![]() ![]() “That’s a privilege that we’ve sort of gained by whatever success we’ve managed to achieve in Canada,” says Downie, “and it’s probably the thing we cherish most, this ability to put these kinds of fun projects together. As with the Roadside gig at Seabird Island in ’93, the Hip were in the position of choosing the acts that will warm things up to a summer sizzle. The Tragically Hip will be headlining that show, and their list of caddies will include Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, Blues Traveler, Matthew Sweet, Spirit of the West, the Rheostatics, Eric’s Trip, and the Inbreds. You know, you go up and play 30 or 45 minutes and you feel a bit stunted and a bit restrained-which is something I’m not personally used to dealing with.”ĭownie won’t have to worry about playing stick-bearer come next Thursday (July 13), when the Another Roadside Attraction tour visits UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium. But it has a certain sense of a golf tournament to it, in which you’re probably playing the role of the caddy-which is a necessary function, and they can’t really get by without you-but at the same time, it’s tough. “That wasn’t lost on us when we were standing backstage,” says Downie, “nervously swaying back and forth and breathing deeply, about to go on in front of 72,000 Stones fans. Ten years ago, the band was in lead guitarist Bobby Baker’s basement, struggling and fumbling through such semi-obscure Stones numbers as “Poison Ivy”, “Stupid Girl”, and “Off the Hook”. The Rolling Stones have been an important part of the Hip’s rock education for quite some time. It must be some kind of message, telling us that we need this sort of education.” Within a month, we opened up for these two sort of icons, and I realized there must be some kind of fateful activity at work here. “After this Page & Plant thing, I was somewhat stunned and baffled just because of the actual experience of doing it, and then the Stones thing happens. “It was very strange timing,” admits Downie of the recent concert windfall. Jagger and Richards were in on the deal too. And when Downie calls from Denver on the Canada Day weekend, bearing news of four recent dates with the Rolling Stones, it looks as though Messrs. Things were going almost too well for them, leading you to wonder whether the pride of Kingston had sold their souls to the devil in return for a quick shot at worldwide rock domination. Then the word came in that the group had nabbed the prestigious opening spot on the sold-out Page & Plant tour. Not long after that, you could have flicked on Saturday Night Live and seen singer Gordon Downie and company tearing it up for an audience of millions with the incendiary new track “Nautical Disaster”. Late last February, the Ontario guitar-rockers played a Pacific Coliseum gig that sold out in 20 minutes flat. In 1995, it’s as if the Tragically Hip can do no wrong. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 6, 1995 ![]()
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