Canada Stops to Watch Gord Downie & The Tragically Hip's Final Concert

I am originally from Canada and any Canadian who has been sentient for the 25 years knows the music of The Tragically Hip (or simply The Hip).

For some reason, The Hip never resonated in this country although in the rare instances that I heard their music down here people seemed to like it.

Back in May, their lead singer Gord Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The Hip responded with a final tour which concluded this evening in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario on Saturday night.

The CBC broadcast the concert in its entirety, commercial free. There were viewing parties all over the country and even a few outside Canada. Much like when The Beatles debuted on The Ed Sullivan Show, I believe the country's crime rate will have dropped while people were watching the concert.

I must admit that I never saw The Hip in concert & didn't own any of their albums. But I did really like one of their songs - "Ahead By a Century". As it turns out, it was their final song of the evening. Here is the original video when the song came out 20 years ago.

God only knows how much longer Gord Downie has on this Earth. But how many of us get the chance to participate in our own wake much less lead the choir? In Gord Downie's case, he had a nationwide audience.