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On August 20, the Tragically Hip will play their final show in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario. No doubt it’ll draw a crowd – not only at the venue but across the nation as CBC airs the show on each of its platforms.

But will it draw an American crowd? Its a well-known fact that the Hip never crashed onto the American charts the way they did here in Canada, and Rick Mercer thinks he knows why. Click HERE to listen as he speaks to CBC about the overwhelming legacy the bands has in Canada.

I’ve seen the Tragically Hip in Halifax, two or three times. Toronto, probably four times — Vancouver and also San Francisco. But, I’ll never forget San Francisco because it was the most Canadian room you could possibly imagine.

At the Fillmore West, which is a famous rock ‘n’ roll night club, but a big venue, a big, big venue, it was phenomenal. Like, everyone was covered in anything that had a maple leaf on it. Everyone in California basically descended on San Francisco to see the Hip. There was no mistake to how important they were to those people in that room, who were all away from home. This was the curse of being the Hip, they would go to Fillmore, a famous venue, and they would sell out in five minutes. But, no Americans could get in. By the time they were like, ‘What’s this happening in this sold-out show with this insane band,’ you couldn’t get in because every Canadian filled up the space.

It’s tricky stuff, breaking into the States when that happens. It’s a ridiculous conversation of why they weren’t famous in the United States because they’re our band and they were famous here and that’s where they want to be famous. But, they did very well in the States. Like I say, I saw them at Fillmore [and] that’s a huge venue in San Francisco. So, you know, they did well. Just with Canadians.

More info on how to watch the final Hip show here.