'Moves like Iggy Pop ... swagger of Mick Jagger'
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Musician Finny McConnell, like the rest of the country, was shocked to wake up Tuesday to learn that Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
"I didn't believe it," he said Tuesday. "I was stunned."
McConnell, the frontman for Kingston-born band The Mahones, first met Downie when the two attended Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute in the late 1970s and early '80s. While they started out playing in separate bands -- Downie in The Slinks, McConnell in Pressure Drop -- they would soon find themselves playing together.
"From the moment I saw him play in the KCVI gym, I thought, 'OK, this guy's going to be a rock star,'" recalled McConnell about Downie, who was playing with The Slinks at that time. "He's got the moves like Iggy Pop, and he's got the swagger of Mick Jagger, you know what I mean? He's a great frontman and entertainer, and I wanted to play some music with him."
McConnell, whose father owned a bar, suggested to Downie that they form a new band, The Filters, and they could get a weeklong paying gig, one that would help pay for the trip to Europe McConnell had wanted to take.
Upon his return from overseas, the band got back together -- they mostly played classic rock covers -- and toured around the area, playing smaller clubs in the Kingston area.
McConnell would also recruit guitarist Rob Baker from another band, The Rodents, and the pair immediately "clicked," he said.
"They went to university, and I went to England, and that was the end of it. And then I came back and they were famous," McConnell laughed. "I came back and they were playing hockey arenas."
McConnell's band, The Mahones, played a couple of gigs with The Hip.
"He's probably the best frontman to ever come out of Canada," McConnell stated. "I can't think of anybody better than Gord. He's our Mick Jagger."
It wasn't until almost five years ago, at a concert in Bobcaygeon, Ont., that singer-songwriter Emily Fennell saw Downie perform along with The Tragically Hip for the first time.
"When I played the show, that was the very first time I got to see the band, and then I got to see what everybody was talking about for all of those years," said Fennell, who often collaborates with Hip members Rob Baker and Gord Sinclair.
Fennell, also known by her stage name, Miss Emily, said Downie set an example for many musicians across the country.
"Any Canadian lyricist, to my knowledge, can't say enough about the brilliance of some of The Hip lyrics and what Downie brings to the table with that, and also as a stage performer," said Fennell, who had a friend pass away earlier this year as a result of brain cancer.
Downie, she said, brought a "coolness" to Canadiana, and, while she's not a storyteller like Downie is, it's something to which she strives.
"This impacts me as a human being, and therefore it will impact my music," Fennell said of today's revelation. "It's made me very sentimental. It's just so sad. I wish I had a [more] descriptive word for you. But it's sad, and I feel a sense of mourning, and now is not the time to mourn.
"Now's the time to celebrate everything we can, and appreciate what we have, and in the fact that we still have this incredible legacy of a band still with us and hopefully for some shows. Wouldn't that be an incredible blessing and privilege to see them perform again?"
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