Opening for the Tragically Hip is a tough job. At venues south of the border, the openers might have a chance to win over the crowd, but in the Great White North, half of the audience is just waiting for them to finish. That being said, both Buck 65 and the Weakerthans held their own during two entertaining, albeit short, sets.
Buck 65 got the nod from organizers to start off the show, but his was little more than a token appearance. Half an hour of crowd favorites and songs dedicated to truckers reminded everyone that there was more breadth to Canadian music than just infectious pop, classic rock and god-awful Nickleback (all their clones included).
No sooner than he had finished, the set crew was out removing Buck’s turntables and stashing tarps strategically around the stage in case of rain. The show carried the well-warranted warning, “Rain or Shine”. Guelph Lake Conservation’s outdoor stage is certainly a gift to concert-goers and conservationists alike; however, the whole “outdoors” part resulted in a somewhat dubious feel, thanks to the storm clouds that rolled by above, which always seemed to be on the verge of unleashing torrents of rain.
Undaunted by neither the ominous weather nor the Hip’s legendary reputation, the Weakerthans took the stage, armed with witty lyrics and childlike enthusiasm. John K. Samson’s soft-spoken manner took a backseat to guitarist Stephen Carroll’s and bassist John Sutton’s on-stage guitar acrobatics, which dominated the singles and crowd-pleasers such as “Plea from a Cat Named Virtue” and “Aside”. During the subtler songs, however, it was all Samson, who took the spotlight as he delicately crooned out the title tracks to Left and Leaving and Reconstruction Site. After teasing the crowd with new songs from what fans could only hope is an upcoming fourth record, Samson and Co. brought the set to a rather abrupt close with a rendition of (Manifest) which sorely lacked its usual, flourishing trumpet solo. Despite the weak ending, the small pockets of dedicated Weakerthans fans that dotted the crowd cheered valiantly for an encore. It was all in vain, though; the monster that was the horde of Hip fans drowned out their pleas with one deafening “HIP!”
Here there should be a review of how the Tragically Hip played. Honestly though, what can this review say? That they were horrible? Blasphemy! That the show was the crowning glory of this reviewer’s concert going career? An obvious line, as well as simply inaccurate. Perhaps the performance deserves to be dissected and then analyzed for meaning concerning how the Hip embody the Great Canadian spirit? Really, who cares about that? Certainly, Canadian pride was all over the park. But going to a Tragically Hip concert is about seeing one of Canada’s best bands, not re-affirming your citizenship.
The music was exactly what one would expect: a “greatest hits” set showcasing all of the best-known points of the Hip’s repertoire. It was high-energy rock, at any instant in danger of destroying your eardrums but at the same time more brilliant and crisper than any recording. Downie belted out song after song with his distinctively hoarse voice while endlessly flailing across the stage, soaking his shirt through with sweat sooner than you could say, “It’s a good life if you don’t weaken.” The band behaved with a familiarity that only comes with touring together for as many years as they have been. The rest of the group skillfully dodged Downie as he rocked out from one end of the stage to the other, never missing a note, never showing the least surprise when yet another microphone stand was knocked over by their lead singer.
Curse the man who first coined the phrase “Great Canadian [insert noun here]”. It has become so prolific that ‘cliché’ no long comes close to approximating the motto’s excessive usage. From canoes to parks, dollars stores to bagels, bungee businesses to hemp companies, if it is Canadian, it damn well better be great. Whether these things actually live up to that adjective ought to be more subject to debate. Now, when one finally finds a Canadian institution worthy and deserving of such five-letter words, the phrase seems cheap and worn. Nevertheless, the Tragically Hip are a great Canadian band, deserving of the name, steadfastly performing quality music with a heart and fervor that other bands could only dream of retaining.
-Ludwik A. Sobiesiak
