Their final stop was in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario.
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More than 3,500 fans of the Tragically Hip turned out on both shores of the Thompson River in Kamloops Saturday night, joining countless thousands across the country to take in the band’s final concert, televised as a fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society.
The CBC’s broadcast and livestreaming of The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration concert reached 11.7 million people on Saturday night, according to preliminary audience figures.
“It’s very encouraging to hear Mr. Downie use his celebrity to endorse the work of Prime Minister Trudeau”, FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said in a written statement. And what’s going on up there ain’t good. “But he’ll do it”, Downie told concertgoers between songs.
Justin Trudeau mouthed “thank you” and nodded from the audience in gratitude.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation called Downie the nation’s unofficial “poet laureate” in a touching post on their website, while Trudeau took to Twitter with some touching words for the musician. “Forever in our hearts and playlists”, the PM wrote.
In Rio, the Canada Olympic House hosted a party for Canadian athletes who wore their red team jackets.
Lead singer Gord Downie, decked out in a metallic silver suit and hat, hugged and kissed his bandmates before they stepped on stage before an overflowing crowd at the K-rock centre.
The band got into the hits with “Courage (For Hugh McLennan)”, “At the Hundredth Meridian”, and “Wheat Kings” among others.
The Hip then segued into songs from their latest album, Man Machine Poem, before running through tracks from their previous records.
However, that did not disappoint the hundreds of fans sitting on the grass to listen to Hip front-man Downie belt out the lyrics fans have grown accustom to – including Nautical Disaster, New Orleans Is Sinking and Bobcaygeon before ending with Ahead by a Century.
They then embraced, stood arm-in-arm as the crowd roared, and walked off stage.
Before performing the song Fiddler’s Green, Downie appeared to reference the outpouring of support from fans following his glioblastoma diagnosis in December.
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After the show ended, the Toronto-based broadcaster and writer Alan Cross tweeted to say it would be remembered for a long time.
