No need to twist their arms
Tragically Hip Fans pack Meridian Centre for Band’s live streamed Kingston concert
Canada was closed at 8:30 Saturday — but Meridian Centre was rockin’.
For the few hours that followed, The Tragically Hip, an iconic Canadian band whose music has been woven into the fabric of Canada and into the storyline of the lives of many Canadians, took the stage for what could be the last time, in their hometown of Kingston.
The concert was streamed by CBC live to millions of Canadians — including those who gathered at local parks and arenas to watch on big screens.
Jeremy Wright of St. Catharines joined thousands to see it at St. Catharines’ downtown arena.
“It’s overwhelming. It’s like watching an icon do his thing one last time, like watching Wayne Gretzky play one last time. It’s hard to put into words,” said Wright. “I was there in Toronto (to see a show from this tour), but this is different, I’m in my city.”
Last December, Gord Downie, frontman for the band, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and bravely launched one final, good bye tour, Man Machine Poem.
“This was Gord’s final show, that’s what it came down to and no matter where you are, what you’re doing, this is what you came to see,“said Mitch Lutz of St. Catharines.
“I’m extremely happy,” said Shawn Boisvert of St. Catharines, who unsuccessfully tried to get For more photos and to watch our video, visit stcatharinesstandard.ca
tickets for concert tickets. “I’ve never seen them and always said there will be another chance.”
Many fans showed up at Meridian Centre with a stash of Kleenex.
“It breaks my heart, it’s going to be emotional,” said Kim Kobayashi of St. Catharines who came prepared with two packages of tissues.
“I met Gord Downie’s sister when I was in Jamaica, she was lovely, down to earth. I asked her about her brother and the band and she told me that they were a great bunch of guys, that they were close and this is what makes it so sad is that they are such a great group of people.”
The band behind such hits as Courage, Blow at High Dough, Twist My Arm and Three Pistols had tens of thousands of people glued to the TVs, but assembling with the masses made for a more memorable Saturday night for Canadians.
“For a lot of people here, I think they grew up with them,” said Ron Webb of St. Catharines. “It’s a whole generation of people and … in some ways it’s nostalgic and in other ways its obviously disappointing, sad, so I think it’s more closure for a lot of people. So that’s why I’m here. It’s about memories.”
Said Pat Bowman of St. Catharines, “It’s sad. It’s something you grew up with … and to see it finally come to an end, to see everything come full circle, it’s sad.”
For some the Kingston concert was about firsts.
“I’m kind of excited to see if I like them or not,” said Tyler Rowland, 10 of Thorold. “I’m kind of excited that it is my first concert with them [his parents] and my first concert that I can remember being at.”
Parents Natalie and Phil Rowland said they have seen about 20 Tragically Hip shows, following the band to various cities as far as Detroit.
“It breaks my heart,” said Natalie. “We saw them in Toronto on Friday and in Hamilton on Tuesday. It was amazing.”
Fans were excited and heartbroken when the final songs played during three encores that rivalled the length of the show. Ending the night with Ahead by a Century, fans quieted down as Downie took a long pause to say goodbye to Hip fans across Canada from the stage in the band’s hometown.
Said Adam Mayo of Welland: “It was an unforgettable experience to say the least.”