On August 20th, arguably the greatest Canadian band ever will take the stage one final time in their home town of Kingston, Ontario. Their last concert will be televised on CBC for all to see where we can all say our final goodbye to the iconic band.
For the past 30 years, The Hip have been a staple of the Canadian music scene. It’s hard to imagine them no longer being within it. The Tragically Hip have released 13 studio albums, two live albums, 1 EP, 54 singles, while racking up 14 Juno awards, multiple Diamond, Platinum and Gold certified albums. The Tragically Hip have achieved a level of commercial and critical success that few bands could ever hope to achieve.
But after so much success why walk away? Why leave the millions of fans crying for more? Granted that the mark of a great artist is leave the fans wanting more. The real reason is not as happy. In late May of this year, lead singer Gord Downie revealed to media that he had terminal brain cancer, and after going through radiation, chemo and surgery he felt it was time to “dig deep, and try to make this our best tour yet.” Their final tour will remain in Canada, starting in Victoria, BC and make its way East where they will end in Kingston, ON.
So as we say good bye to them, I’d like to send them off with a re-worded “Blow at High Dough”, which I call “We hate to see the Hip go”
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