My Night out with The Fabulously Rich and Nights in / out with The Tragically Hip

Venue:

Lighthouse Brewery, Lunenburg

Date: 02/08/2025

Warning and apologies, this was written in August, left for far longer than it should have been in part as i was waiting for some information but more recently because other things got in the way. Anyway, I’m posting before the year’s over…….. just.

So, I have a date with The Fabulously Rich, no, I haven’t been added to the guestlist for a High Society Do, as if that would ever happen although there is a Super Yacht in the vicinity but more on that later. Instead my wife and I have come on holiday by mistake (sort of) and are taking in a tribute band whilst we’re here. Let me explain…..

We weren’t intending to be here but a combination of growing children with their own plans and some cheap flights has seen us swap Yorkshire for the other Halifax and a roadtrip around Nova Scotia. Even though this was a relatively last minute decision and the itinerary is relaxed, I have done due diligence in checking whether there are any sporting or musical attractions to take in and as luck would have it with a slight tweak to our initial itinerary (or as my wife would characterise it, an unnecessary u-turn) a Saturday night in the picturesque town of Lunenburg allows us to do something I wasn’t expecting and revisit my Tragically Hip fandom in the company of Prince Edward Island’s The Fabulously Rich.

The Hip as I think they’re still known, were big in Canada, less so in the UK where in truth I don’t think I’ve met anyone else who’s aware of them that wasn’t either Canadian or a member of my immediate family. Actually that’s not quite true, as I did bump into a Scottish chap wearing a “Fully Completely” t-shirt at the first of Springsteen’s Manchester shows earlier this year. He was rather refreshed and I had an elderly mother in tow, so our conversation didn’t progress beyond my initial greeting and a meaningful look. Probably a good thing, we’d have been there all night had I got started.

Now saying a band is big is relative, but the Hip were big in Canada certainly in the 90’s to the extent that they were mainstream news, and when lead singer Gord Downie announced he had a terminal illness and they then undertook a farewell tour in 2016, their last show was attended by the Prime Minister and broadcast on national TV where it replaced The Olympics for the evening and saw approximately 30% of the nations tv’s tuned in. Now I’m not Canadian but I can remember where I was when the news of the illness was announced, and I stayed up through the UK night to watch that final show on the CBC Youtube channel, which means I was already committed, I was already a fan. I don’t think we get to pick our favourites, our ‘likes’ evolve and grow and over the years and without warning TTH turned into one of those acts that became a musical constant for me, up there with the Springsteen’s, Marillions, Petty’s etc. of my musical landscape. The fact that I like an obscure Canadian band with a funny name is something my eldest’s partner told their family during a recent conversation apparently, so I guess it’s a distinguishing feature for me. I love them.

I first encountered TTH at the tail end of the 80’s picking up a cutout copy of their seven song debut EP which I then transferred to tape along with a host of other albums before decamping to Uni and not playing it much. I remain of the view that this wasn’t unreasonable behaviour, it’s OK there are some songs I enjoy on it, but as a band, they didn’t emerge fully formed, they needed time to grow, they toured and I did my degree, we both got an education, one of us may have benefited more. A few years passed and I saw album reviews in the monthly music magazines which gave me a sense that I should listen further, phrases like Canada’s REM, bluesy rock etc were bandied about but money was in short supply and in those pre-streaming days hearing something that wasn’t being played on the radio was tricky. I did pick up a copy of a CD single Locked in the Trunk of a Car in late 92 / early 93 taken from their third album which piqued my interest further, guitar driven, the band was certainly rocking and what were those lyrics about? “It’s better for us if you don’t understand”. At this point they’re firmly on my ‘should investigate’ list.

Fast forward a few more years and I pick up Day for Night, their fourth album from my local second hand CD shop. We don’t immediately get along and it’s put aside, but after a few months for some reason I revisit, and then it clicks in a big way. After all these years Day for Night is still probably my favourite of their albums and apparently marked a slight shift in sound, a broadening of the palette from earlier albums. Of course I didn’t know that at the time but songs such as the slow burning opener Grace Too and the epic Nautical disaster, a song so good that it doesn’t need a chorus gripped me. Anyway, Day for Night is where I become a fan and from that point I worked backwards and also picked up new releases as they arrived. From memory I think I discovered the SecondSpin website in the USA shortly afterwards which allowed me to pick up the catalogue more cheaply along with snagging the Hipeponemous box set which included the ‘That night in Toronto’ live dvd, an arena show in front of a home audience which solidified my view that I should see them live if ever the opportunity arose.

Wednesday December 2nd 2009 and after many years that opportunity finally comes around, not in a Canadian arena but in the rather less salubrious environs of Manchester International 3 which is/was in the bowels of Manchester Uni. The upside of this is that I get to see them up close in a smallish club, capacity less than 500. Gord referred to it as a bunker during the show. I remember turning up early and being disappointed there were no t-shirts (in my size at least) as they were nearing the end of the tour although the chap on the stall was kind enough to give me a poster advertising the show which I still have, it’s on my wall now in a frame. Happily my expectations were very much met. Having watched the Amazon Prime documentary, the We are the Same album that they were touring behind doesn’t seem to be fondly remembered by some of the band but I loved it immediately and still do. Heck its got Morning Moon on it and in ‘The Depression Suite’ they stretch out and almost go Prog…. “Don’t you want to see how it ends”…. Happily, both played that night. I loved it!

They’d been together 20 odd years at this point and played ridiculously bigger venues but there was no trace of slumming it in the performance that night which ranged across their spectrum from countryesque ballads to the out and out rockers. The band could play, I got to see why Gord Downie was rated so highly as a frontman, handkerchiefs galore, and why the Hip were so revered as a live band. I left the venue blissful and determined that I would travel to see them again next time around, they were that good. I floated back across the Pennines, “And we headed for home’.

Unfortunately our paths never cross again and with Gord’s death they have, with the exception of an appearance with Feist on vocals at a Juno’s ceremony, ceased to be a live concern. But what’s a band to do when you lose an iconic frontman? Inxs experimented but that didn’t end well. Losing a frontman is difficult at the best of times, ask Genesis, Marillion and a host of others, losing a frontman through death seems to only add to the difficulty. So, that night in Manchester was stored in my memory and we all got on with our lives, which for those of us in the UK doesn’t include a lot of communal Hip.

Which brings us back to Lunenburg and the Lighthouse Brewery which is a reasonable walk from the town centre but has a great location among the moorings with views back across the water to the town. There’s plenty of outdoor tables and the band line up with their backs to the water and a glorious August Atlantic sun above their heads which will sink as their set progresses. There’s very nice pizzas on offer and the ales also warranted a second and possibly third taste as well. If you’re ever in the region check it out, they seem to have regular live music, often covers bands, in fact there’s a different Tragically Hip tribute on two weeks after this show!

The show appears sold out. It’s a holiday weekend, in fact as we’re approaching, we’re met by a couple who have been turned away and warn us that we wont get in without tickets, they also kindly offered us directions. On arrival we were able to get seats at a table one away from the front and settled in, chatting to some locals whilst we waited. So to the band, this is not a Kiss tribute act, there are no pyrotechnics or costumes, The Hip weren’t that sort of a band. Instead you get faithful recreations of the music with a frontman that gives nods to the departed GD without trying to be a complete facsimile. Dennis Ellsworh the frontman has a connection, having been friends and recorded with Gord Downie. There are some stream of consciousness moments ala Gord, but these are not obtrusive and probably allow others to re-tune / re-group. Three songs in and the first dancer is on her feet, she’s soon joined by friends as the set progresses. The lead singer mentions that it often gets a little rowdy, but I suspect we’re a refined crowd here tonight so we’ll probably achieve this in a calm manner. About 7/8 songs in and our Canadian friends ask how many songs my wife has recognised, she has previously flaunted her civilian status in respect of The Hip. Two so far is her take. Looking back at my notes, that’s probably the opener My music at work and third song Courage. Song ten is Grace too, she knows that one. This isn’t to say that this is an obscure setlist, it’s not, it’s a good selection of album tracks like Honey Please from 2009’s We are the same alongside the Canadian hits.

By song 24, Little Bones, my English reserve is gone and my wife is surprised to find me escorting her the few steps from our bench onto the dancefloor which is pretty well filled by this point. She was not expecting this, as I am not a dancer. Whilst she knows I’m often keen to get close to the stage at shows she was not expecting me to need to ‘Dad dance’ as I’ve never shown inclination to do so during the past 40 years, but tonight I do. To her great credit she gamely indulges me for the rest of the set as I allow myself to be taken by the moment and sing along to these songs that I’ve suddenly realised mean so much to me amongst people for whom this is just a regular Saturday night out, albeit in a scenic setting. As I find myself shouting to her, when will we ever be here doing this again? She allows me to dance and sing (loudly) with her by my side rather than being some random chap on his own. I didn’t realise how much I needed to sing Bobcageon and 50 Mission Cap in a public setting until I did it.

Looking back at my notes, I think we got 31 songs and the crowd would have been happy to hear more but it seemed a curfew had been reached and Blow at High Dough ends the evening. On our way out I spot lead singer Dennis Ellsworth and spend a few minutes talking, not something I would normally do. He was very gracious speaking to this stranger whose conversation centred around, “Come from UK, love the Hip, No Hip in UK, holiday, roadtrip, Fab Rich show, changed itinerary, great show, loved it, thank you!” He did mention that he was going to be undertaking a UK tour himself with his own material and dates to be announced soon. A venue near to us was mentioned and I held back this review initially to give his dates a mention. However until recently there had been no announcement. Anyway, that’s now changed and I’ve got tickets to see him in Saltaire in February so if you’re in the market for a night out with some top notch Folk /rock /Americana then please check him out when he tours.

And before I forget, the Super yacht which was berthed nearby, when I googled it, it belonged to someone who owns or is related to a US Basketball team, he must have travelled north from Miami to avoid ‘The Heat’. Oh how the other half live! Not sure whether they went to the show, but their loss if they didn’t.

The audience:

Locals and those on vacation for whom The Hip has been a soundtrack for the past 30 plus years, oh and 2 Brits on holiday one of whom can’t believe his luck.

It made me think..

What’s to be learnt from this, once upon a time I may have been snobbish about tribute bands but there’s no reason to be, after all it’s the music and how it makes you feel that matters not the fact that it comes from the original line up who may no longer even exist. If you get the chance experience the music you love with others who feel the same, one can not live off a diet of headphones alone. Music at work indeed.

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