The Toronto Rock and Roll Revival was a one-day, 12-hour music festival held
in Toronto on September 13, 1969. Acts like Alice Cooper, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little
Richard, and Bo Diddley appeared, and The Doors closed the festival. But the
unannounced appearance of John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the makeshift Plastic Ono
Band is what most people remember about it. The ragged, impromptu set was released
on Apple Records as Live Peace In Toronto 1969. D.A. Pennebaker’s
film Sweet Toronto includes snippets of other performers,
but the Plastic Ono Band was the centerpiece. The film never made it to the
theaters, but appeared on video in the 80s, issued on DVD in 2002 as Sweet
Toronto: Keep on Rockin, and has now been reissued by Shout! as Live
In Toronto ’69.
Now that we have that all straightened out, let’s take a look at the
DVD. Depending on who you talk to, this is not the complete Sweet
Toronto film. The Chuck Berry segment is missing, but Little Richard,
Jerry Lee Lewis and Bo Diddley still get one song a piece. “Bo Diddley”
is worth the price of the DVD alone. Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band’s
raw, unrefined selection of rock and roll standards, followed by the then-new
song, “Cold Turkey,” then — as an added bonus? — Yoko
Ono’s two-song exploratorium, of course, is pretty much the bread and
butter. Say what you will about the actual performance, but you can’t
deny the historical significance of the Lennons sharing the stage with guitarist
Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voorman and drummer Alan White — something
that would be never be replicated quite the same way again.
Legend has it that the band rehearsed the songs on the plane ride over. Then
it was just a matter of logistics getting to the stage through the crush of
music fans. He missed Woodstock (an event he tried to attend, but denied due
to visa issues), so Lennon used Canada to a great degree in spreading his message
of peace and love. The weeklong “Bed-in” was staged at the Queen
Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal three months prior. Members of the press, socialites,
minor celebrities, and various hangers-on stood by while John and Yoko (as they
became universally known) recorded “Give Peace A Chance.” The concert
in Toronto gave the couple another chance to get their message out. As Lennon’s
heroes of rock and roll revived their old hits, it was a period of renewal for
the former Beatle. Four decades later, and you can still marvel at his greatness
in the most unlikely of places.
~ Shawn Perry
