Life is tough here in digital music land.
3:43:10 PM   []

We got to Toronto at 3pm, 3 hours after they had announced the concert and discovered quite the line at Lee's Palace. Did I mention it was pouring? So there we stood waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Fortunately we made friends with Steve who was standing behind us in line. Natalie who didn't have a rain coat ran off to Ed's, got lost, found an umbrella and as she was just about to pay for it got an email from Mark who I had called to email her telling her to get her ass back in line because they were giving out wrist bands. After a mad dash back to the line she just managed to make it and we were issued our wrist bands guaranteeing us entry. After securing Natalie went and bought a $30 umbrella at Home Hardware instead of getting lost in the maze at Ed's trying to find their $5 ones.

After a lot more waiting, we were finally admitted to Lee's at 6pm, paid our $25 and were ushered to the upstairs portion. After an hour we were ushered back down to the main floor for the show were again we waited and sang the national anthem once or twice. (Natalie told us earlier that often Canadian's sing the national anthem while waiting for the Hip at small venues which I didn't really get nor believe so it was surprise when everyone started singing).

At 7:30 Andy and Josh from the Skydiggers took to the stage for a half hour set. While I had heard a rumor on the way to the washroom (which ended up being 'closed' and resulted in guy's peeing in the corner of Lee's Palace) that they were plan it was by no means part of any official announcements and took many people by surprise. The common sentiment was that no one waited 5 hours in the rain to see the Skydiggers.

After tuning and re-tuning much to the audience's chagrin the Hip to the stage at 8:30. Here's the set list. There were three new songs and the rest were surprisingly all their big block buster songs. The most noticeably absent blockbuster is 50 Mission Cap (a song about hockey). While no one was complaining about the set list I think that the type of Hip fan who waits for hours in the rain would have preferred to hear a more eclectic set perhaps featuring some of their less played works off of albums such as Road Apples and their first self titled release. The three new songs all sounded great. The only question is, do we have to wait for a new album or will one of them be on the Men With Brooms Soundtrack?

Was seeing the Hip in a small venue everything that is cracked up to be? Yes. Will I ever go back to setting at the back of the ACC? Absolutely not. So it looks like I'll never be turning down $200 front row seats again. I'm hooked. Gord Downie up close and personal is not an experience to miss. His mannerisms, mumblings, and rants add just as much to the show as his music does and when you're seated at the back of an arena you miss all of it.

Canoe has a review of the show and you can look at my photos keeping in mind that my camera is not designed for low light settings such as a club. Also rumor has it a DAT recording of the show will soon make it's way to Furthurnet.com.

If you made it through all that text be sure to leave us a comment about your favorite show because this show was certainly mine!
11:59:29 AM   []