The Tragically Hip: A near miss

The debut album for the Canadian band the Tragically Hip,
an EP fittingly titled, "The Tragically Hip" released in 1987.

Source: www.discogs.com

(may be subject to copyright)

They were an iconic band that told unique stories about Canada. There is not a person of a certain age who does not look on the music of the Tragically Hip with fondness.

Unlike, contemporaries such as Blue Rodeo, who keep on performing, the Tragically Hip’s musical journey came to an end last year when Gord Downey, their lead singer, passed away.

He had made his struggle with brain cancer very public, and his journey was one we were all invited to observe. He said his goodbyes, and was lucky enough to live until he died.

When the band gave their farewell concert, which was televised nationally to millions a few months ago, it made me think of my own memories of the Tragically Hip.

Someone asked me if I ever saw the ‘Hip in concert.

“No,” I responded. “But almost.”

A near miss

It was the fall of 1987 and I had just started my first year of university in Edmonton. There seemed to be parties every day and activities all the time. It was just awesome, and all so new.

We heard this band was playing on campus, and I had heard the name, but none of their music really came to mind. There were handbills advertising the concert all over campus. I grabbed one sitting on one of the tables at the Student Union Building.

Me and my roommate Chris Vining talked about going, and I think I had every intention of going. However, we had a few beers on our floor in res and a few more, and ended up going to sleep.

I woke up the next day, and saw one of the handbills for that band. The concert had been the day before, and we had missed it.

So I just missed seeing the Tragically Hip.

The years after

The band would really begin to take off in 1989 with their album "Up to Here" and the singles, "Blow at High Dough" and "New Orleans is Sinking". From there, their popularity would explode, and they would produce some of the most iconic music of the 1990s.

The Hip would be back in Edmonton several times, in bigger venues then that first time back in 1987, but I never did manage to see them.

I really did not start listening to them until the 1990s anyway, with songs such as “Little Bones”,  “Fifty Mission Camp” and “Scared”.

By then, they were firmly planted as one of the nation’s best bands.

Parting thoughts

Everyone has a Tragically Hip story.

Mine is pretty simple. I had a chance to get in on the ground floor and see them before they became the sensation they were. That would have been a great story. Instead, I just missed them in a haze of teenage exuberance. Missed them by that much.

Not all stories have to be funny.

*This is from the vault