Concert Review
The Tragically Hip
First Niagara Center
Buffalo, NY
Saturday April 18, 2015
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto
The city of Buffalo has always been treated to some fantastic shows from The Tragically Hip. With its near proximity to Ontario, it is one of the few American cities where The Hip play and fill the larger venues similar to the arenas of their homeland. Saturday night was no different as singer Gord Downie and Company dazzled the First Niagara Center crowd by playing their 1992 release Fully Completely from start to finish during their 100-minute set.
The band set the pace by starting off with “Grace, Too” and mixed in “So Hard Done By” and “Ahead By A Century” to name a few. They concluded the first part of their set with 1989s “New Orleans Is Sinking”. One strange thing was the lack of dialogue between Downie and the audience. The band focused on the task at hand and that was playing the music and boy did they do that. Astonishing that in these times the band still remains the same. Alongside Downie were guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay. The band were able to deliver the songs mostly in their true form.
It was at this point of the show that the band tore into Fully Completely. “Courage”, the album’s leadoff track and highest charting single signaled the kickoff. Notable songs included “Locked In The Trunk Of A Car”, “We’ll Go Too” and “Wheat Kings”. The album’s closing track “Eldorado” marked the end of the main set.
The crowd was very much into the five song encore especially during “Scared” which saw the crowd at its most active in participation. As the band ended with “Blow At High Dough” the appreciative crowd roared on in approval as they left the venue out into the city streets celebrating the show. It will fully go down as a night to remember.
Set List
Grace, Too
At Transformation
So Hard Done By
Ahead by a Century
New Orleans Is Sinking
Fully Completely
Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)
Looking for a Place to Happen
At the Hundredth Meridian
Pigeon Camera
Lionized
Locked in the Trunk of a Car
We’ll Go Too
Fully Completely
Fifty-Mission Cap
Wheat Kings
The Wherewithal
Eldorado
Encore
In View
Twist My Arm
Scared
Nautical Disaster
Blow at High Dough
