For a normally extremely chatty frontman, Gord Downie was uncharacteristically quiet during The Tragically Hip's “Fully & Completely” Vancouver tour stop. And it was his birthday.

Downie, who turned 51 Friday, still dances and gyrates like a man half his age. Seeing the singer shimmy across the stage in his leather pants, it's hard to believe that the band's Fully Completely album was released 23 years ago.

Listening to “The Hip” and seeing them live invokes a very particular kind of nostalgia for Canadians, especially those from “Back East.”

These songs served as the soundtrack to many Canucks lives during the 1990s. You listened to “Blow at High Dough” driving to hockey practice in your friend’s pickup truck, skipping class, or in your neighbour’s garage, while someone smoked a Player’s Light. Maybe someone there was drinking a Molson Canadian while rocking out to “Little Bones.” The odds are you’ve probably heard someone do a crappy acoustic version of “Wheat Kings” around a campfire. At a bush party.

With nine of 12 albums reaching number 1 in the country and 14 Juno awards under their belts, the rock band is arguably Canada’s most pre-eminent, though they never reached the same superstar status south of the border.

One of the most iconic albums in its vault, 1992’s Fully Completely delivered some of their most beloved songs, among them “Courage (for Hugh MacLennan),” “At the Hundredth Meridian” and “Fifty Mission Cap.” It was also certified Diamond in Canada for selling more than a million copies, a significant feat for a country with only 35 million people.

And as a nod to the 2014 release of a remastered two-CD deluxe edition of the album, the band played it sequentially in its entirety to a sold-out crowd at Rogers Arena Friday night.

The performance kicked off with a five-song set showcasing the long history of singer Downie, bassist Gord Sinclair, drummer Johnny Fay, and guitarists Paul Langlois and Robbie Baker.

The first strains of “Grace, Too” stirred up devotees into a singalong that picked up in pieces throughout the evening.

“Music at Work” and “In View” sent a bit of a lull through the pumped up crowd, but they got fired up again for “Lonely end of the Rink,” arguably the best track from 2006's World Container.

The pace kept up as Gord and the boys launched into the meat of Fully Completely.

“Courage” saw Gord donning a white cowboy hat while miming shooting people with guns, just one of many very literal dance moves, including driving a car, fishing and mock smoking a cigarette. The white rag stuffed in his back pocket came out several times to be waved in front of his face or to shine shoes.

People started singing lyrics at the first bar of “Locked in the Trunk of a Car,” and “Looking for a Place to Happen,” while “Wheat Kings” was the evening's biggest and most emotional group love-in.

A sped-up version of “At the Hundredth Meridian” had Downie talk-rapping lyrics while visions of the Canadian prairies flashed behind him.

But that wasn't the most Canadian thing to happen: Fans booed when he sang about the Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup (many, many decades ago) in “Fifty Mission Cap.”

With lyrics referring to CBC News, past premiers and rural Ontario towns, the band is unapologetic in its Canadianess. I mean, the video screens behind the band show canoes paddling through lakes, deciduous forests and fields of wheat, for cryin out loud.

After a brief break, the two-hour set finished with a four-song encore that included more classics: “Twist my Arm,” from 1991's Road Apples, Day for Night's “Scared” and “Poets."

A very-high energy version of “Blow at High Dough” capped off the performance, and reminded fans why The Hip have remained a Canadian mainstay for the past three decades.

There were a lot of highs on this tour stop, but also some missed opportunities. Noticeably absent were some of the fan favourites that opened and closed other recent tour dates, among them “Bobcaygeon,” “New Orleans is Sinking,” “Nautical Disaster” and “Ahead by a Century.”

In recent years, Downie has developed a reputation for a combination of shouting, screaming and general ranting during songs, most of which are re-arranged and rambling. While there was certainly lots of talk-singing, Downie only addressed the crowd once the entire night -- during the encore -- to thank Vancouver fans and their opening DJ.

The general sound and production wasn't the clearest — more county fair than arena -- but didn't deter standing ovations for just about every tune. Besides, some of these fans, like me, have waited decades to see the guys they’d rocked out to in high school.

The Hip plays in Kelowna Saturday night before heading to Alberta for its next three performances on the North American tour.