The Tragically Hip w/ Brendan Canning
Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
09.29.15
Brendan Canning – a founding member of Broken Social Scene – was on stage spinning hit vinyl, warming up the slowly growing crowd as they filtered into the historic Paramount Theatre for The Tragically Hip’s Fully and Completely Tour. Half the audience is decked out in The Hip merch, toting reusable STG cups, investigating the table advertising the band’s own mobile app. The Hip are definitely Canadian legends, but Seattle isn’t far from the border, and the crowd at this show was no exception to their travelling band of dedicated fans.
They kicked off the night on an unadorned stage, the house lights dropping as one fan bolted down the aisle, beer in hand, to his seat near the front so as not to miss a moment. Negating the fact that this was a seated show, the entire venue was on their feet from the start. The Hip opened the set with “Grace, Too”, a perfect entry point for a night of familiarity and antics. Lead vocalist Gordon Downie was his typical illustrative self, pantomiming motorcycles and cracking the mic cord across the stage like a whip. Five songs in, after the band rocked out to “New Orleans Is Sinking” a curtain dropped and video screens came alive with the artwork from Fully completely.
After a bit of rearranging, the band attacked the celebrated 1992 album with the kind of spot-on expertise that speaks volumes of their renowned three-decade career. While the sound in the venue seemed a bit off that night, the band certainly made the most of it for the fans. Downie worked the stage like a pro, constantly having to wipe down sweat, checking his fake watch, pirouetting, and breaking into his screeching falsetto. Everyone ate up the rockers’ nostalgic set, the band free of banter, concentrating on the hits. After running through Fully Completely they closed the set with an encore of five additional tracks including live mainstay “Poets” and the momentous “Little Bones” a longtime fan favorite.
If you want to take part in the reminiscing, find The Hip’s show schedule here.
The Tragically Hip Set List
Grace, Too
My Music at Work
At Transformation
Ahead by a Century
New Orleans Is Sinking
Fully Completely album in its entirety
Courage (For Hugh MacLennan)
Looking for a Place to Happen
At the Hundredth Meridian
Pigeon Camera
Lionized
Locked in the Trunk of a Car
We’ll Go Too
Fully Completely
Fifty-Mission Cap
Wheat Kings
The Wherewithal
Eldorado
Encore
In View
Poets
Bobcaygeon
Nautical Disaster
Little Bones
Review by Stephanie Dore
Photos by Alex Crick
The Tragically Hip
Brendan Canning
