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    #26
    The Tragically Hip

    So, I experienced dizzying highs and staggering lows today.

    For highs, I learned that I had actually won two tickets to The Hip's Hamilton show next Tuesday. My employer had five pairs and I won them by answering two questions correctly and then being drawn at random.

    Then, I told Mrs WOM and she informed me that I'm already going to a gig that night and I'll be getting the tickets on my birthday (Monday). And to act fucking surprised.

    Crushed, I turned to kijiji and looked for someone trying to swap 2 Toronto tix for 2 Hamilton tix.

    I think I've found the guy. We're dancing at the moment, but it should be a done deal tomorrow.

    FIngers crossed.

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      #27
      The Tragically Hip

      What's the other gig and is their lead singer dying of brain cancer?

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        #28
        The Tragically Hip

        You do realise you're going to another Springsteen concert don't you?

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          #29
          The Tragically Hip

          I'm going to more Springsteen concerts than anyone ought to have a right to. She goes to Kraftwerk for me, I go to Springsteen for her.

          The other gig is, believe it or not, The Go Go's farewell tour. My kids thought I'd love it, so the tickets are from them. Any other night of my life, I'd be happy to go.

          I've just firmed up plans to swap tix with kijiji guy. We're both untrusting fucks, and have insisted on LinkedIn profiles and home addresses. I think we're all good.

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            #30
            The Tragically Hip

            WOM wrote: She goes to Kraftwerk for me, I go to Springsteen for her.
            Also Gary Numan. Although that displeased her.

            "That was shit. Totally shit. That was even worse than The Monkees. Don't ever ask me to see him again. Fuck that was awful....." etc.

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              #31
              The Tragically Hip

              Reed John wrote: What's the other gig and is their lead singer dying of brain cancer?
              See, that was my thinking, too. But then she said "The kids were so excited" and then my heart dropped through my stomach and out my ass. I would have sold the Hip tix if it came to it.

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                #32
                The Tragically Hip

                WOM wrote:
                Originally posted by WOM
                She goes to Kraftwerk for me, I go to Springsteen for her.
                Also Gary Numan. Although that displeased her.

                "That was shit. Totally shit. That was even worse than The Monkees. Don't ever ask me to see him again. Fuck that was awful....." etc.
                I think I should go to concerts with Mrs WOM. We obviously think along the same lines.

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                  #33
                  The Tragically Hip

                  You go to a lot of shows. I go to almost none.

                  The Go-Gos might be ok. Never know with bands that old that have lived hard. Based on what I've read, it's amazing they're all still alive.

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                    #34
                    The Tragically Hip

                    Amor de Cosmos wrote: I think I should go to concerts with Mrs WOM. We obviously think along the same lines.
                    She likes a man standing there with a guitar. Singing songs.

                    Me...it tends to be weirder.

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                      #35
                      The Tragically Hip

                      Reed John wrote: You go to a lot of shows. I go to almost none.

                      The Go-Gos might be ok. Never know with bands that old that have lived hard. Based on what I've read, it's amazing they're all still alive.
                      We go to tons. Concerts and live theatre. S'bout it. We don't eat in restaurants and we travel on the cheap.

                      The Go Go's is their farewell tour, so it should be fun.

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                        #36
                        The Tragically Hip

                        I think they've had a few farewell tours.

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                          #37
                          The Tragically Hip

                          The swap went perfectly. We are in our seats at the ACC.

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                            #38
                            The Tragically Hip

                            Well, that was truly something. Pretty much nothing I could write would adequately convey the emotion of the evening.

                            Thirty minutes before the show, a voice came over the PA and said "The show will begin promptly in 30 minutes". The still half-full house sent up such a roar that you'd have thought they'd announced a reformed Beatles were the opening act.

                            With the five-minutes call, the place went nuts and stayed nuts for the next two hours. It was love from end to end. Gord took his long, solo bow between the first and second encores, and dry eyes were hard to find.

                            It was epic. I won't bore with the setlist...it's online everywhere. But what a marvellous goodbye that will set Saint Gord in stone for all time.

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                              #39
                              The Tragically Hip

                              If there was any doubt as to how big a deal this is, this link shows the locations of all the public viewings of the final show next Saturday which the CBC is producing and providing.

                              ie...drive in movie theatres, community movie theatres, parks, town squares, pubs, bars, pizza places. The works...

                              http://www.cbcmusic.ca/posts/12529/the-hip-screening-locations

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                                #40
                                The Tragically Hip

                                That's awesome.

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                                  #41
                                  The Tragically Hip

                                  That's awesome.

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                                    #42
                                    The Tragically Hip

                                    WOM wrote: on the way to the cottage the other day
                                    How quaintly Canadian.

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                                      #43
                                      The Tragically Hip

                                      WOM wrote: I'd actually be very interested to read PT's take on this.
                                      When we turned up in Glasgow to watch the Hip we were asked in the queue why we were there because we weren't Canadian. There were a handful of other people at the gig who weren't Canadian ex-pats.

                                      When the band came out on stage the Canadians around us were saying it was amazing because you could never get near them back home because they played arenas. And here they were in this club. During My Music At Work, Gord came out into the crowd and held the mic out for people to sing lines into. I got to do that. The girl next to me got to as well. She was on the phone immediately afterwards ringing home, half crying, half screaming to her family telling them what she had just done. "I touched him!! I sang!!"

                                      I have no idea why they are the most Canadian band except it seems like the Canadians have decided they are.

                                      When we went to Kingston back in May (on pilgrimage) nobody had a bad word to say about them. Everyone knew them, often through very tenuous connections. But they all seemed kind of proud.

                                      I'm not Canadian. I like that their songs are queer on the ear, their lyrics are vague and yet full of meaning. Nautical Disaster is a contender for the most terrifying love song ever written. Escape is at Hand for the Traveling Man is a great song about lost opportunities to connect. At The Hundredth Meridian is about escaping to your own frontier. 38 Years Old questions the entire justice system. Ah, I could just go on and on. I'm not even sure if the songs are supposed to mean those things but they mean those things to me.

                                      I envy you, WOM, for having seen one of the last shows. I'll have my memories of Manchester, Glasgow, Trafalgar Square and Camden.

                                      (I still haven't listened to the new album. I feel afraid to.)

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                                        #44
                                        The Tragically Hip

                                        WOM wrote: Here's that Best Of...

                                        1 Courage (For Hugh MacLennan)
                                        2 Fifty Mission Cap
                                        3 Grace, Too
                                        4 Nautical Disaster
                                        5 My Music At Work
                                        6 Fireworks
                                        7 Bobcaygeon
                                        8 Ahead by A Century
                                        9 Gift Shop
                                        10 Wheat Kings
                                        11 Poets
                                        12 At The Hundredth Meridian
                                        13 Scared
                                        14 Greasy Jungle
                                        A completely alternative 'Best of'

                                        1 In View
                                        2 New Orleans is Sinking
                                        3 38 Years Old
                                        4 In the Heart of the Melt
                                        5 The Drop-Off
                                        6 Lionized
                                        7 Blow at High Dough
                                        8 It Can't be Nashville Every Night
                                        9 The Wherewithal
                                        10 Morning Moon
                                        11 Locked in the Trunk of a Car
                                        12 So Hard Done By
                                        13 Escape is at Hand for the Traveling Man
                                        14 Little Bones

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                                          #45
                                          The Tragically Hip

                                          Well, that was something. According to early ratings, 11.7 million people watched the show. That's out of 36 million people.

                                          It was watched alone, and it was watched in town squares with 12,000 of your closest friends.

                                          And The Hip were electric, playing an all-favourites set that ran three hours and three encores. It just couldn't have been any better. It was a cathartic end to a lot of emotions that have been building for a couple of months.

                                          It was memorable and moving and a good way to say goodbye.

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                                            #46
                                            The Tragically Hip

                                            I've listened to the new album and sadly it isn't up to much. But then I haven't really been keen on the last 2 albums either.

                                            I didn't watch the final show because of timing issues and being on another continent and because deep down I'm finding this all far too sad.

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                                              #47
                                              The Tragically Hip

                                              I haven't bought the last few albums, but the four tracks they've been playing from this latest one sound very good live: In A World Possessed..., Tired as Fuck, Machine and What Blue.

                                              Watch the final show when you have the chance. It a good finale for fans and the band alike. As good as can be expected, like. The joy and peace and gratitude on his face are worth it.

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                                                #48
                                                The Tragically Hip

                                                The New Yorker described them as Canada's Springsteen & the E Street band.

                                                I am not sure whether this was meant as encouragement, a steer clear warning or simply an ad hominem attack on WOM's banal music taste.

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                                                  #49
                                                  The Tragically Hip

                                                  Yeah...I read that. It's a poor comparison. I understand why it was made, and I can't think of a comparison that does work particularly well. But no...Springsteen ain't it.

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                                                    #50
                                                    The Tragically Hip

                                                    WOM wrote: Yeah...I read that. It's a poor comparison. I understand why it was made, and I can't think of a comparison that does work particularly well. But no...Springsteen ain't it.
                                                    The comparison makes sense in that both BS&ESB and the Hip are widely well-liked as people, continue to tour and play great shows for many decades, and are beloved for their songs about average people. But there are many differences and national identity in Canada works very differently than it does in the US.

                                                    It would work as a comparison if white middle-aged working people from the Northeast were a country and had their own publicly funded broadcaster.

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