Times Colonist reporter, Mike Devlin, recalls the Tragically Hip's Gord Downie, and the band's connection to Victoria.
It was a day we all knew would come. But that doesn鈥檛 make the death of Gord Downie, at age 53 from brain cancer, any easier to digest.
The passing of The Tragically Hip frontman leaves a Great Lakes-sized hole in the Canadian landscape, artistic and otherwise. He wasn鈥檛 simply a musician. He was one of the good guys, a patriot who, in recent months, dedicated his time to Indigenous issues in Canada. It was his dying wish to reconcile our country鈥檚 dark past with what he hoped would become its bright future, and he did so while knowing he could die suddenly at any time.
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For many, that was simply Gord, a compassionate and caring individual whose words about Canada 鈥� from former hockey player Bill Barilko and the wrongly imprisoned David Milgaard to author Hugh MacLennan and the Ontario area of Bobcaygeon 鈥� brought together listeners of varying ages and backgrounds.
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He was the first to do so in such a quiet, confident, all-inclusive way, it could be said. And he could be the last do so in the foreseeable future, it could be argued.
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Over the course of a 30-year career, the music of the Hip 鈥� and the outgoing, vibrant personality of Downie 鈥� forged deep relationships with cities across the country. At first, Hip shows were simply tour stops on a concert calendar. Over time, they became unofficial family reunions. People travelled to and from Victoria to see the group perform; if you were a fan of the band, you were a fan of the band for life.
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The group, which spent the last months of its existence with the uneasy knowledge of Downie鈥檚 terminal cancer diagnosis, kicked off its farewell tour of the country in Victoria on July 22, 2016. Fittingly, but not surprisingly, it drew the largest attendance in the history of the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. The Hip have always done overwhelmingly well in Victoria, one of the first cities outside of their native Kingston, Ont., to fully embrace the band during their early days.
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They became 鈥渢he unofficial house band鈥� at local radio station The Q, which first went to air in 1987, the same year The Tragically Hip released its eponymous debut E.P. The station continued to support the band through its career, as did the city as a whole: when the producers of Rock the Shores created the Colwood festival, it was with the Hip as the headlining act. The concert drew 12,500 people, the largest paid single-day concert in Greater Victoria history at the time.
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Highlights are easy to come by, with regards to the band and its relationship with Victoria, from a riveting and electric sold-out show at the Royal Theatre in 1991, which many consider to be their breakout as a group, to several two-night stands at the former Memorial Arena. The group never outgrew Victoria, even when we lacked the requisite venues. They simply tagged on an extra night at a woefully undersized room to ensure everyone had the opportunity to sing along.
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Long Time Running, the authorized documentary chronicling the band鈥檚 final tour, screened in Victoria last month to rave reviews. The film was co-directed by Victoria-raised filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal, and was produced by former University of Victoria students Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen. All were avowed fans.
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Baichwal鈥檚 thoughts on making the film mirror the relationship Hip fans had with the group. 鈥淚n some ways, it was the hardest documentary we鈥檝e made 鈥� hard and beautiful 鈥� because there was no distance or pretense of objectivity possible,鈥� Baichwal said at the time. 鈥淚t was a kind of reciprocal love letter from the band to the fans, from fans to the band, and from us to both.鈥�
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It鈥檚 a relationship that won鈥檛 soon be forgotten.
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