A rock concert that’s book-ended by poetry readings and shot through with swirls of food colouring that are projected onto a background screen, like some kind of trippy, lava-light performance art show . . .
Hmmm, must be a Gord Downie concert.
When The Tragically Hip frontman with the unmistakable voice performed his solo material before 325 die-hard fans with The Country of Miracles band at Red Deer’s Memorial Centre on Saturday night, there was no shortage of precious moments.
The most interesting involved Downie creating spontaneous art by placing a glass plate on top of an overhead projector, then adding water and food colouring. The red, yellow and blue-green swirls were light-projected onto a backdrop behind the band and the effect was pretty cool. It resembled everything from turbulent skies to abstract finger painting, enhancing the mood of his compositions.
Less cool was the slight fit of pique Downie showed when one of his guitars wasn’t perfectly tuned for the song The East Wind. Despite fan shouts of “good enough,” he delayed playing the popular song until the end of the concert — although he did later offer his guitar tuner an unofficial apology, calling him “the best in the business.”
The singer-songwriter, who published a book of poetry, is a famously eccentric personality who tends toward grand pronouncements.
On Saturday, there was his “patriotism is the root of oppression” comment at the end of his Hard Canadian song. And, after the audience’s muted response, his observation: “If you agree with me, don’t say anything at all — that’s The Canadian Way.”
At one point, Downie told a fan named Brendan to quit the whistling that was slicing through his head like a knife.
Although he later encouraged the young fan to express himself, he also jokingly warned, “Brendan, you’re my guy, but whistle again and I’m going to put my boot through your teeth . . .
“Freedom of expression. It’s a beautiful thing,” Downie added, amid peals of audience laughter.
The concert began with a couple of hard-driving tunes: The Drowning Machine, and Moon Over Glenora, a duet with the band’s bassist (a talented songwriter in her own right), Julie Doiron.
These two songs, like much of Downie’s solo material including Yellow Days, Canada Geese, and Night is For Getting, feature a fairly atonal wall-of-sound approach. Since Downie is perfectly capable of writing ear-hookish melodies when he wants to, it’s hard to know why he chooses to bury so many of his thoughtful, poetic lyrics in a barrage of driving sound.
But few of his fans seemed to care, judging by their enthusiastic reaction to his every offerring. A few sang along to every lyric.
Among Downie’s more melodic efforts were Broadcast, the exuberant You’re Possessed, which ended with musicians following an oompa-tuba parade through the audience, and the gorgeous The East Wind, which fully displays Downie’s musical genius.
Not only is the song loaded with beautiful imagery, but Downie got to show off his amazing playing, sounding like at least two guitarists in one.
Whatever a person is to make of Downie, by the time the cerebral singer got around to his last poem, intoning, “Insomniacs of the world unite,” as the overhead projector showed an image of a full moon and stars — some kind of spell had been cast.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com