happened to all of you with some/many bands over the years. But this album...just sounded bare, instrumentally, i don't know. It still does, really.

But i was younger...like 19 at the time. And NHL '97 came out soon on the PS1. And i played a season of it. And Fully Completely was put in my rotation while i was playing it. And it started getting more and more play.

And i found out...i really like that album. Like, really really like it.

Courage-great! Looking for a place to happen...great! Hundreth meridian--don't know who Ry Cooder or Rye Cooper is, but that song is great and he could sing MY eulogy! Locked in the Trunk.....that was a "sticker song," featured on it.... kinda goofy, all those "let me outs!" but fun! The title track is great....(the whole album is, i know i skipped a couple and will probably again)...but my favoirte then..and probably now still is Fifty Mission Cap. Why? I don't know! It sounds like an amaaaaaazing hockey story. And if you/I go back to when this took place... 1996-97... my Detroit team...well, that was magical era for Hockey. Hey, Toronto.... You're going to win one again. It's going to be so great when you do, too. I'll be happy for you. Even though we were mortal enemies the last time we were in the same conference....I dunno..i'm older now. We've had some titles, they're great. I hope you get to feel that feeling!

Wheat Kings....ehhh-- in my head, this feels like it's probably a hit radio song...i just never could get into it. It's probably my one skip if i skip a song, though i probably wouldn't. And El Dorado was super catchy last track.

Bottom line.. this album grew on me big. i still listen to it a few times a year. I've tried a few other albums...they don't stick. I think Fully Completely was a time and place for me, even if it was 4 years after it's release, lol. But thats ok! I put this on at work sometimes and people are like "what the heck...." and i'm like, "hey, i like this!"

But now...man, i heard the news on the one Gord and that is a...yeah. His attitude, though?? Like, basically, "Fuck it, lets go tour once more!" How can that not give you goosebumps? I can't imagine the range of emotions going through the fanbase at these shows. Like, if this were Pearl Jam and any of their members...i'd probably be in tears for the entirety of the show.

But yeah...I'm a total casual united states fan, but dammit, that one album has given me 100s of playthroughs overs 20 years and God bless The Hip for it.

TheBeardedFellow said:

But now...man, i heard the news on the one Gord and that is a...yeah. His attitude, though?? Like, basically, "Fuck it, lets go tour once more!" How can that not give you goosebumps? I can't imagine the range of emotions going through the fanbase at these shows. Like, if this were Pearl Jam and any of their members...i'd probably be in tears for the entirety of the show.

But yeah...I'm a total casual united states fan, but dammit, that one album has given me 100s of playthroughs overs 20 years and God bless The Hip for it.