Episode Details

The band took their bow. The house lights came up, and nobody in the Saddledome moved. This is the night the ovation would not stop.

Episode summary

August 3rd, 2016. A Wednesday. Two nights after the first Calgary show, The Tragically Hip walked back into the Scotiabank Saddledome and played the city goodbye. Ten years on, three fans who were in the building pass the night around the table with jD.

Spencer from Calgary is back from the night one episode. This was his third show of the Man Machine Poem Tour and the last time he saw the band live, and he spent it with Alan and Chantel, old friends from ten years of Hitmen games and Saddledome nights. His friend Al's text said it best: heavy but celebratory, like we all knew what was happening but we chose to live in the moment.

Julie from Calgary hadn't seen The Hip since 1997. The tickets were a first date anniversary present. She and Keith from Calgary went with her parents, still dating, married the next year, and 'Ahead by a Century' was the wedding song.

They talk about the word glioblastoma and where it landed in Julie's family. About Spencer's Periscope vigil in a Calgary bar the night the tour opened in Victoria. About 'Scared' with the lights up, the Jaws shirt, and an ovation that went on so long Gord Downie just stood there in the house lights, telling Calgary it was beautiful.

Nobody here claims to be the expert. They were in the room, and ten years later two of them run a charity festival because of it. That part comes up too.

Key takeaways

• The tickets were a first date anniversary present. Keith and Julie were still dating at the show, married the next year, and 'Ahead by a Century' was their wedding song. Spencer had it at his wedding too.

• Spencer watched the Victoria opener through a stranger's Periscope stream in a Calgary bar, and only breathed again once Gord got through the first song.

• The middle of the set was an "In Violet Light" collector's run: 'Use It Up' (first since 2006), 'It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken' (tour debut), 'Throwing Off Glass' (first since 2009), and 'The Dire Wolf' (tour debut). Verified against setlist.fm, cross-referenced with Hipbase.

• Julie marks 'Scared' as the moment the night turned - lights up, arms around strangers, the first cracks showing.

• The morning the news broke, Keith wore The Hip under his suit to client meetings at the bank, and decided anyone put off by it was not his kind of client anyway.

• GEDfest exists because of this show. Julie and Keith founded it after the tour, it turns nine this year, and Spencer signed on as an ambassador before the episode was over.

Quotes

"Everyone just became one. And for one night, there's very few nights in your life where everybody is connected, positive, happy, loving, sad. You could have hugged anyone in there. You could have kissed anyone in there. It would have been accepted."

- Julie from Calgary

"This might sound like hyperbole, but in a lot of ways that show changed my life."

- Keith from Calgary

Guest information

• Spencer from Calgary - back from night one. Three shows on the final tour, and this was the last time he saw The Hip live. His daughter's name is Grace. Draw your own conclusions.

• Julie from Calgary - GEDfest co-founder. Had not seen The Hip since 1997. Her first podcast, ever. She did great.

• Keith from Calgary - GEDfest co-founder. Still has the paper tickets. The poster is