The free event was a viewing party of The Tragically Hip A National Celebration live from Kingston, Ont. on CBC.
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Downie, who started the show wearing a metallic silver suit and hat with a “Jaws” T-shirt underneath, hugged and kissed his bandmates before they stepped on stage to open with “50 Mission Cap”, followed by “Courage (for Hugh MacLennan)”, “Wheat Kings” and “At the Hundredth Meridian”, all off the album “Fully Completely”. “(But) we’re going to get it fixed and we got the guy to do it, to start, to help”.
At least that’s how it felt Saturday afternoon on the historic streets of the eastern Ontario city as hordes of music fans prepared for a massive tribute to the Tragically Hip. “Anywhere you go in the world when you’re travelling, you say Tragically Hip and they say Bobcaygeon”. A slew of singles became radio fixtures, while the band’s 14 albums nabbed numerous awards. But the Hip still went ahead with a 15-show tour which passed through much of the country.
Canadians are watching the final concert by their rock band The Tragically Hip, whose lead singer and songwriter Gord Downie has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. “It’s fantastic. I’ve been to Thailand, I’ve been to Dubai, I say it and they say Bobcaygeon”. 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.
“It sounds cliche however they have been the soundtrack to many crucial moments in my life so I wanted to be a part of it”, said Howard, who was among the fans who watched the concert at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre. Residents are asked to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets to sit on.
Donations to the Canadian Cancer Society and the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation will be accepted. Canadians Abroad of Southern California is having a viewing party in Los Angeles.
“Armed with will and determination and grace, too”, she said it’ll read.
Gord Downie delivered a relentless set that stretched for almost three hours and was jam-packed with the big hits and fan favourites. “It’s sweet. I think it’s everyone coming together for the family band”.
“Besides them being a great rock band, I guess it’s that they tell the stories of average Canadians”, Xie said.
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In 1995, she was one of just a couple hundred diehard fans who caught the band’s surprise fundraiser show at the now-defunct Railway Club in Vancouver.
