ed_rex

Holy fuck can't wait for this Hip gig to be over ... JFC so sick of hearing about them ... Overrated as fuck just like Rush lol ...

It's just like no one gave this much of a shit about them before the news was announced ... It just stinks of nationalism and that shit always makes me sick the world was round the last time I checked. — A Facebook friend

Well, the final (presuming, to put it crassly, Gord Downie's brain cancer really is terminal) Tragically Hip concert has come and gone.

Broadcast live from Kingston on CBC Radio 1 and and 2, as well as CBC Television, the show was the culmination of a 15-concert tour that started only days after Downie announced that he was, well, dying.

The Hip are a Canadian phenomenon, a rock and roll band that managed to sell a lot of records and sell out stadiums — and make a decent living — all over the country despite never having "broken through" into the American market.

A lot of people I know and respect think very highly of them, and I gave them a chance a number of times, but their music — quirky vocals and sophisticated lyrics aside — never spoke to me.

Tonight, I listened to parts of the show while at work, and caught the encore at home, thinking to give this quintessentially Canadian band one more (one last) try.

I still don't get the appeal, but unlike the person quote at the top, I'm damned if I'm going to begrudge the bittersweet joy those of you who to whom the Hip *do* speak, your celebration. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, not the start of this year's Stanley Cup playoffs.