Second time watching Canada's Tragically Hip perform. The last time was in the mid 90's in Vancouver and to be honest it was one of the worst shows I had seen. Last night's show was WAY better however I still saw one similarity to that first show way back in the day - which is that Gord Downie needs to interact with the audience WAY more.

The songs as always were performed very well but I don't think he said more than three sentences to the crowd all night. Also, the other big mistake is starting the show late. My ticket said 8pm and the show started at around 9pm.
 
That's a very serious no, no in my books and shows a lack of respect for your customers (fans).

Start on time or close to it.

Onto the set list.....
Grace, Too 
In View 
So Hard Done By 
Ahead by a Century 
New Orleans Is Sinking 
Fully Completely
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:
At Transformation 
Man Machine Poem 
Long Time Running 
Fireworks 
Nautical Disaster 

Downie is a specialized at a dancing style what I call the "frenetic washing machine". I give him props for being unique and it's pretty interesting to watch as you are unsure if he's on something or is this really him. I really got to knock him for not saying more than three sentences to the crowd for the whole show. When a band comes to town the locals like to get a bit of a "shout out" and some props for coming out Downie didn't do either other than say "thank you music lovers".

Either way the band delivered the above songs quite good and in the usual way without a lot of flash. I will give Downie props on his vocals I thought his voice was good considering the band is over 30 years old.

Some extremely big gaffes in the setlist (read below) meant that quite a few crowd favourites were missed. I think they should have eliminated some of the lesser known songs in the set list that were not on Fully Completely and replaced them with some of the huge songs they missed BUT at least they played one of their biggest songs "New Orleans is Sinking" which was totally unexpected as the Vancouver set list from the night before omitted this song. I get that this was the "Fully Completely" tour however there are some songs that the Hip has to play.

I thought it was pretty unforgivable to not play "Blow at High Dough" and "Little Bones" - two of their most popular songs.

Now on to my ratings for this show....

The Band:

Solid and played the songs as they should be played. Not much stage presence (just like the last time I saw them) but at least the songs were done well.

The Crowd:

Totally awesome despite huge omissions from the set list. It was a Saturday night in K-Town and the fans were ready to rock. It's too bad the Hip's set list missed so many of their greatest songs. Maybe if they started on time they could have fit a few of them in.

Audience Interaction & Engagement: "D"
Quality and Diversity of Music: "B+"
Stage Presence of Band "C+"
Energy from the Crowd: "A+"

Notable Exceptions from Setlist: Blow at High Dough, Bobcaygeon, 38 years Old,  Poets, Three Pistols, Highway Girl, Little Bones.

Overall rating for the show: C+

Next Up: Def Leppard, SOEC in Penticton, BC.

This would be my third time watching Bryan Adams play and once again he didn't disappoint although I felt his past performances were a little stronger.

Bryan Adam's stage at this show was pretty stripped down and bare bones but he brought his long time, incredible, back up band with him and they delivered.

Their stage had a good amount of lighting and a "psychedelic" backdrop to it to add to the ambiance of the evening.

All killer no filler! I must say that this show was incredible value for the money as Adams pretty well ripped through all his biggest hits off his biggest album (Reckless). Of course this was made easier by the fact that there was no opening band.

The Setlist
Reckless 
One Night Love Affair 
She's Only Happy When She's Dancin' 
Run to You 
The Boys Night Out 
Heaven 
Kids Wanna Rock 
It's Only Love 
Long Gone 
Somebody 
Ain't Gonna Cry 
Summer of '69 
Let Me Down Easy (Roger Daltrey cover) (Acoustic)
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You 
If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good 
Cuts Like a Knife 
Can't Stop This Thing We Started 
Please Forgive Me 
When You're Gone (Bryan Adams & Melanie C cover) (Acoustic)
18 til I Die 
Cloud #9 
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You 

Encore:
You've Been a Friend to Me 
C'mon Everybody (Eddie Cochran cover)
She Knows Me (Acoustic)
Straight from the Heart (Acoustic)
All for Love (Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart & Sting cover) (Acoustic)
Alberta Bound 

Because I am biased towards the drummer I must say it's a treat to watch Mickey Curry play drums in such a nonchalant way and make it seem so easy. His timing and groove are impeccable.

One of the best things about a Bryan Adams show is that he is great at audience interaction and getting his fans involved in the songs.

I am going to knock Bryan Adams for one thing - ending the show with four acoustic songs in a row. I thought he should have ended with a rocker or with faster paced songs. Maybe it was his ploy to get people calm for the drive home but it kind of ended the show on a sleepy note. However, here's a video clip of one of his acoustic songs:

Anyway, to get to the point here's my ratings for this show:

The Band:

Totally awesome as always. Solidly delivered on every tune and they got quite a bit of rest due to the many acoustic songs in the set.

The Crowd:

We are lucky that a couple cities in the Okanagan (you listening Vernon???!!!) Kelowna, and Penticton are bringing in great shows for people to watch. This saves trips to Vancouver and Calgary to watch many of your favourite acts. Because of this Okanagan crowds have always been great at most rock shows because they usually don't get many opportunities to see them so close to home and with so much great value for the buck as this Bryan Adams show.

I hope that one day the people at City Hall in Vernon would get their s--t together and get our area some great shows. We have the demand, the people, just not the motive. I'd do it for them and show them how it's done if given the opportunity.


Audience Interaction & Engagement: "A+"
Quality and Diversity of Music: "B"
Stage Presence of Band "A"
Energy from the Crowd: "A"

Notable Exceptions from Setlist: House Arrest, Here I Am, Do I Have to Say the Words, In the Heat of the Night.

Overall rating for the show: A

Next Up: The Tragically Hip, Kelowna, BC.