Live Between Us

Live Between Us is the first full-length live album by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip.

Live Between Us
Live album by The Tragically Hip
Released	May 24, 1997
Recorded	November 23, 1996
Venue	Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Genre	Rock
Length	70:31
Label	MCA
Producer	The Tragically Hip Mark Vreeken
The Tragically Hip chronology
Trouble at the Henhouse (1996) Live Between Us (1997) Phantom Power (1998)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

The album was recorded on November 23, 1996, at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, during the band's North American tour in support of Trouble at the Henhouse.^[2]

Lead singer Gordon Downie was known for his intensity and spontaneity during the band's live concerts such as telling rants/stories, observations, and random comments before, during, and after songs, among other things. As such, this live recording documents him incorporating snippets of other songs in the middle of the band's own songs. This includes John Lennon's "Imagine" during "Grace, Too", Crowded House's "Into Temptation" during "Twist My Arm", David Bowie/Iggy Pop's "China Girl" and The Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby" during "New Orleans Is Sinking", and both Jane Siberry's "The Temple" and Rheostatics' "Bad Time to Be Poor" during "Nautical Disaster"; in addition, a lyrical snippet from Downie's own solo song "Every Irrelevance" is spoken as the introduction to "Ahead by a Century", and part of the band's own unreleased but widely bootlegged song "Montreal" appears in "Courage".

Rheostatics were the opening act on the tour as documented by this album's liner notes, and announced by Downie during the fade-in at the beginning of the album's first track.

In the week of the album's release, eight songs from the album appeared in the week's Top 20 singles chart.

The title comes from graffiti in Kingston, Ontario, which read "The Hip live between us." This graffiti was penned by early band member Davis Manning,^[3] describing the impact that the band was having on his relationship with his girlfriend. The mural remained on the wall until the mid-2000s when it was painted over by the property owner. However, it is immortalized on the CD graphic.

Commercial performance

Live Between Us sold 35,000 units in its first two days and debuted at #1 on the Canadian Albums Chart on the strength of the first two days' sales.^[4] The album was certified double platinum on August 19, 1997.^[5] The album sold 400,000 units by the end of 1997.^[6] Between 1996 and 2016, Live Between Us was the best-selling live album by a Canadian band in Canada and the third best-selling live album by a Canadian artist overall in Canada.^[7] In Flanders, Live Between Us debuted at #47.^[8]

Track listing

1. "Grace, Too" – 6:18
2. "Fully Completely" – 4:11
3. "Springtime in Vienna" – 4:37
4. "Twist My Arm" – 4:05
5. "Gift Shop" – 5:09
6. "Ahead by a Century" – 5:25
7. "The Luxury" – 4:08
8. "Courage" – 5:08
9. "New Orleans Is Sinking" – 6:22
10. "Don't Wake Daddy" – 5:30
11. "Scared" – 5:00
12. "Blow at High Dough" – 4:54
13. "Nautical Disaster" – 5:31
14. "The Wherewithal" – 4:14

The Tragically Hip

• Gord Downie – lead vocals
• Rob Baker – lead guitar
• Paul Langlois – rhythm guitar
• Gord Sinclair – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Johnny Fay – drums

Year-end charts

Chart (2002)	Position
Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[9]	107

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Tragically Hip's Live Universal Set Welcomed In Canada. Billboard. 7 June 1997. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
3. Copper Penny Archived 2007-09-06 at the Wayback Machine
4. "Hip shake up charts on short notice". Archived from the original on September 20, 2004. Retrieved April 13, 2020. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
5. "Gold Platinum Database: The Tragically Hip - Live Between Us". Music Canada. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
6. Billboard SPOTLIGHTS CANADA The Shape Of '98. Billboard. 10 January 1998. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
7. "NIELSEN MUSIC & BILLBOARD PRESENT CANADA 150 CHARTS" (PDF). bdsradio.com. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
8. "The Tragically Hip - Live Between Us". Ultratop (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 March 2021.
9. "Canada's Top 200 Alternative albums of 2002". Jam!. Archived from the original on September 2, 2004. Retrieved March 28, 2022.