The Hip is my favorite band! I grew up in northern NY (near Potsdam) about 20 mins. from the border and I’ve been a fan for almost 10 years. I only heard them on the Canadian rock stations, though. CHEZ 106, The Bear, and CHOM-FM were the only stations I listened to. I never listened to NY radio.
I have all their albums–my favorite being Fully Completely with Road Apples a close second (it’s such a great blues-rock record–so raw) and I’ve seen them live 6 times. Living in NY, I would see them in Canada at large venues and in NY at small clubs and theaters.
The best show I went to was in Latham, NY at Saratoga Winners in 1994. They were doing a tour in the States before Day for Night came out and they played a lot of new songs. We got there at 2 in the afternoon and the only other people in line ahead were some Canadian fans (of course). We were all in the front row and the show freaking rocked!! When they play “Fully Completely” they take it to a whole other level and it’s amazing! In fact, they are better live than they are on their CDs, without a doubt.
I’ve seen them twice in Ottawa, once each in Montreal, Latham, Syracuse and Albany (where I live now). When you see them in the States, a lot of the Canadian fans wear Maple Leaf jerseys and bring their Canadian flags. They have a lot of pride. And when I’m at their shows, I feel to lucky to have discovered this great band. In a way, I’m glad they haven’t made it big here, because then I can always see them in a more intimate setting. The Albany show in 2000 was great. It was two and a half hours with no opening act and they played a lot of the older songs they don’t normally play anymore.
Well, I’m getting carried away here. I suppose this post is long enough.
I once read an interesting interview with (IIRC) the head of Nettwork Records in Vancouver, who helped Sarah MacLachlan breakthrough into the U.S., and who I think also helped the Bare Naked Ladies get US exposure.
He basically felt that the Tragically Hip had been mismanaged early in their career, and never “paid their dues” in the U.S. He said that if he had been managing them, once they had started to break in Canada, he would have sent them to tour for 2 years through every club, hockey arena, and roadhouse in the States, and let their amazing live show win them converts.
The Bare Naked Ladies basically did this (including lots of interviews, lame radio promos, etc.) and they eventually became a major act south of the border, despite something of a backlash against them in Canada after their early success.
I have no idea if all this is true or not, but it’s an interesting contrast. I wonder if the Hip were too successful up in the Great White North before they started in the States, so they felt they didn’t need or want to start over again building a following from scratch.
And nowadays Gord’s too far gone into his Lizard King/Michael Stipe weirdness to give a coherent interview.
I think Burntsand has a point there. As I stated, they are making a very good living on their Canadian popularity and the forays that they have made into the States in the past haven’t led to very much success.
After awhile, I suppose they said to themselves, why are we going through all this frustration trying to break into the American market when we have a fanatical fan base here and can continue to make the records that we want?
Still, it’s frustrating knowing that they are one of the best bands out there and that they could be so much bigger.
Sigh. Like so many Canadians, I don’t think they’re a REAL success until they’re appreciated by those stupid Yanks.