The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal is a definitive four-part documentary series about a bunch of scrappy kids from Kingston, Ontario — Gord Downie, Rob Baker, Johnny Fay, Paul Langlois and Gord Sinclair — who went on to make music that defined Canada to the world and, more importantly, Canada to Canadians.

Throughout the series, producer-director Mike Downie — brother of the band’s singular frontperson — interweaves never-before-seen archival footage with new interviews with the band, family, friends, and famous fans including Will Arnett, Dan Aykroyd, Jay Baruchel, Sarah Harmer, Geddy Lee, and Justin Trudeau.

Downie pushes past the usual platitudes of the rock doc by exposing sentiments other, more detached directors might omit. The audience is with The Tragically Hip playing those early bars, in the studio as they hone their material, and in the stands as they graduate to stadiums across Canada while struggling to break through in the US. We’re also with them as they experience personal tragedies that influence their music, bonding them as a found family.

We are always aware of the greatest tragedy still to come, yet Downie doesn’t shy away from grief over his brother's death. It colours every conversation about the band even as their inimitable songs — joyful, raucous, tender, touching — structure his series.

The Tragically Hip wrote Canada’s history in words and music, showing us who we had been, and who we could be. But, as Baruchel points out, “There’s not a single moment of nationalism in any of it. It’s just portrayal.”

GEOFF MACNAUGHTON