reminder: at 8:30 tonight, the Tragically Hip will be playing their final concert. watch/listen at http://www.cbcmusic.ca/TheHip, youtube, SiriusXM and other sources - details.
i watched the concert on saturday. i watched it alone at my in-laws in VT, on my cellphone (it has a better screen than the crappy laptop i brought). but i was not really alone: approximately a third of canada also watched the show. only the gold medal hockey game in vancouver had higher viewership. the CBC aired the concert, uninterrupted - an amazing thing considering it was prime-time saturday night, during the olympics. that's a lot of lost ad revenue. from coast to coast, people gathered in parks, community centers and bars for
public viewing parties, or at private ones like every one of my friends seemed to be at. it was one of those rare national, communal moments. it was all for music.
speaking of music, the performance itself was solid, they played a lot of hits and rarities, and it was packed with emotion, but it was not the best hip show i've seen or watched. gord did an incredible job for someone who recently completed both chemo- and radiotherapy and was playing his 15th show of the tour. he predictably didn't have the energy he used to, he didn't play guitar, etc. but even in his weakened state he put on a 30-song, 3-hour show and proved that he was still a captivating (and
emotional) frontman.
the band has not said this was their final show, only that future plans will depend on gord's health. if we never get another note for them, the hip will have provided the soundtrack to several generations of canucks and a farewell performance that millions will remember.
in case any of the above was interesting to you, here's a bit more:
The Tragically Hip, the band all of Canada is obsessed with, explainedhttp://www.vox.com/2016/8/23/12575952/tragically-hip-last-concert
