The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal

On Friday, I binge-watched the Amazon Prime four-part, four plus hour documentary, The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal. I fully intended on watching maybe just one or two episodes on Friday (the day it dropped), and saving the final two episodes for later...but who was I kidding? I would also like to say I watched all four episodes without getting deeply emotional and tearing up every ten minutes...but--once again--who am I kidding?

I learned a lot about the band that I didn't know, probably because the Hip have been so private over the years. A couple things stand out:

When Gord Downie insisted on being the sole lyricist, the other guys were way more put-out by it than I ever knew. It sounds like it took them a while to get over that. 

The band went through a good decade-plus (roughly 2000-2012) in which they weren't getting along and were close to breaking up. It makes sense that they had rough patches, but as I said, they have always been so guarded that I (and probably others) assumed they always got along just fine.

I had gone through a period recently of not listening to the Hip that often. For whatever reason, I just hadn't been in the mood. This documentary, however, has made me fall in love with the band all over again. I plan on resurrecting my "Hip album review" series which stalled out on Fully Completely. (The Day For Night album is so daunting that I put it off for a long time. Now, however, it's time to tackle it).

I'm also looking forward to the upcoming Tragically Hip coffee table book. I initially balked at the price ($60ish), but after hearing more about it, I think I'll have to add it to my collection.

Let the Hipaissance continue!