Another right good do

Ok so none of you have ever heard of The Tragically Hip. Well, in a way that's great as when they do come over and play I get to see them in a small venue and witness a fantastic band play live at very close quarters.

The gig last Friday was amazing. It's the fourth time I've seen them in the Shepherd's Bush Empire as it's generally the only English venue they play when they come over to Europe.

These occasions happen about every three years so manage to really create a tangible fervour of expectation in the crowd. The Hip's stellar live reputation goes before them and they seem to be a band who really mean a great deal to their fans - one of these outfits who have a real die hard following and a massive amount of respect from people who have in many cases been fans for 15 years or more. And fortunately the respect goes both ways as the band do have a very real relationship with their fans, and I guess this is why they make the effort to get over here and play live every couple of years - something which is very unusual for a band who really do not sell many records outside of Canada.

My now 'usual' fellow Hip watchers Sam and Scottie were there; Rachael came over from Bristol and also ex workmate and recent Hip convert Nick, who drove us down the M1 for the show. We all got stuck in with the crowd downstairs and it was especially good to spend about half an hour front and centre singing (shouting!) along with Scottie.

The band really were on form and we got the best part of two hours' worth of Hipness. Lots of old, new and brand new including 3 tracks from their forthcoming album which is due out in October. Singer Gord Downie was his usual manic self. Whether he's singing, dancing, fighting with his microphone, ranting or just generally making faces and throwing shapes he is the absolute focus of the live show while the rest of the band just get on with the business of playing the songs. Downie was just soaked in sweat and exhausted by the end - much like his audience.

Great to see video cameras up by the sound desk, and it turns out that there's group of Canadian fans following these European dates and filming them all for unofficial distribution, sanctioned by the band. So we'll get some great live bootleg DVDs at some point: something I REALLY like to see :-)

So, all in all another fabulous evening's entertainment from our Canadian friends, and I spent the following day in Bristol with Rachael, which is a whole other story...