How appropriate it is that I spend this week taking a break from my usual sports editorials to focus on something completely Canadian, just as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation did on Aug. 20 when they broadcast the whole three hour Tragically Hip concert commercial free.
So thank you CBC for providing us with an opportunity to celebrate a truly Canadian band.
Despite paying a significant amount of money for the rights to broadcasting the Olympic games the CBC elected to forgo three hours of Olympic coverage, plus commercial revenue to broadcast a three-hour commercial free concert of the Tragically Hip in their hometown of Kingston.
And what a show it was.
There is something about the Tragically Hip that resonates with Canadians.
Maybe it is the fact that there are illusions to Canadian history in their music, Maple Leaf Bill Barilko in Fifty Mission Cap, and David Milgaard in Wheat Kings, just to name a few.
Or maybe it is the fact that they are all ours.
Canada has produced a number of great Canadian bands over the years including Rush, The Guess Who, Blue Rodeo, Loverboy, and Our Lady Peace, again just naming a few but none of those bands resonated with Canadians like the Hip did.
A good chunk of the bands listed above hit it big in the United States, something the Hip were never quite able to do and I think that is a good part of the reason why we love them.
We do not have to share them with the States, or any other country for that matter, because no one gets the Hip like we do. I think in a lot of cases that is where our love comes in.
We love them because we get them like no one else can.
I sat there watching the concert loving every minute.
Sure Gord Downie did not have the same stage presence as so many people claimed he has had in the past but he was still Gord.
Still wearing the flashy outfits and still fighting with his microphone stand.
The show itself was great.
The band played all their hits and I found myself enjoying the show more and more as it went along, even telling one of my friends after they returned for an unprecedented third encore that I hoped it went on all night.
But of course all good things must come to an end and what an end it was.
The lasting images from the show will be Gord completely breaking down during one of their finals songs and the final shot of the concert with the band members arm-in-arm on the stage soaking in the crowd.
It was tremendous theatre that featured courage, and grace, too and is something a lot of Canadians will not soon forget.
So thank you CBC for giving Canada, and people from around the world the chance to celebrate the Hip one last time.
The only thing left to do is sell copies of the concert with all proceeds from the sales going to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research.
Because why not take something truly Canadian and turn it into something truly wonderful?
And to the Tragically Hip, and more specifically Gord Downie for giving Canada possibly their final chance to celebrate your greatness, “Hey man thanks.”
