Tragically Hip Keeps Crowd Moving in Style
By: By Gene Stoutseattle Post-intelligencer POP Music Critic - SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
August 26th 2002 8:02am
As the setting sun turned the western sky into a rainbow of color, Canada's Tragically Hip introduced Seattle to its newest album, "In Violet Light." Saturday night's sold-out concert, which drew a boisterous crowd of Canadian and U.S. fans, was the last show of the season for the "Summer Nights at the Pier" series at Pier 62-63. And it proved another flawless night in what has been an extraordinarily rain-free series. The 18-year-old Ontario group, led by singer Gordon Downie, kicked off its 90-minute set with "Use It Up," a new song from "In Violet Light," featuring lyrics based on writer Raymond Carter's maxim, "Up it up, use it up. Don't save a thing for later." The noisy crowd, rising to its feet, responded to the lyrics by dancing, clapping and howling approval in a frenzy of Maple Leaf mania. To the uninitiated, The Tragically Hip sounds like a generic old-school rock band of the '80s. But the five-member group's tight, well-focused shows and Canada-centric themes have helped make The Hip one of Canada's most popular acts. It sells out large venues in its home country and attracts fans who view the band as a national treasure. In the United States, the group usually draws smaller, but no less passionate, crowds. The group's current U.S. tour began June 26 in Philadelphia. Founded in Kingston, Ontario, in 1984 as a cover band playing songs by the Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Monkees and other groups, The Hip know how to keep an audience entertained. Even its ballads are pedal-to-the-metal. Downie's trademark twitching and flailing kept concertgoers amused as the band whirled through 20 songs spanning its nearly two-decade career. The crowd exploded for "My Music at Work," "New Orleans Is Sinking" and "Fully Completely," among the band's most popular songs. Concertgoers, preferring to dance and groove to the music than sit, began passing chairs over their heads to security people near the front and sides of the stage. Downie introduced "Lake Fever" as a song about "what happens when you spend large amounts of time on large amounts of water." The hard-rocking "Silver Jet," from "In Violet Light," was greeted with the same enthusiasm as many of the group's older songs. The new CD, the group's 10th album, was produced by Hugh Padgham, who has worked with Sting, Genesis and David Bowie, among others. It captures the group's vibrant live sound; many of the new songs sounded immediately familiar, even though the album was just released this summer. The soaring ballad "It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken," the album's first single, drew a big cheer from the crowd. "Oh for the good life, we just might have to weaken," Downie sang, "and find somewhere to go/ Go somewhere we're needed/ Find somewhere to grow/ Grow somewhere we're needed." "The Dire Wolf," a new rock ballad inspired by Wallace Stevens' "Sea Surface Full of Clouds," sang enchantingly of "the Dire Wolf's lair/ On a Newfoundland's paws/ Close to nowhere/ And halfway across." Providing Downie with solid backup were guitarists Robby Baker and Paul Langlois, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay. The Hip closed its set with "Gift Shop" and "Little Bones," but soon returned for an explosive encore that opened with "Grace, Too" and finished with a raucous "Blow at High Dough" that had fans howling for more. Opening the show was Wayne, a band from Birmingham, Ala., that shares The Tragically Hip's penchant for thoughtful lyrics and solid musicianship. Wayne sounds like Alabama's answer to R.E.M.
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