TORONTO, ONTARIO–Canadian Music Hall of Famers, The Tragically Hip, showed why they have become Canadian rock legends at four consecutive sold out dates on their latest North American tour, putting Adamson true line source arrays to use for the gigs. Complete production was provided by Towers Productions based in Toronto, Canada. The shows took place between June 17th and June 24th. Artpark in Lewiston, NY played host to the first show, GRCA (Grand River Conservation Authority) in Guelph for the second, and the last two were held at Historic Fort York in Toronto. Formed in 1983, The Tragically Hip started with humble roots until they were "discovered" in 1986 by MCA president, Bruce Dickinson, while playing at a popular club in Toronto. They signed a long term record deal with MCA and have since had immense success in the Canadian and Northern U.S. markets.
Steve Towers from Towers Productions, together with Adamson Systems' Technical support Jesse Adamson and Ben Cabot collaborated in designing the system for all for shows using Adamson Shooter. For the first and smallest show held in Artpark, they chose 12 Y-10's flown and six T-21's ground stacked per side. For the GRCA show, they used a similar mains set-up; with an additional pair of SpekTrix hung under the Y-10's per side, as well as three SpekTrix placed on top of two SpekTrix Subs on each side of the stage for stage fills and another six SpekTrix boxes took care of filling both sides. For the two largest shows, held at the Historic Fort York, Towers opted for a comparable setup, but removed the two SpekTrix underhangs and added four SpekTrix as center fills instead.
The shows were a critical success for the band and the sound designers. The Toronto Sun's concert critic Bill Harris commented after the first Fort York show: "The crowd was more subdued than at other manic Hip concerts over the past 15 years, but maybe that was because the fans actually could hear every note and every lyric…The sound was shockingly crisp, and that allowed the patrons to make out every nuance".
The Tragically Hip are currently working on a new studio album, rumored for release in October 2006 and judging by their recent performances Bill Harris joked, they are "a long way from needing hip surgery".
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