spottrax wrote:
Great post! I know we all are getting antsy about the setlists, getting upset about the venues and the stupid drunks etc BUT....The Hip are Rock and Roll at it's finest. Concerts are events that should be a bit on the edge. I am probably one of the older peeps on this board and I recently seen SRB in Detroit in a venue that the air conditioning broke, it was oversold, couldn't get a beer, must've been over 100f in the place...and it was FANTASTIC!!! I felt like I participated in a sporting event. It was insanely rowdy! Many near fights, beer thrown all over the place but I endured and enjoyed!!! The polar opposite would be to sit for an entire show with well-behaved patrons!

I am also a long time fan. I have seen The Hip, Gord D solo and Robbie Baker solo over 60+ times between 1995 to the present. I have traveled to numerous venues throughout Canada and the US. I have been to outdoor festivals, stadium shows and small club shows. Sometimes I get greatest hit set lists and other times I have been wildly suprised by the varied set lists in back to back to back shows.
I guess I am different than some of the other hardcore Hip fans on this website. I enjoy the set list regardless of which type I get. The energy and excitement I feel watching the band play is what I am addicted too. It is disappointing to me to hear so much gripping. I am going to multiple shows on this summer tour and I won't be upset if I hear very similar or exact set lists.
I believe the whole purpose of this summer tour is to get footage of fans from all across Canada & the US. I personally would be disappointed if only the fans who attended the Bobcageon show were included in the fan documentary which is to be released in the future. Shouldn't fans from Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Windsor/Detroit, Moncton....be included in this documentary also?
This is how I see the final DVD product which is sold to the general public (ie, casual fans) might look like. The DVD will contain a greatest hits set list to appeal to the widest audience possible. This will produce the highest possible sales volume. The band is playing almost the exact same set list because they want to include fans from everywhere.
Imagine this...the band is playing NOIS/Nautical, Bobcaygeon or 50 Mission Cap. During each song the director/editor cuts to a different fan from across North America with the song playing softly in the background. Different fan reactions or questions are spliced into each song. Thus the need for the exact same set list at each summer show. Live shots of fans during the concert are mixed with home or after show interviews. How can the director/editor include fans from everywhere and splice it together to make sense if the set list isn't almost exactly the same at each venue?
Keep gripping and don't attend any summer shows (sarcasm). If you do attend, act sullen and disappointed to the set list (sarcasm). This will increase my chances of being included in the fan documentary DVD when they come to my part of the country.
Off topic: Spottrax, I also attended the SRB show at St Andrews Hall in Detroit. You're right, it was an amazing sold out show! The fans were really into the concert. You may have missed a "0" in your post. The capacity at the venue is 1000.
Also, there is no air conditioning at this venue. The outside temperature was 90+ degrees Farenhiet. The venue temperature was definitely over 100 degrees. There were 4 commercial size fans at each corner of the room which circulated no air becuase of the bodies blocking them. My clothes were totally soaked just standing there talking to my wife before the show.
This uncomfortable situation didn't stop anyone from enjoying the show as you described. Sam and his band were blown away by the fan reaction, considering the circumstances.
I hope Hip fans can draw something from this story and enjoy each summer show regardless of the set list circumstances. Maybe you will see yourself in a Hip DVD!