Three fans - one in the penalty box, one in the last row, one from down the street - relive the night The Hip said goodbye to London.
Description
August 8th, 2016. Budweiser Gardens, London, Ontario - show nine of the Man Machine Poem Tour, and the last night The Tragically Hip would ever play that city. The lights drop, the band walks out, and the first song is 'Opiated'. Wade had more than 40 Hip shows under his belt and had never heard them open with it. Not once. That kind of night.
This one is a full table - three Hipstories from three corners of the map. Dave from St. Louis made the 13-hour drive one week after hernia surgery, found two tickets through a fellow fan on the Facebook forum after a StubHub snafu, called ahead about a wheelchair, and walked out with penalty box seats 15 rows from the stage. Treated, in his words, like royalty. Dan from Buffalo rode in with his brother Matt - the same brother who took him to his first Hip show at the Aud in 1995 - on the way to London, Hamilton, and eventually Kingston. And Wade from London didn't have to travel at all. His city, his buddies up from Leamington, dinner on a patio two blocks from the arena with The Hip on the speakers.
The panel walks the whole night. The pause after "I'll die before I quit" in 'It Can't Be Nashville Every Night', and the roar that filled it. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you" landing like a ton of bricks in 'Scared'. 'Pigeon Camera' in the first encore, and Wade suddenly finding dust in the air. The four-songs-per-album architecture of the set, the rarely played "In Between Evolution" material, and the 'Little Bones' that was planned for the night and never came - Gord stepping to the mic instead to thank London and remember the first time The Hip played there, when nine people showed up. Why no 'Little Bones'? The way Dave heard it, it had everything to do with keeping Johnny Fay healthy. So there's that.
Then the ride home. A living wake that turned into a celebration, a 12-round boxing match where everybody came out a winner, and two separate no-tickets pacts - one made in London, one in Buffalo - that would carry all three of these guys to Kingston on August 20th. But that's a story the episode tells better.
(Setlist details confirmed via setlist.fm - right down to the extended 'Daredevil' outro Dave remembered correctly.)
The panel
- Dave from St. Louis - a diehard from the middle of America who has chased The Hip through Chicago, Detroit, and Dallas, and who streamed the Kingston broadcast with friends from his living room on August 20th, 2016.
- Dan from Buffalo - first show at the Aud in 1995, three stops on the final tour, 28th in line the morning Kingston released 200 tickets, and visible in Long Time Running during 'Courage', singing in the front row of the penalty box.
- Wade from London - 40 plus shows, from a bouncer-assisted first night at Royal Oak at 17 to Budweiser Gardens, introduced to the band by the cassettes his brother brought home from Western on laundry weekends.
Come say hi
- The Gathering in Kingston, August 20th to 23rd - a mixer at the Merchant Pub, Choir! Choir! Choir! in Springer Market Square, a listening party for "The Tragically Hip Live, July 22 - August 20, 2016", a Long Time Running screening, and a farewell brunch at Morrison's. Email jd@tthpods.com to get on the list.
- GEDfest Toronto - Saturday, October 17th at the Horseshoe Tavern with Grace, 2, raising money for Campfire Circle and the Murphy Family Fund in Precision Medicine in Pancreatic Cancer. Tickets: gedfest. ca
- Grace, 2 in London - Friday, August 21st at London Music Hall, playing this very setlist front to back. Wade's plug, and a good one.
Closing
Thanks to Dave, Dan, and Wade for bringing August 8th back to life - the wheelchair, the pacts, and the dust in the air. The reflections roll on down the 401 next time.
More from the series
Victoria, where the final tour began: redcircle.com/shows/a01e8de3-1a04-4a44-ab9c-8fc6e3cb7474/ep/99071e40-9d10-48f8-9b5d-f92416e791c3
Calgary Night 1, the latest stop: redcircle.com/shows/a01e8de3-1a04-4a44-ab9c-8fc6e3cb7474/ep/2937266e-6c5a-4435-87a8-dcc35b478f37
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