Search - Tragically Hip :: Hipeponymous (W/Dvd)

The DVD is the Drawing Card

Steve | Ontario, Canada | 11/09/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As a long time fan of the Tragically Hip (since the 'Call The Office' days in London Ont.), the idea of a box set was not all that interesting to me, since I already have all the band's released music on cd, and then some. IMO, the song selection for the duo cd set is adequate, but too much good stuff seems to have been left off. 'Another Midnite,' from 'Up To Here,' for instance, is one of their most gorgeous yet left behind gems with a simply transcendant refrain, and it is no where to be found. Instead we get the predictable 'Lake Fever' and the heard too often 'Poets.'



No 'Vapour Trail' is also a travesty. But that is nitpicking, really, isn't it; as it would indeed be a difficult job for anyone to pick Hip songs to fill two cd's, as the Hip have so many good ones to choose from. They could have easily filled three cd's. For the uninitiated, this set isnt a bad bet, but I would advise heading straight to the individual records instead - anything from 'Henhouse' and beyond for their 'more atmospheric and ambient' phase - as I like to call it and anything prior to 'Henhouse' for their more rough and ready, blues based approach.



On to the DVD.



It's gorgeously shot, first of all, and very watchable. I cannot stand concert videos where the producers for some reason feel the need to change camera shots every two seconds. You dont watch a concert that way in real life so why would you want to on your TV?? Thankfully the producers of this DVD knew this.



The splitscreen effect is very cool. So is the 'real time' layout of the disk; what you get is the actual show as it unfolded that night with no edits, no splices, no overdubs and no coverups. You get the goofed cues, mangled verses, tripping and falling, and all the cool stuff that only live music can bring. Rock and roll aint supposed to be perfect, baby. Everything here is just as it happened that night, right down to audience noise in between encores. This is a very cool approach and hats off to whoever decided on it. The band obviously wanted a 'being there' atmosphere to be purveyed to the viewer, and it works.



The band itself, as most always, burns on this particluar night. They saunter on stage with no fanfare looking more like roadies than a 'rock band,' and that in itself is one of the most endearing things about the Hip - their refusal to get caught up in any of that rock star trip crap.



The 'Hip Pocket' - the rhythm section of Sinclair, Fay and Langlois - is as tight and perfectly timed as ever. In fact, this is probably the tightest pocket in rock; Sinclair is (and always has been) a walking metronome on bass. Baker adds his own flourishes as he always does whether it's with this cool sounding sorta pedal steel thing he uses on 'Vaccination Scar' or it's his bluesy licks on 'New Orleans Is Sinking.'



That said, I have some issues with Sir Gordon Downie as of late.



Now Downie has always been one of the most, ahhh, peculiar frontmen in rock. He's a twisting, gyrating sweating maniac lost in his own world and has always been absolutely riveting to watch.



HOWEVER.



Number one, what's with the guitar?? You cant hear it anyway, so it appears to be more of a prop. Downie is at his manic best when he is not tied down holding a guitar, as he proves indisputedly on the second song, 'Fully Completely.' The guitar, for me, takes away from the overall Hip experience.



My second issue is Gordie's habit of changing vocal melodies so far off the original that he veers out of pitch from time to time, and he also seems to want to sometimes change his vocal timing/phrasing as to be out of sync with the music sometimes. I dont know what he does that for. Boredom of singing it the same way for so long?



Lastly, and most importantly, is Gord's 'ranting.' I enjoy a good Gord 'rant' as much as anybody, but does he have to talk over every guitar solo ??? Over most every instrumental break?? I think Gordo should perhaps consider limiting the ranting a bit - so as to allow the audience to actually be able to hear the musical interaction going on behind him during parts of the songs where in the original versions there was no singing. I WANT to hear Baker's licks at the end of 'Grace Too,' or at the end of 'Three Pistols' and I want to hear Langlois' super cool riffing on the coda to 'Nautical Disaster,' but it is difficult to do so when you have to try to listen to it through Downie's non-stop blabbering about God knows what and who cares anyway.



This is my only criticism.



All in all it's a great DVD but I am thinking the boys gotta maybe rein Gordie in a bit. It seems like it's getting to be a bit too much the 'Gord Downie Show,' at least that's my humble opinion, folks, and no doubt I'll get mugged for it, but that's rock and roll!





























"

Fabulous

Shara Magaziner | 03/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this as a present for my finace and he loves it. It comes with two CD's and two DVD's. These are great, the book is a little over rated, but for any tragically hip fan, this is an awesome box set!!"

Love this, Love it all

Peter J. Shortall | New York, USA | 11/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're a Hip fan, you'll love this stuff just as much as you love everything else from Das Hip.



I count myself among the fanatics (never miss 'em when they come to town!) and for me there was a special treat here. The Toronto show was great but the Right Whale clips were simply out of this world. A few mushroom would have helped, but for the believers, are not strictly necessary.



I'll say no more. Get this, and get into the Right Whale!



"