It is said, that there will be as many (or more) people tuning into this show as have for the Olympic Gold Medal Men's Hockey Game. (impressive)
The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as The Hip, are a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario, consisting of lead singer Gord Downie, guitarist Paul Langlois, guitarist Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair, and drummer Johnny Fay.
May I share with you this ....
MARSHA LEDERMAN
The Globe and Mail Last updated: Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016 8:53AM EDT
In Canada, a country where national identity is so elusive that it’s often oversimplified, equated with hockey and a certain brand of coffee, it’s a beautiful moment when we have something real and profound to unite us. Even if it’s, well, tragic.
Who needs a double-double – or even the Olympics – to pull a country together when you’ve got a country pulling for a national icon and his mates? What’s uniting Canada this summer is a rock band that sings of Jacques Cartier, Millhaven maximum security and, yes, the Leafs; a genius life being cut short by a brain tumour; and a long cross-country goodbye. It has left a vapour trail of heartbreak and exhilaration, this act of enormity.
Over the past few months, and especially these past few weeks, Canada has rocked with the Tragically Hip and rallied behind Gord Downie, its lead singer. Fans have railed against scalping bots, marvelled at Downie’s shiny courage, sung along to every lyric, wept openly with strangers in packed arenas. The Hip hype will reach a deafening climax on Saturday as the band plays the final show of its Man Machine Poem tour in its hometown of Kingston, Ont. Across the country – and beyond – Canadians will be watching.
The news that stung the country broke on May 24. “A few months ago, in December, Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer,” read a message on the Hip’s website. The band (also Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair, Johnny Fay and Paul Langlois) said it would still tour this summer and vowed to “dig deep, and try to make this our best tour yet.”
The nation did not whisper. It wept.
And tweeted. "Gord Downie is a true original who has been writing Canada's soundtrack for more than 30 years. #Courage" Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wrote.
If you love poetry .... their lyrics are amazing!
God Bless.
Van
