Hip Memorable At Massey

Massey Hall

Toronto, ON

on May 11 2009

Jared Morano (CHARTattack)

05/13/2009 9:35am

"We're going to take you on a trip tonight."

Gord Downie stood at the edge of the Massey Hall stage while the rest of The Tragically Hip got their gear in order. "Trip" is an appropriate description, since the band visited nearly every album in their 20-year catalogue on Monday night.

Part of the fun in seeing The Tragically Hip is guessing which songs they'll play. Not only do they have enough hits to fill a week of shows, but they often give overlooked album tracks equal billing to the singles. They're as likely to play "Cordelia" as "Little Bones."

Still, it's safe to bet a large chunk of any Hip concert will be spent promoting the new album, and they got right to it on Monday with "The Depression Suite," a multi-movement piece that occupies nine-and-a-half minutes of We Are The Same. It started quietly, with Downie adding a third guitar behind Rob Baker and Paul Langois, and it was pretty boring to watch. It improved when Downie passed his guitar off and took the microphone to the front of the stage to properly address the audience.

Downie's stage act is the Hip's vitality. They'd be in the same class as every other rock group without him: bland and over-guitared. He plays up some lyrics, plays down others, but for all his high-brow literary and cultural references, the guy's a goofball at heart. His absurdity puts the Hip in the company of Rheostatics and Barenaked Ladies before, say, Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Vaughan wouldn't impulsively unscrew a microphone stand from its base and give each half to fans at opposite ends of the hall, then ask for it back at the end of the song ('cause they're expensive), but Downie did.

A pleasantly explosive performance of "In View" from 2006's World Container followed "The Depression Suite." The recorded version is much more subdued. It was good to hear them play it up, especially since it's a great song from an unduly overlooked album, and the crowd appreciated the energy. The volume stayed high for the first of several Fully Completely tracks: "Courage," during which the crowd out-shouted Downie when the bridge came.

"Pigeon Camera" was next, and it was the first time in the night when Downie stepped back and let his bandmates carry the show. He had upstaged the guitar solo in "Courage" by playing hackeysack with his handkerchief (which was surprisingly compelling), so it was time for him to drift into the background for a bit.

Downie retook control when the last chord rang out and he called out, "Bring out your dead, Toronto!" and they launched into "Poets." The crowd again shouted along. The bridge was extended so Downie could improvise some dance moves, which ended with him tying himself up in his mic cord and hopping around.

By now, the group had earned enough favour to fly through a couple of newer songs. They picked "Morning Moon," with appropriately starry lighting, and "It Can't Be Nashville Every Night," before which Downie took an uncharacteristic jab at a more stupid musician.

"Toby Keith called the Dixie Chicks dirty sluts. I don't think Toby Keith would stand in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square, do you?"

Then, probably because that statement didn't have enough Canadian humility or Hip frivolity, he added, "But that is irrelevant!"

"Fully Completely" followed, during which Downie plugged in his mic like an ape discovering technology, then "Now The Struggle Has A Name," "Yer Not The Ocean" and a faithful run through new single "Love Is A First," before they paused for intermission.

I suppose it's a sign of the group's age that they even had an intermission. Or maybe it was a sign of their audience's age. Regardless, it gave the crew a chance to set up for the acoustic set.

I hate acoustic sets. They're instant energy drainers, and The Hip are too subtle to keep it interesting, especially with Downie stuck on a stool.

Mercifully, it ended after three songs: "Toronto #4," "Fiddler's Green," which was received affectionately, and "Greasy Jungle." All three were dedicated to mothers for Mother's Day, but only the last two were about mothers. The first is about plugging Mount Vesuvius or something...

The Hip livened up again with another track from We Are The Same, "The Last Recluse." Then the audience joined their enthusiasm for "Twist My Arm," featuring a highly entertaining mid-song boxing match between Downie and his mic stand, and "At The Hundredth Meridian." Downie also pretended the mic was stuck in his chest and got a fan to pull the cord to get it out. His reward? A relieved handshake and Downie's sweaty hanky.

The man has a real knack for introducing songs. There's a line for each one. For "Twist My Arm," he asks: "Is it still coercion if I want you to do it?" He calls "At The Hundredth Meridian" the great black band of evil and follows "Yer Not The Ocean" with "You're just puny Lake Ontario." He introduces "Now The Struggle Has A Name" with, "We'd like to do a song for the Pope now... that always causes a bit of a hush."

Before "Coffee Girl," another song from We Are The Same, Downie took time to rag on a guy with a Chicago Blackhawks jersey — starting with focus, then drifting into a ramble about whether sports are an authoritarian institution to control the common man. When the crowd booed the Hawks fan, Downie seemed alarmed.

"Wait a minute, wait now just a minute," he paused. "OK, now boo him."

They happily did.

The rest of the set was a trade between old songs that fans paid to hear and new ones the band wanted to play. They cheered for "Ahead By A Century," then put up with "Speed River" to get to "Bobcaygeon," and roared when Downie sang "That night in Toronto." After a bit of power rock with "Tiger The Lion," the second set finished with "Blow At High Dough." The band left and Downie very, very carefully plunked the microphone to the stage.

There were two encore songs: "Frozen In My Tracks," with organized crowd participation, and the Cancon classic "Locked In The Trunk Of A Car," with its primal scream outro, "Let me out!" Downie even found a way to play that up, and knocked the mic against a monitor to simulate someone banging from inside a trunk.

Downie was at his showman best on Monday night and delivered moments so memorable that it almost makes one feel they got enough from the one show that they don't need to go to the rest of the Massey Hall dates this week. Almost.


Photos from May 11 can be found here.
Photos from May 12 can be found here.
Photos from May 14 can be found here.
Photos from May 15 can be found here.
Photos from May 16 can be found here.
Photos from May 19 can be found here.