Gord was a true Canadian poet. The Hip was Canadas' house band. When Gordie died of terminal brain cancer, the entire nation mourned his passing. CBC television aired their final performance across Canada. I still cry when I see it.
Gordie goes into a trance during some of his performances. He goes off verbally at times but knows where the band (music) is and doesn't throw off his mates. Gordie brings everything eventually back full circle.
Wow thanks never saw this version of these two songs together. The studio stuff is so much different than their live performances. All their material is phenomenal. HIP rules!
Yeah Gordie carried a book and a pen with him everywhere always, he was always writing stuff down. And yeah he was freestyling all the time as well. Great guy, amazing band, all great guys. Miss ya Gord.
This era is Prime Hip. They often workshop songs in the middle of NOIS. It's fun to listen to old shows and find snippets of songs that will appear on future albums
Near the end of the song he is singing another song that came out a few years later called Springtime in Vienna. We live to survive our paradoxes and Screaming from the rooftop.
Hip concerts were an event, every time you go to a show they have some new spin on their songs where Gord breaks into some story or rant and the band just seems to know when to start and stop. They always did it so flawlessly, true pros.
i LOVE the killer whale tank story. it fits into the song perfectly and the song doesn't just stop for it, the jam is still this song while he's storytelling. it's awesome.
Did he say what I think he said?😱. When I played in a band in Canada, this was the song that we did. I told the band I never heard of the song before and I asked who does this song? It was like I spit on and burned the Canadian flag all at the same time! They were like you never heard of the tragically hip?!!! And they went on bashing America for about a half hour😂😂. I still jam with those guys now and then. And I learned through watching your channel regarding rush, that Rush tried to bring the hip over to the US to open for them, and it was the Hips label that prevented them from going. So now I tell them blame Canada.😂
Oh yea, my first favourite Hip song, got me to take notice of the band. It's a good jam out, but I love the album version the best, serious blues based rock. There is nobody quite like Gord, very unique and a total free spirit. Thanks for this, it was great.
Lots of various tunes mixed into here along with the improvisation… this is titled New Orleans is sinking but he’s doing at least 3 -4 other songs in here
Yes, I was still planning to have JPan hear the studio version of New Orleans is Sinking, before having him hear the Killer Whale Tank version. Seems to me that the best Killer Whale Tank version is available on RU-vid. The version found on the Live at the Roxy Vinyl is a tad edited. - "Different things he wants to hit on" would be my guess, Justin. I think some is first time riffing and some is playing with stuff that isn't a properly recorded song yet and some is a reprise of his craziest improvisation.
He had a notebook. Earlier in their career they would jam out songs and find them that way. Later they'd have little snippets of ideas and Gord would find lyrics he liked for them from his notebook. Occasionally Gord would bring in a song whole cloth.
My guess is that Gordie gave the band some sort of queue when going off script. The middle section of New Orleans is Sinking was likely, at least partially rehearsed. When I saw the Hip live in 2013 there were numerous vocal and dramatic improvisations. The band was so tight and had played together for so long that they instinctively knew how to make it work. I'd suggest listening to the studio version of New Orleans is Sinking, it's awesome. The improv section, for some reason reminded me of the song Fire in the Hole (🔥highly recommend) which was released in 1995. This band was at its best from the late eighties into the 2010s. A shame that it had to end early.
They were always such a great live band. I love the albums, but they can’t touch the live performances. This song is great. I saw them on the Up To Here tour, at the show where they shot the crowd scenes for the video of New Orleans Is Sinking. We’d seen the opening band, Bruno Gerussi’s Medallion, earlier in the day & decided to go to the show on a whim. Glad you’re enjoying The Hip. When you’re done with the Rush discography, there are a couple of Hip albums that would be worth doing a deep dive on.
Great, Great band but most often Gords live vocals aren't too great.I wouldnt introduce someone to The Hip with live performances.I would stick to the studio versions first.
I from their home town if Kingston Ontario and have known them all since the 80's and they weren't party folk at all. More like sipping wine and good food. I'm also close friends with their original drummer.
9:45 What's great about this right here is how pitch-perfect he is compared with the studio version of this song within a song medley... People saying he's mostly a studio vocalist need to go back to their live vocal tracks artists. (lol) Also, if a person wants to hear exactly what the album sounds like for vocals, this isn't the band for you (not you, Justin - just people who don't like this). I hear Honeymoon Suite and Streetheart are like that, live. Like listening to the CD. Boring.
