Although the disgraced Olympic swimmer makes a good ink blot for society.
For some, the 12-time Olympic medalist and his teammates epitomize the height of white privilege, while for others this whole mess is just a couple of kids getting a bit too drunk and bit too rambunctious one night in Rio de Janeiro.
And I know because I’ve watched them all!
But seriously, this part of a longer concert, recorded on Canada Day in London ON in 1989, before The Hip blew up and with maybe 20 people in the audience, is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen…
(You may have to fast forward to 27 minutes to see the part I’m talking about. Pretty cool at 38 minutes too actually. Imagine what that autograph is worth today!)
Although I was a pretty big fan of the Hip back in their prime years, I sort of backed away – both as their albums became less essential (The top 6 of the 12 Tragically Hip albums rated by CBC were released in the 1980’s or 1990’s, the bottom six were all released after 2000) and my home life became more full with a spouse then a house then a couple kids running around.
But the recent news about Gord Downie’s illness has given many of us who got away from the band a reason to delve a bit deeper into their recent work more fully.
Actually, why don’t I try to rank my own list (keeping in mind I’ve just admitted I’m not as familiar with their later work whereas the earlier stuff played a major role in the soundtrack of my life through my entire 20’s)…
Oh, and honourable mentions to their earliest EP and their latest album, both of which somehow missed the cut for the CBC ranking. Depending on the day, that EP could be as high as 3.5 on my list whereas I really have no idea where the new album would rank as I’ve literally only listened to it a handful of times and often as background while I’m at work or whatever.
Anyhow, as an example of finding gems in their later works, here’s a great song posted to Facebook today by someone I knew in library school but is a song that never really registered for me before…
I sent a half-joking tweet last night that after the Tragically Hip concert, the one thing left for CBC to do was to create a web site to permanently archive the show so fans could re-watch it anytime they wanted.
This torrent is the next best thing.
So much Hip coverage today…
…and most importantly: Sunnybrook Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research (Please Donate!)
Tomorrow’s the big night for the last Tragically Hip concert during their final cross-Canada tour so here’s a few full-length concerts from throughout their career to whet your appetite:
One from their earliest days, recorded live for MuchMusic…
A concert from perhaps the height of their fame during one of their Another Roadside Attraction concerts…
One from the mid-oughties…
And a show from only a couple years ago…
There are already full-length uploads from their current tour but I’m refusing to watch any of them as I want tomorrow to be fully and completely a surprise.
Just before starting Grade One, both Pace and his buddy down the street ended up with some serious stitches – the buddy earned his falling off his bike while Pace got his running into a tree after looking back to see how far I was behind him!
Tough kids…
My son not only did all the stunts in this video but stitched them together in iMovie.
He’s going to be the world’s first combination stuntman/film editor! 😉
In this election cycle, sure, why not?
