Broadcast final Tragically Hip concert live in Gage Park: Matthew Green
The tickets would be priced only to cover the cost of the event. Council will debate next month
A Hamilton city councillor wants to stream the final Tragically Hip show in a big event at Gage Park on Aug. 20.
Matthew Green wants to get public broadcasting rights to stream the band's final show and offer "the lowest possible ticket price" for the public.
For anybody born in a certain era, it's part of who we are as Canadians.- Matthew Green, Ward 3 councillor, on the Tragically Hip's music
It should be just enough to pay for the event, the Ward 3 councillor said. He'll bring a motion forward at a council meeting Wednesday.
"For anybody born in a certain era, it's part of who we are as Canadians," Green said of the Hip's music.
The band will embark on a final tour, called the Man Machine Poem tour, this summer. The tour comes after it announced that its lead singer, Gord Downie, has incurable brain cancer.
Tickets for the tour sold out in seconds, then poppedup at inflated prices on resale sites such as StubHub.
"It kind of felt like to me like the ticket industry or the scalping industry was basically holding this once-in-a-lifetime part ofCanadiana hostage," Green said.
The CBC will broadcast the final show of the tour, which will be at the Rogers K-Rock Centre in Kingston, Ont., the Hip's hometown.
Not everyone is a fan of Green's idea.
Donna Skelly, Ward 7 councillor, says city council shouldn't delve into this.
"We should not use taxpayers' money asking staff to look into something that does not fall under our mandate."
But Green sees it as no different from when the city broadcast footage ofthe Pan Am Games on screens around the city last year.
Emma Bdard, a CBC spokesperson for the Hip concert, says the broadcaster has gotten numerous request from cities and venues across Canada.
The CBC is still working through details with the band and can't say for sure is such events will be possible, she said, but "we'll provide an update as soon as we can."
Here's Green's motion:
Whereas the Tragically Hip are perhaps the most Canadian band of all time;
And whereas front man Gord Downie is considered the voice of a generation;
And whereas it has been announced that their final Man Machine Poem National concert night onAug 20is to be broadcast to the public on CBC television;
And whereas ticket scalping has made attending these concerts difficult for the local fans;
Therefore be it resolved that staff urgently explore the feasibility of purchasing public broadcast rights to live stream the Tragically Hip's final show onAug. 20at Gage Park or another suitable city owned location and report back on a cost recovery strategy for the lowest possible ticket price for the general public.
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