Canada is a funny place.
Canucks live in the shadow of a superpower, often seeking affirmation from our big brother to the south, though admittedly that’s happening less frequently these days. At the same time, we’re always happy to proudly, yet politely wave the flag, while simultaneously apologizing for doing it.
Many fans of the CFL enthusiastically embrace the Canadian aspect of the game; celebrating three downs and bigger balls.
For millions of music fans across the country, their major fix of Canadiana is The Tragically Hip.
The Kingston quintet; singer Gord Downie, guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois, bassist Gord Sinclair, and drummer Johnny Fay, didn’t become a band that just played in Canada, they bled maple syrup.
They made internationally obscure lyrical references to Tom Thomson and Jacques Cartier. To Bill Barilko and David Milgaard. To Bobby Orr and Bobcaygeon.
The band celebrated its Canadian heritage while belting out incredible music at the same time. It led to nine number one albums and 17 Juno Awards.
On August 20th, Canada will mark the tenth anniversary of a performance that almost 12,000,000 people, or roughly 30-percent of the population, watched on television. Sadly, it was the final concert that the band would ever play as Downie – the lyricist and gyrating genius – passed away from brain cancer fourteen months later.
The reactions and emotions on display across the country that night created an event forever etched in the minds of those who experienced it, and many are ready to celebrate The Hip on the upcoming anniversary of that bittersweet performance.
As in most Canadian workplaces, the Toronto Argonauts locker room is not void of Hipsters, but there’s little doubt the biggest fan is offensive lineman Dakoda Shepley, a Windsor native.
“When I was 14 years old, I wasn’t the biggest fan,” recalled the now 31-year-old, “My best friend, who I’ve known since I was two, took me to his family’s cottage in Parry Sound. They have a long driveway through the woods to the bay that their cabin sits on. It’s a tradition of theirs to drive really slowly down this two-kilometre driveway to their bay. They played Scared with all the windows rolled down. We rolled into the cottage and it started to make a lot of sense and ever since then I’ve been a huge fan.”
It’s that kind of story that will give other Hip fans goosebumps, or perhaps more accurately, Canada goose bumps.
While the Day For Night track was Shepley’s gateway to both the cottage and the band, there are other songs that have resonated with him.
“I really love Cordelia,” he said of the Road Apples rocker, before creating his own verbal playlist. “Scared, Bobcaygeon, Poets is a great one, Fireworks is a cool one.”
Shepley regrets never seeing the band live, though in true Twist My Arm fashion, he enjoys them vicariously. Through the magic of concert videos, he’s able to see what he missed firsthand, while at the same time working on creating another Hip fan in the process.
“I love them,” he said of the band. “I have a daughter and all we do is watch live music. They were incredible live. That’s half the reason I think they were as big as they were; their on-stage presence, their personality, he (Downie) was so eccentric.”
Another Canadian offensive lineman is a big fan of the band, though isn’t as over-the-top as Shepley.
Chris Kolankowski grew up in Etobicoke. He’s not one to listen to The Hip’s deep cuts but understands the connection between fan and band.
“Bobcaygeon is a classic,” he told Argonauts.ca. “They’re just Canadiana. Whenever you’re at a cottage or on a dock it’s The Tragically Hip playing. That’s the background music at a cottage. The Canadiana is the biggest part, it’s Canadian nostalgia. Growing up in Canada, it feels like home listening to their music.”
It’s a mutual admiration between sport and band. Baker, Sinclair, and Langlois all played high-school ball at KCVI, where Langlois’ father “Tic” was the longtime coach of the senior team and now resides in the Kingston and District Sports Hall of Fame.
Baker is a superfan of Queen’s University football and is a permanent fixture at Gaels games, where it’s also not uncommon to see Langlois or Sinclair.
It won’t be the sport, but the music that will be on people’s minds on August 20. As Kolankowski articulated, it will be true Canadian nostalgia and people remembering a band that continues to keep them company, and mourning the loss of a creative dynamo who was taken from us far too soon.