Yes, this is really late, but it’s not my usual laziness for once. I just wasn’t going to write this one up.
I haven’t been to a lot of concerts lately. Between the last SLCR (Donovan Woods) and Crash Test Dummies, the only show I saw was Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (July 9, Conexus Arts Centre in Regina). Which was very good, but I’ve written a lot of “didn’t know much going in, had a good time, got nothing else to say” reviews already and couldn’t be bothered to add one more.
In a similar vein, there have been enough Crash Test Dummies concert reviews by this guy for one lifetime. I’ve told my history with them a million times over. This marks the fourth time I’ve seen them at the casino since their 2017 reunion show for the Canada Games in Winnipeg which, at the time, I was sure would be their swan song. So, you know, don’t ever assume I know things.
But. I recently saw Wilco, and it was amazing. So good that I kind of got the itch to write it up, even though it, too, had that same “didn’t know, good time, nothing else” element. I may or may not ever bother, but I wanted to feel like I might and somehow writing up this show first was part of that. And I did get a story out of the evening.
Let’s fly past the review nonsense since that’s not what you read these for. It was good! Obviously I’d say so. Not hugely different from the last few times I’ve seen them, but they’re giving the people what they want - the hits and the songs from the biggest album:
The Ghosts That Haunt Me In the Days of the Caveman Flying Feeling I Think I'll Disappear Now How Does a Duck Know? God Shuffled His Feet Swimming in Your Ocean The Psychic Androgynous Two Knights and Maidens Happy Birthday to You The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead Superman's Song Sacred Alphabet Afternoons & Coffeespoons - Heart of Stone He Liked to Feel It Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
A few little tweaks in there from other recent shows. According to my spreadsheet - of course I have a spreadsheet - I hadn’t heard Flying Feeling live before. That feels incorrect to me but, again, spreadsheet.
After 9 Dummies shows, the only four songs played at each one are Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm, Superman’s Song, The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead, and God Shuffled His Feet. Just a little trivia for anyone who’s interested. So trivia for me, basically.
You might have noticed something else up there.
Did you know the song’s title is “Happy Birthday to You” and not just “Happy Birthday?” Did you know it wasn’t even the first time I’ve heard Ellen sing it? I’ve told this story before, probably often, but I don’t care. The second time I saw the Dummies was in September 1999. They played a 19+ show in Toronto on the day before my friend Steve’s 19th birthday. To make sure he could get in, we decided I’d fly there and go to the show, knowing they’d put me on the guest list with a +1. And they wouldn’t card someone on the guest list, right? Somehow this worked and Ellen even sang Happy Birthday (to You) to Steve at the start of the encore. What a delightful story.
This time, though… well, I bet Jeff would say it was more delightful. He seemed delighted, anyway.
When Ellen got up to sing, she started by announcing that it was a very special day here in Casino Regina. And I immediately muttered “oh no.” Sure enough, she proceeded to announce to everyone that it was my birthday and led everyone in singing Happy Birthday (to You) to me. And not just regular Happy Birthday (to You), it had bonus commentary:
Happy birthday to you (He’s sitting right down here in front) Happy birthday to you (He’s wearing a Tragically Hip shirt) Happy birthday dear James (He’s been our fan since he was 4 years old) Happy birthday to you
Now. You may know when my birthday is. If you don’t, all you need to know is that it is decidedly not July 30. This, of course, was entirely the point. Was Ellen proud of herself? The little “haha” she gave us off-mic would suggest so. She was especially pleased when I messaged her after the show to tell her about all the people who noticed my Hip shirt and wished me a happy birthday on my way back to the car.
I was there with Jeff and Denelle. Before the show, Denelle asked “do you think Ellen will give you shit for wearing a Hip shirt?” “Yeah probably,” I said, not really thinking it was honestly all that likely. And when we got to our table “right down here in front,” Jeff pointed out that I was in trouble because we were sitting right in front of Ellen. So really, everything tied up so nicely with callbacks that Ellen didn’t even know about.
On Instagram, Jeff mentioned that he knew I was in for it because of where we were sitting. Ellen replied simply “he is never safe.”
Maybe the highlight of all of it was receiving a happy birthday text from a friend who wasn’t even there. I know he wasn’t there because I’d offered him the spare seat at our table but he was doing colonoscopy prep and chose, wisely, necessarily, to stay home. Somehow, “the Dummies are singing Happy Birthday to some guy named James” is newsworthy enough that it passed through several people before finding its way back to me. I suppose it’s hardly the least improbable part of my history with the band.
Thread rated: 7.81
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