Ten years ago, one of the most iconic Canadian bands played their final show, but a Nova Scotian fan will soon be retelling the band’s story. Liz Duff, a pop culture commentator and podcast host, will soon be releasing a web documentary called “That Night in Kingston” which revisits the Tragically Hip’s final concert through a personal connection of her own. “I call myself a second-generation Tragically Hip fan because my dad went to Queens at the same time as the Hip, and not only that, he was campus security at their concerts at Grant Hall,” said Duff in an interview with CTV Your Morning Atlantic’ Crystal Garrett. “He talks a lot about how you’d see them across campus and they’d just be hauling their instruments to whatever bar they were playing in that night,” she said. The Tragically Hip was formed in Kingston, Ont., in 1984, made up of members Gord Downie, Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair, Johnny Fay, and Paul Langlois who joined two years later. The band eventually grew to become one of the country’s most recognizable. “They were so cool, and they are still so cool. Everything about the Hip was so punk, how they made their music, they recorded as a band, Gord would write everywhere he was, he would make notes and those would become the lyrics they’d become the songs, everything about how they made music and how they were a band has influenced so much rock music in Canada,” said Duff. The band would play their last show in 2016 at the same place they found their start – Kingston – and more than 11 million Canadians tuned in to watch. Duff says fans who attended the concert say it had a very different feeling than other concerts. “About five minutes before the show, typically you go see a concert and people are running for a drink, bathroom, merchandise, right before the show starts people are coming in late, but not this concert. It was silent in the concourse, fully seated, minutes before the broadcast and before the show started. It erupted in Oh Canada in the theatre, a Canada flag went around, I get goosebumps just talking about it,” she said. That Night in Kingston: 10 Year Anniversary of the Tragically Hip’s Final Concert is available to watch on YouTube.
