Review and photos – Tragically Hip at Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg Sept 7 2009

– review by eugene osudar/photos by Mike Latschislaw

he’s a clowning man
an entertaining man
a monkey man
a
chimp
an
zee
fun
knee
man
a well-dressed
rubbery man
a James Brown
slide,flat,shoe,
dancing
man
an off-balance
man and yet,
a perfectly
in the balance
on the stage
on the edge
on the ledge
man.

oh man,

this Gord Downie
man
this Tragically Hip
front man, he’s
the center
man.

and,
oh Canada,
he’s, they’re
so Canadian,
man! so many songs
about this great,
majestic country.
shore to shore
and way up north.

(i wanted to hear
Speed River,
it just played
on my itunes!)

let’s get it on
again man,

Hockey Night
in Canada,
Sidney Crosby
style,
man!
on his wings,
Paul Langlois
guitar man,
Bobby Baker
on the lead
guitar man
they’re content
playing it
straight and hard
bruising the tunes
along the boards.
Gord Sinclair
on the bass
he’s another
rocker man,
on defense
moving it
up and down
(rhythm
section man)
his sl(ice)
of the stage
and behind them,
on the drums
in goal,
bashing it up
Johnny Fay.
and another
purely
wonderful
stay at the keys
defense,man,
Jim Bryson.
and i love!
Jim Bryson’s

music, CDs.

oh man,
back to the front
and center
man,
what a performing
spinning
turning
bopping
topping
romping
stomping
man,
with his hanky
bunny tail
shimmying
and shaking
(wiping his brow)
hacky sacking
the hanky balls
and then
wiping his shoe
man
on the monitors.

he’s a tossing
the hankies
into the audience
man.

i saw Al Green
tossing red roses
at the Concert Hall
that same stage
from that same
(l)edge,
and handing them out
too,
ah, but hankies!
oh man.
now, that’s some kinda
different cool,
man.

an eye-catching
captivating man
a personality man
a cave man
a rave/on man

a man of few words
between the songs
he’s just living
it
on the edge man,
hanky covering
his face
his eyes
blindly
feeling the edge
stepping on a monitor

slip/sliding
down the face
of the monitor

and i’ve never
seen a performer
sit on his
mike stand
as if it’s a lawn
chair
and take it
round and round
spinning
man,
now that’s free
styling!
freaky styling!

that’s the ultra
mega
in cool,
man.

and going down
into the orchestra
pit
time and again
and getting people
to sing
and strum
his acoustic
guitar,
that
is,
beautiful.

a seat walking
climbing over
people
man, near the end
of the show,
now, i don’t think
the Concert Hall
has seen that.
ten rows
deep
over all those seats
and having
people singing
Yo, Yo!
call and response
climbing
over
before
finally
falling down
and not
suffering
personal
injury.

X
illllllll
errrrrrating!

now, that’s Passion,
the way i want
to be rocked, body
surfing’s fine,
but climbing over
seats, with intensity
and need
is The Bomb, man!

a kicking the pricks
man
a man who will challenge
plastic cup throwers
and turn his back
and invite attack

i lean over
to my friend
Glen, and talking
about the thrower,

two cups were thrown
at Gord Downie,

“what an asshole.”

and later on,
after the last song,
and before the encore,
Gord apologizes
because
it turns out the cups
had a
“love you” message
inked on them!

so it wasn’t an asshole,
but
a fan or fans!
i also apologize!

this after
i saw a fan jump
Mike of Social Distortion
from behind at the Cummings
a few weeks ago.

forgive the misunderstanding,
man.

a man of many shapes
and contortions
and bow-legged
dancing
and on the toes
too, tip,toeing
it up and down
the stage
the same slick floor
the ballet dancers
leap and gracefully power
and spin over

a sensitive
a ballad singing
a so hard rocking
man.

that’s Gord Downie.

that’s The Hip.
front and center.

the sets,

Depression Suite
(i Love this song
and at 9 plus minutes
a gorgeous song to begin the dance with!)
New Orleans is Sinking
Yer Not the Ocean
Ahead by a Century
Morning Moon
Poets
(incredible song!)
Gus: The Polar Bear from Central Park
Family Band
At the Hundreth Meridian
Love is a First

one or two songs missing!

64 minutes

i was at the back
of the Concert Hall
for the first set
and i danced.

though,
only some of these
songs thrilled
me. to be honest.
The Suite
Poets
New Orleans
The Meridian.

so i went into the intermission
slightly
disappointed.

and then
something happened,
something changed.

in

the 2nd set,

from the very beginning
of it,

i became
(engulfed)
entranced
(overwhelmed)
and enthralled
by
the power
and passion
of the band
in the first three
acoustic songs

Thompson Girl
Coffee Girl!!!!!!!!!
Wheat Kings

that i loved
these songs
and the performances
(the sheer veracity)
is
unquestionable
and from there
a perfectly
selected
mix of beautiful
and hard rocking
songs!

the electric guitars
came out
and Gord Downie
dressed
dapperly
slickly
all in black
moved like
James Brown
on wondrous
high of being
the center of
attention.

Grace, Too
The Last Recluse
In View
The Dark Canuck
Bobcaygeon
Courage
The Exact Feeling
(so much more, immediate,
and intense than the recorded
version)
Music at Work
Blow at High Dough

65 minutes.

encores:
Queen of the Furrows
(again, so much
more powerful, beautiful,
gorgeous than
the too clean CD version)
Little Bones!!!!!!

10 minutes.

and i was lost.

in the beauty
of a rocker
and band
who clearly
love and are so
loved by their
fans,

music lovers.

dancers.

singers.

performers.

wondrous.

and so,
last
night,
i wrote the
beginning riff
to these poetics

the man riff

and let it
percolate
inside
my
being

i left
the Concert Hall
pumped
and
ecstatic.

by the way,
i saw this band
i believe
their very first
time
in Winnipeg.
i think the venue
was called
The Portage Village Inn.
it was on Portage and Donald.

and they were so young
so innocent
so Passionate.
so committed
to their music.
playing a dirty
dive. with
their dreams.

they were also
kind
young men.

i thought
here’s a band that deserves
to make it
but i also thought
they never will.

I’m glad
i was so very wrong.

thank you,
Jenn,
Tyson,
Tracy,
Live Nation,
and
The Hip.

Tragically Hip,
Concert Hall
Monday
September 7th.
Winnipeg.