CBC shared official footage of The Tragically Hip performing “New Orleans Is Sinking” to open the first encore last night in Kingston.
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In a brief interview with the CBC, Trudeau reminisced about how he used to enjoy the band’s music during his high school and university years. The band doesn’t make it easy on an American audience unfamiliar with its music, opting to play the moody Day for Night cuts “Grace, Too” and “Nautical Disaster” on the broadcast instead of any of the more populist jams from their hit-heavy back catalogue.
Those at the concert, which was broadcast live across Canada, experienced a whirlwind of feelings, with Downie, 52, breaking down in tears as he crooned his hit “Grace, Too” before departing the stage, according to the Washington Post.
In an emotionally charged final concert in Kingston, Ont., Tragically Hip singer Gord Down paused the show to address the audience, the country, and specifically, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. When the band made news earlier this year, it had nothing to do with the music.
The concert on Saturday marked the end of a 15-show tour for the band, entitled Man Machine Poem.
A denim jacket-clad Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was there.
When the Hip announced the tour in May after the diagnosis became public, they said: “This feels like the right thing to do now, for Gord, and for all of us …”
The two-hour concert, which included numerous band’s hits through the years, was screened in Riverside Park at the Rotary Bandshell and at McDonald Park following Overlanders Day celebrations. “It’s really, really bad, but we’re going to figure it out, you’re going to figure it out”.
“Our prayers are with Mr. Downie as he bravely battles brain cancer”, said FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron.
The Kingston concert sold out nearly immediately, along with the other 14 shows on the tour.
His rock-and-blues band, often known by the shorthand “The Hip” formed in the 1980s, penned lyrics about small-town Canadian life, that won them a broad national following over the course of 14 albums, though they are largely uknown outside Canada.
Bobcaygeon shut down its main street to screen the final stop of the Hip’s tour.
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January 1, 1987: The Hip’s first EP, The Tragically Hip, is released, with production by Red Rider guitarist Ken Greer.
