What Would Your Dream Tragically Hip Setlist Be?
The final(?) Tragically Hip tour starts Friday in Victoria. What will they play? Will they focus on fan favourites or conduct this as business-as-usual and use the opportunity to promote Man Machine Poem?
If you were in charge of choosing the Hip’s setlist for this tour, what would it look like? Let’s compare notes. Here are the rules:
(a) Let’s agree on a twenty song set, divided up into a main set, a first encore and a second (and final) encore.
(b) Pay attention to pacing, flow and the need to take the audience through a series of moods and energy levels.
(c) Think about mixing the big hits (and where to place them) with hardcore fan favourites. Remember that this could be the last time any audience will see these songs played live.
If you need some thought-starters, The Toronto Sun has musicians picking their favourite songs.
Ready? Go.
1. Grace Too
2. Looking for a Place to Happen
3. Gift Shop
4. Tired as F*ck
5. Ahead By A Century
6. My Music At Work
7. 100th Meridian
8. Boots oe Hearts
9. Little Bones
10. 38 Years Old
11. Wheat Kings
12. Poets
13. Man Machine Poem
14.Three Pistols
15. Locked in a Trunk of A Car
16. New Orleans Is Sinking
17.Bobcaygeon
18.Courage
19. 50 Mission Cap
20.Blow at High Dough
Really tough to limit to 20. I chose Blowat High Dough to close because it is my favorite Hip. Tough to leave Nautical Disaster and So Hard Done By off.
Grace, Too
In Sarnia
Gift Shop
38 Years Old
Poets
Scared
Blow at High Dough
Great Soul
Boots or Hearts
Bobcaygeon
Little Bones
Machine
At the Hundredth Meridien
Something On
So Hard Done By
Little Bones
Nautical Disaster
New Orleans is Sinking
Ahead by a Century
Courage
I am SO lucky to be going to see them.
Main Set
1. An Inch An Hour
2. Little Bones
3. Blow at High Dough
4. At the Hundredth Meridian
5. Gift Shop
6. 38 Years Old
7. Boots or Hearts
8. The Wherewithal
9. Lionized
10. Fiddler’s Green
11. Ahead by a Century
12. Wheat Kings
13. Locked in the Trunk of a Car
First Encore
14. Scared
15. Nautical Disaster
16. Three Pistols
Second Encore
17. Grace Too
18. New Orleans is Sinking
Final Encore
19. Courage
20. Fifty Mission Cap
* I haven’t been a big fan of the albums past Trouble at the Henhouse, hence their lack of representation on this list. Quibble if you must.
Travelling to Edmonton to see them in just over a week since I am on holidays when they are in Ottawa.
1. It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken
2. In View
3. In Sarnia
4. Fireworks
5. Ahead By A Century
6. A Beautiful Thing
7. Wheat Kings
8. Bobcaygeon
9. Three Pistols
10. Tired As Fuck
11. 38 Years Old
12. Now The Struggle Has A Name
13. Scared
14. Courage
15. Poets
16. My Music At Work
17. Blow At High Dough
18. Grace, Too
19. Gift Shop
20. New Orleans Is Sinking
Hard to pick just 20. Just missing the cut were: Nautical Disaster, Greasy Jungle, Little Bones, Silver Jet and It Can’t Be Nashville
In a World Possessed
Escape is At Hand
Grace, too
Great Soul
Fully Completely
Here, in the Dark
It’s a Good Life
Courage
Poets
New Orleans
Nautical Disaster
Flamenco
Springtime In Vienna
Bobcaygeon
Machine
Man
Locked In the trunk
Little Bones
Music @ Work
Throwing Off Glass
1. On A. World Posessed
2. Grace, Too
3. Poets
4. Yawning or Snarling
5. Escape is at Hand
6. New Orleans
7. Cordelia
8. 38 Years Old
9. The Depression Suite
10. Locked in the Trunk
11. At Transformation
12. Hundredth Meridian
Special encore just for me!
13. Darkest One
14. What Blue
15. Stay
16. Leave
17. Are we Family?
18. Makeshift as we are
19. Nautical Disaster
20. Blow at High Dough
Wow, this is a tough one, but let’s give this a shot. This is essentially just a bunch of my fave Hip songs, but maybe some of these wishes will come true.
1. Man
2. Three Pistols
3. Something On
4. What Blue
5. Opiated
6. Ahead By A Century
7. Morning Moon
8. The Wherewithal
9. An Inch An Hour
10. Nautical Disaster
11. Long Time Running
12. Pigeon Camera
13. Bobcaygeon
14. Machine
Encore 1
15. In A World Possessed By The Human Mind
16. Fireworks
17. World Container
Encore 2
18. The Dire Wolf
19. Blow at High Dough
20. Another Midnight
What? Nobody has Highway Girl listed. Blasphemy!
I ignored the rules and paid more attention to the set lists so far this tour which are longer than 20 songs and represent all albums at least twice with favourites at the encores.
Grace Too (Day for Night)
Nautical Disaster (Day for Night)
Small Town Bringdown (The Tragically Hip)
In A World Possessed by the Human Mind (Man Machine Poem)
Tired as Fuck (Man Machine Poem)
New Orleans is Sinking (Up to Here)
Opiated (Up to Here)
The Lookahead (Now for Plan A)
At Transformation (Now for Plan A)
Long Time Coming (Road Apples)
Cordelia (Road Apples)
The Darkest One (In Violet Light)
It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken It (In Violet Light)
My Music at Work (Music @ Work)
Lake Fever (Music @ Work)
Vaccination Scar (In Between Evolution)
It Can’t Be Nashville Every Night (In Between Evolution)
Speed River (We Are the Same)
Morning Moon (We Are the Same)
Family Band (World Container)
In View (World Container)
Flamenco (Trouble at the Henhouse)
Fully Completely (Fully Completely)
Ahead by A Century (Trouble at the Henhouse)
Looking for A Place to Happen (Fully Completely)
Encore 1
Highway Girl (The Tragically Hip)
Bobcaygeon (Phantom Power)
Poets (Phantom Power)
Encore 2
Little Bones (Road Apples)
Boots or Hearts (Up to Here)
Locked in the Trunk of a Car (Fully Completely)
I broke the rules but used the Hip’s own rules for their current tour (every album is represented at least twice).
Grace Too (Day for Night)
Nautical Disaster (Day for Night)
Small Town Bringdown (The Tragically Hip)
In A World Possessed by the Human Mind (Man Machine Poem)
Tired as Fuck (Man Machine Poem)
New Orleans is Sinking (Up to Here)
Opiated (Up to Here)
The Lookahead (Now for Plan A)
At Transformation (Now for Plan A)
Long Time Coming (Road Apples)
Cordelia (Road Apples)
The Darkest One (In Violet Light)
It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken It (In Violet Light)
My Music at Work (Music @ Work)
Lake Fever (Music @ Work)
Vaccination Scar (In Between Evolution)
It Can’t Be Nashville Every Night (In Between Evolution)
Speed River (We Are the Same)
Morning Moon (We Are the Same)
Family Band (World Container)
In View (World Container)
Flamenco (Trouble at the Henhouse)
Fully Completely (Fully Completely)
Ahead by A Century (Trouble at the Henhouse)
Looking for A Place to Happen (Fully Completely)
Encore 1
Highway Girl (The Tragically Hip)
Bobcaygeon (Phantom Power)
Poets (Phantom Power)
Encore 2
Little Bones (Road Apples)
Boots or Hearts (Up to Here)
Locked in the Trunk of a Car (Fully Completely)
Grace Too (With “Said I’m Tragically Hip” opening lyric)
Fireworks
Fifty Mission Cap
Ahead by a Century
Thugs
Springtime in Vienna
Leave
Greasy Jungle
Don’t Wake Daddy
Titanic Terrarium
Locked in the Trunk of a Car
Three Pistols
Sharks
The Last of the Unplucked Gems
Encore 1:
Courage
Get Back Again
Emperor Penguin
Highway Girl
Encore 2:
Small Town Bringdown
Nautical Disaster
Long Time Running
No representation from 4 most recent albums, but so be it, it’s all a dream.