Sad news... Gord Downie has terminal brain cancer.

HughFreakingDillon

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

For the folks talking of not going... come on, man.

I'm pretty sure empty arenas isn't exactly paying respects to a Canadian rock icon who's given us music that has been awesome.

Go to the show. Enjoy it. And wen you leave the show... be grateful to have been there for the entire ride... and be emotional if emotions move you.

These guys did it right and they did it very well. A top tier band with some top tier songs. I don't go into the 'lyrics' thread too often, but when I do... I post their un-freaking-real lyrics.

Nautical Disaster. F**king Nautical Disaster. Wow.

Gord has made my life better with his awesomeness.

there won't be an empty seat. a few people not wanting to attend won't do anything to those numbers. I sort of get it. it would be almost like going to a funeral. I still think they'll regret it, maybe not, but I sort of get it.

I'm nervous already just THINKING about ticket sales.

passion4tunes

This pretty much sums up the Hip for me... grew up with them:


"The teenager stood with his friends, watching the singer and the band from the other side of the arena. “Thank you,” the singer said as they walked offstage. “We are never going away.”

Stability, the teenager thought. In a time when it felt like his world balanced on a pin, the stability was comforting. And so they, teenager and band, stayed together for years.

“Just one more show,” the teenager told himself and those around him, though no one believed him. He was attached. He would see them at every gig he could. He would turn new friends onto them, or try to as they feigned interest.

Some people said the band's lyrics told the story of a still-young country trying to forge a creative identity – well, the teenager said that – and he swallowed every lyric whole. For every pivotal event in the teenager's life, be it his first loss, first fuck, first joint, first heartbreak, this band had a song for it. If you were to create a road map through the teenager's soul, these lyrics would be the language that would show you the way.

And he wasn’t alone. Good bands make songs you can sing along to. Great bands create their own language to be shared.

The band's songs grew from something that at first you didn’t understand into vast, incredible works of art that warranted study. Even more importantly, their songs made the teenager want to understand everything about the places the singer sang about.

The teenager saw the band in concert almost 40 times. He shouted along to every lyric. He jumped up and down in a fit of unrestrained jubilation. He got blackout drunk, probably also because of the unrestrained jubilation. Eventually, as an adult, he would watch with trepidation when he took his wife to her first show, hoping she'd want to be a part of it.

And as he sang along, he loved every second of it all. Because every band, every artist has a time, a place and a mood. At all of those 40-odd shows, he remembers only one emotion: love. Love of the songs and love of the people he shared those songs with.

He’d grow older and realize that stability would never come to his life. But at the end of the day, at the end of any day, there was the band. When he needed to love, he sang the band’s songs to himself. He wrote a book about the band. All he really wanted was that book to be a tangible gift, a “thank you” to them for everything they’d done for him.

For the teenager inside him, and for the teenager inside every one of us, he believed the singer would never really go away."

AND NOW THIS IS MY PLAN IF I CAN GET TICKETS:

""Sing with Downie with every ounce of energy you have. It's what he does for us with every show. Sing loud, sing with your friends and sing to give Downie and his family strength during this terrible time. Thank him, if you need to."


Peace.Love.Music.Always.

shep

my wife is due 2nd week of september...

she is already fighting with me because i want to travel to one of longest friend's wedding in St. John's the first weekend in August...

the only date that want to attend is August the 12th in toronto... i could go to the west coast, but it's not a hip show without all my friends...i would be by myself out there...

i don't know what i'm gonna do... start another fight i can't win... or regret missing out on giving Gord a proper send off...

this sucks in so many ways... I was really hoping for July on the east coast... and I feel guilty for even voicing this opinion as it's just me being greedy...

the news just keeps getting worse... :(

i was listening to Scared this morning on the way to work and almost broke out in tears... too many powerful lyrics... long time running will be too much...

kk277412

See everyone in Kingston!

MayDay10

Ill be at either one of the Toronto shows or Hamilton. Hopefully

CJ260717

I'm a little surprised there aren't any QC shows. But 12 dates might be all he can handle now.

PJ_Soul

OMG. The Tragically Hip have booked their Vancouver show for the same night when Pearl Jam is most likely playing Pemberton Fest. Seriously, the timing could not possibly be worse here. SMH. WTF do I do?!?!?! I guess Eddie isn't dying of a brain tumour, so I should choose the Hip??? This reminds me of that time when RNDM played Vancouver the same night as Bruce Springsteen... except this is 10 times worse.

helplessdancer

i can't stop crying over this...thinking this will be the last time i will see gord lead his band. gord is a canadian treasure. we all lose, whether you are a fan or not. there was never a better poet(imo). his clever lyrics is always what i loved about him the most. a brilliant mind and someone who cared deeply about the environment. met him a couple of times throughout the years. always articulate and kind. his solo tour was something i will never forget.

my very best wishes go to him and his family and the band and it's management

i seen a few artists play shows and then pass away....but no one announced beforehand that this would be it. ie) prince, and bowie

it's gonna be a really REALLY tough time to go to the show but there is also no way could i not be there, especially as this is gord's idea. i will be there for him. singing my loudest and crying the whole time.

not that it matters but I stopped counting the number of Hip shows when I got to 50. that was over 5 years ago.

DukeSpirit

MayDay10 said:

presale monday, general friday (3rd)

Is there a presale through their website? I haven't seen any info on pre-sales

PJ_Soul

DukeSpirit said:

MayDay10 said:

presale monday, general friday (3rd)

Is there a presale through their website? I haven't seen any info on pre-sales

Yes, pre-sales on May 30th, but only for registered fans. Didn't say anything about whether or not there is a cut off date for registration (But I certainly hope that it would only apply to those who were registered before today).

Mignelli14

I haven't religiously listened to the Hip in 5 years. Now I'm getting back into them and a big reason is because of this bad news. I'm going to find so many songs I forgot about, which is exciting, but I'm also sure I'll be devastated at the same time knowing Gord's situation

MayDay10

pretty sure Im registered but want to make sure. Their site has been hammered all day

MayDay10

looks like its back. I am able to sign into their site so I would assume I qualify as a 'registered user'

PJ_Soul

MayDay10 said:

looks like its back. I am able to sign into their site so I would assume I qualify as a 'registered user'

Yes, I'd assume so. You also would have received their email announcements yesterday and today.

MayDay10

PJ_Soul said:

MayDay10 said:

looks like its back. I am able to sign into their site so I would assume I qualify as a 'registered user'

Yes, I'd assume so. You also would have received their email announcements yesterday and today.

yeah, thats how I learned of the news.

Was eating my breakfast and my stomach dropped when I saw the subject "An important message from the band". I knew it was bad, but didnt expect it to be this bad

HughFreakingDillon

a girl at work compared The Hip to Nickelback. I wanted to throw her out the 10th floor window.

PJ_Soul

HughFreakingDillon said:

a girl at work compared The Hip to Nickelback. I wanted to throw her out the 10th floor window.

That doesn't even make sense.

canuck1973

I'd like to see a comment from Eddie (or the band) re: Gord Downie. Gord is apart of Canada's DNA.

dignin

PJ_Soul said:

MayDay10 said:

looks like its back. I am able to sign into their site so I would assume I qualify as a 'registered user'

Yes, I'd assume so. You also would have received their email announcements yesterday and today.

Couldn't remember if I had an account, it's been quite a few years. Went and checked and it turns out I do, my email has been junking The Hips emails for years.

Sorry to hear that the dates for shows aren't working out well for some of you. It is the summer, so the dates are bound to conflict with things. I head on vacation the day after the Calgary show, so it should work well for me.

PJ_Soul

canuck1973 said:

I'd like to see a comment from Eddie (or the band) re: Gord Downie. Gord is apart of Canada's DNA.

PJ has never had anything to do with The Hip as far as I've ever been able to tell. I don't think they've ever even played the same festival or anything. There is no evidence suggesting they've met Gord (maybe they have, but if so, it seems to me it would have just been in passing). So I definitely don't want or expect a comment from them about him being sick. That kind of thing should be reserved for their friends and colleagues. Otherwise it would be a completely hollow statement.