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Five strains, all named after Hip songs, were unveiled...
#1
http://torontosun.com/entertainment/musi...es-passing

"Five strains, all named after Hip songs — Eldorado, Morning Moon, Grace, Gems, and 50MC (Mission Cap) — were unveiled Tuesday"

CREEMORE, Ont. — The Hip still hurts.

Gord Downie’s Tragically Hip bandmates — guitarists Rob Baker and Paul Langlois, and bassist Gord Sinclair — say they continue to mourn the loss of their long-time friend and frontman as they slowly step back into the spotlight.

“A chocolatey mess,” is how Baker described still feeling after Downie passed from brain cancer on Oct. 17.

“It’s still really fresh,” added Sinclair, while the trio did their first interviews at a lavish country gathering at The New Farm — about 125 km northwest of Toronto — to celebrate their Up Cannabis partnership.

“It’s been only eight months after 30 years. We’re really good friends. We’re a family. We have great support networks,” said Sinclair. “People go through different things. Personally, I have really sad days and I have really good days. And that’s a long process. And it doesn’t just include the five of us, or the four of us — see, there you go — I still think of it, in terms of a unit. But it’s just the people we’ve worked with, you know, since the early ’90s. Speak to them, see how everybody’s doing. It’s not the end of a career. It’s the loss of a good friend of all of ours.”

With the Oct. 17 date for legalized pot looming, the three Hip musicians, minus drummer Johnny Fay, were part of a large gathering to celebrate their partnership with Up Cannabis as both investors and brand ambassadors.

“Gord would have loved that,” said Baker of the first anniversary of his death coinciding with the date that weed becomes legal for recreational use in Canada.

Five strains, all named after Hip songs — Eldorado, Morning Moon, Grace, Gems, and 50MC (Mission Cap) — were unveiled Tuesday while food from five celebrity chefs was provided on two long banquet tables with seating for 260 people. Kingston rockers, The Glorious Sons and Toronto’s Dallas Green performed inside a barn, and a nearby watering hole provided a refreshing cool down in the middle of southern Ontario’s heatwave.

“He would have insisted that we played,” said Baker when asked what Downie would have thought of the event.

“He would have loved today,” added Langlois.

Interestingly, despite being long thought of as one of Canada’s most passionate frontmen, his bandmates say he wasn’t entirely comfortable as a public speaker.

“Gord would stand in front of 25,000 people and sing his heart out and go stream-of- consciousness until the cows come home, but if you got him to speak in front of 10 people about water rights, he hated it,” said Sinclair.

Added Baker: “The whole persona he developed on stage was stage fright. It’s not a natural thing to stand in front of an audience and bare your soul or to speak to a crowd of people. I guess it’s natural for some people. It’s not natural for most people. But, for Gord, I think it was hard. And I think every tour he would say, ‘I’m not going to do the dancing bear! I’m not going to do that anymore! I’m going to stand there and sing the songs!’ And as soon as he got out there in front of the crowd, like after about 20 seconds, it would just take over because he needed to do that.”

But when the Hip last toured together in 2016 — culminating in a nationwide broadcast of the last show on Aug. 20 in their hometown of Kingston – Sinclair says Downie fed on the fans reactions.

“He got stronger and stronger because of the love that he was getting back from them,” he said. “That’s what really struck me about the whole thing. He was really sick when we started. He was still really sick when we finished but he was better. It was all about love.”

HIP HAPPENINGS:

According to guitarist Rob Baker:

No more new Hip music: “We’re not actively creating music as The Hip. I don’t see it happening really.”

Maybe unreleased Hip music: “We’ll have to talk about what we do with that at some point. There’s probably like three albums worth. But I’m not sure what any of it means yet.”

Other side projects: “We’re still musicians. We’re still songwriters. It’s what we all love – being musically creative. We’re creative in other ways too so I don’t see that changing.”

— Read part two of Jane Stevenson’s interview on The Hip’s Up Cannabis deal in this weekend’s Toronto Sun.
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#2
Some really interesting insights in that interview, especially about Gord's stage fright. I really hope they release that unreleased material; obviously there won't be any "new" music from the band, but all that unreleased stuff would be the next best thing.
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#3
ikky99 Wrote:Maybe unreleased Hip music: “We’ll have to talk about what we do with that at some point. There’s probably like three albums worth. But I’m not sure what any of it means yet.”

I can't believe that they haven't had this conversation yet. I'm also a bit disappointed. Part of me hoped for something from them later this year. Looks like it will be new solo Gord before any new Hip.
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#4
potsie Wrote:
ikky99 Wrote:Maybe unreleased Hip music: “We’ll have to talk about what we do with that at some point. There’s probably like three albums worth. But I’m not sure what any of it means yet.”

I can't believe that they haven't had this conversation yet. I'm also a bit disappointed. Part of me hoped for something from them later this year. Looks like it will be new solo Gord before any new Hip.

really? i can't say i am even a little bit surprised.
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#5
If this is all we ever get from the Hip, snippets and stories, I'll be happy. I just don't want them to disappear, to let the band go. I want to keep hearing about all the stuff they've never said before...all the tour stories and personal tidbits like the above. I live for that stuff.
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#6
andrew sharpe Wrote:If this is all we ever get from the Hip, snippets and stories, I'll be happy. I just don't want them to disappear, to let the band go. I want to keep hearing about all the stuff they've never said before...all the tour stories and personal tidbits like the above. I live for that stuff.

Exactly!

I also think that Rob is a bit of a wordsmith - in my mind you can interpret the comment around no new music meaning that they haven't created any new music as a band without Gord, as in forging ahead as a four-piece or whatever.

Technically, if anything was recorded with Gord between his diagnosis and death that could fall under the unreleased category (but I do acknowledge that this seems unlikely). I am pretty confident that the unreleased material will be released at some point - but I'm not expecting it anytime soon.
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#7
mark Wrote:
potsie Wrote:
ikky99 Wrote:Maybe unreleased Hip music: “We’ll have to talk about what we do with that at some point. There’s probably like three albums worth. But I’m not sure what any of it means yet.”

I can't believe that they haven't had this conversation yet. I'm also a bit disappointed. Part of me hoped for something from them later this year. Looks like it will be new solo Gord before any new Hip.

really? i can't say i am even a little bit surprised.

I sense some cynicism in your comment. New music this year was probably wishful thinking on my part, but it would have made good commercial sense. The MMP tour ended almost two years ago so to have not even talked about vault material yet seems odd, especially given that they might have wanted Gord's input before he passed.
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#8
Happy to see this story.

I still miss Gord immensely.

I heard It Didnt Start to Break My Heart recently and it just shook me. How is this artist gone? Still doesn’t seem real, much less fair.

Listening to Music@Work now, FYI.

Again I go back to Queen. Their final recordings with Freddie Mercury were released four years after his death.

The band was devastated by the loss of their friend. It took time for them to be able to deal with the beautiful, lost voice on Mother Love, A Winter’s Tale, etc.

The thing to remember is that while we’ve all lost a musical hero, the band has lost a friend.
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#9
Yea, I'm not expecting any unreleased material for a while. As the guys mentioned, the wound is still pretty fresh and they're all still grieving the loss of their brother in their own ways. I assume they'll sit on it for at least a few more months before deciding when, or if they'll release any music.

Gord did mention in his interview with Mansbridge that he had been working with the guys on something after the tour ended. Whether or not that stuff ever sees the light of day is anyone's guess. But I'm betting it will eventually.
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#10
potsie Wrote:I sense some cynicism in your comment. New music this year was probably wishful thinking on my part, but it would have made good commercial sense. The MMP tour ended almost two years ago so to have not even talked about vault material yet seems odd, especially given that they might have wanted Gord's input before he passed.

yeah, i am cynical when it comes to the Hip doing anything extra for their fans. they've always talked about having extra material, but i don't ever expect it to see the light of day. i would LOVE to be wrong about that, though. the band never seemed to care about doing something just for the money - and that's fine, i guess. but fans have been asking for something, anything, extra for years and it has continually fallen on deaf years.

if you use pearl jam as an example:

- they have an active (albeit not perfect) fan club
- release every show for purchase, including select shows from their "vault"
- have put out numerous tour DVDs
- released an album of b-sides

even DMB have opened their vault and are releasing old shows.

again, i really want to be wrong but i don't think i am.
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#11
mark Wrote:yeah, i am cynical when it comes to the Hip doing anything extra for their fans. they've always talked about having extra material, but i don't ever expect it to see the light of day. i would LOVE to be wrong about that, though. the band never seemed to care about doing something just for the money - and that's fine, i guess. but fans have been asking for something, anything, extra for years and it has continually fallen on deaf years.

if you use pearl jam as an example:

- they have an active (albeit not perfect) fan club
- release every show for purchase, including select shows from their "vault"
- have put out numerous tour DVDs
- released an album of b-sides

even DMB have opened their vault and are releasing old shows.

again, i really want to be wrong but i don't think i am.

agreed. it's sad.
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#12
mark Wrote:yeah, i am cynical when it comes to the Hip doing anything extra for their fans.

I agree, this was certainly the case before Gord got sick. But I think his death and the subsequent derailment of their career as a band changes things. The Hip are still a huge source of income for the surviving members, their families, and Downie's family as well. No doubt they have enough material in their vaults to keep the money machine rolling for a long time, whether it be from releasing live albums, concert footage/DVDs/blurays, b-sides, deluxe reissues of classic albums (maybe UTH, RA, DFN, PP), new merch, etc...

I'm sure the band members and their management are well aware of the possible financial rewards that their legacy can provide, and I'm betting they already have certain plans drawn up in that regard. As well, you can bet that they discussed these details with Gord before he passed, and asked for his input on what he would want. I predict we'll see at least one or two new Hip releases in 2019, which would coincide with the 35th anniversary of the band.
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#13
direwolf74 Wrote:
mark Wrote:yeah, i am cynical when it comes to the Hip doing anything extra for their fans.

I agree, this was certainly the case before Gord got sick. But I think his death and the subsequent derailment of their career as a band changes things. The Hip are still a huge source of income for the surviving members, their families, and Downie's family as well. No doubt they have enough material in their vaults to keep the money machine rolling for a long time, whether it be from releasing live albums, concert footage/DVDs/blurays, b-sides, deluxe reissues of classic albums (maybe UTH, RA, DFN, PP), new merch, etc...

I'm sure the band members and their management are well aware of the possible financial rewards that their legacy can provide, and I'm betting they already have certain plans drawn up in that regard. As well, you can bet that they discussed these details with Gord before he passed, and asked for his input on what he would want. I predict we'll see at least one or two new Hip releases in 2019, which would coincide with the 35th anniversary of the band.

I don't disagree with you, I'm just less optimistic
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#14
Even if there are three albums' worth in the vault, they're not sitting there, ready to go, or they would have been released already - they'll have to go back into the studio for mastering AT LEAST.
It's clearly still an open wound for everyone, so I'm sure it would be a difficult process, and as such, I wouldn't expect anything until May 2019 at the absolute minimum.

That being said, I don't think there's all that much financial upside to doing it - CD's are basically dead, the radio doesn't play much new hip, streaming doesn't pay much at all, and they clearly can't tour in support.
1995-02-10 Toronto; 1996-12-12 Toronto; 1998-07-04 Hamilton; 1999-02-22 Toronto; 2000-06-24 Toronto; 2000-12-06 Ottawa; 2002-08-02 Toronto; 2004-10-23 Ottawa; 2007-01-31 Oshawa; 2007-02-02 Ottawa; 2011-07-01 Toronto; 2012-02-09 Oshawa; 2015-02-19 Toronto; 2015-04-15 Oshawa; 2016-08-18 Ottawa
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#15
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/07/05/tragically-hip-gord-downie_a_23475366/">https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2018/07/0 ... _23475366/</a><!-- m -->

slightly longer low def version;
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://etcanada.com/video/1270283331607/the-tragically-hip-on-life-after-gord/">https://etcanada.com/video/127028333160 ... fter-gord/</a><!-- m -->
at least a dozen shows - Montreal - Ste.Adele - Verdun ARA - Highgate ARA - Kanata - Sugarbush - Portsmouth
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