Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is coming to Toronto this month and can doubtless be essentially the most commercially profitable live performance sequence the town has ever seen.
Specialists have estimated that the six sold-out dates at Rogers Centre will depart in its wake $282 million in financial affect, a whopping determine that another present act visiting the town would doubtless wrestle to match.
However concertgoers in Toronto kno
w this isn’t the primary time that the town has hosted a serious music occasion. So what are a number of the greatest excursions which have handed by means of and the way do they examine to the “Swiftmania” that’s actually taken over the downtown core?
Ontario Chronicle Toronto spoke with veteran music publicist Eric Alper to seek out out.
Elvis performs at Maple Leaf Gardens
Elvis Presley solely carried out 5 exhibits exterior of america all through his storied profession, and two of these exhibits had been in Toronto on April 2, 1957.
The live shows, one at 6 p.m. and one other at 8 p.m., had been held on the historic Maple Leaf Gardens, and marked the final time the “King” would put on his signature full gold go well with.
“Ticket prices were $1.25 and $3.50 for those shows, and they sold out within 48 hours,” Alper stated, noting that followers had been lined up the night time earlier than in hopes of getting in.
Some 20,000 followers are estimated to have attended the pair of live shows, and Presley would go on to play two further exhibits in Ottawa, earlier than enjoying a single set in Vancouver later that yr.
Elvis A few of the 23,000 individuals in attendance at Maple Leaf Gardens to see and listen to Elvis Presley in 1957. (Getty Pictures) (Bettmann)
The Beatles contact down in Toronto
Just a few years after Elvis, the Beatles visited Toronto for the primary time on Sept. 7, 1964 on the top of “Beatlmania.”
The “Fab Four” returned a yr later, but it surely wasn’t until1966 that the group would flip Maple Leaf Gardens right into a rock and roll “Mecca,” as Alper describes it.
“They did 11 songs totaling about 50 minutes,” Alper defined. “So, when you think about the Beatles, and you think about the legendary status of them, the fact that they were able to perform a full-on show in less than an hour — compared to the three hours that Taylor Swift does — now that’s wild to me.”
Like Elvis, the Beatles carried out two exhibits in a single night time in Toronto, one at 4 p.m. for 15,000 followers and one at 8 p.m. for 17,000. Legend has it that the live shows, like many performed by the group, had been so loud as a result of screaming followers that the viewers – and band members– struggled to listen to the music.
Beatles The Beatles, from left to proper, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison and John Lennon converse to reporters at a information convention previous to their 1964 live performance at Maple Leaf Gardens. (CP PHOTO)
The Rolling Stones play secret present on the El Mocambo
Die-hard followers of the Rolling Stones will doubtless already learn about March 4 and March 5, 1977. That’s when a faux band, billed because the Cockroaches, was set to open up for Canadian rock outfit April Wine on the legendary El Mocambo in Toronto’s Chinatown.
What followers didn’t know was that the Cockroaches had been really The Rolling Stones.
“Nobody knew about the Cockroaches, nobody knew about fake shows with fake massive performers, really, until this kind of came along,” Alper stated
A radio contest was held within the lead as much as the exhibits and fortunate winners would get a ticket to see both efficiency on the Toronto membership. On the night time of the live shows, nevertheless, followers could be in for an actual deal with because the roles had been reversed and April Wine opened up for the precise headliner.
“The Rolling Stones were on fire that night,” Alper stated of the live performance venue, that solely held 300 individuals on the time earlier than it was offered and later revamped in 2021.
The group launched recordings from these live shows in 2022, and thanked the town of Toronto within the liner notes.
“And that’s why, kind of thereafter, whenever the Rolling Stones would kick off a tour, they would do it in most cases here in Toronto. They would rehearse here, and they would stay here in Yorkville or in other places. So they’ve had a really great love affair with the city of Toronto since then.”
SARSfest
Whereas Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour will doubtless make the largest financial splash within the metropolis, Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto – extra generally often called SARSstock – doubtless has her beat when it comes to complete crowd measurement.
It’s estimated that 500,000 individuals attended the out of doors occasion at Downsview Park on July 30, 2003, which got here after the lethal SARS pandemic left the town in tough monetary form.
“This was a time that the city was absolutely being devastated by SARS, and the tourism dollars were greatly affected. The hotels were empty. The bars and restaurants were sparse,” Alper recalled.
However as soon as the World Well being Group stated the worldwide outbreak was contained and journey advisories to the town had been lifted, the stage was set for the most important out of doors ticketed occasion in Canadian historical past.
The star-studded lineup featured Rush, AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, The Guess Who, Blue Rodeo, and Justin Timberlake, who confronted some disdain from the rock and roll-leaning crowd.
Tickets for the present went for $21.50 and offered out “immediately,” Alper stated.
“The reason why they kept that price really low, when they could have gone a little bit higher… [was because] they really wanted as many people as possible to be there, and that’s why they sold those tickets at that price. They really did want to make it accessible for everybody.”
Sarsfest A fan holds a Canadian flag with SARSTOCK written on it on the Live performance for SARS Aid at Downsview Park in Toronto Tuesday July 30, 2003. Twenty years after Toronto celebrated SARSfest, the live performance’s legacy and Jumpin’ Jack Flash nonetheless ring within the ears of its attendees, performers and organizers.On July 30, 2003, an estimated 450,000 to 500,000 individuals descended upon Downsview Park in Toronto for what was formally known as the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto live performance however extra well-known as SARSstock or SARSfest. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Frayer (KEVIN FRAYER)
The final Tragically Hip present in Toronto
The Air Canada Centre (now Scotiabank Area) was full of followers and emotion on Aug. 14, 2016 when The Tragically Hip performed their last present in Toronto.
Followers rushed to get tickets for the 15-date tour after it was introduced that frontman Gord Downie had been identified with terminal mind most cancers.
The Hip performed three sold-out nights in Toronto earlier than ending the tour of their hometown of Kingston, Ont.
“Before the Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, I’m going to venture to say that this might have been the most emotional connection that the city of Toronto has had with an artist performing,” Alper stated.
Then Toronto mayor John Tory would declare Aug. 10 “Tragically Hip Day” to kick off the three-night keep within the metropolis. Their last present in Kingston was broadcast throughout the nation.
Downie died on Oct. 17, 2017. He was 53.
Tragically Hip Gord Downie, middle, and Gord Sinclair of The Tragically Hip carry out on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016, in Toronto, Canada. (Picture by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP) (Arthur Mola)
