Thousands attend Winnipeg viewing parties for final show of Tragically Hip tour

Thousands set up lawn chairs on the grass at Assiniboine Park Saturday night at one of several viewing parties across southern Manitoba as the Tragically Hip played the final show of their Man Machine Poem tour.

In May, lead singer Gord Downieannounced he has terminal brain cancer. The band set off on a nationwide tour shortly thereafter, which was preceded by newsabout tickets selling out in a flash and heartfeltstories from Canadians with personal connections to the band.

The band played the last show of its summer tour in Kingston, Ont., Saturday. Several venues across Winnipeg drew thousands out to watch live streams of the show.

"Ever since the announcement of the cancer, I think everybody has been wanting to get as close as you can to them,"PaulTaillefersaid, sitting next to his wife Bobbi at theLyric Theatre atAssiniboinePark.

"Everybody just wants to share the experience and share the love with Gord."

BobbiTailleferhas seen the Hip live in Kingston in the past andshares her own "weird" connection to Downie.

Bobbi says her mother has the same form of brain cancer as the Hip frontman and is being treated by the same doctor.

"My mom, I'm sad for her too but she's had a longer life, and I just feel really sad for his family," she said. "They are our country's band."

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Before the band even graced the stage Saturday,tears were already welling up inside for many in Winnipeg.

"I'm really hoping that we don't all cry, but I'm kind of thinking that a bunch of us will," Kendra Cherrett said ahead of the concert, adding shewas sad when she wasn't able to nab tickets to the Hip's Aug. 6show in Winnipeg at the MTS Centre.

Cherrett was able to meet Downiea couple of times at the Winnipeg Folk Festival over the yearsand said she was happy to get a chance to watch them perform fromAssiniboinePark surrounded byso many other big fans.

"I was really, really excited when I found out this was happening here, this is fantastic," she said. "But I'm mostly just trying not to be sad. I love the Tragically Hip so much; I've been to five or six concerts and I would really love to go again."

Like Cherrett, Craig Milne was similarly choked up before the band even took the stage.

"This band; this is our long weekends, this is our friends, this is our campfires. It's going to be tough," Milne said, fighting back tears."This is a very special band. We don't want this to end, and all things do, but it's going to be very powerful."

Hip fans were shocked to hear of Downie's diagnosis this spring. Milne said the surprise of it all underscores something about life and death we often prefer to ignore.

"When you lose something that's just so close to you, often it's very sudden and therefore you just have to deal with the finality of this," he said. "It's like, how do you make this a celebrationand not make this some kind of morbid goodbye?"

With Downie at the helm, the Hip have managed to capturesomething uniquelyCanadian with their music, which is something all Canadians should reflect on, Milnesaid.

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"The lyrics are so profoundly Canadian, and at the same time they're also so beautifully and artistically done," he said. "They lyrics of Gord Downie should be required reading for anybody."

Downie thanked fans for supporting the band during what could be its final tour.

"On behalf of the boys and the men and women of our crew,thank you for a great tour and a great show," Downie said. "I really enjoyed the hell out of it.

"Thank you, thank you people for keeping me pushing."

Viewing parties were held at the West End Cultural Centre, The Forks Market,Old Market Square and other venues in Winnipeg.

RAW: Tragically Hip fans at The Cube

8 years ago

Duration 0:56

Winnipeg fans gather at The Cube to see the Tragically Hip live from Kingston, Ont.