Customer Reviews

The Tragically Hip: That Night in Toronto

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Some comments for the technically-minded...

1) This was broadcast on HDNet for all of a couple weeks around the beginning of November. Thankfully they took advantage of this benefit- the DVD is enchanced for widescreen (anamorphic), as are the menus. Big plus.

2) This has a stereo PCM track. Meaning, if you buy the DVD, you can make a CD out of the soundtrack w/out needing to source lossy DD 5.1 surround. Greedy record companies charge $25 for the 2-cd audio-only recording, while the concert DVD featuring the exact same audio is only $14. This doesn't happen much anymore. From that end, this is a good deal all around.

3) Nice gesture from the band- releasing this concert seperately from Hipomymous (sp?) box set, so a lot of us are not stuck buying the same music we already own. A breath of fresh air.

Outside of that, it's the DVD we've been waiting for. Nicely done, if you're reading this you know you want it.

You will not be dissappointed.

I saw the Hip live in Montreal on dec. 1st of 2004, at which time I knew the band just a little...but WHAT A SHOW! I was blown away by Gordon Downie's stage presence and the pure, no-holds-barred, raw Rock'n Roll energy that the Band spread around the Bell Center. This live DVD was recorded 5 days earlier and is just as awesome as the concert I saw...plus, the fact that there's no editing on this disc-meaning that everything you see is in "real time"-and the low price at which it is sold REALLY makes it worth it (...for Hip fans).

Let me begin by saying I am a long-time fan (not rabid) of this band. I can still remember the second blowout show in Montreal in '91 for their "Road Apples" album. The first night's show had been panned by a local big music scene critic. The gist of the review was his belief that the Hip had lost their "nitty gritty edge". After coming on stage and dropping in, straight from the hip (pun intended), with a handful of back-to-back, stomach-crunching rock songs, Gordie then mentions the review in the Gazette, which most people of course have read, and then asks the crowd if *they* think the Hip's lost their edge.

At this point, the crowd was totally into it and cheered and screamed for what seemed like forever. Heck, I still remember it 16 years later!

That's the Tragically Hip. They don't go on stage and revisit/lip-synch their material. Many of the bad reviews here seem to expect a regurgitation of the album. They want to hear the album again, but live. That's just *not* the Hip and has never been so. They perform in the true sense of the word; their shows extend the Hip "experience", instead of simply repeating the digitized audio.

Basically, they are true musicians and poets that have never forgotten to reach out to their audience.

On the down side, the quality of the DVD footage is not that great. It's good, but not the best I have heard. The music is not carefully balanced and recorded, even for a concert source.

All in all, if you are a long-time fan who has seen them live, you should really like the DVD. I did.

If you think Tragically Hip is a good recording band, you'll love them live, and every time you watch this concert you'll enjoy it even more. A great band, a great performance, and a great value. Well worth the money.

I really enjoy this DVD, the "Hip" at their best, in concert.
A good selection of songs and an excellent snap shot of a tight band in a concert environment stretching and having fun with songs that they've played many times before.

Terrific concert, great video/audio quality. I especially love the approach the filmmakers took in trying to really capture the experience of being there. They leave in the standing ovations, the cheering and the pauses between encores. It's one concert (not pieced together from different shows) and it runs in real time. It really captures the energy and vitality of the band and the audience. It's really very exciting. I felt like I was there! Spectacular work all around!

Finally a concert DVD by this band! No gimmicks, just great music and an inspired performance. Gord rants - but that is what he does. I highly recommend the DVD.

For those of you reading other reviews where people whine about Gord's "rants", consider the obvious. Gord, while performing live, has always used spoken word, stream of conscious poetry as an element to enhance the overall experience of seeing The Tragically Hip in person. This dvd captures just a small piece of that, that the casual, passerby, middle of the road, on the fence Hip fan may find out of the ordinary. Those of us that have been fans for a long time and have seen them live know that each show will be different and so will Gord. His mastery and grasp of the English language is evident in his lyrics. If you buy any Tragically Hip album, you'll be able to see it for yourself. Would I recommend someone who knows nothing of the Hip to buy this dvd and have it be their first taste of this amazing band? Yes, without a doubt. This is a collection of some of their finest work, live from Toronto. Don't hesitate to buy this. You're doing yourself a great disservice by not having is in your collection.

Living right on the northern border of New York I have been listening to Canadian radio for years and the Hip from the beginning. It became a must to see them live as soon and often as possible and it is very apparent that they are at their best on stage. This DVD captures the band and the audience up close and contains no unwanted fill or some producer trying to fancy it up. This is live, the way the band would do everything else they do, and that is with class. For the same reason you can buy this DVD alone (under $15.00) and not have to buy the whole package for those of us that have already purchased all of their material. The technical crew on this production should be highly commended as it is very close to perfect for a live capture. All Hip fans should own this and will watch it time and time again.

This DVD is gorgeously shot and very watchable. Thankfully the producers of this DVD had the good sense to not rapidly change camera angles every second and a half - a technique that bogs down too many concert videos.

The splitscreen effect employed here is very cool. So is the 'real time' layout of the disc; 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 transcendent moments of pure rock and roll pleasure - along flubbed notes, 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 for a concert disc and hats off to whoever decided on it. The band obviously wanted a 'being there' atmosphere to be purveyed to the viewer, and it certainly 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 egocentric '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; ditto Fay on the Ayotte kit. 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,' or his grimy sounding noodling on 'Gus; The Polar Bear From Central Park.'

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

Now Downie has always been one of the most, ahhh, peculiar and visually compelling frontmen in rock. He's a twisting, gyrating, sweating maniac who is completety 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 than anything else. 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 as it chains Gordie to a tree.

My second issue is Gordie's habit of sometimes changing vocal melodies so far off the original that he winds up veering 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 practically 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 mostly indeciperable blabbering about God knows what.

This is my only criticism.

All in all, it's a great DVD, visually and musically compelling - yet I am thinking the boys gotta maybe think about reining Gordie in a bit. I'd hate for it to become the 'Gord Downie Show.'

Anyways, at least that's my humble opinion, folks, and no doubt I'll get mugged for it, but that's rock and roll! Great show!