The Trip in-studio performance premieres tonight at 6 p.m.

Many of the rock hits on Fort Erie Radio are old and familiar, but some are about to be new and created on site, within the walls of the hyper-local news company’s headquarters on Queen Street.

Last week, three members of The Trip, one of Niagara’s premiere tribute bands, were in-studio to chat with morning hosts Brent Jones and Brenda Tyrrell, and play three songs by the iconic Canadian band they pay homage to, The Tragically Hip.

The show runs for one hour and will be played six times in the coming days.

It can be heard for the first time today at 6 p.m., followed by tomorrow at 9 a.m., Sunday at noon, Monday at 2 p.m., Tuesday at 5 p.m., and Wednesday at 10 p.m.

Tyrrell said it was “one of the coolest things” she’s done in her career.

“I’m a pretty big Tragically Hip fan to begin with,” she said, adding that The Trip is a “killer” tribute band whom she was excited to interview and ask questions of.

It is an acoustic performance, played by Pat Raimondo and John Filek, as well as John Genet, the frontman who emulates the legendary Gord Downie.

Genet is quite familiar with the business of getting into character as a musician.

For 15 years, he fronted a U2 tribute band in Las Vegas as Bono.

“It’s like how an actor would portray the character they’re playing,” said Genet when interviewed by Fort Erie Radio ahead of the performance’s first airing, noting that Downie is “a lot more difficult” to impersonate than Bono due to his much more eccentric stage presence.

Genet said he and the band are looking forward to hearing the performance.

“It was an honour to come down there, hang out, chat, and do a few songs,” he said.

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