‘Thanks for making us proud to be Canadian’

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This article was published 05/08/2016 (3382 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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When the Tragically Hip announced their farewell Man Machine Poem Tour, sisters Janine and Meghan Morin-West, along with friend Ben Waudby, knew what had to be done.

They loaded up their car and headed for Vancouver, the second tour date, July 24. Then on to Edmonton, then Calgary, for two shows. On Friday night, the Winnipeg 20-somethings were waiting outside the MTS Centre ready to soak up the fifth and final live Hip show on their own personal tour.

“It’s like everything has been building up to this,” said Waudby, 23. “And Winnipeg feels the most special yet. It’s in the centre, and people can come from everywhere; the north, south, east and west.”

And they did, too.

Eric Guyot woke up Friday morning in Lloydminster (the Alberta side), and the construction worker drove straight to Winnipeg to see his sixth Hip performance.

“I was ready to tell my work I was quitting if they didn’t let me come here,” Guyot said, only half-joking. “And I have a great job. I wanted to be here bad.”

Rodd Bruntjen and Nedira LeBlanc drove in from Minneapolis. LeBlanc has seen the Hip live so many time she’s lost count. Over 20, anyway.

“I dream about the Tragically Hip,” she said. “They just come in my dreams. We hang out.”

That’s the thing about Hip fans. Few of them are casual. They know all the words. They’ll go out of their way to travel to Bobcaygeon, Ont., just to get a glimpse of the Hip song of the same name.

For example, the Morin-West sisters and Waudby made sure to stop at the Golden Rim Motel (now the Days Inn Golden), off the Trans-Canada near Golden, B.C, just because it’s named in the Hip’s song, The Luxury.

“It’s such a great way to see the country,” said Meghan, 23.

In all, they travelled more than 4,000 kilometres over two weeks. They drove through wheat fields blasting Wheat Kings. In Calgary, not believing their own luck, they spotted Hip guitarist Paul Langlois outside his hotel having a smoke (of course), and got him to sign their vinyl copy of Road Apples. Selfies were taken.

In fact, it was a journey that really began nine years ago when Janine and Meghan’s mother, Jan, took her daughters to see their first live Hip show for Janine’s 16th birthday. Now Janine is 25, standing outside the MTS wearing a black Hip T-shirt with a Hip scarf.

Mom Jan is there, too.

“The first time I took them, I was up dancing and they were sitting in their seats,” said the mother, who attended her first Hip concert in 1988, before her daughters were born. “Now they’re jumping around and I’m sitting.”

Of course, it wasn’t just another show for Jan Morin, or any of the thousands of fans who have been selling out the tour shows after the bombshell news broke in May that Downie had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

If anything, the tour has allowed fans to pay homage to Downie, the 52-year-old lead singer, whose lyrics have served as a country’s soundtrack since the band began touring in late 1980s. Ironically, on the Hip’s first trip to Winnipeg, they played the now-defunct Portage Village Inn — which was located just across the street from the MTS Centre — to a small crowd that included a few novice fans and uninterested regulars. How time flies.

“They’ve always been around since I’ve been growing up,” said Guyot. “It’ll be a great night. A living wake. It will be saying goodbye to Canada’s greatest band.

“But you don’t want to be too sad. It’s a fun time.”

LeBlanc was also torn. When she married Bruntjen, they had a Tragically Hip happy hour at their wedding prior to the reception. Hip tunes only.

They paid $650 each for seats in the third row. Neither knew how they would react after the encore, but LeBlanc came prepared.

“I brought a lot of Kleenex,” she said.

Two other Minnesotans, Mark Jacobson and their 19-year-old daughter, Nicole, were also among the crowd. Nicole said she’d been listening to Hip albums as long as she could remember.

“We wanted to come and see them in Canada,” Jacobson said.

A father-daughter road trip, for one last show.

“I think it’s amazing,” Jacobson said. “I don’t know how he (Downie) is doing it. But it’s not surprising.”

As for the Morin-West sisters and Waudby, well, their long journey was coming to an end, too. They will watch the Hip’s final concert, to be held in the band’s hometown of Kingston, Ont., at the big screen at Assiniboine Park.

But they’ll never forget their precious time on the road following the band, either.

“It’s really sad it’s ending,” Waudby said, “but I think it’s time for Gord to go home and see his kids and have a good life.”

When Janine was asked what she would say to Downie and the band, she replied, “Just thank you. We love you.”

Then her little sister offered the last word.

“Thanks,” Meghan said, “for making us proud to be Canadian.”

Courage, it couldn’t come at a better time.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @randyturner15