Well, The Hip tried. After rain forced most of the band off stage, leaving Gord Downie alone to kill time by gleefully talking about Rod Stewart's semen (yep), they tried to get it back going. They tried "Wheat Kings," but it sounded exactly as warped as you'd expect after sheets of rain pounded the equipment for a good 20 minutes. The announcement that they were done was met with silence but the announcement that they would reschedule was met with a roar and down the path we went, where we found an open field, where we urinated in the tall grass like we owned the place. We were all wheat kings, for a moment.

It was a very Buffalo moment after a very Buffalo concert. Even though initial excitement brought forth by the rain quickly turned into uncomfortable standing around when we realized we were cold and soaked, the crowd was still much thicker than it was two weeks ago at The Black Keys show. And what could have been a long, wet, miserable walk to our cars was instead a parade; yes, the alcohol and the fact that this worked out to basically be a free Grace Potter show MAY have played a factor, but statements like "Well, at least they are rescheduling," made by people carrying their dripping wet shirts on their back served as a reminder of how much people in Buffalo love The Tragically Hip.

And now they love Grace Potter, too. Playing mostly newer songs, they won over a crowd who seemingly went into the show thinking of them as an afterthought. Five songs into the set, we were able to waltz right down to the front, just off to the side, getting about five rows back from the stage without disturbing anyone. After the roar that followed their announcement of an upcoming show at Town Ballroom on September 11, a show that will test the sonic capacity of the facility, they went into "Joey," one of their older songs that they've successfully turned into a lengthy blues jam. If that didn't completely get the crowd going their tribute to the Canadian contingent did, as they played an impressive cover of Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" two songs later. It was at this point when the gentleman behind us started to repeat the phrase "She's so fucking hot" over and over, which is both entirely accurate and completely misses the point: Yes, she was channeling her inner Stevie Nicks with that dress and turned every male and some females in attendance into drooling dogs, but focusing on her looks kind of devalues her scratchy, soulful voice and songwriting talent.

"The Lion The Beast The Beat," was the penultimate song and the first physical sensation of the evening: that heavy intro with the rhythmic, pounding drums and thumping bass line served as a heads-up of sorts for the thunder that would soon follow. They closed with the requisite "Paris," their signature song, and found a way to incorporate some pretty epic group drumming at the end, epic group drumming which was captured on video and subsequently ruined in the torrential downpour.

So if you missed last night you missed a very special, very wet evening. But you will be okay. Grace Potter is coming back on September 11 for a show that will surely sell out, and The Hip will be rescheduled sometime in the near future. We'll have details here as soon as they are available.