Toronto Rocks
Well, the Stones are in town and the town is in a tizzy. The day of the biggest rock festival in Toronto history is here.
One has to be amused when the arrival of The Rolling Stones at the Toronto airport on Monday was treated with the same coverage and breathless countdowns as the arrival of Pope John Paul II at this time last summer. After all, "world's greatest rock band" or not, The Stones have been to Toronto countless times before. They tend to settle into the city to rehearse before all major North American tours, they've performed here countless times, they've been busted for drugs here and they caused a scandal here in the 70's by partying all night with the Prime Minister's wife, they've made surprise appearances at small clubs here. So, while Mick and the boys have always caused interest here in TO, their arrival didn't tend to shut down the city.
But, there again, they have never been toted as the city's "saviours" before, either. Until today.
Just to fill in you folks who haven't been bombarded by the media hype over the last several weeks. Toronto took a major tourist and economic hit earlier this year due to the outbreak of SARS. The city's summer looked bleak, hotels were 3/4's empty, hit musicals were closing down for lack of ticket sales and the city went into overdrive looking for some good PR. Feel-good commercials with Canadian celebrities started to hit the airwaves ("You belong right here with me...") and politicians began looking for an ultimate event to jolt Torontonians from the doldrums.
So, where's a better place to start than a legendary rock band who looks upon TO as a second home? The announcement that The Rolling Stones were detouring from their European tour to bring a blast of morale and energy to one of their favorite cities caused a sensation. Practically overnight a massive rock festival evolved around that announcement with several more rock legends signing onto the bill- AC/DC, Rush, The Guess Who, The Isley Brothers, among others. Causing even more hype are those musicians who word has it -might- show up at the festival today, with U2 being the hottest rumour.
Tickets went on sale at the low price of $20.00 Canadian and people on both sides of the Canadian/U.S. border went nuts topping sales at 430,000. July 30th was declared "Rolling Stones Day". Mayor Mel Lastman is recommending businesses give their employees half a day off to attend the concert or at least go and enjoy Toronto. Businesses that don't listen to the suggestion are facing employee shortages, anyway, as folks became determined not to miss such an event.
Since then not a day has gone by that the "Toronto Rocks" festival hasn't been on the front pages of the local papers. We know everything about the security, the food, the water, the transportation, the sound system, controversies over what to bring and not bring. Four provincial premiers are putting in appearances at the event. Western premiers are flipping burgers. Mick Jagger's 60th birthday last weekend was front page news. Public transit is quadrupling their bus fleets. And even if it's all somewhat frivolous it's exciting and it's fun and Toronto is in the festival spirit, which, of course, was the whole point.
And now the show is upon us, the festival beginning within minutes. I had the opportunity to go but decided against it. Couldn't face the challenge of the massive crowds, transportation problems and heat. It's clear, though, that attending such a concert is more about the event than the music so I wish well the half a million people arriving at Downsview Park right now. It is exciting and I will be following the festival throughout the day on TV and the Internet.
Have fun, Toronto!
Question of the Day: Tell me about the best concert you've ever been to. What made it so great? The music, the people, the location, the event?
One has to be amused when the arrival of The Rolling Stones at the Toronto airport on Monday was treated with the same coverage and breathless countdowns as the arrival of Pope John Paul II at this time last summer. After all, "world's greatest rock band" or not, The Stones have been to Toronto countless times before. They tend to settle into the city to rehearse before all major North American tours, they've performed here countless times, they've been busted for drugs here and they caused a scandal here in the 70's by partying all night with the Prime Minister's wife, they've made surprise appearances at small clubs here. So, while Mick and the boys have always caused interest here in TO, their arrival didn't tend to shut down the city.
But, there again, they have never been toted as the city's "saviours" before, either. Until today.
Just to fill in you folks who haven't been bombarded by the media hype over the last several weeks. Toronto took a major tourist and economic hit earlier this year due to the outbreak of SARS. The city's summer looked bleak, hotels were 3/4's empty, hit musicals were closing down for lack of ticket sales and the city went into overdrive looking for some good PR. Feel-good commercials with Canadian celebrities started to hit the airwaves ("You belong right here with me...") and politicians began looking for an ultimate event to jolt Torontonians from the doldrums.
So, where's a better place to start than a legendary rock band who looks upon TO as a second home? The announcement that The Rolling Stones were detouring from their European tour to bring a blast of morale and energy to one of their favorite cities caused a sensation. Practically overnight a massive rock festival evolved around that announcement with several more rock legends signing onto the bill- AC/DC, Rush, The Guess Who, The Isley Brothers, among others. Causing even more hype are those musicians who word has it -might- show up at the festival today, with U2 being the hottest rumour.
Tickets went on sale at the low price of $20.00 Canadian and people on both sides of the Canadian/U.S. border went nuts topping sales at 430,000. July 30th was declared "Rolling Stones Day". Mayor Mel Lastman is recommending businesses give their employees half a day off to attend the concert or at least go and enjoy Toronto. Businesses that don't listen to the suggestion are facing employee shortages, anyway, as folks became determined not to miss such an event.
Since then not a day has gone by that the "Toronto Rocks" festival hasn't been on the front pages of the local papers. We know everything about the security, the food, the water, the transportation, the sound system, controversies over what to bring and not bring. Four provincial premiers are putting in appearances at the event. Western premiers are flipping burgers. Mick Jagger's 60th birthday last weekend was front page news. Public transit is quadrupling their bus fleets. And even if it's all somewhat frivolous it's exciting and it's fun and Toronto is in the festival spirit, which, of course, was the whole point.
And now the show is upon us, the festival beginning within minutes. I had the opportunity to go but decided against it. Couldn't face the challenge of the massive crowds, transportation problems and heat. It's clear, though, that attending such a concert is more about the event than the music so I wish well the half a million people arriving at Downsview Park right now. It is exciting and I will be following the festival throughout the day on TV and the Internet.
Have fun, Toronto!
Question of the Day: Tell me about the best concert you've ever been to. What made it so great? The music, the people, the location, the event?