Recent documentary discloses Regretfully Following Downie's passing, hip members grieved separately

The passing of Gord Downie, the lead singer of The Tragically Hip, brought fans across Canada together in mourning, but it had a different effect on his bandmates, creating distance among them.

The Prime Video docuseries “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal” reveals that the four surviving members from Kingston, Ont., took separate paths following the band’s final tour, struggling with their shared loss and speaking infrequently.

“We were all going through the process,” drummer Johnny Fay shared in a recent video interview. “We had this great career, but we lost our bud. We lost our friend … We were floating out there and didn’t have much of a connection.”

Guitarist Paul Langlois added, “And we weren’t reaching out to each other saying, ‘How are you handling all of this?’ We could’ve checked in more.”

From an outsider’s perspective, it appeared that the band shared a strong bond. However, Langlois noted that their connection often manifested through music, and with Downie’s passing in October 2017 due to incurable brain cancer, communication became challenging.

Guitarist Rob Baker expressed in “This Is Our Life,” an upcoming book about the band’s journey, “I spun out, I drank a lot, ran away from home. You think you’ve lost everything, but then you see just how much you still have.”

Seven years after Downie’s death, the band is emerging from a period of introspection and healing, aided by “No Dress Rehearsal,” which recently won the audience-voted People’s Choice award for documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Directed by Gord’s brother Mike Downie, the four-hour docuseries chronicles the journey of how a group of school friends became one of Canada’s most beloved bands, with a greatest hits album second only to The Beatles in sales.

Five years ago, the idea of creating a Hip documentary was not on their radar as they were still processing their loss and barely in contact. However, in mid-2019, news broke that a significant fire at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2008 had destroyed master tapes of many artists, including some works from The Hip. “(It) was the spark that pulled us back together,” Baker recalled in the new book.

Over the next year, the band reconnected and focused on their legacy, rehiring former co-manager Jake Gold, whom they had let go in 2003, to help strategize their history.

Mike Downie approached Gold about creating a comprehensive documentary about the band, utilizing his extensive experience and unique access to the group. “I really wanted to tell my brother’s story, tell the band’s story, tell the Kingston story, tell the Canadian story,” he explained. “It was the right time to sit down and talk about things on a really deep level. I think this became an opportunity to unweight a little bit and describe what (we’d) been carrying around.”

Through hours of interviews with Mike Downie, a deeper connection emerged among the band members than they had anticipated, according to Gold, who is the project’s executive producer. “He (started) asking them about their feelings and everything,” Gold noted. “For most of us, that was the first time we ever heard it. No one was thinking about the other guys at the time, and it became clear that they were mourning deeply. Everyone felt like a bit of them did die when Gord died.”

The docuseries aims to capture not only the sorrow but also the success and struggles that characterize a rock band. Mike Downie even sought out a former member who left before the band gained fame, delving into the complex years surrounding Gord Downie’s solo work. “I think it was very hard for him to make this movie,” Fay stated. “He kicked over every stone, he asked difficult questions about his brother.”

Rich archival footage showcases the band’s incredible rise, beginning with their 1989 debut album “Up to Here” and culminating in their final tour in 2016. Fay mentioned that Prime Video allowed for an in-depth exploration over four episodes. “It is a big ask, four hours? People are fragmented. They don’t listen to a whole song anymore,” he said. “But (Prime) were very interested in letting us tell our story. They didn’t interfere, which I don’t know if it would’ve happened with other people.”

A lingering question remains about whether the band will ever fully reunite. They have considered this possibility several times, especially at the 2021 Juno Awards when Leslie Feist joined them to perform “It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken” at Toronto’s Massey Hall. This question also appears in the band’s upcoming book. “Gord tried to convince me about a year before he died that we should get another singer, but I said we weren’t going to be doing that,” Langlois recalled. “I would be actively opposed to the concept,” Baker added.

Despite not wanting to follow the paths of bands like Queen or INXS, who replaced their deceased frontmen, the Hip musicians haven’t dismissed the idea of exploring new creative avenues. “We could make an instrumental record down the road. Who knows?” Langlois suggested. “We’re not counting each other out.”