Hip Concert

[JayByrd]

*removed*

[Woodenhead]

I've never witnessed a Tragedy Hip concert before but always liked their Canadian Rock Music although never knew of Gord Downie's style of entertaining on the stage. At first I couldn't put my fingers on what or who he reminded me of and it was like a little bit Elton John with his stage dress presents and that of Latenight host Conan O'Brian with his zany facial expression and body movement. But after the initial shock, I finally settled in and actually enjoyed the rest of the concert and witnessed a live unique musical spectical seen Coast to Coast across the Nation. Truly a Canadian musical entertainer to be proud of.

In his younger days he was much more animated & energetic - his smaller gestures & expressions remain on point, but this illness has really taken a lot of the hitch out of his giddy-up. Damned cancer. I feel fortunate to have seen him numerous times in his prime. I wasn't that big on the band until I saw them live around 1991. I remember Gord climbing up in the trusses for the lighting over the stage (outdoor show in Toronto) and doing some version of his Highway Girl rant, lol. Epic entertainer & great lyricist.

[jetty1965]

I am not a Hip fan but I do respect them for what they have accomplished as Canadian artists. So much respect for Downie to take the time in his now limited remaining time on this earth to say good bye to his fans. Classy. Very classy of the CBC to take the time off the Olympics to post the concert, of which many of our Olympic Athletes were watching from Brasil.

[OREZ]

I listened to quite a bit of the Hip up to about "In Violet Light" but I don't think I would have called myself a "massive fan" or anything like that - I just really appreciated what they were doing.

What struck me while listening to the concert was how after all these years I still knew every word to most of the songs they did. That and the memories which came back as I watched and listened... It's just VERY real, human, organic music. Nothing pretentious or contrived about these guys but plenty of depth and thoughtfulness in their music, all the same.

It's an extremely rare thing, to be so guttural and emotional while at the same time so intelligent and evocative.

[oneh2obabe]

The CBC's broadcast and livestreaming of The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration concert reached 11.7 million people on Saturday night, according to preliminary audience figures.

The commercial-free special presentation was carried live on radio and TV and was streamed live online via the CBC's website, apps, YouTube channel and Facebook page.

More at link
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/tragicall ... -1.3730276

[Liquidnails]

They're a Canadian cultural symbol, and got the send off they deserved. Good on CBC for providing such good coverage, with no ads and available world wide.

Fan or not, I don't think there is much negative anyone could say about the hip.

[JayByrd]

What I love about the CBC here too, is, as far as I can tell, they didn't make any money on the broadcast.

They didn't run any ads, in fact, they pre-empted programming that did.

They only had the rights to the live broadcast...the band owns the rights to any future DVD/streaming/audio release of the show.

There may have been some peripheral ads if you streamed the live show on youtube, but I doubt it was enough to recoup their costs.

Good on the CBC, and the band, for doing this.

[GordonH]

All 17 Hip albums are currently on Canadian Billboard Charts

[Symbonite]

8 of them on the american one but only getting to 129 for "now for plan A"