Gordon Downie of Tragically Hip - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
by jeff barringer
club kingsnake staff
Tragically Hip
Hometown: Kingston, Ontario
http://www.thehip.com
The Tragically Hip Concert Photos
Thursday October 18th, 2007
La Zona Rosa (Austin, Texas)
Also:
Joel Plaskett Emergency
With a huge following that fills arenas in their home country, Canadian band Tragically Hip never really sparked that kind of fire in the states which is unfortunate because they are a great band both recorded and live. I got the opportunity to shoot their performance at La Zona Rosa and have made our Toronto based writer, Clint Gilders, extremely jealous, as he's tried to get photo access to their shows in Canada, and they are just too big up there. We had both missed their show at SXSW07 in March, it was packed and conflicted with too many other shows, and I was looking forward to shooting them, especially before Clint ;)
The Tragically Hip seem to attract primarily Canadian ex-patriots to their gig's here in the states. La Zona Rosa looked like it was playing host to a Toronto Maple Leafs' game based on the number of hockey jerseys in the audience. Seriously I think every Canadian transplant for 14 counties showed up at the venue and the only thing missing was Moosehead and Molson at the bar, but the Shiner seemed to be holding them over.
Joel Plaskett - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
Opening for the Tragically Hip was another bunch of Canadians, the Joel Plaskett Emergency from Nova Scotia. This is a creeper band that seems to get better as their set progresses. At first I was kind of so-so but as their show played on either the band, or I, seemed to get more comfortable and by the end of the set I was really impressed.
The band bounced from poppy songs to hard rocking anthems stopping only to change instruments or banter with the crowd. And it was a weird banter too, more like 2 neighbors talking over the back fence, rather than a band talking with it's fans. With a voice that sounds kind of like a younger, less twangy, version of Tom Petty, Plaskett and his band mates Dave Marsh on percussion and Tim Brennan on bass have a unique sound and turned out to be a great fit as an opener.
After shooting my 3 songs, I drifted towards the back of the audience to watch the rest of the set. It seemed as Plaskett switched from one guitar to the next the band kept rocking harder, and getting better. Finally, their set over, I stepped outside into the courtyard for a smoke before I had to make my way back up to the stage.
Rob Baker of Tragically Hip - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |
Smoking break over, I began to work my way back through the crowd, and though the place was packed, everyone made room for me without having to shove my way forward. This was definitely a switch from the norm where I have to fight my way in. I mean everyone was so polite it was frightening.
Settling down in the pit and gearing up my cameras, I glanced down at the stage trying to hunt up the set list.
Wow.
The set list was 2 pages long, 28 songs, over 2 hours of music. (
set list 1,
set list 2) What a real treat, but boy the band, and the crowd, must be exhausted at the end of the night. Led by the tall Gordon Downie, the band known to it's fans simply as "The Hip" filtered onstage and greeted the audience.
Launching into their first number Downie moved about the stage like a penned tiger working the crowd and you could tell he was used to a bigger stage. Backed by Rob Baker on lead, Paul Langlois on rythym, Gord Sinclair on bass and Johnny Fay on drums, they have been playing together so long that it was like watching a well oiled machine in operation, all the gears interacting at exactly the right time. Not that they seemed mechanical, quite the obverse. Watching them perform I was struck by how much they reminded me of the Australian band Midnight Oil, not so much in sound but in mannerisms, the way they moved, the way they interacted and connected on a personal level with their audience. It's not something you see in a lot of bands.It felt like after the show they were going to invite us all over to their house for some brats and beer and watch the game.
After my three songs I headed back to bar for a coke, and just stood in the back and watched them perform. I lasted til about the 17th or 18th song before I had to go. It was a great show and now gives me yet another 2 reasons to want to move to Canada. If it weren't for all that snow...
I want to thank the Tragically Hip, and the staff of La Zona Rosa and Direct Events for inviting us out.
Tragically Hip at La Zona Rosa in Austin, Tx. - more photos... photo by jeff barringer - staff photographer |