Former arena's bad acoustics kept Tragically Hip from playing in hometown

Of course,The Tragically Hip's emotionalMan Machine Poem tour would have to culminate in their hometown of Kingston, the eastern Ontario city that has so embraced these local heroes.

To mark the final concertof thissummer tourmade all the more poignant by the announcement that the Hip's lead singer Gord Downie is suffering from terminal brain cancerthe city hasproclaimed SaturdayThe Tragically Hip Day.

The band is scheduled to playat8:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

At Kingston's Springer Market Square, crowds of people are expected to pack in to watch thelarge LED screen set up to livestream the performance, taking place just blocks away at the Rogers K-RockCentreon The Tragically Hip Way.

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While there is clearlymutual affection between the hometown boysand the city,there was a time when GordDownie, PaulLanglois, Rob Baker,GordSinclairand Johnny Fayweren'texactlykeen on playing in their city.

"There was a period of years that they didn't play here," said Greg Burliuk, a recently retired journalist for the Kingston Whig-Standardwho covered the arts and music scenefor roughly 40 years.

That may be somewhatsurprising, giventhe band'sstrong roots inthe community. All five membershailfrom Kingston, and four of them formed the groupwhile attending Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute. Langloisjoined later.

They played local venues,developinga solid fan base. They were extremely popular with the Queen's University crowd.

'They just took right off'

"That's where they just took right off," saidSteve Cheesman, formerly a waiter at the now defunctLakeviewManor, a popular performingspot for the flourishing band.

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Cheesman said they would perform thereevery couple of weeks, packingthe place every time.

"The thingwith those guys, they laid their rootsdown pretty nicely here," saidBurliuk."[At theLakeviewManor], they kind of earned their spurs."

By 1991, they also earned a key to the city. While there had been other talented musicians in Kingston, this groupwas "achieving a status that was beyond what we'd experienced in the past," said former Kingston mayor Helen Cooper.

But in the summer of 1999, the Hipsuggestedthat Kingston might no longer be a concert stop for them because itdidn't have any suitable venues.''There's nowhere to play here,'' drummerFay told the Whig-Standard.

Bad acoustics

The largest venue, the Memorial Centre, was considered horrible acoustically. Baker added that all the city's other spaces were too small.

The comments sparked a minor controversy, and there was some debate about whetherthey had actually said those words, recalled PaulSchliesmann, a veteran reporter with the paper.

As Schliesmann wrote,many people came forth to "defend the band's honour," claiming there was no way the Hip would "turn their backs on Kingston and refuse to play here."

Such devotion did Kingston residents have for the bandthat most of the blowback was directed against the paper, saidSchliesmann."I clearly remember there was a little bit of shoot-the-messenger type of attitude."

But Schliesmannagreed with the Hip,writing that their commentsprovided "anhonestassessment of the sad state of concert facilities in this city."

'Had to sound good'

"They had to sound good and they weren't going to sound good at the Memorial Centre," Schliesmanntold CBC News.

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About a month later, the band didplayin Kingston, at the Limestone Blues Festival.But with the exception of a performance at the Royal Military College in 2004, the Tragically Hip played no majorconcerts in the city from 1999 to2008.

Burliukbelievedthe Hip werebeing "a little fussy," butacknowledgedthat hiswas a minority viewpoint, adding that he never heard anyone criticize them for their absence.

And in the end, they were keyin pushing for the new arena.In 2008, the band would return to Kingston, becoming the first to play at the newly builtRogersK-RockCentre, which hasjust under 7,000 seats.

"It might not have happened had theynot pushed for it. They were really active in that," Burliuksaid.

While the town never wavered in its support for the band,Burliuk said his own relationship with the Hip cooledafter theytookexception to a linein a review of their concert at Fort Henry in 1991.

"[It was] their first big concert and the only comment I made was: 'You're not in a bar anymore, so when you're playing in a concert you have to face the people."

"That was it. I was persona nongrata.They would sometimes talk, when it was kind of convenient. But at first they wouldn't talkto me at all."

'The golden boys and rightfully so'

Eventually, Burliuk said tensionswith the bandthawed, and he developed a pretty good relationship with Langlois,who did charity work with Burliuk's wifeand Baker, with whom he shared achiropractor.

He said the band deserves all the praise and support it gets from Kingston, citingthecharity work they do around the city.

"They've alwaysbeenthe golden boys and rightfully so," he said.

Schliesmann said the band's contributionsto the city are "remarkable,"rangingfrombig concerts to raising money for hospitals and local charities, to appearancesat asmalleventjust to raise its profile.

"Their contributions have been wonderful. Not onlyin the obviousthings, the profile they've given the city, but what they've quietly given back as citizens of Kingston."

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