The Hip and 1,000 expat Canadians in San Francisco

A week and a half ago I had my mind blown and I have Gordon Downie and the rest of The Tragically Hip to thank for that.

For those of you who reside south of the 49th parallel, The Tragically Hip (or just the Hip for short) are arguably the biggest band in Canada over the last 20 years.

“I’ve never heard of them,” you’ll probably say.

And that’s because unless you’ve spent more than a week long vacation in the Great White North or you have a Canadian relative who occasionally visits, you’ve had no reason to hear of them.

The next thing you might say is, “Are they bigger than Rush?” Yes.

“Even bigger than Bryan Adams?” No contest.

Gord standing on the edge

“The Guess Who?” The Guess Who broke up in 1975, thus, falling outside of the previous 20 year period that I set.

“Surely not bigger than Celine Dion?” I know that Celine Dion has had tremendous success throughout the world. But I’m not talking about the world, I’m talking about Canada.

And in Canada, The Tragically Hip rein supreme. In Canada, they sellout 30,000 seat stadiums. So imagine my surprised delight when I found out they were going to be performing down here for about 1,000 people.

They might as well have played in my living room.

I love going to live concerts. There’s more emotion involved in the music. There’s more of a connection. Maybe it’s because you can see the body language of the band while they’re performing. Or maybe it’s because they aren’t playing in a studio and repeating the same lines over and over again until monotony sets in.

Me and The Hip

With the Hip that difference is even more pronounced. The lead singer, Gordon Downie, is an emotional and charismatic performer. It’s hard not to get wrapped up in his show.

When he’s not going off on 4 minute long rants about working in the killer whale tank at an aquarium, he’s criss-crossing the stage acting out his own version of the evolution of man. On top of that, he sweats profusely.

During the 3 hour show he completely soaked through 2 shirts and probably lost 10 pounds in water weight.

He also gave a lucky fan a mic that he had smashed during the culminating scene of his brief skit depicting an ape who discovers a a mic on the ground and has trouble figuring out how to attached it the cord. In his frustration he throws the mic down on the ground. That’s commitment to a cause.

Not only was the show entertaining, but it was also long. They got on just after 9pm and with the exception of a 15-20 minute break, they played until about midnight. Definitely worth $35.

Struttin' is an artform

The one thought that stuck with me for almost the entirety of the show (besides why really tall people seem to always stand in front of me) was that going to a Hip concert was a lot like real maple syrup. You live without either for most of the time, but when you have it again you wonder why it isn’t a part of your life everyday.

The best part of the show was that they played a lot of songs that the Missus knows. Being American, she hadn’t had the constant saturation of Hip music growing up like I did.

But she did date and eventually marry a Canadian and even lived north of the border for almost 4 years. In all that time she’s developed a healthy familiarity with the Hip.

It was so nice to be able to share something from my homeland with my wife and for her to actually be able to enjoy it as much as I was.

A new shirt, a new random rant

All-in-all it was one of those all-consuming shows that leaves you wanting more. Out on the street corner after the show looking for the next thing that could possibly keep the good times rolling. But nothing was going to match that incredible afterglow. Kinda like the sugar rush from real maple syrup.

By the way, the photos were taken on my cell phone, hence the crappy resolution. My next phone will be purchased entirely on how good the camera is.

~Kbshea