Ten years since The Hip's final show: NS tributes

It has been ten years since The Tragically Hip played their final show, and Nova Scotia is marking the anniversary with a spread of tribute events and retrospectives. The band, which formed in Kingston, Ontario, in November 1984, closed out its career on August 20, 2016, at the K-Rock Centre in Kingston. The lineup — vocalist Gord Downie, guitarists Paul Langlois and Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay — left behind 13 studio albums, two live albums, two EPs and more than 50 singles, with nine of those albums reaching number one on the Canadian charts. Over two decades they sold more than six million records in Canada and were the best-selling Canadian band in the country between 1996 and 2016.

Across the province, a number of venues have set aside space to keep the music going. The Brooklyn Recreation Committee is hosting at the Brooklyn Community Hall on Route 3; Filmocalendar has a spot at the Sydney Museum on Charlotte Street; the Glasgow Square Theatre on Riverside Parkway is on board; Rosefinch Mercantile & Tea Room in Port Medway is involved; the Town of Amherst is holding things at the Amherst Theatre on Church Street; and the Ketch Harbour Area Community Hall in Duncans Cove is part of the mix as well. It is a loose, community-led map rather than a single tour, which suits a band that spent decades playing everywhere from arenas to small towns.

For anyone who wants the official version, the CBC is airing a screening of the documentary 'The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration' on Saturday, August 22, at 7 p.m. ET — which is 8 p.m. Atlantic — on CBC-TV, CBC Gem and the CBC Music YouTube channel, with no commercials. The broadcast opens with 'A Beautiful Thing', a short film by Mike Downie, Gord Downie's brother, that pulls together behind-the-scenes footage and testimonials from people across the country. Back in Kingston, the band's hometown, a three-day series of events at Springer Market Square ran from August 20 to 22, including a concert viewing party on the final night.

The history behind the anniversary is the heavy part. Gord Downie was diagnosed with glioblastoma in May 2016 and passed away on October 17, 2017; after his death, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute at the farewell concert in Kingston. The band's trophy cabinet runs long, too: 17 Juno Awards, including three for Entertainer of the Year, three for Group of the Year and three for Rock Album of the Year, plus induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2024. Their final performance was 'Ahead by a Century', the number-one hit they released in 1996.

Whether you caught the final show in person or have only ever known the records, the anniversary is a good excuse to put on a disc and remember why the band meant so much to so many. Between the local gatherings and the national screening, there are plenty of ways to mark the decade since the curtain came down.