Tragically Hip fans want band to play Parliament Hill on Canada Day

To say that fans of The Tragically Hip are practically begging the rock band to play at any possible venue, time or event is an understatement.

After the recent ticket fiasco — many Hip fans were unable to secure tickets to the band’s final tour — petitions began popping up all over the place, including one requesting lead singer Gord Downie be bestowed with the Order of Canada, and another asking for Canadian TV networks to broadcast the band’s final show in Kingston, Ont.

READ MORE: Honouring the Tragically Hip’s best music

The latest petition seeks to have The Hip play Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Canada Day; the Facebook group is called “Let’s get The Hip on the Hill,” and as of this writing, it has approximately 1,000 “interested” people.

In late May, Downie, 52, revealed that he’d been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, and the band would be going on one last tour this summer.

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READ MORE: Gord Downie and brain cancer: What you need to know about The Tragically Hip singer’s terminal disease

The band has already added multiple new days and shows to the Man Machine Poem tour, but because so many people were unable to get tickets, there is a ravenous demand for more, more, more.

“All these petitions are done with good intentions, but we have to remember that Gord’s health comes first,” says Alan Cross, host of Ongoing History of New Music on Toronto radio station 102.1 The Edge, to Global News. “But who knows? Maybe they’re up to it. Or maybe they’re embarrassed by all this extra adulation. They’ve been silent on the subject so far.”

“There’s going to be an interesting push and pull between the fans and the group over these next few months,” Cross continues. “Both sides will have to try to delicately balance everything.”

READ MORE: The Tragically Hip summer 2016 tour: Band announces Man Machine Poem dates

The Man Machine Poem Tour starts on July 22 in Victoria, B.C., and runs through to Aug. 20, where the band will play its final show in their hometown of Kingston.