A Tale of Two Concerts

In the past couple of weeks, I've gone to a couple of concerts--both of which had been eagerly anticipated. The first, on May 7th, was Bruce Springsteen and the second, on May 16th, was The Tragically Hip.

I had been yearning to see Bruce for, oh, let's see...about 25 years. "Born in the USA" was the first album I loved in its entirety. That summer, I'm pretty sure I wore that tape out and had to buy a new one, due to continuous, ridiculous playing.

When I learned he was playing Toronto, I was incredibly excited--granted, he hasn't been relevent, in terms of "my music" in many years, but I had heard that the man and his band could still put on an incredible show (that turned out to be true..I'll explain more on this later...). In any case, I really wanted to be there. More importantly, the pre-teen me from the "Born in the USA" summer really wanted to be there.

As for the Hip, they were huge in my later years of high school and through my university years. I was never a crazy fan. I never saw them. I even went to university in their hometown, hung out with various folks from the Hip "organization"...just never caught a show. I did attend a show at which they performed, a music/camping festival in the early 90s, north of Winnipeg. I slept through their performance. So, I figured, I was due. I owed it to this band, this classic Canadian institution, and myself, to finally see them live.

I ended up getting tickets for both shows, which was fortuitous since they both sold out almost instantly (in the case of the Hip, they ended up adding like 5 or 6 more shows to the original 1 they had intended on playing at Massey Hall). I was super pumped.

I was counting down the days til the Springsteen concert. I had seen his half-time performance from the Super Bowl this year and it was, in a word, hot. When he literally blind-sided a cameraman with his crotchal-slide..well..c'mon...good times!

Anyway...I met up with some friends before the show at the always enjoyable "Harbour Sports Grille" near the ACC. Had a few cocktails and headed over to the show. The anticipation in the crowd was palpable. I'm sure I was radiating excitement and, if we could have bottled it, a new energy drink could have been invented right there and then.

Bruce came on, did his thing. And it was clearly "his thing". It was very much like a musical or an opera--an extremely well choreographed performance. Little passion (other than pre-orchestrated passion). It felt like that episode of the Simpsons where Spinal Tap played and said, "We were told they knew how to rock in Shelbyville. But nobody rocks like...[looks on the back of his guitar] Springfield!"

He pumped his arms a certain number of times per song, he said, "I can't hear you...Toronto..." no matter how loudly the crowd was pandering...I just didn't get it.

That being said, my friends who were with us, and had seen him several times in the past, really enjoyed the show. So, perhaps it was simply unrealistic expectations on my part that led to my disappointment.

Then again, there were several reviews in local papers that echoed my impression of the show...so, to each their own, I guess. The Bruce Springsteen train will inevitably keep on rollin'.

As for the Tragically Hip...

I had a great Saturday, to precede the show. Went for a big walk with the dog in the park, came home and ate lunch and watched the start of the Jays game on TV. Then I went out to run some errands in what became POURING RAIN..came home an hour or so later and the score remained the same...and watched the Jays win the game!

We went out for a lovely sushi dinner to our new favourite sushi place, Momiji, with our friends Chad & Sarah who had procured a sitter for the evening so we could all go to the show.

We were looking forward to treating them to a nice dinner, since they have been opening up their home to us (and the gargantuan gaggle of hippies we call friends) for YEARS for fun gatherings. Unfortunately, I don't currenly have a home suitable for entertaining--unless it's backyard weather...Chad & Sarah had even agreed to host a surprise birthday party for Brian, which occurred the previous weekend, and we all had a great time.

Naturally, we all ate too much (this place is reeeeally good) and headed to the show.

Massey Hall is one of the best venues in Toronto at which to attend a concert...the accoustics are incredible, it's aesthetically gorgeous, we usually get really good seats..and The Hip put on a pretty good show. The light/stage show was amazing!
Gord Downey is either seriously OCD or just has an incredibly crazy/kooky/jerky stage persona.

He also sweats more than any man I've ever seen.

I've been on stages, I know what those lights can do to a person! I also have a friend named Schwa--he sweats so much that he brings no fewer than 5 shirts to summertime concert--all this and I'm pretty sure Gord could give Schwa a run for his schweat.

He changed shirts a few times during the show (and there was an intermission) but for the entire evening he toted a white hanky/scarf thing with which he mopped his continually dripping brow--he'd then proceed to throw the sweat-soaked napkins into the audience, and certain fans were strangely compelled to fight for possession of these drenched tokens of rock star juice.


One of the problems, occasionally, of seeing shows at Massey Hall, specifically (and in Toronto, in general) is that the crowd is lame. Quiet. Seated. Bored. Indifferent. The great thing about this show was that not a single person in the entire place was sitting the entire time!
As anyone (with a soul) from Toronto can attest, they've been at a show (or a sporting event) and been yelled at for STANDING or DANCING. Yes, you read that correctly. At this concert: Everyone was standing and dancing. And it was a joy to experience (at a non-jamband show).