I'm taking a break from Evander Kane and the trade value of the Canucks' defensemen this weekend.
To me, there's a much bigger hockey story going on in B.C.—the beginning what's expected to be the final Canadian tour for the Tragically Hip.
One of Canada's most important bands of all time, a big part of the Hip's nostalgic narrative as this tour begins is about how the band was never able to break through in the U.S. despite massive success north of the border, especially in the 1990s.
Twenty years ago, not many Canadian artists had big international profiles. When The Hip was headlining its Lollapalooza-like "Another Roadside Attraction" summer festivals in outdoor venues across the country between 1993 and 1997, the biggest Canadian acts south of the border, if I remember correctly, were Celine Dion and Sarah McLachlan. Sarah, of course, also hit her international peak a bit later with another festival concept, the all-woman Lilith Fair.
If you missed the news, the current tour is being billed as the last for the Tragically Hip because it was announced in May that lead singer and mastermind Gord Downie has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
There's no doubt that Downie's mind has always worked in mysterious ways.
What's the connection between the Hip and hockey? In addition to the many hockey arenas across the country where the band performed concerts, hockey was one of the iconic elements of Canadiana that was woven into Downie's storytelling.
The best example, of course, is "Fifty-Mission Cap" from "Fully Completely," the story of the mysterious disappearance of Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Bill Barilko during a 1951 fishing trip. I'll let the band tell the rest of the tale.
My favourite hockey-related Hip song is "Fireworks", from "Phantom Power." Here's their performance of that quintessentially Canadian track from the massive Woodstock 99 event in Rome, New York.
Mix in the number of Hip songs that were used as part of those fantastic Hockey Night in Canada video montages over the years and the fact that they were from Kingston, the same home town as Don Cherry, and the Hip earned their stripes as "Good Canadian Boys" in the era of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Hockey.
Check out Cherry AND the Trailer Park Boys in this 2003 video for "The Darkest One," from "In Violet Light."
As this final tour has drawn near, it seems like everyone has had a story or 10 to share about the Tragically Hip. I have a few, too.
The Hip got their start in Kingston in 1984 but didn't get out onto a coast-to-coast tour until after they released their self-titled EP in 1987. They were virtually unknown when they rolled into the bar in Kamloops where I was DJing—I think it was the fall of 1987—maybe early '88? I knew one song, "Smalltown Bringdown," that we were playing on the local radio station—I thought it was all right.
My boss had only just started bringing in original acts to supplement our regular rotation of travelling cover bands—which were fantastic in their own right at that time with their big hair and tight jeans. The customers liked familiar music, so original acts like Trooper, Prism and David Wilcox were given headlining slots—and I'd see the professionals of Kamloops at those shows, people like my dentist.
When The Hip came through, they *opened* for the cover band on a Wednesday night—at 9 p.m., if I remember correctly.
There were about 15 people in a room that held 300 but even then, Gord Downie had his hypnotic shaman thing in play. His curly hair fell in front of his face as he floated off into his own little world, mid-song. The closest thing I could compare it to at that time was the videos I'd seen of Jim Morrison during some of his trippier moments with The Doors.
The lack of audience made the concert underwhelming, but I didn't forget. I was back in Vancouver by the time "Up to Here" came out in 1989. We wore out the vinyl (yes, vinyl!) in our DJ booth playing "New Orleans is Sinking," "Blow at High Dough," "Boots or Hearts" and other tracks before the band really exploded with "Road Apples" in 1991 and "Fully Completely" in 1992.
When The Hip played five sold-out nights at the Commodore in 1991, it was the hardest 'in' in town.
During the years that Drew Burns ran the Commodore, the entrance policy was very generous for those of us who worked in the industry. But there was no "Club Courtesy" for those Hip shows—demand was too high.
Thanks to a friend who worked at the presenting radio station, I was able to get in for one night. And when she befriended the support act, a San Diego group called Flies on Fire, I got in again that week. At that point, a huge Commodore run was a triumph for the band I'd seen in Kamloops. I was proud and transfixed.
Steve Newton has some great perspective on the Hip from the Flies—who were terrific but had the L.A. flash of that just-before-grunge era—from when they came back on their own to play the Town Pump in 1992. Click here for the reminder of how The Hip were just as much a part of the flannel revolution as Nirvana, Soundgarden and the other bands down the I-5 in Seattle.
After some schooling got in the way of my concert going, the next time I saw The Hip, they had my pals from Odds out as one of their support acts as they headlined the Pacific Coliseum in 1995 while touring "Day for Night." That same summer, they headlined Thunderbird Stadium for Another Roadside Attraction—a day I remember as being equally triumphant for another iconic rock band now going through tough times due to health issues, Spirt of the West.
By the time I saw the band at Rogers Arena in the late '90s or early 2000s, I felt Downie's on-stage unpredictability had become, to a degree, predictable. I still played their music often when I DJed but after more than a decade, I detached a bit, emotionally.
I got to see the band a couple more times at the Commodore, working with them for a pop-up show that benefited the foundation for late local race-car legend Greg Moore in 2000 and with a mostly-unknown Sam Roberts Band opening in the spring of 2006. I was on hand for part of their four-night stand at the venue in the fall of 2006, but I think I only worked one night. Can't believe that was a decade ago, when Jake Virtanen would have been 10 years old.
If you have tickets for the shows at Rogers Arena on Sunday or Tuesday, it sounds like you'll be in for a celebration of what has cemented the band's legacy over the last three decades. I'm amused that now, we're seeing Gord Downie wearing the bright colours that he shunned as he built his career.
After working the three heart-wrenching final Spirit of the West shows earlier this year, I'm not up for another somber celebration so soon. I'm paying tribute by digging through my memory bank. I played "Fireworks" last night at Big Wreck. And I will always be impacted by how The Hip has hummed along as I've made my way in the world.
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