Tragically Hip fans emotional in Saint John
'It's sad, it's joyful, it's Canada, it's every part of the country and we got to share some of that'
Fans of the Tragically Hip were emotional as they left the Imperial Theatre in Saint John after watching a live stream from Kingston of the band's final concert of what could be its final tour Saturday.
"It's sad, it's joyful, it's Canada, it's every part of the country and we got to share some of that tonight," said a misty-eyed Keith Brunt, around midnight outside the theatre after the concert.
Gord Downie, the lead singer and lyricist of the iconic Canadian rock band announced in May he has terminal brain cancer, but joined his bandmates of more than 30 years for this summer's Man Machine Poem tour.
Tanya and Chris Oliver said they've seen the Hip about eight times, including two weeks ago in Edmonton. Wiping away tears, they said they were sad it might be the last time.
"I would like to see them again obviously if there was an opportunity but I'm not sure that's ever going to come," Chris said.
It was a reunion of sorts for Joanne Campbell, who sat next to them on a plane from Australia 18 years ago.
"I saw them and I said, 'I know you guys are some type of band. You're not my band but you might be a band for one of my children who are both in university.'
"And they said, 'yeah we're a band.'
Upon learning they were the Tragically Hip, she remembers saying "'oh my children just went to see you at Harbour Station.'"
Brunt said one of the reasons the band is so popular is that everyone seems to know them.
"That's the music, that's the soundtrack to most of my early life," he said. "It's poetry, it's our story, it's Canada, it's love, it's brotherhood, fraternity, it's everything that's what they were about. It couldn't have been better."
With files from Matthew Bingley