The Final Hip tour and reminiscing about Gord Downie

[Schraderbrau]

I'm not sure why but something about him stumbling through a few lyrics made the show that much more special to me. For me seeing Gord put everything he had into last night and having those unperfect moments made the show perfect to me. And then the fact that he apologized just shows you how amazing he is and how much he wanted to nail it for all of us.

They came out and blew the roof of with New Orleans, had the place explode with Grace To, and when Gord hit that final line in Scared "I got to go, it's been a pleasure doing business with you" and gave us all that unique one of a kind Gord Downie point with his finger, it really hit me hard, that man is an absolute genius and at that moment it finally sunk in to me with how lucky we are to get to claim him an The Hip as our own.

Not many things in life are 100% perfect, but that was.

[undercoverbrother]

What a ####ing Sing Along!!!

From the first chords of New Orleans is Sinking, my wife and I jumped to our feet and didn't sit down the rest of the night. I was covered in sweat and my throat was sore, only 2 songs in!

I refused to look at last night as a sad event, too much sadness in my life over the past 2 months. My wife and I were back to being 24 again, 20+ years go. All the struggles/pressures of life disappeared. The played my friend's favorite song and my wife & I sung at the top of our lungs so he could hear it wherever he is now, RIP Mark.

I think Fireworks topped it off for me:

This one thing probably never goes away
I think this one thing is always supposed to stay
This one thing doesn't have to go away

I think back to all the times I have had when hearing Hip tunes, happy times, sad times, scary times, the whole spectrum.

Finally, thank you to all those that went last night. It was a great night and a great crowd.

[annasuave]

I can't stop listening to The Hip today. We Are The Same is front and centre. Roxy & Elswhere (bootleg) inbetween for the Highway Girl & Killer Whale Tank rants.

Oh man. I really hope there is a release of the best of all these shows. I don't care how tough it will be to watch.

[Matata]

Such an emotional show, still welling up thinking about it today. The Hip's music is such a big part of my upbringing and of my soul, I feel so grateful that I was able to be part of a crowd that gave one of my favourite artists such a passionate farewell, Gord wasn't blowing smoke when he said that people of Calgary were beautiful last night.

[Coys1882]

Amazing show - such a good time and great atmosphere.

Everyone has already said what I'm thinking but I really liked at the end when Gord said something about it being nice to see 'no fighting or stupid stuff - because we all know that never happens' LOL

[Matata]

Originally Posted by troutman

Gord missed some lyrics? That's ok. It must be so hard to remember all the words. I thought I saw a monitor on the stage that was displaying the lyrics for him. Still hard, even with that aid.

There were about 5 teleprompters on stage, I can understand why he felt a little guilty.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Matata

There were about 5 teleprompters on stage, I can understand why he felt a little guilty.

He recently had brain surgery and radiation treatment. I sure hope he didn't feel guilty because it's incredible that he's out kicking ass on this tour and entertaining us all one last time.

[woob]

Moments from last night;

- Belting out the lines to New Orleans is Sinking, loving that they opened with that.
- Laughing at Gord's stage antics - Elvis, boxing his mic stand, his facial expressions. Loved all of it.
- Loved hearing Machine played live. Gord made that song come alive for me.
- Feeling the tears roll down my cheeks during Scared. So glad I got to see them perform that song. Powerful.
- Singing along and my voice failing me as a wave of emotion washed over me.
- Wheat Kings and Courage - Wow.

It's amazing what a band and their music can make you feel. The Hip have so much music left in them, Gord still has so many lyrics to write and sing. It's crushing to think their journey will be ending, but busting out this tour to close the book on The Tragically Hip was a beautiful thing to be a part of and something I will cherish for the rest of my days.

[beaver buzz]

What an unforgettable experience. I can't find the words to fully convey how much it has meant to me seeing both of these shows in Calgary. One of my first musical memories is listening to the Up To Here album with my childhood best friend on his Dads stereo. Wheat Kings, Fireworks and more guided me through good times and bad when I was a struggling student in Kingston. My best friends lived a couple blocks away from one of the band members (Rob Baker?) and they would occasionally see him walking down the street or at the kitty corner convenience store. Sometimes we would play beersbee on the front lawn and blast some Hip tunes, hoping we might catch a glimpse of him walking by. I saw them live in 2008 at Virgin Festival in Calgary and the memory of Gord maniacally dancing with the microphone stand is seared into my memory.

I never completely appreciated the emotional connection I had formed with this band until I saw the terrible news headline on May 24th. I went home that night and wept. Cancer is an incredibly unfair disease that steals far too many, far too soon. The courage Gord has shown by taking to the road for one last ride is inspirational, and I am so grateful to have shared a moment with him and everyone else who was in the Dome for these two special nights.

Thank you Gord.

[Freeway]

Amazingly put-together encore. If you're going to say goodbye to a city full of fans with five songs, those are the five you go out with.
It was a bit dusty in the 'Dome last night.

[Gundo]

Well that was my first Hip show and word can't explain how happy I was to be there. It was almost bitter sweet for me watching Gord up on stage with his struggles because I have a mother currently fighting terminal brain cancer as well and I could see similarities in their actions which brought that much more emotion to the show for me.

My highlight was closing with Courage, that song played on the old AM1060 every morning for weeks around 7am when my alarm clock went off for school when I was younger and my parents were getting divorced. That song reminded a 13yr old me to be strong and help my little brother understand and get through our family being torn apart.

Goddamn......what a night.

[Jimmy Stang]

Of all of the amazing moments, perhaps one of the lasting memories for me was the way he screamed at the end of Grace, Too. Just so angry, sad, primal, and therapeutic. It really gave me chills. Just a massive eff you to the cancer that is bringing him down. I know that it is a strange moment to be really struck by, but that hit me.

Scared followed immediately by Grace, Too was such an emotional part of the show. But the whole thing was just phenomenal. The energy in the Dome was unreal. I don't know if I will ever have a moment wrapped up in such sadness, nostalgia, celebration, and Canadiana as I had last night.

We are so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to see them perform one last time. Gord and the band could have called it quits and nobody would have blamed them, which made it that much more special.

[Since1984]

I was lucky enough to enjoy both amazing shows, so emotionally charged and amazing. Scared was unbelievable, Wheat Kings brought a tear to my eye but my favorite moment?

Courage, my arm around my Mother and her arm around me as both her and Gord fight terminal cancer....a memory I will have for the rest of my life. A beautifully bitter sweet moment.

Thanks Gord and the boys!

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Matata

There were about 5 teleprompters on stage, I can understand why he felt a little guilty.

No need to be a jerk to the guy who had a tumour removed from the region of the brain that controls memory and speech.

[surferguy]

Another magical ride. I'm still processing it all. I hope to convey my thoughts later tonight. I don't have the time right now to parse it out.

[Matata]

Originally Posted by Peanut

He recently had brain surgery and radiation treatment. I sure hope he didn't feel guilty because it's incredible that he's out kicking ass on this tour and entertaining us all one last time.

I never even noticed him missing lyrics, I just know that a highly accomplished musician like Gord holds himself to a high standard and all singers hate forgetting lyrics, therefor, it's not hard to understand why he felt guilty. Gord doesn't want to put on a good show for a guy with brain surgery, he wants to put on a good show.

[InglewoodFan]

What a show. So much energy and I'm happy I got to see them.

When Gord was talking after the first encore -

"Take care of each other. I know you will"

Just hit me like a ton of bricks.

[White Out 403]

sounds like the 2nd show had a playlist that was awesome.

[jayswin]

Anyone get video of 'scared'? Of all the songs, no one's uploaded that one!

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

sounds like the 2nd show had a playlist that was awesome.

It was great, I would have like some Road Apples, and some more Fully Completely, but really can't complain.


they could have played for 5 hours and there would still be songs they missed.