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All of the components of the ambitious project found their place during a magical performance in front of a sold-out audience that included members of the Downie and Wenjack families, indigenous leaders and elders, members of the Hip and fans.

Drew and Hamelin were part of Downie’s supergroup of a band, along with Barenaked Ladies’ Kevin Hearn, Skydiggers’ Josh Finlayson and Charles Spearin, of Broken Social Scene and Do Make Say Think.

The music pulsed with rhythm, but was also brushed into a dream-like soundscape with synthesizers, piano, keyboards and acoustic guitar. In jeans, a buttoned-up jean jacket, wide-brimmed hat and scarf, Downie spoke little, but sang with his usual passion and intensity. He displayed the full range of his distinctive voice, from a whisper to a howl, and even a piercing falsetto.

On a big screen over the musicians’ heads, the animated film depicting Chanie’s journey unfolded as each song was performed. It was a track-by-track reading of the album, from the opening single, The Stranger, when we see Chanie and other students at the school getting their hair cut, being showered and huddling under the covers in a row of beds, to the fade-out of the final song, Here, Here and Here, after Chanie closes his eyes, passing into golden warmth of his home.

The standing ovation that greeted the performance showed the audience was moved. To paraphrase Mike Downie’s words when he addressed the crowd near the end of the evening, listening could be the first true step towards reconciliation.