Our Lady Peace / Tragically Hip

Citadel Hill
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
June 30, 2002

By Neil McCormick

    I arrived at the hill around 10:30, about 50 people back in the line. Not bad, I thought. Gates opened at 1:00, and then it was another two hours until the first act was on stage, but I kept telling myself it would be worth it. Three words... Our, Lady, Peace. Today, five acts would be performing, but I only came for that one. When the gates opened my friends and I ran up the hill and down the other side to get our front row center position. Yes that's right, front row, center. I had my camera so you'll see some of my shots. 
    
    First up was a local rapper/hip hop artist who calls himself Buck 65. Right... I don't think people were really into this much, people sort of just stood there and politely applauded when he stopped singing/talking. I'm surprised they didn't get some local rock band to play but whatever works... He played for about 45 minutes.

©Photo by Neil McCormick Paul Lamb of Crush

    Next up was a rock quartet from Newfoundland, Crush. I saw them last Canada Day so I knew what to expect. They seem very talented, and although it's a little too "poppy" for my liking, I think they'll go places. Both guitarists played their asses off. The crowd really got into this act by crowd surfing and storming the stage. I knew by the time OLP got out that the mosh pit would be nuts, and I was right.

©Photo by Neil McCormick Gord Downie (Tragically Hip) and Sarah Harmer

    Next was singer/songwriter Sarah Harmer. She as well was very talented and sounded good, but this was even softer than Crush. Not really the right crowd to appreciate this type of music. The crowd woke up when she brought out Gord Downie, lead singer of The Tragically Hip, to sing a duet. I think most people came to this concert to see The Tragically Hip, so this little preview got them in the mood.

©Photo by Neil McCormick Guitarist Steve Mazur and lead vocalist Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace

    Up next was the only reason I came, one of my favorite bands of all time, Our Lady Peace. I was right there in the front row too, so I was psyched. They opened off with the first track off their new album "Gravity", All For You. For anybody who's heard the song, you know how this got the crowd going. The place went absolutely nuts. Good thing I took most of my pictures while I did because before long I was pushed back a few rows. 

©Photo by Neil McCormick Raine strums the verse of "Superman's Dead"

They continued playing with Do You Like It from "Gravity" and Superman's Dead, probably their most famous song from "Clumsy". I can hardly put the quality of this performance into words. It was flat out amazing. Even though I almost got killed more than once in the mosh pit, it was one of the best times of my life. Nearing the end of the show they played their popular song Whatever, which hasn't appeared on any of their albums, and the ended with Starseed from their first album, "Naveed". Despite me almost getting killed twice, this was definitely my favorite band I've ever seen in concert.

©Photo by Neil McCormick Raine gets prepared to start the show with "All For You"

    After OLP finished playing I crawled my way out of the mosh pit, not really interested in The Tragically Hip. I must've been the only one because there were nearly 30,000 people on the hill waiting for them to start. I spotted a bunch of Our Lady Peace fans crowding around an opening in the fence surrounding backstage, so I joined them to see what was going on. Pretty soon Steve Mazur, the lead guitarist and newest member of OLP came out to sign some autographs. I shook his hand and got my CD signed. By the time he finished signing autographs The Tragically Hip started playing so no other members came out. I made my way back into the crowd to watch a bit of the performance, but I couldn't bear it for very long. I ended up leaving halfway through, but I had already clearly gotten my money's worth out of this concert. If anybody has the chance, Our Lady Peace puts together quite the live act. They've got an unmistakable sound and I think you should definitely check them out if they're coming by your hometown. If not, you should give their new CD "Gravity" a try, it's one of the best albums in a while.

   I'm Neil McCormick and those are my two cents.

Copy of "Gravity" signed, in person, by lead guitarist Steve Mazur	©Photo by Neil McCormick Raine in a classic pose