After ten years since their final performance, The Tragically Hip is giving Canadians the chance to relive the 2016 broadcast of their last Man Machine Poem concert through a special airing on CBC this summer. The event, titled The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration, will be broadcast on Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. local time on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio, and CBC Music’s YouTube channel.
The original concert, which took place in the band’s hometown of Kingston, Ontario on Aug. 20, 2016, was watched by 11.7 million viewers when it aired on CBC. This concert marked the band’s final tour before the passing of lead singer Gord Downie, who succumbed to brain cancer on Oct. 17, 2017.
In honor of the event, The Tragically Hip will be releasing a new live album the day before the broadcast on Aug. 21. Titled The Tragically Hip: Live July 22 – August 20, 2016, this album was mixed and mastered by the band’s longtime audio engineer, Mark Vreeken. It will feature live recordings of popular songs like Ahead By a Century, New Orleans is Sinking, and more from their last nationwide tour.
Two live versions of their songs, Fifty-Mission Cap from Edmonton and Locked In The Trunk Of A Car from the final Kingston show, are already available. The band is also set to be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in September at Toronto’s Massey Hall.
