September 14th, 2009. Edmonton. The last time The Tragically Hip ever played 'Emperor Penguin', and not one person in that building knew it.
Seventy-two performances. That's the whole run. The first on July 2nd, 1998, a couple of weeks before "Phantom Power" was even in stores, and the last one in Edmonton on the We Are The Same tour before the song went in a drawer for good. Justin pulled that off setlist.fm live on the stream, Hipbase backs it up, and it turned into the thing nobody saw coming, because one of the two guys at the table tonight is Shawn from Edmonton. He was at that show. He found out on mic.
We're on a Thursday this week, which is the end of the Thursday experiment. Back to Wednesdays next week. It was nice while we had it.
'Emperor Penguin' landed at number 32 on the TTHTop40 Countdown and neither panelist is at peace with it. One of them would have guessed somewhere around 65. The other would have shoved it higher. Nobody splits the difference. So there's that.
Then we spin a live version from Massey Hall, 2009, and Gord introduces the song with a line about why they don't play it often that tells you everything about how the band felt about it. There's a ninety-second outro hanging off the back of it that belongs to Robbie and nobody else. And somewhere early on Gord comes in on the wrong verse and does something with the save that Justin had been chewing on all day before we even hit record.
WHAT ELSE IS IN HERE
• Two readings of the lyric that come at it from opposite ends and land in the same spot, and one of them hinges on which parent actually sits on the egg.
• "I like the tone of your trumpet. Come on, let's spill some paint." The most abstract stretch on the whole record, a notebook theory, and a guess involving Josh Finlayson that may not survive contact with HipMuseum.
• The late night call in radio show sitting underneath these lyrics, and the drive home through the Bible Belt that Justin still can't shake loose from this song.
• Shawn plays bass, so he hears this as a Paul and Robbie record, with Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay rock solid and deliberately out of the way. Then Robbie takes it home.
• Steve Berlin, the first of his two with the band, and what having a producer in the room at the Bathhouse did to the atmosphere of this thing.
• "Phantom Power" as the line in the sand. The last record of the first era, and what happened to a good chunk of the congregation immediately after it.
• Shawn spent real time with the guys in the early days. Sound checks with six people in the room. Gord showing him the notebook. And a lyric on one of the most loved songs in the catalogue that he can tell you exactly where they were sitting when it came up. We get about ninety seconds of that story. It deserves its own episode, and we are going to get it.
Next week is 'Tiger The Lion', which is track one on the record that follows the record that ends with this song. Brand new panel, brand new song, and yes, the shuffle is actually random. I promise.
THE PANEL
• Justin from Bridport, Vermont. He announces the sprint cars of New England, so if you're anywhere in the northeast, go find a dirt track. He's also a Discovering Downie panelist.
• Shawn from Edmonton. The Port Bickerton Lighthouse Arts Festival goes August 24th in Port Bickerton, Nova Scotia, put on by the Port Bickerton Lighthouse Association. East Coast and Maritime acts, artists, and the biggest one they've done yet.
THREE CHAIRS IN THE BATHHOUSE
On August 20th at 1:00 pm I'm filming the final episode of Yer Hipstories: Reflections From The Final Tour inside the Bathhouse in Bath, Ontario. Ten years to the day since Kingston. Three chairs are open to fans. Email jd@tthpods.com by August 15th with your name, email, phone number, whether you can be there in person, and a one minute video on why it should be you. Travel is on you. That's the only catch.
THE GATHERING - KINGSTON, AUGUST 20 TO 23
Alongside Forever Hip. A mixer at the Merchant Pub, Choir! Choir! Choir! in Springer Market Square, a listening party for "The Tragically Hip Live, July 22 - August 20, 2016", a screening of Long Time Running, the CBC re-airing on the 22nd, and a farewell brunch at Morrison's. Email jd@tthpods.com to get on the list.
GEDFEST TORONTO - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17
The Horseshoe Tavern, with Grace, 2. Every dollar goes to Campfire Circle and the Murphy Family Fund in Precision Medicine in Pancreatic Cancer. Tickets through facebook.com/GEDfestYYZ.
FIND US
Home: home.tthpods.com
Email: jd@tthpods.com
Facebook community: community.tthpods.com
Instagram: @tthpods
YouTube: youtube.com/@tthpods
Yer Letter: subscribe.tthpods.com
Tip jar: buymeacoffee.com/tthtop40
MORE THE TRAGICALLY HIP ON SHUFFLE LIVE STREAM
'Bobcaygeon': https://redcircle.com/shows/a01e8de3-1a04-4a44-ab9c-8fc6e3cb7474/ep/dca7d1f5-6dea-4df8-b8d1-33008aa46cbd
'Gus: The Polar Bear From Central Park': https://redcircle.com/shows/a01e8de3-1a04-4a44-ab9c-8fc6e3cb7474/ep/68d2991b-9074-43ef-bd71-aa832c59a787
Live performance counts and dates come from Hipbase and setlist.fm, as cited on the stream.
#TheTragicallyHip #EmperorPenguin #PhantomPower #TTHPods #HipHeads #OnShuffle
Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tthtop40/donations
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
