His braying, shivery vocals soar and swoop and duck and dive and dodge like a man shadow-boxing with his inner demons. Gord Downie, as usual, somehow manages to be firmly grounded at the eye of their hurricane while simultaneously controlling it and jubilantly gadflying around outside. From the first notes of the set - which features most of Road Apples, along with half a dozen classics from their first two albums - they deliver the goods with the swaggering confidence and easy interplay that comes with years of slugging it out on the road. Throughout the 77-minute show, the band are on fire and in the zone, turning in a performance that crackles with wiry energy and backs it up with muscular heft. Now it’s also an essential addition to every fan’s collection. Recorded in 1991 at the Sunset Strip venue, this long-bootlegged radio broadcast - which was included in 2021’s Road Apples box but is now being released on its own - is one of those shows that every fan wishes they caught. And you’ll appreciate hearing them on the truly great night captured on Live At The Roxy. If you caught them a few times over the decades, you probably did too. I did see them on a few good nights, and at least one great night. The Tragically Hip were one of those bands. They fly higher, burn brighter, dance closer to the edge. Of course, some bands just work harder than others.
You can wish and hope and cheer all you want, but in the end, it’s like the carney says: You pays your money and you takes your chances. Which one you end up seeing depends on an uncrackable combination of a jillion factors, including (but not limited to) how healthy / happy / tired / sober everybody is, the acoustics and atmosphere of the venue, the mood of the crowd, yadda yadda yadda. Every performer has their good nights, bad nights, and (if they’re lucky) great nights.
Doesn’t matter how big the production is, how much money you spent on tickets or how good the artist’s last album was.
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