On Saturday, venues across the country will be re-airing the CBC broadcast, The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration, which features the last performance in their hometown of Kingston, Ont., on Aug. 20, 2016.
Venues hope to bring Canadians together again by celebrating beloved band’s swan song
Josh Hoffman · CBC News
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Venues across Nova Scotia are screening the Tragically Hip’s last concert this weekend to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the emotional performance watched live by millions of Canadians.
The band toured the country one final time in 2016 after lead singer Gord Downie announced he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Downie died the next year at the age of 53.
While battling the disease, Downie and the Hip played 15 shows in 10 Canadian cities, culminating in an Aug. 20, 2016, concert in their hometown of Kingston, Ont., that was broadcast live across CBC's platforms. Approximately 11.7 million people tuned in that night, with many large watch parties held in cities across the country, including Halifax.
“People really came together to find joy in something that, you know, it could have been a very sad event, but the feeling at that time was so wonderful,” said Charles MacKenzie, director of the Old Sydney Society, which is hosting a screening at the Sydney Museum.
On Saturday, dozens of venues across the country will be re-airing the CBC broadcast of the Kingston show, The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration.
Screenings in Nova Scotia are also happening in Amherst, Brooklyn, Duncans Cove, Ketch Harbour, New Glasgow and Port Medway.
MacKenzie said he couldn’t sign up fast enough when he found out venues could host official rebroadcasts of the concert.
“What Gord Downie was doing, you know, with his twilight time was really inspiring and I think organizations like Old Sydney Society have a role to play in fostering that kind of community sentiment,” he said.
‘National moment of connection’
MacKenzie and other venue owners are hoping that screening the 2016 concert will bring people together like it did a decade ago.
“It was just such a singular moment of almost like national anticipatory grief, but also solidarity and also just an outpouring of love and appreciation,” said Audra Williams, who is hosting a screening at the Rosefinch Mercantile and Tea Room in Port Medway, N.S., which she owns with her husband, Haritha Gnanaratna.
The Hip’s farewell concert still resonates with Canadians because it featured many iconic moments like Downie calling out then prime minister Justin Trudeau and the dying singer’s emotional screams at the end of the group’s most popular songs, said Williams.
She and Gnanaratna moved to Port Medway four years ago, and when they opened their store she said they made it their mission to create a welcoming environment where people could meet each other and build connections.
“With that mission statement of social connection, this seems like a perfect chance to do that because that was a national moment of connection,” Williams said.
WATCH | N.S. venues host anniversary screening of Tragically Hip’s last concert: N.S. venues mark 10 years since the Tragically Hip's final concert August 21| Duration 2:10
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Josh Hoffman is a reporter for CBC Nova Scotia. Josh worked as a local radio reporter all over Canada before moving to Nova Scotia in 2018.
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