Entertainment

Fans to vote on Tragically Hip lyrics to be engraved on commemorative stone in Kingston

Tragically Hip fans are being asked to vote for Hip lyrics that will be engraved on a commemorative stone in the band's hometown of Kingston, Ont.

Stone to commemorate the Hip's concert in hometown of Kingston on Aug. 20

The Tragically Hip after the final performance of the Man Machine Poem tour In Kingston. (CBC)

Tragically Hip fans are being asked to vote for Hip lyrics that will be engraved on a commemorative stone in the band's hometown of Kingston, Ont.

City council — following suggestions from the public — has decided to have a commemorative stone in Springer Market Square where more than 25,000 gathered to watch a live stream of the band's Aug. 20 concert.

City officials say they consulted the band and the lyric options are "everybody was in it from miles around" from Blow at High Dough and "We danced the sidewalk clean" from New Orleans is Sinking.

Along with the chosen lyrics will be the words "The Tragically Hip, A National Celebration, August 20, 2016."

The crowd in Kingston sways listening to the Tragically Hip play Bobcaygeon. (Andrew Foote/CBC)

Nearly 7,000 people packed the city's K-Rock Centre that night for what legions of Tragically Hip fans feared might be the band's last concert, the final show on the Man Machine Poem tour arranged after lead singer Gord Downie revealed he had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

The two-question survey, which can be accessed online at www.cityofkingston.ca/GetInvolved or by calling 613-546-0000, closes Oct. 12.