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“The Exact Feeling” of a Tragically Hip Concert

It’s late in the evening on September 24th. I am standing in the Jubilee Auditorium and outside these walls, nothing else exists. I’m surrounded by 2,500 other people and the only thing on our minds is one word:
Hip.

Every single audience member is chanting that one syllable with increasing volume and speed. Two thousand five hundred people voice their unified desire and the result sends shivers up my spine, encouraging me only to yell louder.
Then, The Tragically Hip return for their encore. Gord Downie struts back to center stage accompanied by Paul Langois, Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay, Rob Baker starts hammering out the unmistakable opening riff to Grace, Too and I have never felt so alive.

On April 7th, 2009, The Hip released their twelfth studio album. Emotionally vulnerable and startlingly laid-back, We Are the Same is a far cry from any of the band’s earlier work. Contrasted against 2006’s World Container, the opening tracks to We Are the Same arrived melodiously and slowly, much to the shock of most Hip fans. Love is a First, the first single off of the album, threw fans for a loop with its screeching guitars and Gord Downie mutterings, neither of which appeared much elsewhere in the 12-track release. Regardless of the differences, which were met with positivity by critics and fans alike, I was enthralled by the album, and was even more excited to see this new side of my favourite band live. And so began my 170 day countdown to the September 24th concert at the Jubilee Auditorium, one of three, sold-out, two-set shows that the Hip played in Calgary in September.

I saw the band play for the first time at Virgin Festival 2008, and what I thought were wild and entertaining stage manners then do not compare to the level of extravagance that Downie took himself to at the Jubilee. Anyone who has seen The Hip play live knows that their lead singer is a lunatic onstage. Downie frequently engages in heated arguments with his mic stand, tends to break equipment, and provokes extended instrumentals in most of the songs just so he can find a way to kick his previously dropped microphone back into his hands. He flourishes his white handkerchief like an interpretive dancer portraying a Spanish cowboy who has found himself taunting a bull.

Antics aside, Downie is an incredible musician and vocalist. He is backed by the long haired, purple-skinny-jean-clad lead guitarist Baker, guitarist Langois, bassist Sinclair and drummer Fay, all of whom are original members of the band, whose first album was released in 1987.

The band opened the first set with their nine minute ballad from We Are the Same, titled The Depression Suite. The atmosphere was electric and remained positively charged throughout the first hour. A range of well-known songs were performed as well as three more from the new album, satisfying even the most die-hard nineties Hip fan, as well as yours truly. Fireworks, In View,and At the Hundredth Meridian were some of the best songs in the first set. I’ve been to a lot of shows and belted out the words to a lot of songs, but this experience was different. Most of the crowd knew the lyrics to the entire 25 song set and no one was afraid to join in with Downie.

Following the first 11 songs, there was a 20 minute intermission in which I stood outside the auditorium, ears ringing, and wondering if this concert could even get better. It got better.

When I returned to my seat, I saw four acoustic guitars and four stools clustered in the centre of the stage. When The Hip took to the stage once more, they began a beautiful acoustic set. First off was My Music at Work, a song that, surprisingly, is very much an electric track on the album, Music@Work. The band slowed it down and toned it down, making this version of My Music at Work unlike any recording. Boots or Hearts, Scared, Springtime in Vienna and Bobcageon rounded out the acoustic portion of the show. This was perhaps my favourite part of the night, as the guitars rang clearly throughout the auditorium without distortion or overpowering bass lines. While the acoustics in the Jubilee are amazing, at some points during the night it was hard to decipher the sonic chaos that went on during many of the songs. The overwhelming noise was nonetheless enjoyable, but Baker’s stellar lead lines were sometimes lost amidst everything else.

The Hip started to kick things up a notch with the haunting Nautical Disaster. The emotion in Downie’s voice and in the music never ceases to give me chills. It may not be the fastest or the most technical song that the band played, but in terms of sheer power, it was off the charts.

After a couple more pace-building tracks, Throwing off Glass and The Last Recluse, the band shot into high gear for the final four songs of the set. Fifty-Mission Cap, Frozen in My Tracks, Fully Completely and Little Bones were thrown out to the crowd in frenzied succession, much to everyone’s delight. Then The Tragically Hip stopped playing and left the stage. No one remaining in the auditorium stopped yelling, chanting and clapping.

I have come full circle now, and find myself back at that electric moment, the same moment that everyone around me was frozen in while we waited for our heroes of the night to come back to the stage.

When a smiling Downie, drenched to the bone in sweat, and the rest of the band returned, they began an extended version of Grace, Too and then powered into their final song of the night Fire in the Hole. At the very end, Downie thanked the crowd profusely and said, “Thank-you Calgary, this is what you sound like.” He turned the microphone towards the audience and their own thank-yous were deafening.

Not every concert and performance leaves a permanent mark in the minds of its audience. Not every band can play three shows in four days in the same city and sell all of them out. Not every lead singer can tilt his mic stand to a 45 degree angle, perch on its base, and spin around with a handkerchief on his face. The Tragically Hip, however, do all of these things and more, leaving their audience stunned and satisfied, every time they step out on stage.