The Arrow Lakes Tavern at the K2 Rotor Lodge hosted a live showing of acclaimed Canadian band The Tragically Hip’s last concert on Saturday. This was part of a Canada-wide show of support for the band’s leader Gord Downie (52) who in May announced he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Someone commented that “Canada is closed on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. EST,” 5:30 p.m. local time, indicating just how widespread this show of support was, from coast to coast.
The Tragically Hip are part of the Canadian identity and the crowd at the Arrow Lakes Tavern was clearly of that mind. The sounds of the concert echoed from all the TVs and speakers in the tavern, alongside the voices of diehard fans congregated to pay their respects to a Canadian legend.
For Chris and Nicole Nicholson-Chodat of Hills, BC, this has been a family affair. Their daughter Marlowe purchased the tickets as a surprise and her dad exclaimed, “Best daughter ever!” The family is especially fortunate, in light of the Ticketmaster debacle surrounding the ticket sales for these concerts. A few weeks ago they were joined by a family friend, Jodi Grierson, and went all the way to Vancouver to attend the July 26 concert in person.
While some people might not have heard of the Tragically Hip at all or may not care for their music, for others it is clear the band really is ahead by a century with some of their lyrics woven into the very fiber of Canada.
There were understandably tears in the eyes of those who caught a glimpse of an era ending right in front of their eyes as the event came to a close.