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Welcome to the Hipstories section of A Museum After Dark. This is the spot for your stories, adventures and hilarious show biz anecdotes. It's a place where Hip fans can share their experiences and road stories with a bunch of strangers over the internet. The Hip thought so much of this idea that they were nice enough to incorporate it into their official site. But, if you feel like sticking it to The Man... you can still send me your story. All stories are welcome.
I'll get things started with a couple of my own and then open up the floor: Mr. Gerwin: In the fall of 1995, I was in grade 10 at Georgetown District High School in Georgetown, Ontario. Every Tuesday, our English teacher Mr. Gerwin would set aside the first few minutes of his class for "Music Tuesday's." He'd play the first few seconds of a song on his stereo, ala "name that tune," and the first person to guess the song would not only win a stick of gum... but be able to chew it in class. I know, I know, you kiddies today can bring concealed weapons to school, but in the dark days of the Mike Harris 90's, chewing gum was a serious perk. Anyway, one day he played "Wheat Kings." After hearing about a second of the Loon call, I put my hand up right away... and guessed: "Mysterious Ways" by U2. Yeah, I'm still embarrassed. After somebody else guessed the song, he told us about the Milgaard case and put the lyrics up on the overhead projector. It was cool to have this 30-something teacher telling us kids about Canadian history and the cultural significance of music. It may have been the catalyst for this crazy project you're nice enough to be visiting now. But in case that wasn't cheesy enough: New Years Eve 1999/00: Rattlesnake Point is on the very edge of the Niagara Escarpment in Milton, Ontario. Part of the area is a provincial park, but much of the property is privately owned or simply unclaimed. The very tip of the escarpment hangs over the 401. If you've ever driven through Milton on the highway, you've undoubtedly seen it. Looking east from the point, you can clearly see the Toronto skyline. North and south reveal the entire Greater Toronto Area laid bare: fields and villages that stretch out into the horizon. On December 31st, 1999, I jumped in the rusty Toyota with my girlfriend at the time, and we headed for the peak. Beginning at about 11:59, we watched the fireworks going off in different areas of the GTA, you could see each individual celebration, in each individual town. It was almost surreal looking down on the colourful explosions, but a very memorable way to ring in the millennium. (Yeah, I know: there was no year zero, spare me the e-mail) I had planned to have "Live Between Us" cued up on the car stereo, so that the first song we'd hear in the new century was, fittingly enough: "Ahead By A Century." Well, when I turned the car off, I accidentally switched the radio on, so the first song we heard when I cranked her up again was actually "All Along The Watchtower" by Jimi, courtesy Q107. I quickly remedied the situation, and the acoustic strains of ABAC began to weave through the air, on top of Ontario, during the first few seconds of the 21st century. DWilliams7926: One of my best friends was having his wedding and I was best man. The event had been planned for two and a half years, so I had no idea that it coincided with the Fox Theatre show in Detroit last year. I didn't buy tickets ahead of time but ended up getting a main floor pair on-line four days before the show (at face value). So at the rehearsal dinner I told him I had to fly to England to help my mom sell her house. Needless to say he was pissed as all hell, but I had a great time at the show. SD: I have family in England... I'll keep this one on file in case I need it. Well done. LizardKing51: I'd skip my own wedding to be front row
at a Hip show. SD: Wow, can I suggest walking to the next Hip show. Take the bus maybe? :) Glad she was okay. Shannon Duckworth: When I was still in high school in Calgary, AB I had a teacher who encouraged my friends and I to skip class early and camp out for tickets, outside the Saddledome, for the Trouble at the Henhouse Tour. While there we were pepper sprayed by some women for knocking over their beers and the police came and it was a big disaster... needless to say, they don't encourage (or allow at all for that matter) camping out at the Saddledome for concerts anymore. SD: Ah, so you're the reason Casey couldn't camp out for Simple Plan seats. Guncho Chris: Here's my favorite story: A fan: It was AMAZING! This (Oct of 2004) was of course my first hip show and WOW. Everyone was ON and they looked like they were having a blast tonight. Now to the
backstage part: Gord S was a bit drunk, however wonderful. We talked about the Hipbase and he remembered meeting Lance. Johnny was great too! He was the first one out and the camera was misbehaving and he actually let me have THREE TRIES to get the stupid camera to take the pic! He's going to be up here this winter in Lake Placid skiing!!! He of course refused to shake hands, says his hands were bleeding. The tour manager was quite the bitch at first when the 'contest' winners go to go backstage and meet the guys. However, she was nice the rest of the night. Got to see Billy Ray, MANY times. He actually came out in the crowd during Sam Robert's set. It was like OOOOOO It's the Hip's stage manager!!! Anyway....I SAW THE HIP!! WOO HOO!!!! SD: Are you sure Sinclair was the only on who had a few too many? :)K (the girl who went to all the shows I'm sorry I missed): There are a few stories I could share about my love for the Hip, but there's one in particular that I'll tell you about. When I was living in Montreal, I had 13th row tickets to see the fantastic "Evening With..." show at the Molson Centre on Dec. 7, 2000. (That's the night the guys looked up the words to "Montreal" during the intermission and surprised the crowd with it- unbelievable!)I was in university at the time and had a British History exam the next day. I lied to my parents that the exam was actually the day of the concert, as I'm sure there would've been severe disapproval had I told them I was going out the night before an exam. I even took the train all the way down to the university and tried studying for a few hours in an empty classroom, but I was too nervous about the lie, too excited about the concert, and too sick with a cold to concentrate!When I got home, Mom of course asked how the exam went, to which I vaguely replied (as any student does), "It was okay." I went to the concert that night and proceeded to flunk my exam the next day. Looking back, I probably should've got a medical note to postpone the exam, but I'm not sure it would've helped all that much. Sick or not sick, concert or no concert, lie or no lie, I'm pretty sure I would've flunked it anyway. That exam remains the only one I failed in university, but thanks to a couple of half-decent papers, I did pass the course.Can't say I'm proud of what I did, but I don't regret it for a second. I wasn't going to miss the Hip!SD: You showed you were a woman who had her priorities straight, you were in the house for "Montreal," AND you passed the course anyway... we're all proud of you. Corby Hart:A couple years ago I was on a road trip (not much of a trip) from lower mainland BC to Calgary. The course invariably took me through the Rockies, where I do visit quite frequently, which added to my surprise. As I was going through Golden I had "Live Between Us" cranked, and by one of the largest coincidences I've ever encountered (it still amazes me to think of it) I was listening to "The Luxury." I passed The Golden Rim Motor Inn without hardly noticing, I remember saying the name to myself, then seconds later I heard Gord's voice say it. Before that moment I had never even thought of the Golden Rim Motor Inn as anything but a lyric (not that I had explored the idea much). Anyway, I pulled in, grabbed a business card and brochure and was on my way (and snapped the photo below of course). I'll definitely stay there if I get a chance, seemed like a decent place. 
SD: Ah, those moments of creepy HIP coincidence. I've been greeted by Hip
tunes I was thinking about as soon as I turned on the car stereo, and often
times I've flipped to a radio station I just "knew" had to be playing the
boys... and they were. But this one takes the cake. If there's ever a
Hip-Convention, no doubt it should go down there.
Bootleg Queen Shannon Warner:
So we were driving up to Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
to see the Grizzly Bear refuge when we drove by the Golden Rim Motor Inn. I
made a mental note to take a picture on the way back,
but I broke my camera at the top of the mountain
because I am too damn clumsy. I grabbed a Golden
tourism book in the gift shop, and here's the ad just
for you. :)
Also, in the Jasper hostel they
had a picture of Gord on their wall, which I thought
was pretty cool. Along with a quote I thought was neat.
SD: Is it just me, or is "Kicking Horse Mountain Resort" just begging to be a lyric too? And ya gotta love finding Gord's poetry in unexpected places. It always seems fitting, or just always seems to fit.
Babs of the Blogosphere on Magnetic Hill:
I must admit that I'm not a diehard. I was there for the full concert experience and I'm actually still reeling from the happenings. I ditched my friends (the same ones that paid for my ticket) as Our Lady Peace took the stage and made my way solo up to the crowded left hand side of the stage. I think I ended up making it to about 100ft of the main stage and about 3 feet left of the "moving stage path". Even at this point, the energy in the crowd was amazing. It increased quite steadily throughout the entire concert and certainly didn't stop when The Hip took the stage. I have seen TTH in concert (Moncton, day for night tour) and I must say that I can't compare the two shows. Maybe it was the 85,000 fans. Maybe it was the 7 storey stage. Maybe they are just getting better as days go on. They really were amazing! I'm not sure if I just got lucky or if the entire crowd was this friendly. I managed to exchange e-mails with a few people standing around me and hope to stay in touch with them. They were all a friendly bunch! Seemed to make the whole experience that much better!. Too bad I didn't get an e-mail address for Dave from Fredericton, or Stephanie and Katie from Halifax and Moncton ( I think) and their other friends whose name totally escape me. When I came home, I knew I would have to report back to the blog population (not that I have that big a readership, but still). The only response I've been able to come up with so far is the following: "Getting tumbled over by pushing crowds, almost knocked out by body surfers: Classic! Getting heated by the pyrotechnics: spine-tingling! Throwing my shirt to the stage and missing by an inch - Priceless!" I would do it again tomorrow in a hearbeat! The Blog: www.babineau.ca/journal/ SD: Yes, we Hip Heads are always that friendly, and we won't tell anybody you're not a diehard. :) So... girls taking their shirts off eh? Where might I acquire some wrinkles and a British accent? My Night In Toronto: On December 14, 2005, myself, Chris and Lance were lucky enough to be guests of Mav’s at the Phoenix concert theatre in Toronto. The Tragically Hip were making a surprise appearance at a benefit concert for Sick Kids Hospital. In the early afternoon, I had the pleasure of speaking to the band and catching sound check. I had the chance to personally thank Gord Sinclair for putting “Escape” on the setlist in Kingston, as well as talk to Paul about his golf handicap. Speaking to Gord Downie was surreal, exciting, intimidating and amazing. He’s very pensive, very private and extremely contemplative. He ponders his words before saying them, as if searching for poetic or appropriate expressions to insert into conversation.  Chris, Lance, Gord and myself in Toronto, 12/14/05 I asked Gord about a trip he, Sam Roberts and Sarah Harmer made earlier in the day to Sick Kids hospital. Gord told me about being affected by the young children who probably won't be there next year. Later, as the boys covered Bob Dylan’s "Going Going Gone," it was difficult to think of anything but Gord’s earlier comments as he emoted his way through a very sad song. Gord had also remarked that a little girl in the hospital had asked to hear “Wheat Kings,” and I quote from memory Gord's sheepish response: "But I played Bobcaygeon. I've never played Wheat Kings in my life... not sure if I can. I hope she didn't mind." In full geek mode (and with the best interests of you readers in mind…) I spoke to Downie about Shakespeare and the Second World War. He said of The Bard: "Lotsa stories, lots to draw from. He's there. Ya know?" And of WWII he kinda smirked, contemplated and said: "Yeah.. we're at war" with that familiar Gordie grind and bared teeth on the word "war." I made my night by giving Gord a laugh; I thanked him for making male pattern baldness trendy. Sound check itself consisted of Flamenco, The New Maybe and Daredevil in acoustic form. The theatre was essentially empty, and so watching The Hip play three songs in an empty room felt as close to a personal concert as anything ever could. It was very cool to stand feet from the boys and hear them discuss what songs to play and how to play them during intro's and outros of tunes. At one point, Gord Sinclair, Gord and Bobby huddled. Sinclair said: "Flamenco maybe?" and Gord answered with "Yeah, that'd be a good one to do." And so the choice was made. I then helped put up chairs for the event, as Sam Roberts and Sarah Harmer serenaded our makeshift set-up crew. After sound check, Dave Hodge gave me life advice; what I should do now that I've graduated. He also chatted to Lance and I at length about Team Canada, Crosby and hockey in general. He was actually supposed to sing with Kathleen Edwards but Kathleen was ill (and gorgeously ill at that I bet.) Instead, he intro'd Sarah Harmer, and later joined The Hip on stage for the grand finale performance of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger.” The closing number also featured Sam Roberts, Sarah Harmer, Danny Michel and Matt Mays. "The Glove Hand" was probably the highlight of the night. Gord had spoken to me about a hockey game that he and the guys had played just a few hours before show time. Gord was in net of course, and his reflexes served him well later in the night. During the show, the guy beside me asked "does Gord smoke?" I said: "Yeah, think so." So right in the middle of “Flamenco,” this guy hurls a cigarette in Gord's direction. Downie pulls the most incredible Patrick Roy glove save of all time and snatches the cigarette out of mid air. Our entire section gave out a cry of "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" like you hear at hockey games or rap battles on TV (snap! you got schooled!) Gord looked right at the thrower, and then at me, with a look of "damn right. I caught it with my bare friggin' hands." He eventually pretended to take a drag off the smoke just as he sang the “no one drags me anywhere” lyric from the song. Amazingly, Lance managed to capture the moment on film: 
Paul Coffey and Doug Gilmour also made appearances at the show. The band played acoustic versions of “Flamenco,” “Ahead By A Century,” “Bobcaygeon” “The New Maybe” and “Daredevil.” In addition to the Dylan and Young covers mentioned above, the band also played “The Man Comes Around” for Johnny Cash. Such a great show.
Thanks again Mav.
World traveller Katy's wild western ride:
My boyfriend bought me my first ticket to a Hip show about 8 years ago. The concert was on a Sunday night. I was accompanying my mother to Victoria for a conference that same weekend and planning on flying back to Edmonton early Sunday morning, leaving me plenty of time to make it to the concert. In my simple teenage mind, this struck me as a foolproof plan.
The weekend in Victoria was wonderful and when Sunday morning rolled around, I jumped on the plane and headed back to Edmonton with my mother. The flight was calm and peaceful until I awoke to the pilot announcing over the loudspeaker that there seemed to be a thick layer of fog surrounding Edmonton and that we would have to do a few circles around the airport to see if the fog would clear. Sure enough, the fog persisted so an alternate landing plan was decided upon. This is where I started to panic. “Alternate landing plan”? What did that mean exactly? Did the pilot not realize that I had a Tragically Hip concert to get to? So, the plane kept flying and after what seemed like a rather long time, the pilot came back on to say that we would be able to land safely in Regina. REGINA???
Why were we going all the way to Regina? I was not seeing the logic of continuing on all the way to Regina rather than simply going to Calgary. Did the pilot not understand that I had a much better chance of getting to the concert if he landed in Calgary rather than in a whole other province? After landing in the wonderful city of Regina and debarking into the gate, I called my father, who was rather worryingly waiting for me at the Edmonton airport, to tell him that my plane had landed in Regina and that I would call and let him know when we got more details as to how I was getting home. After a panic-stricken hour the flight attendants came to round us back onto the plane which was going to make another attempt at flying over Edmonton. Oh good! This would still leave me enough time to make it to the Hip concert.
I called my father and told him to go home and to have my boyfriend come and meet me at the airport and then we could just go straight to the concert from there. Back onto the plane we all went and started to fly back to Edmonton. I was feeling much better, that is until the pilot came back on to say that there was still too much fog to land and they were going to have to continue on to Calgary. Now this was getting ridiculous…the concert was going to start in just over two hours and I was going to land in Calgary, a good three hours away. This was not good news. I wasn’t going to give up, I was going to that concert. When the plane landed I rushed off, grabbed my bag, and went straight to the greyhound counter where I discovered there was a bus leaving in 5 minutes. I grabbed a ticket and rushed to make it onto the bus. I got there just as the driver was about to close the door. At this point it was an hour and a half to the concert and I knew that if my father picked me up from the greyhound station and drove me straight to the concert then I could make it just in time for the Hip.
So I called my boyfriend and told him that I would be there in about three hours, after the opening band. Sure enough my father picked me up, drove me to the concert and I walked up to greet my boyfriend in our seats just as the Hip came onto the stage to play their first song... perfect timing if you ask me.
Ezra's Tale:
I had been a heavy metal long hair tattoo wearing rock junkie for many years. When my best friend would come to my apartment he would shut off the Crüe and turn on some random hip cd. Of course, at first I got pissed and tried to hit him in the face with a hot bag of nickels. Then one day at work I heard Silver Jet and something happened in my brain... I became an instant fan...
I wanted to know everything, to listen to every album and just lose myself in the music. Then it came... the first day that The Hip would play in Kingston in over a decade... all I knew is that I was going to that show!! We took the trek from Cape Vincent N.Y. all the way "across the pond." Eventually it was show time so we walked from our motel room on Princess st. all the way to the RCMP camp. Then that's when we found out there would be no beer for the best part of the show....
It's ok, I made up for it the following week when the hip played at the Landmark Theater in Syracuse N.Y. I rode with my boss and we met up with some record reps at a bar, they gave me an envelope full of "In Between Evolution" cd's. We got into the show just as Sam Roberts was getting done and took our 5th row seats and rocked out to The Hip!
This thursday (11/1/2007) will be the third time I will see The Hip on the world container tour... Once again we are going to The Landmark, but this time it'll be sans record reps... I'm once again getting a room, gonna be hammered and will have lots of pictures and possibly some video. My site is
here.
Hip Head Mary From Madison, WI:
I was fortunate enough to sit in at my local radio stations taping of their "Live from Studio M" radio show that featured the Hip. It was recorded the afternoon of 5/15/07 before their evening show in Madison at the Barrymore theater.
They performed 3 (very cool) acoustic versions of material from "World Container",(no drums or bass since it was a small recording space). Rob, Gord, and Paul performed and answered questions between the songs. I was one of the 4 fans selected to be in the studio (the studio randomly chooses people from their "Members Club" to sit and watch the taping of various artists.)
Gord told about the night at O'Cayz and sharing the bill with Nirvana. TTH were the headliners, but everyone left before their show.
It was a dream come true for a Hip fan. I sat about 6 ft. in front of them and got to hang out afterwards and do pictures. Actually, I was standing there, stunned by it all, and Rob actually came over to me and introduced himself first. That will always be probably the thing that I remember the most. I'd always heard they were so great to their fans, but they were so gracious, warm and just beyond anything I could have imaged. ("There are no "stars" in Canada" was a quote from Gord during the show.)
So, pretty much an awesome dream come true -private show, pictures, autographs, and talking with 3 members of a band I had been loving for years. I left the studio still in sort of in shock of the experience, sorta felt like maybe it was a dream and I would wake up soon. But it wasn't and I got to go to their show that evening and be front and center "this close" to the stage (no barriers between). I can't imagine any show ever being able to top this day, but still can't wait for them to come around again.
Jason and his Hip miracle
I was 19, it was the summer of 2007 and I was working as a roller hockey instructor at a summer camp in Parry Sound, Ontario. It was looking like a quiet summer on the music front, I needed the money, and I love hockey and the outdoors so I accepted the job at camp months in advance. Shortly after being hired, The Hip announced they’d be playing at The Kee in Bala. Thrilled, I immediately called my boss and tried to negotiate back-to-back day offs so I could attend both shows. Much to my dismay he only allowed me to take one day off which meant I was only going to one show. I bought one ticket for the second night and planned to have my grandparents who lived near by pick me up and drop me off at the show.
Camp was going fine, until June 4 where for a number of reasons I was fired right in the middle of the day. I had no money, a phone on low battery and was forced to pack my belongings including all off my hockey gear and leave camp within the hour. Thankfully, I was given 100 bucks for lunch, my cab, and bus fare. I took a cab to Parry Sound where I had to wait 2 hours outside on a curb in front of Harvey’s for a bus to Toronto. At this point, I’m freaking. Not only did I just get fired, my Grandfather wasn’t up north yet so I couldn’t go stay with him and in order to make it back for the show I had tickets for the next day I was going to have to find a ride back from Toronto to Bala and I was literally broke.
Then a miracle happened. Randomly I get a call from an old friend and fellow hip fan who I hadn’t spoken to in months. He was up north (about 20 minutes from Parrysound) and called me because he was going to The Hip show for that night and it reminded him of me. In the middle of our conversation and just as I started to explain my predicament my phone dies. I go into Harvey’s convince them to let me charge my phone and wait until I can make a call with it, some how they let me and I get back on the line with my friend. I tell him where I am, what happened, etc… Not only did he offer to come pick me up, he told me his friend had an extra ticket to the concert for tonight because someone (clearly a moron) bailed last minute, and also told me I could stay at his friend’s cottage for a few nights.
So I get picked up, drove back to his friends cottage (on the way a cub ran across the highway and we almost got in an accident pretty crazy!!) and got settled, cracked a few beers, threw on The Hip, and went fishing. I had around 85 dollars. I gave $60 to my friend for the ticket leaving me $25. I grabbed a sixer and we decided we go to a bar/restaurant down the street from The Kee to grab a beer and food before the show. In the middle of the meal I see Rob Baker and his wife and kid walk into the joint. I’d never met a celebrity, hockey player or rock star before in my life so I didn’t really understand the concept of being star struck. But fuck me; I don’t think my stomach had ever dropped like that in my life. Politely, I introduced myself, apologized for interrupting, and asked for a picture and if he could sign my hip jersey. He happily obliged, we talked a little about some of the shows I’d seen in 2006 (The Phoenix, Fort York, Guelph, Belleville) and about World Container while my friend went to find a sharpie marker in the bar. Nicest guy, kind of quiet, very tall/big guy. I wished him good luck, told him and his family how much I loved his guitar playing and how great is was to meet them all. ** If I wasn’t so star struck I would have asked a bunch of questions but I was kinda in a trance.
Finally got to the show (before Rob did, because when I left he was still eating dinner), drank that sixer in my friend’s car and headed in. For those who attended, or have been to a show at The Kee, or have the recordings and the homemade DVD’s your well aware of how incredible both shows were in terms of performance and set list. The Gems and DD are my favorite ones I’ve ever seen or maybe even heard. Not mention, seeing Cordelia which I had never heard before.
In the end, it was one hell of a day/weekend, something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. I ended up having the best summer of my life and getting fired on that day was the catalyst for it all. I even got to see another Hip show that summer at the 10k Lakes Festival in Minnesota. Needless to say the words FATE and DESTINY carry a new meaning for me after that experience.
Ryan and his Virgin experience
Dear Hipmuseum,
This past weekend at Virgin festival in Halifax, the Hip were scheduled to play as the headliner band. As you know, the day before the concert, the boys had to cancel due to a family emergency. Well at the festival there was a text message banner where you could text in messages. There were the usual "I love you!!!!" and "Get me a beer" messages but nobody seemed to comment about the Tragically Hip cancelling. Finally after multiple attempts I was able to get through with a "Gord Downie for Prime Minister" message. When it came up you could hear the cheers, even through The Offsprings mic-check. Nonetheless it was a good concert, but I would have enjoyed seeing The Hip in Hali again, I hope they reschedule.
All non-lyric content and Hip photographs © 2007 Stephen Dame  |
