He was playing a cassette (I know, I know) in his car of a band that seemed so familiar to me. Some days later, I hitched a ride with a friend to get my hair cut in downtown North Bay. I was 13, just beginning my musical journey, but I knew I liked what I was hearing. Without the internet, and it being 1991, no song-identifying app to figure out the artist, this song stuck in my head for days. In 1991, Sportsline played this catchy tune in the background of their hockey highlights, and I loved the raw power and emotion of it. I started watching later in the decade when Mark Hebscher and Jim Tatti had refined the show into a successful two-man team. Sportsline, a cutting-edge show for its time, originated in the mid-1980s with Bob McCown as host. One of my nightly routines before going to bed as a teen was to watch the sports highlights on Global. I first heard the Hip's music without really knowing that I was hearing it. They are inclusive, and there is something for everyone. That is the majesty of the Tragically Hip. I am 38-years-old (but I've kissed a girl). I've felt those personal connections to this band, and to this wordsmith who is unlike any musician I've ever witnessed. Some are crystal clear, some required a trip to the library to search for references pre-internet. Gord Downie's lyrics are open to interpretation.
The crowd stood and applauded the band on the screen as the five members embraced at the front of the stage before their hometown crowd. Patrons sang, danced, and cheered on the Hip, especially during the band's three emotional encores. Donations at the door went to the Canadian Cancer Society. In a more intimate, raucous affair, the Summit Room at the Voyager was filled to capacity on a humid summer night. Concessions were open, but it was unclear where the profits would be directed. Admission was free, and donations were split between the Gord Downie Cancer Fund and Laurentian Ski Hill.
Locally, a sparse yet spirited family-friendly crowd attended an official CBC live screening at Memorial Gardens. Downie even alluded to his scarf, worn underneath his shirt collar and according to him, fashioned from two socks.
His scalp, no doubt scarred from treatment and surgery for his brain tumour, kept under wraps beneath various feathered fedoras. His outfits, part Max Headroom, part Tin Man shone brightly under the spotlight. Gord Downie spent the evening drenched in sweat, his customary handkerchief never out of reach. "We are all richer for having seen them tonight." While the line originated with Gord Downie and is spoken over the opening of Grace, Too from the Live Between Us album in reference to The Rheostatics, Canadians were left repeating those words, or some variation thereof, as they filed from viewing parties across Canada Saturday evening. It was as if everything the band had done and accomplished had led them to this inevitable point, and they were determined to put on a show that will never be forgotten by those in attendance, and by the millions watching on the CBC. There is no fanboy hyperbole in saying that The Tragically Hip put on the performance of a lifetime Saturday evening in Kingston, Ont. In North Bay, artist Jeff Marceau paid homage to Downie.įind below BayToday's local coverage of the night Downie and the Hip signed off, five years ago today: 'It's a shame to leave this masterpiece' Tens of thousands gathered and watched the concert on screens set up in nearby Springer Market Square.ĬBC estimates at least 11.7 million Canadians watched its broadcast of the concert across television and online platforms. The band's final performance was in Kingston, Ont., in front of a hometown crowd of 6,700 fans lucky enough to have solid connections or win tickets in the lottery to be in attendance at the K-Rock Centre that Saturday night, August 20, 2016. Much has happened in those five years since Canada's favourite band rallied behind singer Gord Downie to complete its Man Machine Poem tour at the behest of the ailing frontman who died just over one year later from brain cancer in October 2017, at the age of 53. Typically these retrospectives elicit one of two reactions: "It's been five years!" Or, "It's been five years?"
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