5 takeaways from the Tragically Hip's revealing new docuseries

This year marks 40 years of the Tragically Hip, one of Canada's most beloved rock bands. To celebrate, the band will be looking back on its legacy through two major releases: a book set to be published on Oct. 1 and a four-part docuseries hitting Amazon Prime on Sept. 20.   

The Mike Downie-directed series, titled The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal, is a comprehensive look at the band's entire history, from its high school beginnings to the band's final tour with lead singer Gord Downie, who died in 2017 from brain cancer. (The band's remaining members stopped performing under the Hip name after Gord's death.) 

Complete with extensive archival footage, in-depth interviews with the band's members (including old interview clips with Downie), and testimonials from Canadian figures like Justin Trudeau, Will Arnett, Geddy Lee and more, this four-hour documentary not only paints a clear portrait of the band, but it also tells the story of what it means to be a Canadian artist and to transform this country's stories into art. 

The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal made its premiere at this week's Toronto International Film Festival. Here are five things we learned from the series, some of which even the most diehard Tragically Hip fans may not know. 

1. Before Paul Langlois, there was Davis Manning

For more than 30 years, the Tragically Hip had the same lineup, but in its earlier years, before Paul Langlois joined as the second guitarist, they had another member: saxophonist Davis Manning. 

Manning was the odd man out as he was older than everyone else. Born in Washington state, Manning grew up with an interest in music and eventually picked up saxophone at a young age. In 1969, he enrolled into the navy, but in an interview for the documentary (before his death in 2023), Manning said he felt "betrayed, lied to" by the U.S. government. After attempting to run from the navy and spending some time in a military prison as a result, Manning ran away to British Columbia. 

It was there that Manning met a woman, who had gone to school with Baker, and when he travelled back to Kingston with her, she asked Baker if his band would be interested in jamming with Manning. "They had a good taste for rock 'n' roll," Manning said, of the band. 

Manning was in the Hip from 1984 to 1986, and according to Sinclair, pushed for the band to go beyond performing covers and to write their own music. But Manning eventually started butting heads with the rest of the band, as Baker noted, "Putting his life in the hands of a bunch of 20-year-old college kids trying to make it up as they go along, he thought he knew the template. He knew the formula and we were getting it all wrong."  

One day, Baker called Manning to let him know that he was being kicked out of the band. While Manning admitted that some regrettable things were said, a clip of Manning and Baker reuniting and hugging during the filming of No Dress Rehearsal proves that they've all maintained a lot of love and respect for each other in the years since. 

2. Not everyone was happy when Gord Downie took over as the band's sole lyricist 

When the Hip entered the studio to write and record their 1991 sophomore album, Road Apples, a band meeting was held to discuss songwriting responsibilities. Up until that point, various members of the band would bring ideas to the table and work together on song lyrics. But Downie wanted to take over as the band's sole lyricist so he could authentically perform with his primary instrument, his voice. 

"That was a difficult band meeting," Sinclair revealed. "Both [guitarist Paul Langlois] and I kind of got our wings clipped a little bit in terms of our ability to evolve as songwriters." Baker added, "I think there was resentment for a long time over it." 

Downie was adamant that the royalties would still be split evenly between each member, though, as the band's manager, Jake Gold recalled, "Gord just said, 'I wanna write the lyrics, I don't need to be paid to be a lyricist…. Most bands have broken up over the years because of publishing; this is one of the things that kept them together."

3. The band turned down a big opportunity because of its loyalty to a Canadian record store chain

In 1996, as the Hip were preparing for the release of its fifth studio album, Trouble at the Henhouse, they were approached by a notable U.S. retailer with a big promotional opportunity. Randy Lennox, the former CEO at Universal Music Canada, told the band that Tower Records wanted them to perform at their store's downtown Toronto opening, on the shop's rooftop. In addition to that, Tower would prioritize the Hip's release in stores around the world. "Ninety-nine out of 100 bands would've pulled their knickers down for an opportunity like this," Lennox said. 

But the Hip said no, partly because they didn't want to turn their back on their favourite local record shop. "We had a big problem with, you know, multinational companies coming into Canada," Sinclair explained. "We were Sam the Record Man guys." 

4. Downie briefly stopped dancing onstage — and everyone hated it 

Downie was a magnetic frontperson, especially while performing live. Most fans knew Downie best for his dancing, which was at times frenetic, but inspired other musicians to also let loose onstage. 

One night, shortly after the birth of Downie's daughter, he was watching one of his band's performances on TV. His brother Mike recalled how everyone around Gord was laughing at his onstage antics, but he was just serious, staring at the screen. "He's just like, 'I'm a clown,'" Mike said. "He didn't want his children growing up thinking daddy was a clown." 

For a brief period of time, Downie tried to give up dancing and played the guitar instead. But both the band and fans didn't respond well to this. "I hated it!" Baker said, with a laugh. "He was one of the best frontmen anywhere, ever, and strap an acoustic guitar on and it pins you down." Fay agreed: "I don't think anyone really embraced it." 

Downie's daughter, Willo, also weighed in: "As a teenager, I found it thoroughly embarrassing, but to me it was just a necessary movement of energy in his body." 

5. Tensions within the band boiled over on its 11th album 

"There are a couple of things that you can't tell the truth about in this country," George Stroumboulopoulos said in No Dress Rehearsal, "and one of the things you can't tell the truth about in the country is that the guys in the Tragically Hip probably didn't get along as often as everybody said they did." 

In the mid-2000s, when the band let go of its longtime manager, Gold, Downie wrote in a letter to him: "We're distrustful of each other and that distrust is coming perilously close to damaging the one pure thing we made together — a strong, beating, communally creative heart." While he was hurt, Gold could see things more objectively, noting, "They couldn't agree on anything, they needed a fall guy for their dysfunction." 

Tensions, which had been growing over the years, flared even more when they went into the studio for their 11th studio album, We Are the Same — or as its members now refer to it, "We Are Not the Same." This album marked the band's second time working with Canadian producer Bob Rock, who also produced 2006's World Container. After that album, Rock and Downie developed a close friendship, one that threatened the balance of the Hip. 

According to Sinclair, Rock and Downie had very specific ambitions for that album, but didn't really bring the rest of the band into their vision. He also said it was the first time in the band's career when Downie didn't bring lyrical ideas to him first. "I felt super dislocated from it," Sinclair explained. 

"It got a little ugly where Bob kind of treated the band like they were the musicians and then Gord was the artist," Downie's brother Mike said. Langlois and Sinclair, who usually performed the band's backing vocals, were brought late into the process, only to learn that there was only one song left that needed backing vocals, and that Rock and Downie had completed most of them on their own. A fight ensued and Langlois and Sinclair left. 

"[It was the] first time I'd ever been fired from a job in my entire life, in my own f–king band," Sinclair remembered.