The Tragically Hip is probably the most Canadian rock band ever. The evidence? They managed to chart a single about disappeared hockey player Bill Barilko—and they have band members named Gord and Gordon. Can Rush say the same? No. But the Tragically Hip has more going for it than socialized medicine and an elongated “o.” The Hip is the thinking man’s arena rock, with lead singer Gordon Downie playing the Canuck lizard king, spouting opaque verses and dropping absurdist rants atop Tim Hortons—fueled guitar leads so tough they could be put to work as lumberjacks. Haters might dismiss the Hip as the poor man’s R.E.M., nothing more than a bar band with a mildly edgy frontman, but no. The Tragically Hip is an awesome bar band with a mildly edgy frontman————and some killer songs about hockey. The Tragically Hip performs with Joel Plaskett Emergency at 8 p.m. at the 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. $25. (202) 393-0930. —-Aaron Leitko