The Tragically Hip - Live Between Us (LP)

Label: Universal Music Canada – 0255705621
Format: 2 x LP
Country: Canada
Released: Apr 21, 2017
Genre: Rock

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

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.

Lead singer Gordon Downie is 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, 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.