Tragically Hip fans belt out band’s classics en masse as TIFF gets underway

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This article was published 05/09/2024 (763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Throngs of moviegoers and Tragically Hip fans gathered to sing their hearts out on the streets of Toronto as Canada’s beloved rockers marked the premiere of a new career-spanning docuseries.

“The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal” helped kick off this year’s edition of the Toronto International Film Festival on a high note with its Thursday premiere.

And after the four-hour documentary finished, the TIFF audience was invited to exit the Royal Alexandra Theatre and join pop collective Choir! Choir! Choir! for a massive sing-along a block away.

Choir! Choir! Choir! founders Nobu Adilman and Daveed Goldman led a parade down King Street West, dancing and chanting “Hip! Hip! Hip!” over bullhorns while the Kingston, Ont., band’s music blared over a stereo system.

They then climbed atop a colourful bus to lead the crowd of hundreds through a three-track songbook of Hip favourites, “Grace, Too,” “Ahead By a Century” and “Bobcaygeon.”

“We’re here to make you sound good,” assured Adilman as he warmed up the crowd.

“Just sing and then we’ll work with it.”

Hip bandmates Rob Baker, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois and Gord Sinclair watched with amusement from the crowd, their families at their side.

The street party unfolded exactly 35 years after the Tragically Hip released their first full-length studio album “Up to Here.” That album is a focal point of the Prime Video documentary, directed by Mike Downie, the brother of late frontman Gord Downie.

“No Dress Rehearsal” wades into the Hip’s deep history using an extensive library of archival footage, new interviews with the band, their families and friends, as well as other notable names.

One of them is Justin Trudeau who reflects on the Hip’s national impact and how the band resonated with him. The prime minister made a brief surprise appearance — one of several on the opening day of TIFF — inside the theatre after the screening ended.

“It’s ridiculously crazy that I’m standing on the stage with these four guys,” he said to the members of the band.

“I feel like not a prime minister today, I feel like a fan who wandered backstage and got to hang out with you guys for a second.”

He then paused to compliment the work of Mike Downie as a director: “Brothers matter, and you did right by your brother with this one.”

Hip fan Michelle Thompson wasn’t able to catch the documentary’s TIFF premiere, but she said that didn’t stop her from coming into the city to participate in the sing-along.

“They’re a big part of Canada,” she said. “And it felt very magical. It feels like there’s a lot of buzz in the air.”

Vanessa Burns travelled even farther.

She booked a flight from Halifax for the premiere, describing herself as a lifelong Hip fan who’s seen them in concert 13 times.

“Being here today, the energy, sharing the moment, it really gets you here,” she said pointing to her heart.

“Everybody coming together and singing — that is what the Hip is about.”

“The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal” makes an encore screening at TIFF on Friday before it debuts Sept. 20 on Prime Video.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 5, 2024.