Well what a blast Mona and I had being like rock stars for 3 concerts in 3 nights. We meet up with people from the HipBase.com and meet new friends. We were running on adrenaline for the whole trip and it has taken us a few days to get our heads out of the clouds. Here are some notes and reviews, I will be adding more later.

A big thanks to The Tragically Hip band and staff, and to The Sam Roberts Band and staff.

Triangle Tour 2004 Photos

Day 1 – Trip to Portland

Well Hip Fans, what a trip so far. We finally got through the boarder at 1pm on Friday, Quote as he shakes his head ‘You are going down to the US to see a Canadian band called The Tragically Hip? Lets see the tickets, hmm Ok go through’.

Did they say it was going to rain, and rain it did! It was hard to see the road at some points, which resulted in taking 2 hours to get through Seattle with the traffic problems. The rain was also raining so hard it broke the wipers on the truck. No I have to put up with an annoying squeak from the wiper motor.

We arrived in Portland at 7:30pm and forged our way to the part of town the housed the Aladdin theater. As we got closer to our destination, the sky cleared and it turned out to be a beautiful night. We found the Aladdin with its neon lights flashing in the now clear night. We traveled up the road to find a frugal priced motel, and there we found a Motel 6 nestled between a Live Show Girl bar and Fantasy Video store. It was clean, well light and close to the Aladdin.

Day 2 - Portland

Breakfast at the world famous ‘The Original Hot cake & Steak House’ just around the block from the Aladdin. If you come here, make sure you have an appetite, potions are large, and a breakfasts will keep you going for the rest of the day. I suggest the meat lover’s omelet.

Shopping, shopping and more shopping. No Sale tax in Oregon and our dollar is at 80 cents right, which results in a shopping spree.

Wanting to get a good seat and vantage point for the video camera we arrived at the Aladdin at 5:30. To our surprise there were already a few people there, one being Tony (TLB) from hipbase.com. It was great to put a face to the screen name. Also meet with Vicariousmartyr with his girlfriend, and Anesthesiologist wearing his HipBase.com t-shirt was there with Kat. Also meet other tapers Markslog and Steve. A big thanks to Markslog for lending me a monopod for Seattle and Spokane, I now have one on order. We mentioned the hipbase.com every chance we had, so I hope that drives up membership.

Great show, The Sam Roberts Band just know how to kick it up to get the crowd going for the Hip. The Hip were great and Gord was up to his usual rants. I think his bit with the microphone trying to strangle him is a way to show his power on stage and who is really in control. Robby was great on the slide guitar and I really enjoyed his work on Gus.

Did not hang around after the show, we were hungry and wanted to get some sleep. It was hard to sleep with the ringing in my ears and the excitment of the show the next night.

Day 3 - Seattle

We did the tourist thing and explored the public market, wow is that place big. All these little nooks and crannies where little shops of all kinds were. We wanted to do so much more, but this was about the Hip, Seattle will always be there.

We arrived at the Showbox at 4:30 so we could get into the Green Room lounge at 5. If you are in the lounge you get in early before the line outside. There was a fellow going around trying to get the hip fans going by chanting ‘1 2 3 HIPS’, then wondered why no one was responding to his chant. I finally was able to correct him when he was not spilling his drink, and set him straight its ‘HIP’ not ‘HIPS’. He then proceeded to chant 1 2 3 HIP! which got some reactions.

All I can say is WOW what a night. Sound was great, and the venue staffs were very polite and friendly. I was stopped and told that I could not bring in my video equipment, but I very politely said that the Hip and the Sam Roberts Band are cool with it, he called over a member of the Band’s management and they cleared it. Thanks guys!

I was standing there with my camera setup and this guy walks by me in a faded hip shirt with Number 10 on it, hey was that Ed Jovanovski of the Canucks? After the show Mona was heading to the washroom, and turned around when she saw Jovanovski at the end of the bar. Mona quickly took over looking after the video camera so I could get Jovo’s autograph on my Hip Jersey. What is a Jersey without a hockey player’s signature.

We waited till 2 am to get the entire members autographs on my jersey. Robby Baker came out first, and he likes to chat with the fans. I had so many questions in my head so I asked about the rumor of Another Road side Attraction in the works, and he confirmed that they are working on one for next year. He also said Vancouver was the second best city in the world, with Montreal being the first. Robby also had the pleasure of signing not one, but two sets of breasts, sorry no pictures of that, the girls were too embarrassed after that, and Mona was the one in charge of the camera. Gord Sinclair came out next and told us he really liked the show they just performed and said he liked Portland, but thought tonight in Seattle was even better. Johnny Fay was next telling us how they are looking forward to Vancouver next month and how much he likes the creations of Chef Rob Feenie. I embarrassed myself by saying I did not know who he was, hey I am a computer geek I do not get out much. Mona mentioned to me later who he was and that he is also on the food network. Johnny also signed the punk rocker mask a guy was wearing saying ‘I have never signed head before’ and the guy gave the response, it is better to receive!Gord Downie mysteriously appeared between the tour busses with Billy-Ray looking out for him. Gord was really quiet and horse, it takes a lot out of him to perform the way he does on stage. Paul Langlois was the last and he was quiet and just wanted to sign things and get back to the bus where a big stack of pizzas just arrived. We thanked all for the great show and that we look forward to seeing them the next night in Spokane.

Cab ride home at 2 in the morning in Seattle results in seeing a lot of very strange people. The Cabbie was a very interesting person telling us about the people he picks up. He told us how Microsoft comes down once a week and helps feed the homeless and poor, and the many services that are available. Well a tip of the hat to you Microsoft for being a good community citizen.

Day 4 - Spokane

On the Road to Spokane still buzzing from last night! We had a nice rest at a Best Western last night with a King Size bed. It is great to be frugal, but the pillows at the Motel 6 in Portland where as thin as the soap.

Heading into familiar territory North Bend the place where Twin Peaks was filmed. I can still smell the coffee and taste the cherry pie!

We arrived in Spokane at 3pm and found a great hotel right across the street from the Big Easy. There was a lounge attached and we were hungry. Food was great and happy hour started at 3pm, even better. We chatted with the waiter about how things work, and he said that people in the lounge get in early and gave us an ‘A’ ticket so we could be one of the first ones in. He also let me in the back to see the stage being setup and pointed out some of the best seats.

It was a great show to finish with at the Big Easy, it is a beautiful venue that just opened in January 2004 with a capacity of 1500. With it being a Monday night I guess it hurt the ticket sales and only 400 were pre sold. We had choice locations for setting up recording equipment and the boys put on a great show. I also recorded Sam Robert’s since Mona and I have really been getting into their music.

This is getting to be fun, going from show to show and riding the high with the band. We have to be back in Vancouver on Tuesday or we would be heading to Denver with the band. Every show is different; this is why the Hip are so great. I also want to mention how great the Sam Robert’s Band is, very tight. They can start touring on their own; too bad they are not touring with the Hip in Canada. The band really knows how to get the crowd ready for the Hip.

The Hip dusted off a couple of old tunes, Membership, Flamenco and Little Bones. I screwed up on the opening song Make Shift, but no worries I can splice in from another source. I was also having a battery issue and ran out of juice just as Little Bones finished, whew! I changed tapes and battery just before the next encore started.

We hung around after the show and got our IBE cover signed by the boys, and a hat we bought for Mona’s son Travis. All the boys again very cool to talk with and I had a chance to thank Tristan her for the great job she is doing with managing the band.

I got a skinny on the Corner Gas cameo, it will probably be on the second to last episode of the season according to Robby and Tristan.

I was going to pickup The Sam Robert’s Band CD but found out there is a missing track on the US version of the Album, so I will be waiting till I get home. I was able to give Corey my thanks wished him and the rest of the band luck on the rest of the tour. I hope to see them in Vancouver soon.

Day 5 - The trip home

We are slowly coming down after the three day high of doing Portland, Seattle and Spokane.

Microsoft Street and Trips 2005 was a great thing to have with the GPS. It is good to plan your trip and get a good lay of the land. It would be nice if it also did instant route navigation like the Mapopolis software. I give
“Street and Trips” a 4 out of 5.

Did not have time to Geocaching on this trip, but I look forward to heading down to the USA to do some.

Well the trip is over and we see the sign, “Last American Exit” before our hometown, and of course every time I see that sign I have the tune in my head. We are glad we did this trip, and look forward to Vancouver and Kelowna next month. Hope to meet up with everyone again.