Tragically Hip Lead Singer Terminal Illness

This tour has me thinking about some of the excuses made about the AC/DC situation. A certain segment clings to the idea that AC/DC would be on the hook for a lot of money if they cancelled the remaining dates of their tour when their singer couldn't perform due to a health issue.

I feel like there's insurance in place for situations like what happened to AC/DC and they recruited Axl because they wanted to keep going, not that they were financially forced to.

Take the Hip situation. There has to be insurance available because what happens if you get 15 sold out arena shows that have to be cancelled if Gord Downie takes a turn for the worse and can't perform? No way the band is going to be on the hook for a massive bill and nobody could reasonably assume that a fill in singer could or would be recruited to play in Gord's place.

 

I'm lucky enough to make my living in the concert industry. The band does not need or rarely carries insurance for cancellation. Every contract i've ever seen (I've seen a ton) have what is called "Force Majeure" language. Basically the band is off the hook if a show has to cancel for acts of God, which includes artist sickness in 99.9 percent of the contracts. In the case of a "Force Majeure" the Artist is generally relieved of any financial responsibility short of returning any deposit the Promoter may have made. The Promoter is generally the one that needs to be concerned about cancellation insurance because they are the ones that will potentially have the most to lose from the financial standpoint. Sure the band no longer gets the "guarantee" money but most of the expenses incurred will fall on the promoter side of things, such as marketing, advertising, rental of a venue, ticketing costs and refunds. It can be a nightmare for a Promoter to lose a show. I'm rambling. I'm bummed about Gord and doubt he'll make it down to Texas again. Cancer sucks.

 

The show in my city sold out in seconds. Never saw anything like it and I've seen some goofy stuff on the Ticketb@stard website. And today, I got the extra treat of witnessing the latest way they've found to stick it to fans : I was killing time waiting for the Hip tickets to go on sale to the bots so I checked out another show I got tickets for a while back to see if it had sold out yet. What I saw was seats in areas where no seats were available when the tickets went on sale which were mysteriously available now, shown as "Week Of The Show" seats, all being sold at a premium price ( of course ). This gouging only ends one way : when the re-sellers, scalpers and Ticketb@stard start having to unload these speculation seats at a loss because people stop playing this game. Good luck with that...

D.D.

 

I was very sorry to read this. They were a good (not great) band with many solid hits. I applaud their courage and especially Gord Downie to go out on this tour.

 

I honestly didn't think that this would be that hard of a ticket. Then the media got wind of
it and everything blew up. People who had never even been to a concert before were suddenly
ardent Hip fans. When Hamilton went on sale at 10am and I could not even pick up a single,
well, I knew that there was no chance of getting into the show here. I was put into a `virtual
line-up' once ducats went on-sale at 11am.....after 45 minutes I shut the pc off. I still plan on
going, however. Come the first of July I'll start checking out the secondary markets.............
heck, it's only money.

 

I got lucky in the presale, but tried for a pair for a friend in the Amex presale and the general sale with no luck. I am a bit perturbed reading through social media with people complaining they could not get tickets, will never see a show. They have toured coast to coast pretty much every two years. For the past 10 years I've counted every tour as possibly the last, just because the band all have other pursuits and family.

 

Yeah definitely agree with this. If you have been a Hip for the last 10 years (let alone last 25 years) and never seen them, it is your fault.

 

I caught on to them very early - they played my high school, though I did not go the talk afterwards made me pick up the EP - since then seen them everywhere from clubs to theaters to arenas and fields. It is too bad if tickets end up in the hands of people who last listened 20 years ago, and fans who stuck with the band are left outside.

 

Apparently someone on BowieNet found audio of David saying "I love the Tragically Hip" from a 2003 interview.

 

Oldish news is that the group changed their stage design and more tickets went on sale this past Tuesday.
Today, from the CBC:
Tragically Hip's final concert to be broadcast live on CBC
August concert in Kingston, Ont., will be live on CBC-TV, Radio One, Radio 2, cbcmusic.ca and YouTube

 

Well said. A part of me wishes The Hip were more well know but, at the same time I'm glad (and proud) that they are truly Canadian treasures.
I have seen them 6 times (2002-2006) and would be attending one of the concerts at the ACC if I didn't have stage 4 cancer. Glad that the CBC will be broadcasting their final concert (Aug 20) live from their hometown.

 

I had tickets for their show at the Saddledome in Calgary last year, but I had to sell them as I couldn't make it from Toronto in time ( I was in the middle of planning a move). I'm even more upset about that missed opportunity now as I couldn't get tickets for the current show.

I have August 20th booked and am going to plan a bit of party and watch it on the big screen. Should be fun!

 

Any chance of a link to it?

 

Capitulated and bought a ticket from Stub Hub.....the cheapest I could find
just to get into the building. It arrived on the day the Hip announced that
they were putting more ducats on sale. Well....that was a non-event, wasn't
it? Gone in mere seconds.

 

Might be behind a pay wall.

 

Finally picked up a copy of the Hip live CD from Cobo Hall in Detroit
circa 1996. Can't really say why I avoided it for so long. Excellent disc.
I'm surprised that they haven't issued a double-live set in the last few
years.....although I suppose a CD/DVD from the upcoming tour is a
lock.

 

This does happen. I saw Sabbath two months ago, and purchased a ticket the day of the show. I got 3rd row centre on the floor, right in front of Ozzy. Turns out I was sitting in the area reserved for the meet and greet tour packages. I was told any premium tickets that don't sell are held back and pushed into the system the day of the show. I looked on the floor for months leading up to the show, and the system said the floor was sold out. That has happened many times when I've rolled up the day of the show, for Rolling Stones, U2, etc....

My friends were pissed since they bought their tickets months in advance and got up in the stands.

Works for me, but I can see how it's frustrating for others. I am a fan though and never sell these tickets, I attend all the shows.

 

From the CBC:
Lottery will give Tragically Hip fans a second shot at concert tickets

 

Victoria:

Boots or Hearts
New Orleans Is Sinking
Opiated
Blow at High Dough
Machine
What Blue
Tired as F.
In a World Possessed by the Human Mind
Something On
Poets
Bobcaygeon
Fireworks
Family Band
The Lonely End of the Rink
Yer Not the Ocean
In View
The Last of the Unplucked Gems
The Luxury
Little Bones
Long Time Running
Twist My Arm

Encore:
Eldorado
Wheat Kings
At the Hundredth Meridian

Encore 2:
Gift Shop
Ahead by a Century


Vancouver:

Twist My Arm
Three Pistols
The Luxury
Little Bones
Machine
Tired as ****
What Blue
In a World Possessed by the Human Mind
At Transformation
Man Machine Poem
The Lookahead
We Want to Be It
Membership
Fireworks
Bobcaygeon
Poets
Daredevil
So Hard Done By
Thugs
Grace, Too

Encore:
Fully Completely
Wheat Kings
Locked in the Trunk of a Car

Encore 2:
Opiated
New Orleans Is Sinking

 

Amazing set lists -- I like the four songs per album approach for the main set. I watched the full Victoria show on periscope and most of Vancouver. Cool what you can do with technology. The bands sounds really good, Gord sounds really good. He's maybe a bit less animated, but that's to be expected.

I was pretty sure this would be the last tour based on the announcement, scheduling, and national broadcast of the "final show of the tour" -- based on these set lists, really do think this is their farewell across Canada.

 

Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie performs with band members Paul Langlois, Gord
Sinclair, Johnny Fay and Rob Baker at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre to kick off the
band's latest Man Machine Poem tour in light of Downie's brain cancer diagnosis, in Victoria,
B.C. (Kevin Light/Reuters)
Very nice article/review here from the CBC.


Mr. Downie. Image by Kim Jay.

 

Every time I get upset or frustrated with something the past couple months, I think about what Gord is going through and my problems suddenly seem miniscule. Have watched most of both shows so far on Periscope (video about the size of a postage stamp) and it's been pretty emotional. 13 more to go.

 

From show #1 in Victoria, the last song (watch all the way to the end):

 

He was not his usual self, which is obviously understood. Very brave to do this tour knowing what's in everyone's mind.

 

No `Fifty Mission Cap'......is that something they would only play in the Toronto area?