[andrew sharpe]

This exactly. Alan Cross talked a bit about this during his interview on the Fully & Completely podcast a while back, saying that we'll likely never see another homegrown band reach that level of mass popularity ever again. The way in which people are exposed to music these days (streaming/youtube) is just too fractured and spread out now, and that kind of collective experience just doesn't happen anymore-- where millions of people rally around a specific band or artist at the same time. In the States it was Nirvana. In Canada it was the Hip. They captured the spirit of an entire generation of Canadian rock fans in a way that no other band had done before or since. To me that makes a pretty good hook for a documentary.

When you think back to how insanely popular the Hip were in the 90s, it's pretty remarkable. In this country they were thought of on the same level as their U.S. peers at the time (R.E.M., Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Chili Peppers, etc..). From what I can recall, they were the only Canadian band big enough to justify midnight sales for their albums on release day. Not to mention the manic energy of their live shows was unmatched by anyone at the time.

I think you're compartmentalizing your own experience. Either that or I don't understand your point. Many Canadian performers have achieved much higher levels of mass popularity since the Hip. Sure, the Hip were the band for our generation, but I think suggesting this is unique is untrue. Every generation has its superstars, and the current generation has plenty of Canadian representatives, some way more popular than the Hip ever were.

As for the larger point of this thread, I think the uproar over the final tour proves there will always be a market for the Hip. Not necessarily best selling, but there's definitely enough hard cores to sustain the band for another thirty years. If they put out a live show on Netflix it would get more than enough streams to justify the release. The issue may be if the profitability of the band is setup around a machine that needs to be a best seller. But if they're willing to slip into the realm of "cult favourite", I think they'd do fine.

As to whether or not the band sees value in extending the life of the music (ala Chris Chelios), or they prefer to go out on top (ala Ray Bourque)...only time will tell.