The winds of change that will blow Jimmy Page and Robert Plant into town tonight also bring with them the mark of things to come. Special guests, The Tragically Hip will kick off tonight’s show at 8 p.m.

The group, which hail from Kingston, Ontario, are playing in promotion of their current album, Day For Night. “The tour is going nicely,” said Gordon Downie, lead vocalist. “We played one month in April with Page and Plant, and in May they invited us back. We were definitely better prepared this time around.”

The key to that preparedness: change. Having been together 11 years, The Hip are constantly reworking their material and writing new material as they tour. “Song writing is a process that is always evolving and changing,” Downie said. “The one thing we have faith in is the fact that it will change and all circumstances change.”

Downie described how The Tragically Hip keep all their songs and eventually through this evolution process, a new song emerges. “It’s strange to be recording all the time, kind of like working on a vintage car. But with constantly producing new works, you don’t have just 14 or 15 songs that have to be there.”

Not wanting to succumb to the pressures and time constraints of recording, The Hip built their own studio in Kingston. Downie explained the hidden evils, though, of having your own recording studio. “We never want to leave. No idea we produce there is cliche. We have a multitude of material and we can maximize our time by recording when we want to.

“The process of recording in a corporate studio is like going to have your teeth done. You have to be artistic a certain number of hours.”

Not enough hours in the day seem to be the major obstacle of the Hip. After the completion of the No Quarter tour, they will head back into the studio to begin recording a new album they hope to have out by spring.

Besides writing, recording and touring, The Tragically Hip with Downie, Bobby Baker on guitar, Johnny Fay manning drums, Paul Langlois also on guitar and vocals and bassist Gord Sinclair, managed to launch their own festival-style tour of Canada in ’93. Billed as “Another Roadside Attraction,” The Hip headlined with Midnight Oil, Crash Vegas, Hothouse Flowers and Pere Ubu among others.

“You don’t think a festival tour like this is possible in North America,” Downie said. ” We were inspired by the festivals in Europe. Most North American tours have the aura of a golf tournament, a sort of quiet competition. But this tour really made us feel like musicians and it was an effective way to cover Canada.”

The venture was so effective, it was named the most successful outdoor tour in Canadian history and was reborn for the summer of ’95. This time The Tragically Hip were joined by the likes of Ziggy Marley.

The Tragically Hip doesn’t want “Another Roadside Attraction” to be confused with, or compared to Lollapalooza. But, Downie doesn’t mind talking about the event.

“We don’t want to commit ourselves to anything, it invites grand expectations. If we do it, we do it. We live for the moment. We just enjoy making a career out of using our imaginations.”

That career looks to be a long endeavor if creativity and imagination are to be the basis. The Tragically Hip take the Hilton stage tonight, opening for Page and Plant. Tickets prices are $28 and are still available through Ticketmaster or the Hilton Box Office.