After ten years since their final performance, The Tragically Hip is gearing up to give Canadians the chance to relive the 2016 broadcast of their last Man Machine Poem concert through a special airing on CBC this summer. Scheduled for August 22, fans will have the opportunity to tune in to The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration concert at 7 p.m. local time on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio, and CBC Music’s YouTube channel.
The original concert, held in The Hip’s hometown of Kingston, Ontario, on August 20, 2016, was broadcasted on CBC, drawing in 11.7 million viewers. This event marked the band’s final tour before the passing of lead singer Gord Downie, who succumbed to brain cancer on October 17, 2017.
In honor of the concert, the band will also unveil a new live album on August 21, the day before the broadcast. Titled The Tragically Hip: Live July 22 – August 20, 2016, the album was mixed and mastered by the band’s longtime audio engineer, Mark Vreeken. It will include live renditions of popular tracks like Ahead By a Century, New Orleans is Sinking, and more from their final nationwide tour.
Fans can already enjoy the live versions of Fifty-Mission Cap, recorded in Edmonton, and Locked In The Trunk Of A Car, from the last Kingston performance. Additionally, the band is set to be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in September at Toronto’s Massey Hall.