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Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie diagnosed with terminal brain cancer

GhostofPotvin29

New member
Message posted to the band's website today:

Hello friends.

We have some very tough news to share with you today, and we wish it wasn't so.

A few months ago, in December, Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

Since then, obviously, he's endured a lot of difficult times, and he has been fighting hard. In privacy along with his family, and through all of this, we've been standing by him.

So after 30-some years together as The Tragically Hip, thousands of shows, and hundreds of tours...

We've decided to do another one.

This feels like the right thing to do now, for Gord, and for all of us.

What we in The Hip receive, each time we play together, is a connection; with each other; with music and it's magic; and during the shows, a special connection with all of you, our incredible fans.

So, we're going to dig deep, and try to make this our best tour yet.

We hope you can come out and join us this summer - details and dates will be coming this week.

And we sincerely thank all of you, for your continued love and support,

Paul, GordD, Johnny, Rob, GordS
 
I've never been much of a fan of the Hip, but I recognize Downie as a Canadian legend.  I was shaken by the news when I heard it on the radio this morning.
 
Damn, damn, damn. This one hurts. Still the favourite concert I ever went to was New Years Eve, 1999 at the ACC. It was an All-Canadian thing with the Rheostatics, Hayden, I think The Odds and then The Hip closed the show and were incredible. I've seen them a couple other times but for various reasons that remains my favourite live music experience.

I guess I'm going to have to go see this one but I'm guessing it'll get a little dusty.
 
This really sucks.  The first time I saw The Hip was on May 1st, 1993, the same day as Borchevsky's game 7 winner, which I heard in my buddy's car as we tried to race from the concert (in Buffalo) over to his apartment.  What a day that was from top to bottom.  Although I was a massive fan in the 90s, I don't own anything after 1998's Phantom Power.  Similarly, I saw them many times in many towns during the 90s but not once since then.  But the other day I threw on Road Apples for the first time in a long time and was reminded how very good they were.  I can't imagine what going to a concert this summer would be like -- knowing what was coming.  Might as well have Kleenex sponsor the shows. 
 
Love this band, and Downie as the frontman. One of a kind. An absolute Canadian icon. I brought in the new year with them at Copps Coliseum in 2002. What a fantastic show. I will go out of my way, change plans if need be, to see one of their final concerts this summer. So so sad.
 
Not sure if others here are heading to any of their shows over the next month. I was lucky enough to see them both nights in Vancouver. Both shows were overwhelming, and just...really...good.

The band was incredible and Gord is still doing Gord - his singing is as good as ever, but on stage...maybe the best way to say it is he was taking it all in and a little less in his own weird on-stage-world. For a town that I am quick to criticize, the crowd was amazing (likely because half grew up Hip fans in Ontario or the Maritimes, but I digress). I'm happy the CBC is carrying their last concert from Kingston, because if you don't get a chance to see them in person, that will still be worth seeing.
 
As an aside to the concert and diagnosis talk, I'm really digging the latest Hip album (Man Machine Poem). I haven't always been on board with the band's catalogue post-'Day for Night' (I'm looking at you 'In Violet Light', 'Now for Plan A' and 'Trouble at the Henhouse') but this one has a great sound. The guitar and drum work really stand out.
 
The Hip and hockey forever intertwined...

...for many NHL players, it was at the rink that their love of the band first came to fruition.

"When you start playing junior hockey it seems like (The Tragically Hip) is always on in the dressing room,? says Hamonic. ?I realized how much I liked them at a young age.?

San Jose Sharks Logan Couture...That love of the band, and the unifying feeling it brings in increasingly diverse NHL locker rooms, has stuck with Couture.

?Their lyrics about Canadian history, a lot of them are about hockey. It means something to you when they?re singing about your country and your sport as well.?

Long associated with hockey, one commonly held belief is that The Tragically Hip have written many songs about the sport. Besides ?50 Mission Cap,? which unpacks the strange disappearance and legacy of Toronto Maple Leafs legend Bill Barilko, the band?s odes to hockey are much subtler: ?700 Ft. Ceiling? references the flooding of natural ice rinks. ?Fireworks? discusses Paul Henderson?s famed Summit Series-winning goal and ?The Lonely End of the Rink? sees Downie baring his childhood hopes and fears as a minor league goalie.

Hamonic believes there is more to the band than their handful of songs about hockey.

It would appear then, that the roads of hockey and art in this case meet in a place much deeper inside players, one that stretches beyond hockey.

?There?s such a connection. Maybe it?s because Canada itself is tied to hockey and the Tragically Hip are entrenched in Canadian history,? says Hamonic. ?They?re as Canadian as anything else is.

"I?m not surprised by the support they?ve gotten,? says Hamonic. ?In my experience, at the world juniors, the outpouring of support you get as Canadians is because we feel so fortunate to be Canadian. Canadians take care of their own. It?s not surprising to see people rally around the band.?


Full story:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-players-love-tragically-hip-runs-deep/
 
Omallley said:
Not sure if others here are heading to any of their shows over the next month. I was lucky enough to see them both nights in Vancouver. Both shows were overwhelming, and just...really...good.

Went last night. I haven't seen them in some time; back when they were doing much smaller venues two decades ago -but the band sounded great. The acc was absolutely rammed to the point where I was getting uncomfortable - people were packed in like sardines just trying to walk around the levels. 
Show was poignant/canadiana on full display. They played a good split of all of their major albums. Glad I went.
 
i'm going to the Hamilton show on Tuesday....which is great..because my band is playing on the 20th and i was sick over the fact I was missing the final Kingston show..it's gonna be a slice of Canadiana....
 
caveman said:
i'm going to the Hamilton show on Tuesday....which is great..because my band is playing on the 20th and i was sick over the fact I was missing the final Kingston show..it's gonna be a slice of Canadiana....

Great show last night?  I believe Rob DM also had tix.
 
Rick said:
caveman said:
i'm going to the Hamilton show on Tuesday....which is great..because my band is playing on the 20th and i was sick over the fact I was missing the final Kingston show..it's gonna be a slice of Canadiana....

Great show last night?  I believe Rob DM also had tix.

The set list looks fantastic.
 
Rick said:
caveman said:
i'm going to the Hamilton show on Tuesday....which is great..because my band is playing on the 20th and i was sick over the fact I was missing the final Kingston show..it's gonna be a slice of Canadiana....

Great show last night?  I believe Rob DM also had tix.

it was a great show...the whole crowd rode the wave of emotion...it was a special night...
 
Was @ the final Toronto show Sunday. Very meh setlist imo. Gord and the band sounded great but not one song from "Fully Completely??" 4 songs from "Now for Plan A??" Not one comment from anyone in the band about anything during/after their last ever show in Toronto? Was expecting quite a bit more to be honest.

And that's not even considering the crazy $$ I had to spend to get tix ;)
 
Andy007 said:
Was @ the final Toronto show Sunday. Very meh setlist imo. Gord and the band sounded great but not one song from "Fully Completely??" 4 songs from "Now for Plan A??" Not one comment from anyone in the band about anything during/after their last ever show in Toronto? Was expecting quite a bit more to be honest.

And that's not even considering the crazy $$ I had to spend to get tix ;)

They've been doing blocks of songs from an album each show, you just got unlucky that they did a FC block during the first 2 shows. 

Of course if they play the same songs each show there would be people complaining about that as well.  :P 
 
Potvin29 said:
Andy007 said:
Was @ the final Toronto show Sunday. Very meh setlist imo. Gord and the band sounded great but not one song from "Fully Completely??" 4 songs from "Now for Plan A??" Not one comment from anyone in the band about anything during/after their last ever show in Toronto? Was expecting quite a bit more to be honest.

And that's not even considering the crazy $$ I had to spend to get tix ;)



Of course if they play the same songs each show there would be people complaining about that as well.  :P

I don't know, I mean if someone feels the need to go to 3 consecutive Toronto Hip shows and then complains that there wasn't enough variety that's just pretty silly on their part. I just think it's common sense:  Final Tragically Hip show ever at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, you have to play 50 Mission Cap. Not to mention a few other iconic songs (Courage, 100th Meridian, Wheat Kings). Maybe even a few words about, you know, the last show ever in Toronto. It was just disappointing to me, isall ;)
 
Might be important to keep in mind that as much as its an experience for the fans, it's also one for the band. They probably want to play as much of their catalog as possible and probably don't want to dwell on the sad facts of why this tour is so significant.
 
Nik the Trik said:
Might be important to keep in mind that as much as its an experience for the fans, it's also one for the band. They probably want to play as much of their catalog as possible and probably don't want to dwell on the sad facts of why this tour is so significant.

And that certainly is understandable. They can play an hour and 45 minutes of "Now for Plan A" and "in Violet Light" if they so choose to, and it would also be understandable for some people to be disappointed and let down by that.
 
Andy007 said:
And that certainly is understandable. They can play an hour and 45 minutes of "Now for Plan A" and "in Violet Light" if they so choose to, and it would also be understandable for some people to be disappointed and let down by that.

I guess. I've never gone to any concert with the expectation that a band owes me certain songs though.
 
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