Yer Hipstories: Reflections From The Final Tour - Toronto Night 1

Tragically Hip Day in Toronto. 'The Luxury' out of the gate, a tour debut in the encore, and a family of four in seats a text message unlocked.

Description

August 10th, 2016. The Air Canada Centre - the first of three Toronto nights on the Man Machine Poem Tour, and the day Ernie from Denville, New Jersey woke up in his hotel room, flipped on the news, and heard the mayor declare it Tragically Hip Day before he had even gotten out of bed. He had flown up alone for his first-ever Canadian show, eleven club nights deep. The city was already celebrating.

Then the lights come up and it is 'The Luxury'. Ernie had waited eleven shows to hear it. Jeff from Vaughan, following this band since 1992, can count the times he has heard it live on one hand. Two songs later comes 'Fiddler's Green', and Scott from Huntsville is looking at grown men crying as far as he can see, understanding exactly how the night is going to go. Third song in. They could do whatever they wanted.

The roads in are half the story. Everybody got the same email on the Tuesday morning after the May long weekend - the news of Gord Downie's diagnosis, and a tour nobody knew how to feel about. Scott locked down Kingston hotel rooms before tickets even went on sale, then sweated out the Ticketmaster scramble for four Toronto seats - the morning after watching John Mann and Spirit of the West play a fundraiser at the Horseshoe Tavern, two Canadian heartbreaks stacked onto one walk home. Jeff sent a hockey dad four paragraphs about his life following The Hip, hoping to bring his wife and two kids, and got the answer every fan dreams about: they're yours. Which is how, during 'Fifty-Mission Cap', with Bill Barilko's banner up in the rafters, Jeff came to be filming a verse and then swinging the camera around to catch both his kids singing it back.

There is a lot of night in here. 'Nautical Disaster' landing in the first encore as a tour debut (confirmed via setlist.fm, and backed by the notebook Ernie filled out that same evening). The crowd carrying the Toronto line in 'Bobcaygeon', the way Scott remembers it. The “Phantom Power” pair that closed the building down. And then the back half of the conversation jumps ahead to August 20th - Scott behind the stage in Kingston, not breathing until the scanner turned his print-off ticket green, Jeff front row in front of Robby Baker for show number 93, and Ernie back in New Jersey with the Kingston broadcast on the big screen and his son beside him.

Somewhere in the middle of it, Scott sums up the entire summer in one sentence: “I've never been so excited for something I didn't want to happen.” So there's that.

The panel

• Ernie from Denville, New Jersey - eleven Hip shows in clubs from New York City to Syracuse before this one, his first in Canada and his first in an arena, solo in section 313 and never once feeling alone. His daughter has since become one of The Hip's biggest listeners on Apple Music. He also made a horror movie, We Can't Leave, streaming on Amazon Prime (sequel already in the hopper).
• Scott from Huntsville - travels to Hip shows with his wife and his oldest concert buddy, and hit Toronto Nights 1 and 3 plus Kingston on the final tour, where his kids texted mid-show to check on him. He chairs the Huntsville Festival of the Arts, a year-round festival bringing Canadian acts to Muskoka - huntsvillefestivalofthearts.com.
• Jeff from Vaughan - following The Hip since 1992, with Kingston set to be show number 93. He did London, multiple Toronto nights, Hamilton, and Kingston on the final run in a custom “Live Between Us” shirt, and brought his wife and both kids to Toronto Night 1. David Bastedo photographed the four of them in their row and sent it to him after the show.

Come say hi

• The Gathering in Kingston, August 20th to 23rd - a mixer at the Merchant Pub, Choir! Choir! Choir! in Springer Market Square, a listening party for “The Tragically Hip Live, July 22 - August 20, 2016”, a Long Time Running screening, and a farewell brunch at Morrison's. Email jd@tthpods.com to get on the list.
• GEDfest Toronto - Saturday, October 17th at the Horseshoe Tavern with Grace, 2, raising money for Campfire Circle and the Murphy Family Fund in Precision Medicine in Pancreatic Cancer. Yes, the same room John Mann played the night before the on-sale. That building keeps showing up. Tickets: facebook.com/GEDfestYYZ

Closing

Thanks to Ernie, Scott, and Jeff for bringing August 10th back - the flag, the notebook, the kids checking in on their dads. The Tragically Hip play the same building two nights later. Toronto Night 2, August 12th, brand new panel. We go again.

More from the series

• Victoria, where the final tour began: redcircle.com/shows/a01e8de3-1a04-4a44-ab9c-8fc6e3cb7474/ep/99071e40-9d10-48f8-9b5d-f92416e791c3
• Calgary Night 1, from earlier on the run: redcircle.com/shows/a01e8de3-1a04-4a44-ab9c-8fc6e3cb7474/ep/2937266e-6c5a-4435-87a8-dcc35b478f37

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