Not many people get to attend their wake before they die. Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie is Canada’s answer to Bruce Springsteen, and he got to do just that after he opted to rage against the dying of the light when he found, at age 52, that has an incurable brain tumor. Their farewell tour has transfixed Canada — and earned notices around the world — culminating in a concert last weekend that saw much of Canada shut down for a few hours. Wrote the New York Times: “In an unparalleled moment of national pride laced with sorrow, Canada stopped for a few hours on Saturday night to venerate the Tragically Hip, the band that for many has come closest to defining that country’s cultural identity.” Said the New Yorker about that final concert: “Then Downie came out onstage to rapturous applause. He is fifty-two years old, and ragged. Who wouldn’t be, coming off a craniotomy and six weeks of chemo and radiation? His sparkly, baggy clothes and wildly befeathered hat covered what must be an utterly ravaged body. He wore a “Jaws” T-shirt, the one with the monster rising to eat the oblivious swimmers.” The whole thing had normally mild-mannered Canadians sounding positively American as they penned posts such as “The World Can Learn a Thing or Two From Canada” in the wake of the concert. H/t to all of you who brought the concert to our attention.

We leave you with two versions of one of our favourite Hip songs: New Orleans is Sinking, the original video and the live performance from their final concert in Kingston, Ontario, both on Youtube.