June 27, 2014

Gord Downie, The Sadies, and the Conquering Sun at Field Trip 2014

Gord Downie has the stage presence of ten men. He is a Canadian musical legend, fronting one of Canada's most popular and influential bands, The Tragically Hip. I was lucky enough to see The Hip a number of times back in the day at such venues as the Ontario Place Forum revolving stage, Molson Park in Barrie for Canada Day and at the ACC. Now, I haven't kept up with The Hip's last few albums, but I liked what I heard from this new hybrid of Downie with local legends The Sadies and looked forward to the performance.
And I came away impressed. The band was just as tight as you'd expect a band as seasoned as The Sadies to be. And Gord was just as magnetic as I remembered him to be, whether he was belting out rockin' blues-country-punk melodies, microphone painting "water colour" art, or sailing across the stage under the power of his own wind.

"Crater"

"Budget Shoes"

You can check out more tunes at their site.
I took pics at Field Trip with my iPhone. Hopefully next year, I'll be in the photo pit with my better gear.