Hip Artpark run, viewed from the afterglow
The Tragically Hip's four-night run at Artpark kicked off the summer concert season in a big way last week. With the dust settling, and the inevitable deep blue feeling that comes with the afterglow, one is left wondering if anything else that happens this summer will manage to evoke such sustained feelings of elevation. (My money's on Wilco!)
All four shows - three-hour, twin-set events each - were killer, and no two were the same. The whole thing felt like a four-day party with close friends all around, and a house band hitting a new peak in a career that has already had several.
The crowds at Artpark were, generally speaking, adoring, open and receptive to the new "We Are the Same" material, (which the band played a healthy dose of every night) and unreservedly ebullient when the Hip pulled out older songs and kicked them squarely in the pants. (Thursday's "Locked in the Trunk of A Car" and "Fifty Mission Cap," or Saturday's acoustic reworking of "Fireworks," for example.)
The band seemed to be as genuinely thrilled by the whole experience as was the crowd. During a meet-and-greet following Friday's show, drummer Johnny Fay praised Artpark for both its acoustic properties and its relative intimacy, claiming that, of all the places around the world he's played, the Lewiston venue takes the highest honors. That's really saying something.
If you were there for any (or all!) of the shows, share your thoughts on the experience, offer us a few picks for best tunes, or tell me to shut up and stop writing about the Tragically Hip, if that's your pleasure. (Go ahead. I can take it.) Here's some video from Saturday's acoustic mini-set.
