The Tragically Hip @ Pine Knob, Clarkston MI

When I first heard about the Hip contest on Planet 96.3 (a radio station in Detroit), I couldn't believe my ears. Never mind the fact that the Planet has NEVER broadcast a Tragically Hip song over its airwaves, but the enormity of this prize was just too much to handle. A pair of tickets to the show, and a new camera to be the "official photographer" at the show. It sounded too good to be true.

Well, I had to rack my brain to figure out the best way to convince the higher-ups at the Planet to give me the grand prize... unfortunately, the best I could come up with only got me one of the runner-up prizes. Well, technically, it was TWO of the runner-up prizes, since I ended up with 2 pairs of lawn seat tickets instead of only one pair. Gotta love it. You can read my prize-winning entry here.

So I decided to take my cousin Dune, my sister Zaina and my friend Sarah up to Pine Knob. We had planned to leave at around 4 in the afternoon to have time to grab something to eat and make it to the show to get some good spots. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had something else in mind, because around quarter to four, one of those infamous southwestern Ontario thunderstorms rolled in, and we weren't able to leave until 5:30.

By the time we got to the tunnel to cross the border, it was being invaded by the horde of Canadian Hipsters getting ready to make the pilgrimage into Michigan. The money exchange was hopping like a high school reunion as it seemed that everyone had found a long-lost friend in the crowd. That managed to distract everyone long enough to not notice how bad the exchange rate really was.

Well, we got through the tunnel alright. And any doubts that 95% of the people going to this show were Canadian were quickly erased when we got up to the customs booth and all we had to say was that we were going to the concert (not which one, not where).

The drive up the interstate was nice and uneventful, until we approached the exit to the Pontiac Silverdome about 20 miles away from Pine Knob. Then we realized that the teenies across Southern Ontario and Michigan also had a concert of their own with 'N Sync in town. I pitied the parents that had to put up with the screams in the 'Dome that night, while I bitched about the backup on the interstate.

We finally made it to Pine Knob at around 8:30 after managing to squeeze in some time to eat. This was my first time at the Knob, and it was hard to see where the Pine part fit in. There were lots of trees, but not a pine to be seen. We decided that they'd left out the punctuation in the naming of the venue, and that it was really called "Pine? Knob!" :)

First there was the problem of parking... okay, not too bad... all we had to remember was that we were parked as far away from the entrance as we possibly could, since the woods were right next to the car. Then we weaved our way through all the tailgate parties to the ticket window, where there were several other latecomers waiting to pick up their tickets. We finally got our tickets (very easily I might add) and headed for the line up at the gate. We'd only been waiting a few minutes when we heard the opening drums... the Hip were going on stage! So we were out in the parking lot when they played Poets, but fortunately, that's all we missed.

We climbed our way to the top of the hill and to no one's real surprise, the amphitheatre was packed. Dancing here, swaying there, singing along, and lots of Canadian flags dotting the bowl. Sarah and I stuck together, while Zaina and Dune went off to check the place out. Eventually, Sarah and I wandered around the hill, and watched as the evening poured across the crowd.

The setlist wasn't anything surprising, but it's still nice to say I was there for the last show the Hip was doing for a while...

Poets
Fully Completely
Grace, Too
Fireworks
Gift Shop
Springtime in Vienna
Something On
Courage
Vapour Trails
Ahead By A Century
Don't Wake Daddy
Bobcaygeon
Nautical Disaster
At the Hundredth Meridian
Escape is at Hand for the Travelling Man
New Orleans is Sinking

Encore 1
Thompson Girl
Blow at High Dough

Encore 2
Chagrin Falls
Fire in the Hole

A Hip concert wouldn't be a Hip concert without Gord's ramblings and ravings, and this show wasn't an exception. Unfortunately, I'm always too far away to really be able to hear a thing he's saying, especially since most of the time, it doesn't make sense anyway. There was a reference to the Palace of Auburn Hills (which was just down the interstate, and where the Hip played last time they were in the area), and to the Blair Witch Project. What I did enjoy about seeing them at Pine Knob was the fact that they had giant screens where you could see the stage action, even from the lawn, so we could very clearly see Gordie shakin' his banana (really, a banana, that's not a metaphor for anything...) :)

So basically, it was a great show. Even if at the beginning of Bobcaygeon, they teased the crowd with the opening drum beat of Boots or Hearts... and despite the fact that my car didn't make it home because of the pile of traffic in downtown Detroit on the way home... *sigh*