Get That Kick Drum Loaded!

The Tragically Hip April 12-13
The State Theatre, Detroit

Of course, live rock n' roll is also an excellent cure for the blues. It's hard to be too self absorbed when watching Canada's finest sweat their way through back to back Detroit shows. (And I do mean sweat, no wonder Gordon Downie is so thin. The roadie who handled his guitar had to literally wipe it down after each song.)

All local eyes were focused on downtown Detroit-the Hip were at the State, the Stooges' splashy comeback was next door at the Fox and the Wings were battling in the playoffs a few blocks away at the Joe. Everything was all lit up and downright optimisitic, which is unfortunately not a word you think of too often when in downtown Detroit.

The Hip don't play the same show twice even when it's not in the same city so we were curious how they'd stage these. And since one of us got into a fistfight (okay it was me) at a Hip show at the Fillmore a few years back we had seats, actually a couch, in the boxes on the side of the theater which were excellent. As has been noted in this blog before being a Detroit concertgoer means sharing space with Canadians and Canadians, while very nice people, love their music wildly, passionately-especially the Hip. The security folks seemed to be having a bit of a time containing them-I wondered if they had been adequetely briefed.

Thursday's show turned out to be the new album centric one-very few of their "hits" (I put it in quotes cause I'm not sure the Hip have ever actually charted on this side of the border.) The sound level was rather low- if I'd been in the car I would have been turning it up- but very clear. You could actually hear each backup vocal and yes, Downie does actually play his guitar. Song highlights included "World Container", (my favorite from the new record which seems destined, judging by the tepid crowd reaction, to be heard on this tour only) "Gus: the Polar Bear from Central Park", "Don't Wake Daddy" and "Bobcaygeon" (perhaps their best love song which has the great line "it was in Bobcaygeon/I saw the constellations/reveal themselves one star at a time.") The segueway between "Family Band" (our favorite live one from the new record-see this blog's title) and "Springtime in Vienna" was also particularily inspired. There was even a local tip of the hat with a cover of "Black Day in July". Overall our feeling was Thursday night, good but not great.

How much Thursday's show rocked like a weeknight was thrown into even more relief at Friday's where the energy level was turned way up. More crowded, more Canadians, more security, more everything. There were still some new songs (between both nights only one song was left unplayed) but it was the parade of hits-"Blow at High Dough", "Poets", "Courage" and "Ahead by a Century" and old faves-"Fire in the Hole", "Dire Wolf", "Boots and Hearts" and "Wheat Kings"-that drove the crowd into a lyric shouting frenzy. Though it was a bit of an extravagance, I'm so glad we went to both shows-they were 2 halves of a great rocking whole.

I say bring on the personal drama and job search angst-fortified by the redemptive power of the rock n' roll I can take it.