“There’s a guy who’s got a band called Tragically Hip”, he continued, as the crowd started to cheer.
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The Kingston concert was broadcast on Canadian TV and was shown at hundreds of public screenings across the country in bars and outdoor venues.
Trudeau told the CBC that the concert represents a way to not only say farewell to Downie, but also celebrate the singer and celebrate Canada.
The CBC secured the streaming rights for the shows after The Man Machine Poem Tour sold out pretty much overnight, with the band’s fans clamoring for a final chance to see the Hip in concert.
The Hip returned to the city where their storied musical journey began in the early 1980s.
Proceeds from t-shirts and ticket sales at the Canadian Nightclub event are going the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research.
The nearly three-hour show in Kingston, Ontario, featured music from throughout the Tragically Hip music catalog – including fan favorites like Nautical Disaster, Bobcaygeon and Ahead by a Century, CNN partner CBC News reported.
“I think they certainly helped put us on the map”, organizer Aaron Shaw said.
“He’s going to be looking good for about at least 12 more years”.
Mr Trudeau tweeted after the concert that the band would be “forever in our hearts and playlists”.
They started as a college band working the local circuit and then took off, but their success across 14 albums was mostly confined to within Canada.
Gord put on a characteristically energetic performance throughout the 30-song set – including three encores – despite having been diagnosed with a glioblastoma, the most aggressive cancerous brain tumor.
Justin Trudeau mouthed “thank you” and nodded from the audience in gratitude.
In Rio, the Canada Olympic House hosted a party for Canadian athletes who wore their red team jackets.
The band’s biggest hit, Ahead by a Century, finally closed the show.
They then embraced, stood arm-in-arm as the crowd roared, and then walked off stage for good.
Gord gestured as if he was sketching a portrait of the teary audience as the band played the song’s final notes.
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Before performing the “Road Apples” song “Fiddler’s Green”, Downie seemed to reference the outpouring of support from fans in the wake of his diagnosis.
