When I was a teenager, I didn’t really pay a lot of attention to The Tragically Hip. I was for the most part into not as good music (although Radiohead was definitely an early influence on my life). The more I aged, the more that my appreciation for the Hip grew. I began to understand what Gord Downie was singing about and felt it in my bones (to borrow a Radiohead lyric).

My teenage years become more distant with every passing day, but I am reminded of what my grade nine math teacher said, “The Tragically Hip are the greatest band ever.” I thought he was crazy then, but now, I know what he means.

I was able to see The Tragically Hip for the first time in my life in 2008 at the Pemberton Music Festival in Pemberton, BC. I was up in the front row for a lot of the main stage acts and honestly, I remember Coldplay and Nine Inch Nails and Jay-Z and N.E.R.D. and The Flaming Lips, but nothing sticks with me like that Hip performance.

I looked over some of the photos that I took back then and wanted to share a couple of favourites. The news of Gord Downie’s brain cancer shocked a lot of us Canadians. I think since it was announced a few weeks ago it has taken some time to get used to. There are have been and are going to be countless things written about what Gord Downie means to Canada and to the music in this nation, but none of them will really ever truly encapsulate what it’s like to witness a Hip show and see how they connect with the audience. It’s something else.

I managed to get a couple of tickets for my wife and I to see The Tragically Hip on their farewell tour. The concert is 5 weeks from today, Sunday, July 24th. I have a feeling that there will probably be a lot of tears in Rogers Arena in Vancouver that night, but Gord Downie and The Tragically Hip aren’t going to want you to leave sad. I am certain that the one feeling that they are going to want their audience to leave with is joy. I can’t really see it any other way.

