‘The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal’: An intimate look at Canada’s band

It’s been astir precisely 7 years since Canadians lost The Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie, and much than 8 years since the set played their last-ever show successful Kingston, Ont.

Time, elongated and obfuscated by the pandemic, seems cruel. Has it truly been that agelong since we mislaid 1 of our country’s astir charismatic, beloved musicians? And has it truly been astir a decennary since the radical of guys fondly referred to arsenic “Canada’s Band” ceased to play?

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, a four-part docuseries streaming connected Prime Video starting Sept. 20, provides an incredibly intimate look astatine the band, from its humble beginnings successful small-town Ontario to its glory days onstage.

Directed by Gord’s member Mike Downie, each 4 hour-long segments of the docuseries are unapologetically raw, with vignettes from Gord himself and each of the set members arsenic the plucky clump of boys turn from teenagers dreaming of becoming stone stars into, well, stone stars successful their ain right.

Jaw-dropping performance footage is featured passim — adjacent die-hard Hip fans volition spot things they’ve ne'er seen earlier (no spoilers here!) — and determination are interviews with family, friends and others who knew them during the journey. Canadian celebrities and fans, including Dan Aykroyd, Jay Baruchel and Bruce McCulloch, among galore others, explicit their emotion and incredulousness astir the band, cementing what immoderate instrumentality already knows: The Tragically Hip were thing special, and a definite benignant of philharmonic magic Canadians whitethorn ne'er spot again.

Global News sat down with Mike Downie and the remaining members of the set — Paul Langlois, Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay — to speech astir what the docuseries means to them, what it was similar accelerating to nationalist fame astatine the tallness of Canadian rock, and beingness aft Gord’s death.

When revisiting each of the archival footage, reflecting connected past performances and everything that you’ve each been done together, however did it consciousness to watch?

Gord Sinclair: It’s similar the drone changeable successful a batch of ways. We ever kept a reasonably constrictive skyline passim our careers, getting to the adjacent gig and past the adjacent accidental to marque a record, adjacent accidental to instrumentality immoderate clip off, penning and stuff. When you measurement backmost and look astatine it, to me, it’s a feeling of gratitude for the accidental that we had…. We were ne'er definite whether we were going to beryllium capable to marque different grounds aft the erstwhile one.

Gratitude to the fans that came on and the guys I played euphony with. Rewatching it made maine truly admit what Mike went through. Mike moved with Gord from Amherstville erstwhile we were lone 13, and he’s coming astatine it not lone arsenic a friend, but honouring his household and honouring the group. I deliberation helium did a fantastic job. Again, it’s a bully look back, for sure.

Why did you determine connected present arsenic the clip to enactment this docuseries retired there?

Mike Downie: I deliberation timing was a large portion of it, and it’s explained successful the film.

I cognize for the guys successful the band, the years aft Gord’s passing were… a small spot lost. You conscionable benignant of retreat into your ain benignant of experience, and I had a akin acquisition arsenic well. You know, trying to fig retired what it’s each about. But, erstwhile we went into our aged precocious school, it was vacant. It had been sold to Queen’s University. Students were each gone, and successful October of 2021, we were capable to spell successful determination for 4 days and truly conscionable benignant of instrumentality it over, usage it arsenic our set.

That was astir 4 years to the time that Gord had passed. And I benignant of conscionable realized precocious that it was astir apt the close magnitude of time, similar it was inactive truly close. You spot it successful the interviews. But determination was besides capable region to person immoderate clarity arsenic well, and to commencement reasoning about, oregon talking about, the set and surely the aboriginal days due to the fact that it’s what we wanted to bash erstwhile we were successful precocious school.

I retrieve that feeling, the lump successful my throat, you know, arsenic we started talking astir the set and everything. But soon the communicative takes over. Gord’s not with america anymore, but he’s live successful those stories. It ever got maine erstwhile I’d perceive different story, evidently thing I didn’t cognize astir my member that these guys did. They were spending astir of their clip distant together. So, that was truly large for me. And a batch of that’s astir apt not successful the doc, but it’s, you know, it’s successful present [gestures to his heart] everlastingly now.

Has diving into the film, creating it, looking astatine everything, having the lump successful the throat… has that helped each of you with your consciousness of grief?

Rob Baker: I deliberation grief is ever going to beryllium with you. It ne'er goes away. The bully times, you retrieve them; they’re similar a bully cleansing bath oregon a nighttime out. You person large memories of it. But grief is thing that pierces your tegument and leaves scars, you person to betterment the mode you determination done life, to accommodate. Time is truly conscionable the champion mode to woody with it. Like we did successful the band, you enactment 1 ft successful beforehand of the other. We ne'er focused connected the horizon, conquering the world. It was each astir the adjacent gig, the adjacent opus we’re going to write. And it’s the aforesaid happening with dealing with grief.

We mislaid a brother. We went done everything that we did together, precise collectively and openly together, and past we each went disconnected separately and grieved. Completely alone. And that was truly hard.

Watching this footage is conscionable mind-blowing. It’s similar you’re close determination successful the pit. In the ’90s, Canadian stone was specified a beast. What was it similar to person a meteoric emergence during that time?

Johnny Fay: It was fun! I was reasoning backmost to immoderate of the worldly that we had done. We had this 1 gig we were truly excited about, we were opening for 54-40 astatine the Spectrum successful Montreal. And past a twelvemonth to the time later, 54-40 opened for us astatine Penguin Park successful Saskatoon.

I retrieve talking to immoderate radical and they said to me, “It felt similar we were watching a level instrumentality off, and you guys went into the clouds!”

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Having a speech similar that afterwards, it was like, “Really?” 54-40, Blue Rodeo, The Northern Pikes… we were each utilizing the aforesaid PA companies and stuff. We were touring successful the winter, which was beauteous treacherous, and the information that we went done that and lived is simply a communicative successful itself. It was a beauteous breathtaking clip to beryllium a set that was playing stone ‘n’ rotation successful this state astatine that time. There were immoderate really, truly large bands successful this country. And past Great Big Sea retired east, and it was like, yeah! We were each doing it and we were each having fun. It was a large clip to beryllium making euphony due to the fact that it was pre-phones, which astatine our past show, that’s each you saw. Some radical enactment the telephone down and watched it for real, but (back then) was a beauteous aureate property of radical going and listening to music.

Canadian occurrence vs. U.S. success: Does it substance if The Tragically Hip were arsenic fashionable successful the U.S. arsenic they were successful Canada?

Mike Downie: Certainly, erstwhile I was mounting retired to bash this doc, I truly wanted to reply this question erstwhile and for all. Because, I feel, for a batch of people, there’s this asterisk astir immense occurrence successful Canada, but not astir arsenic overmuch successful America. I deliberation we truly took a bully tally astatine it successful the documentary, due to the fact that the information is, it truly wasn’t astir measuring state to country. It was truly this thought of validation that Canadians, particularly successful the ’80s and ’90s, we’re looking astatine our ain artists, our ain anything and saying, “Yeah, that’s beauteous great, but what bash the Americans think?”

Back past it was astir a parental support benignant of happening that we needed. And that’s what happened to the Hip. And past of course, it flipped, due to the fact that past Canadians were like, “Wait a minute, this means everything to us. We emotion this.” And we realized it doesn’t substance what the remainder of the satellite thinks due to the fact that it’s ours. That assurance wasn’t truly determination before. And I deliberation the set had this inherent assurance due to the fact that of this brotherhood and this concern and this collaboration. The set had this assurance successful their songwriting and successful their performance.

Canadians were coming retired of our shells, increasing up successful the shadiness of Great Britain and the United States. It conscionable took america a portion to find our footing, and I judge The Tragically Hip helped determination that guardant successful a large way.

One happening that stood retired astir the doc, close disconnected the top, is that you were each boys with a philharmonic connection, fantasizing astir becoming stone stars. And you grew up to beryllium members of 1 of the biggest stone bands successful Canadian history. Looking back, does it ever consciousness similar a dream?

Gord Sinclair: Very overmuch so, I was conscionable reasoning astir this yesterday. When (we were teens), Rush played the Jock Hardy Arena, which is simply a tiny half-hockey arena, possibly 2,000 people… I cognize astir of you were determination with maine [gestures astatine bandmates], arsenic we’re from a tiny municipality and this was a big, large concert. I retrieve they opened up with Bastille Day, and it was the loudest, astir astonishing happening I’ve ever seen. It was genuinely inspiring.

And yesterday we’re sitting there, and here’s Ged (Geddy Lee, Rush frontman) connected TV talking astir our tunes. The 16-year-old maine is like, “Wow.” It’s amazing. I still person problems looking that antheral successful the oculus due to the fact that it’s Geddy Lee! It’s beauteous incredible, backmost erstwhile we were playing connected tennis racquets arsenic kids listening to the Rolling Stones, and past we’re having a pint with them. It’s hard to believe.

It’s benignant of similar a imagination travel true, that level of inspiration. It speaks to the powerfulness of euphony for me, due to the fact that I inactive clasp those memories really, truly strongly. Music was the lone happening I wanted to bash aft seeing Rush play, and arsenic a euphony instrumentality to beryllium capable to bash that… to beryllium capable to admit that connected a winter’s nighttime successful Saskatoon, oregon Pigtown, there’s a kid retired determination who’s possibly reasoning the nonstop aforesaid thing. You get that consciousness of assemblage that euphony creates. Music is simply a large unit for good.

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‘The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal’ is present streaming crossed Canada connected Prime Video.

This interrogation has been edited and condensed.