Updates

Attention: The Buffalo ARA show on July 30 has been moved from Erie County Fairgrounds to Darien Lake Performing Arts Center in Darien Lake, N.Y. Tickets purchased for the Erie County Fairground show will be honoured and will receive preferential general admission seating. For more info look here.

The Roadside Grill - A Charity Event

To help raise money for Children's Cancer Camps, this year Another Roadside Attraction introduces an extremely special place called The Roadside Grill. The Roadside Grill will be an opportunity for 15 winners, accompanied by a guest, to enjoy dinner and watch the festivities from a special seating area.

How to Get These Seats

Buy tickets at the show for the raffle! Throughout the day of the show, tickets will be sold for $2.00 each from the individual Cancer Camp Booth and by your local radio station DJ's booth located in the Roadside Village. At 5:35 PM, the winning 15 tickets will be drawn, the winners, plus a guest, will be upgraded to The Roadside Grill for the rest of the show. There you will enjoy a great view of the show and dinner for two. All money raised by The Roadside Grill will go directly to the camps to help with their program expenses.

These camps are recognized internationally for their welcoming atmosphere under a common purpose; to normalize these children's experiences in dealing with a devastating disease such as cancer.

Children's Cancer Camps

July 17 Vancouver, Camp Goodtimes
July 19 Camrose, Kid's Cancer Camps of Alberta
July 21 Saskatoon, Camp Circle O'Friends
July 23 Winnipeg, Children's Cancer and Bleeding Disorder Camp of Manitoba
July 26 Highgate, Camp Te-kum-ta
July 28 Ottawa, Camp Trillium
July 30 Buffalo, Camp good Days & Special Times
August 2 Barrie, Camp Oochigeas

Buy a ticket or two and support these special camps...

Another Roadside Guide

Get our comprehensive hard-copy guide to ARA. Available as you enter the grounds on show day and if you live in the following areas look for the guide in these newspapers.

The Georgia Strait (Vancouver) - July 3
The Edmonton Sun (Edmonton) - July 3
The Calgary Sun (Calgary) - July 3
The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon) - July 10
Winnipeg Sun (Winnipeg) - July 10
The Burlington Free Press (Burlington VT) - July 17
Ottawa Xpress (Ottawa) - July17
Artvoice (Buffalo) - July 16
Now Magazine (Ontario) - July 17

Finally, our ARA message...

From the office of NXNE - We're pleased to announce that tonight (Monday) at the Concert Hall (888 Yonge) the NXNE Pre-launch Concert with The Tragically Hip and their special guests Change of Heart and Ron Sexsmith. The concert is a fund-raiser for Camp Trillium, an Ontario summer camp based outside of Kingston for children with cancer.

Sorry tickets are now sold out...

In other news. It appears that a few copies of our Live Between Us CD escaped from the factory without the accompanying photo-booklet. If you did not receive this booklet with the CD send us an email with your complete mailing address... name, street, city, province/state, country and postal code and we'll see that you get one.

Later,

We had a great time on our latest European tour. It's nice to be back home after a pleasant three weeks in Europe. Every show had something special about it but the highlight was the convergence of our show in London on voting day in the UK. It was exciting to watch the crowd take in the news of the results during the set. Thanks to everyone who made it to one of our European shows.

In other news, we would like to tell everyone about Roadside Radio, our upcoming radio and cybercast special. This live show will be broadcast on Wednesday May 21 from 9 to 11 pm EST. We'll be talking about the new release and our upcoming ode to summer, Another Roadside Attraction.

Stay tuned to your local stations for info. The number call between 9 - 11 pm is 1-800-668-6639, but if you do not live in the broadcast area, you can still take part by visiting Music Boulevard's affiliate, Rocktropolis. From there, you can hear the show using RealAudio as well as chat on-line with other listeners in their chat room. We'll be fielding some questions from radio listeners and folks in the chat room. The address for this is http://www.rocktropolis.com/rocket/

Should you wish to take in the show on the Net, we suggest you take a preliminary look around at the Rocktropolis site. You may find that you need to update your software to access the RealAudio and Chat features.

See ya on Wednesday night...

Finally, in matters relating to Another Roadside Attraction, we would like to clarify the location in Saskatoon. Although the venue is Saskatchewan Place and many people from around there know SP is an indoor facility, the show itself will take place on the grounds, outside. That's the news for now...

Later,

The previously announced location for the Roadside show in Alberta has been changed from Rocky Mountain Ranch in High River, Alberta to Camrose Exhibition Grounds in Camrose. Camrose is located south of Edmonton and north of Calgary and Red Deer.

The change in venue is due to road construction (welcome to other season besides winter in Canada) near Rocky Mountain Ranch. Rather than risk everyone having to endure long waits on the highway, we have moved the show to Camrose. Luckily, this site is geared towards music festivals and has all the necessary requirements to host Another Roadside Attraction.

Camrose here we come...

More news when we have it.

Later,

Here is the latest news regarding ARA 97.

The Mutton Birds are joining ARA. They will be performing between Ron Sexsmith and Change of Heart.

During this tour in Europe we met up with this fine New Zealand band. We asked them to join ARA at the last minute and the gentlemen that they are, they said sure. You'll like them.

The dates, cities and venues for ARA are as follows:

Complete ticket info will be available shortly.

ANOTHER ROADSIDE ATTRACTION NEWS - May 6, 1997

Here is the latest news regarding ARA 97.

Today we are announcing the information about the Toronto show. Full details about the other Canadian dates will be available here on the Updates page on May 20th and details about the shows in Buffalo, NY and Highgate, VT will be released on May 27th.

The when, where, how info on the Toronto show is:

MOLSON PARK, BARRIE, ONTARIO
SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1997
August Long Weekend!
with
THE TRAGICALLY HIP
SHERYL CROW
ASHLEY MacISAAC
WILCO
LOS LOBOS
CHANGE OF HEART
RON SEXSMITH
VAN ALLEN BELT

Complete ticket info is at the end of this missive.

This is our first gig up in Barrie since July 1, 1994 and we're lookin forward to it.

As well as eight bands and eight hours of music there will be an abundance of attractions including: vendors, artists, socio-political groups and the return of the InteractiveTent@Roadside. Now that many people are on-line, we thought it best to bring the tent again. Send email, surf the band sites, chat on-line with people from everywhere.

Here's more info about our fine and special guests.

SHERYL CROW

Not to be missed. You know her songs: If It Makes You Happy, Everyday Is A Winding Road, Hard To Make A Stand from her self-titled second release Sheryl Crow. This record was partially recorded in one of our favourite studios, Daniel Lanois's Kingsway Studio in New Orleans. Expect a great performance and an ace band.

ASHLEY MacISAAC

Hi^TM how are you today? is one fine record. His show is going to be wild. Remember Juno night!!! Hearing Sleepy Maggie and The Devil in the Kitchen live out on the plains of Barrie will be memorable.

WILCO

They will "be there" playing some of the great cuts off of Being There, their critically acclaimed two-disc recording. Hear the cool vibe from this hybrid country/punk/rock band. Fill your boots.

LOS LOBOS

We have always wanted Los Lobos the play ARA in the past but their schedule has not made it possible until this year. Lucky for you! For twenty years they have been creating their own blend of rock music. This is going to be one great mix of musical styles. If you like to hear live music, hear Los Lobos. The latest Los Lobos record Colossal Head is excellent.

CHANGE OF HEART

They toured with us on the Canadian leg of the Day For Night tour and they're coming out this time bearing Steelteeth, their new concert-ready recording. They are going to rock you out of your afternoon slumber.

RON SEXSMITH

His next recording Other Songs is due out soon (June) and his quietly powerful songs are going to get you. A guest on Ron's new record is none other than Sheryl Crow. You will want to watch Ron play his guitar, he's damn good.

VAN ALLEN BELT

The boys in the Belt are going to get you rockin right from the get-go. We had the pleasure of seeing them in action when they toured with us last fall. Are they a power-trio with hip-hop and prog-rock leanings you be the judge by being on the grounds by 2 pm. Their debut record is called Despot 001.

TICKET AND ORDERING INFO

A limited number of early bird tickets go on sale this Saturday, May 10th at 10 am for $29.00 (plus tax, parking and service charge) instead of the regular price of $34.00 plus.

Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets.
To order by phone call (416) 870-8000.
Order tics on-line at www.ticketmaster.ca.

Gates open at noon - show goes on rain or shine

Coming soon the roadside web site!

Lots of people have been asking what the hell is happening with Another Roadside Attraction this summer. Well, now that most of the really cool and important information has been recently confirmed we are letting you know the score.

We're very pleased and excited to announce this year's line-up:

This year we have decided to take Roadside to six Canadian cities and for the first time two U.S. cities. We have secured great sites in the following locations...

At this point, there are still many details yet to be hammered out and this is true of the actual dates but we can tell you we plan to kick off in mid-July and finish up in the first week of August.

We hope you can make it to one of the shows assuming of course that you have not already planned a fishing trip, have summer-school exams or family visitation during this period.

When can you know more? Come hell or high water May 6th is when venue info and other details will be readily available in print, by listening to one of the many radio stations in your area or, as you well know at www.thehip.com. Coming soon the 1997 version of www.roadside.ca and more information about Live Between Us.

Dear All,

A happy New Year from all the boys in the band! Now that the dust has finally setled on the Fall tour and our Christmas vacations, we're looking ahead and starting to plan for 1997. Any ideas? Just kidding.

This has been the first chance that the five of us have had to put up our feet since November of 1995, when we started working on Trouble, and to reflect on the year gone by. Lots of highs, a few lows, and way to many ideas and projects left on the back-burners of our imaginations. In the eleven years we've been together, last year was one of the busiest. We want to thank all of you who made it out to the shows across Canada and the United States over the last ten months, especially those of you who did endless hours on the highways to catch more than one gig. Your support means a lot to us. It may sound cliche, but we couldn't do this without you. There were just too many memorable nights last year to mention, but that's what live music is all about. You and us sharing the moment until the last note has floated away into the ether, and then on to the next show. Every night a new adventure.

We must also thank you for all of your letters and e-mail over the last year. They kept us entertained during the long bus rides. For those of you who are new to the Tragically Hip, welcome. For those of you who have been with us all along, thanks again. We hope that the mailing lists and our web site go a long way to keep you up on what we're up to and to answer your questions.

It's too early to tell what 1997 has in store for any of us. We have begun the writing process for the next record, working on new ideas as well as those that emerged over the course of last year's touring. The sifting and shaping takes time. While we have no hard plans to get back into the studio right away, let's just say that it'll be sooner than later. A lot of you have asked about the possibility of a live record. Sorry, but it's way too soon to tell what's up with that. It's something that we have talked about for a long time. It's a matter of finding the right performance, and that's easier said than done. Those of you who have seen the band on more than one occasion know that each night is different and special, and to choose one show is a daunting task. One of these days though ...

On the live front we have no hard plans either. It was a bit of a disappointment for us not to have gone over to Europe in 1996, there just wasn't the time, so if it's at all possible we'd love to do springtime in Vienna, pardon the pun. No promises though. Same thing on the Roadside front. It's in the conception stage right now and if it looks good, you never know ... All this, however, is a long way off and things can change quickly.

Sorry to be so indefinite, but that's what a new year brings to each of us. The promise of things to come and the freedom to choose our own paths. One thing is for sure though and that is that you'll be hearing much more from us in 1997. When things do get hammered out you'll be the first to know.

A big thanks to the boys in our crew for all their hard work last year, ditto to our record companies and to all who had the courage to support our music. It was a memorable year for us. A wonderfully joyous time, and for that we thank you.

Gord Sinclair

Many gigs have been played between then and now and most of them are a complete blur, but some still come to mind. Salt Lake City was pretty cool, very nice people at the Zephyr club and the city is pretty neat looking but beware of friendly strangers. Tahoe City (on the California side of Lake Tahoe) was very nice. A small gig but we had fun. Skipping ahead to the next tour, our first visit to Indianapolis was quite successful and long overdue. If you ever find yourself in Northampton, Mass. be sure to check out the Ironhorse, a tiny but very groovy club. Ditto for Club Bene in Morgan NJ. Now Morgan is only one hour from NYC but virtually impossible find unless you know where you are going. However, it is super weird and they get really diverse acts there. Check it out, I dare you.

So now, we are on the final leg of our American tour. 80 shows long (gulp!). Began this sucker in San Diego which was great because we have many friends there. Then we finally got to play our own gig in sin city itself... Las Vegas. Not only is Lost Wages an insane asylum open to the public but it is also the setting for the pilot for the old tv series Night Stalker. In other words, a must visit. Fremont Reggae and Blues is the best place for non-lounge act music. The band spent a few days in studio in New Orleans cooking up some more musical gumbo and then played Tipitinas, which is the legendary N.O. club. And just scant days ago we finally made it to the 40 Watt Club, Athens GA. Yes, home of REM etc. etc. Actually, a nice town and really nice people at the club. Cool record store right next door. And so, we come to the present.

Only a few more gigs before we begin preparing for the Canadian tour. I suggest you prepare too, as we intend to blow your heads off, reattach them and blow them off again. Fun for all!! Terror, romance and a chance to subvert the nation's youth. Can't wait. Anyway, gotta run. Sheep to shear, fish to fry, lies to tell. Adios amigos...DP

It's hard to say what the highlights were of the last tour. Certainly we love the south, but really it was just nice to get back out on the road again, regardless of where we were. And it was a particular personal pleasure to hear the return of Little Bones in the set. I begged the band for a year to put that one back in the set and after the five of them punched me out one night, they felt guilty and decided to play it. For you of course, not me. They told me to F-off and then punched me out again. Such is life. Anyway, after tonight we're off to Pittsburgh to make good on our promise to play the show we had to cancel last year. Chicago watch out, we're coming back and we get to play Birmingham, Alabama for the first time. Love to play new cities. If you're in the the Toledo area on june 29 check us out at the Zoo Ampitheatre. It's a long weekend!! Make the trip, you won't be sorry. Hey Miss Acton! Send us some email, you promised. And Elizabeth...try to behave yourself. Well folks, I have dragons to slay. Wish Gord Sinclair congrats for winning the hockey pool. Mark Vreeken finished second and Gord Downie third. My team of bums stunk the joint out. Adios amigos...DP

Yuletide greetings, asylum seekers of tomorrow... Mental housekeeping time. My electronic masters have instructed me to spill the beans on the last half of our last tour. Well, what can one say after unexpected childbirth? After a speedy week at home, Paul and the rest of us headed back to our misadventures. Two shows at the 9:30 in D.C. with all the mayhem associated with small rooms and the proximity of the F.B.I. building, then back to the Page/Plant tour.

Our apologies to everyone that didn't know we had cancelled those Page/Plant shows in Ames, Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland but, duty called. Apologies also to Pittsburgh, I promise we will play Pittsburgh...eventually! Anyway the Page/Plant shows continued to be fun and are, of course, a blur to me now. Irving Plaza was a blast and it had been such a long time since we'd actually played a real gig in New York. Not that opening for Led Zeppelin isn't a real gig but you know what I mean. We also had way too much fun in NYC as we were there for four or five days. Punishing, really. Presently, the band is in studio...conjuring. But I digress... No specific timetable for a new release (greatest hits rumours are still rumours) but spring/summer '96 is a safe bet. Have to wait until the days get longer. Touring plans ditto. I am second in the hockey pool, Gord Downie is in first. Watch out for low flying barnswallows. Do I have too much time on my hands? Perhaps it's the cough syrup. Anyway, I'm too far behind on my Xmas shopping to concentrate. Have a happy holiday season and don't do anything stupid that will get you killed (i.e. rollerblading under the influence but that's another story). Ho Ho Ho... DP

... All hail and greetings to you the uncertain and ever watching. From within the glow of neon and under a Utah sky come these notes of travel. Some six short hours ago we put the lights of Boise behind us and left Page & Plant to scatter the masses. And so it goes on the road. A brief respite in San Fran with studio time and a chance to see the Blue Angels scream overhead. A night at the Fillmore with the posters of a thousand bands staring down in quiet approval. Yes, we have crossed west Texas and the New Mexico desert, first west then north and soon due east. Back from the frontier and into the heartland of America. Missed another chance to get to Alcatraz... maybe next time.

It was hot in Irvine and so were the shows. Clocking in somewhere between 35-39 minutes long, the seven songs the band plays gives them time to hit the groove without feeling rushed. We look forward to our first ever Utah play and only a stones throw from the Great Salt Lake. New songs await these new cities (next after Salt Lake City: Ames Iowa, birthplace of our sound engineer Mark Vreeken and a new territory) and we await the great cities of the east and the jewel of the midwest, Chicago.

Now, the Morman night encroaches. Hope everyone in Canada had a good Thanksgiving. Our best to all of you and to our country; we miss it. After this tour, the gates of songwriting will be pushed wide open again and work on the next record will intensify. Of the new material I've heard let me just say there are transcendental moments in one's life and mine are triggered by music as often as not. You can figure out the rest. Never expect what you might expect, we are travelling a crooked road.

Music first always. Adios... DP

Well, this would be the evening of July 4th. If you have never seen fireworks over the skies of a major American city on this, their holiest of days, try to make the trip sometime. Because it is quite a blast. I haven't seen the July 1st fireworks in Toronto for many years (if ever), but tonight's lightshow in Denver reminded me of the May 4th fireworks at Ontario Place I used to see many years ago. Anyway, I digress. Here in Denver at Red Rocks for a show with our good friends in Blues Traveler. Another Roadside Attraction is less than two weeks away and the BT guys are really looking forward to seeing Canada in the summer. As for The Hip, well...WE ARE CHOMPING AT THE BIT TO GET GOING!!!!!!!! This is going to be a killer ARA and we plan to steamroll across the nation with all our friends in tow.

As for recent past events, does the name Rolling Stones ring a bell? And the real thing too, not celebrity lookalikes. Their stage is quite enormous as is their presence, but they are definitely the four skinniest guys in rock!!! Quite nice fellows as well, but what can one say? I mean, they are the Rolling fuckin' Stones and it was a surreal experience to be on their stage in front of 40,000 people (at the very least) for a few nights. Well, one for the record books.

Before this July 4th show, we spent our Canada Day in the High Sierras in northern California. Had a great time at the festival there and there were more than a few Canucks to share in the fun. And it looked just like Canada too, well, B.C. anyway. But it was a great vibe, so if you are ever in the neighborhood of Bear Valley check it out, it's a cool gig. Well, this is going to be a short note as we head off to the airport at 6:00 am tomorrow, Milwaukee Summerfest awaits and then it's only a few short days until summer really begins for us. Until then amigos...adios DP.

Greetings and all hail...suckers. Finally, an update from the road. One as overdue as the Grand Canyon is wide. Anyway, enough of that. Don't really know where to begin, as so much has happened in the last month. Our northeastern U.S. shows were the best we've ever had in that part of America. Architecturally speaking, The Egg in Albany, N.Y., is one of the stranger places we've played but, what a great building for a show! Ditto for the terrific theatre in Rochester, a really nice venue, one that reminded us of the many theatres we played in '91 opening up for Eric Johnson. And of course, I would be remiss to not mention our first ever arena show in the States, the soon to be demolished Odd in Buffalo. It was nice to have the big screen and the big rig back in action. Much better than the ill-fated U. of B. gig back in the dark ages. Buy the best and cry only once. And now we come to our present adventures.

I suppose the most amazing thing about touring with Page & Plant is how good Jimmy Page and Robert Plant are in concert. That and the fact that they are both very nice people. As well, they have an extremely together crew who help make our gig as good as a half hour show can be. Not alot of time on stage but, the shows have gone really well. No one has thrown anything at us or told us to fuck off and the band have been playing like demons. We're in L.A. right now, with a few days off before our show at the House of Blues and will probably use the time to get some ideas down on tape. There must be a studio around here somewhere...

We have four more shows with Page & Plant before we head off to Europe and when we return, Another Roadside Attraction!!!! Pray for good weather, 'cause it's rain or shine! We hope you will all like the line-up, it's going to be a groove filled show. Anyway, time for me to crawl off into the L.A. night. Until we meet again...adios DP.

All hail and greetings suckers... Have just returned from South By Southwest music conference, Austin, TX; many good bands and one of the finest cities America has to offer. So anyway, this is meant to be a Canadian tour update. Little to say except THANK YOU!!!! To all of you who came to the shows and made the last Canadian tour the most successful tour of our lives.

Highlights?...well, there are several.

1. Montreal Forum...last time I was at a concert at the Montreal Forum was Nov. '82 for Peter Gabriel; passed out as a result of overindulgence (details unimportant). This time I was awake for the whole damn thing!!! As always, Montreal shows are a landmark.
2. Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto. What else can one say? One of the holiest concert shrines on the planet. Mystical, magical, magnificent. Thank you, very much, Hip fans.
3. Edmonton...former home of The Great One... 'nuff said.
4. Vancouver, Pacific Coliseum... longest show of the tour (2 hours 4 minutes) and home to 70% of our touring personnel. Surely, the finest crew that has ever toured Canada. Without their enormous sacrifices (on a daily basis) this last tour would have been impossible. Give praise to those you do not know... Mike Frelone (tour accountant), Grant McAree (production manager), Dean Roney (monitors), John B. Webster (video screen), not to mention the fulltime Hip crew: Mark Vreeken (main sound engineer), Dan Cassar (lighting director) and Billy Ray (aka Dave Koster) and Pete Tuepah--our tireless stage techs. Their hard work is the only reason we can muster up the energy to keep on rolling down the road. But, of course, the true motivation for all of us lies with you, the fans. Not to sound like some two-faced lying sack of shit, but, we will never be able to thank you enough, except to keep on playing, which we intend on doing.

   Anyway, fellow suckers and those of you from the island of misfit toys (original home of The Hip), I now bid you farewell. For tomorrow, the road calls again.

   Thankyouthankyouthankyou...Adios... D.P.

   P.S. Details are sketchy at the moment but tour plans for Europe are coming along--Denmark & Holland (Pinkpop) in early June and dates in Cologne and Hanover (third week of June or so) are likely. More to come on this soon.

   
   Dave, Road Manager

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