Counting down to Tragically Hip's Man Machine Poem show in Kingston

The countdown is on. Tragically Hip fans across Canada are preppingfor the Man Machine Poem tour finale this weekend in the band's hometown ofKingston, Ont.

Emotions have been high amid Hip devotees across the country since July 22 in Victoria, whenthe beloved rockers kicked off the tour their first since revealing in late May that frontman Gord Downie has been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive,incurable form of brain cancer.

At each stop on the 15-date jaunt, Hip lovers have cheered, danced, sung along and shed tears as the band performed a changingsetlist of favourites, from Poets to Ahead by a Century to Courage to Long Time Running to Bobcaygeon.

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Famously active onstage, Downiehasdelivereda somewhat subdued version of his memorable moves and took occasional short breaks. Still, one of his biggest fans his neuro-oncologistDr. James Perry, who will have attended all but one of this tour's concerts said the singer-songwriter has been impressive on tour (some proceeds of which will be donated to the SunnybrookFoundationto support cancer research).

"It's absolutely electric," Perry told CBC's Metro Morning last week."There have been no issues medically. He's done, and they've done, better than I could have possibly imagined and the crowds are evidence of that. There's just so much joy."

Though the band has refrained from describing the tour or Saturday's show as their last, Downie's diagnosis has nonethelessunited many Canadians to celebratethe Hip and Downie's contributions to the country's cultural fabric.

With Kingston's Rogers K-Rock Centre able to hold fewer than 6,000 people, most Hip fans are planning to tune into Saturday's concert via CBC, which is broadcasting and streaming the show live and commercial-free online, on television and radio.

Viewing parties are also being held across the country from Yukon'sMarsh Lake Community Centre to Saskatoon'sCapitol Music Club to Winnipeg's West End Cultural Centreto Victoria Park in Charlottetown as well as by Canadians and ex-pats in Rio, London, Los Angeles and even Mexico.

How to watch

Watch or listen online via:

• CBCMusic.ca/thehip
• CBCNews.ca
• The CBC Music app (for Apple and Android devices)
• CBC Music on Apple TV
• Youtube.com/cbcmusic
• Facebook.com/cbcmusic

Watch on:

• CBC Television

Listen on:

• CBC Radio One
• CBC Radio 2
• CBC Radio One on Sirius XM Channel 169