“Thank you to the prime minister for coming to our show, it really means a lot to all of us”, said Downie, who was pictured by Trudeau’s photographer before the concert embracing the prime minister.
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A massive swath of Tragically Hip fans has gathered to pay their final respects to the departing band and the last stop of their Man Machine Poem tour promises to be a memorable moment.
A Canadian band whose lead singer was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer have performed their last concert at the end of an emotional farewell tour.
Here are audience-shot videos captured by KINGSTON 360 DOTCOM from the final show Saturday at Rogers K-Rock Centre. Tickets had sold out within minutes.
CBC broadcast the concert and viewing parties were held across the country.
Trudeau was among the fans who attended what’s believed to be the band’s final show, in Kingston, Ontario Saturday night.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a coveted spot in the audience, Downie mentioned him during the concert a couple times and the two even shared a hug.
Man Machine Poem, the band’s most recent album, came out in June.
Despite being diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most aggressive cancerous brain tumor, in December, an energetic Downie was in fine form as he and his bandmates played an epic 30-song set loaded with hits and punctuated by three encores.
“He was very courageous and chose to take his group out on one last tour and tonight’s the last night of that run”, he said as the stadium’s big screen cut to someone in the audience wearing a Hip t-shirt.
In words that sparked a flurry of praise on social media, Downie said Trudeau “cares about the people way up North, that we were trained our entire lives to ignore – trained our entire lives to hear not a word of what’s going on up there”.
Downie formed the legendary band with guitarist Rob Baker in 1984.
From all Canadians, thanks for the memories Gord. “I love my idea of this country”. Despite technical difficulties with the screens blowing over due to wind and getting the projector to play the live stream, people enjoyed beer and sang out choruses to their favourite songs.
I was going to say Gord’s life, but the truth is, the band is so intertwined with the Canadian experience, so much a part of our reality, the distinction is irrelevant. “Forever in our hearts and playlists”, the PM wrote. “It’s going to take us 100 years to figure out what the hell went on up there, but it isn’t cool and everybody knows that”.
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Later, basking in adulation, no longer feeling the need, he let them flow freely. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp., in its interactive tour of the Canadian locales the band references in its songs, called Downie “Canada’s unofficial poet laureate”.
