Tragically Hip fever takes over Toronto

There's a good chance these lyrics from The Tragically Hip song Done and Done, resonated with everyone who packed the Air Canada Centre Wednesday to see the Kingston quintet: "Done and done, night accomplished. If I had a wish, I'd wish for more of this."

Nearly 20,000 people, some who journeyed all the way from New Brunswick, cheered, sang along and probably shed a few tears when the band's Man Machine Poem tour stopped in Toronto for the first of three shows.

The band kicked off a twohour showwith The Luxury off their 1991 album, Road Apples.

Sporting a silvermetallic leathersuit and purple hat made by Toronto's Lilliput Hats, Hip frontmanGordDownie walked out on stage, stared out into the crowd and almost went out of his way to make eye contact with all the cameras.

Everyone, it seemed, wanted to soak up every lyric,and there were few dry eyes in the Air Canada Centre.

The Man Machine Poem tour will rock Hamilton and Ottawa before coming to a stop in Kingston on Aug. 20. The concert will be broadcast and streamedlive on CBC.

Some of the proceeds fromthe Hip's summer tourwill be donated to theSunnybrook Foundation to support cancer research.Downiewas diagnosed with an incurable form of braincancer in December 2015.