Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Great Outdoor Concerts of Summers Past: Toronto Mike'd #876
Episode Date: June 30, 2021Mike chats with Gilles LeBlanc about great outdoor concerts of summers past....
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I'm Mike from torontomike.com.
And joining me this week is the rock enthusiast himself, Gilles LeBlanc.
How's it going, Mike?
Thanks for having me on again.
Welcome.
The tarp is up because I thought it might rain, but it's turned into a beautiful afternoon.
It absolutely has. And you seem to be having, I mean, they're off camera, but you seem to be having a little party going on in your backyard with the kids.
Well, it's amazing to see.
Three of my four kids have just, they're getting their bicycles and I'm going to join them. Okay, Gilles? So you do your own show. I'll be back in about 90 minutes. But the little one who I'm looking at right now,
she still has the training wheels,
but she's been enrolled in this,
it's called Pedal Heads or something like that.
It's like a weekend course
where they're going to basically get her off the training wheels.
So there she goes.
So this could be the final weekend. This is quite the moment. For Morgan in those training wheels. And then once she's out of those training wheels. So there she goes. So this might be the final, this could be the final weekend.
This is quite the moment.
For Morgan in those training wheels.
And then once she's out
of those training wheels, buddy,
I'm done.
That's it because I'm finished.
That's it.
No more kids that have to learn
how to ride a bike.
It's a great moment.
And I always say,
when we didn't have to have
the car seat anymore,
you know,
that was when the real freedom came.
It's coming soon.
She's the last
one. I think the other boys in a booster, but how old are your kids now? Uh, so I have a daughter
who's turning 20 on September 11th, um, which, you know, start to do the math. That's the,
Oh, that's the day. That's the day. So that's my oldest. Um, yeah. So you were distracted that day.
A little bit.
Yeah.
It's kind of for the best.
Like you can't focus on the news all day because you've got bigger fish to fry.
Oh, we knew what was going on.
Let's just put it that way.
So, but it was, yeah, it was quite, it was quite the day.
And I really can't believe it's been this long.
And, you know, like when you get together with people, which is great because we seem to be doing that more and more as,
you know,
cases go down. And as we're all getting,
uh,
vaccinated and double vaccinated,
congratulations again,
in your case,
Mike,
uh,
for doing that.
So I have news for Mark Wiseblood,
who hopefully is listening because Mark is scheduled to be in this backyard on
July 6th.
And Mark was,
uh,
jazzed about the fact it would be the first episode where both the host and
the guest were fully vaxxed. That means
14 days removed from the second
vaccination for COVID-19.
But the news for Mr. Weisblatt
is that actually right here,
right now, this
episode, because today is 14
days after your second shot. Yes,
correct. Actually, yesterday too. I think we both got
our... Well, did you get it on the 15th
of June was mine so yeah okay
it's been two days it's been two weeks okay so you and i are both fully vaxxed that makes this
the very first episode backyard episode oh very first episode actually where host and guest were
14 days removed from the second vaccination that's a milestone but but Weisblatt will be upset. Listen, the fact that I can say that I have finally scooped the 1236 News Burrito is something to,
is something to be proud to brag about.
Rock enthusiast versus News Burrito.
There you go.
Hey, so I, we were chatting, you know, this is live on Facebook. So when we do Pandemic Fridays
and I play a lot of music, we go live on the Toronto Mic'd Pirate stream.
That's live.torontomic.com.
But typically, most other episodes are going live on Facebook.
But this episode, I'm going to play a lot of music.
We are live on the Facebook page, which is facebook.com slash torontomic'd with a D.
But I don't expect this episode to live very long.
It's like I'm watching it closely because we're going to play a lot of music and the
algorithms crawling Facebook's
live
won't like that and will either
shut it down or mute it or just
generally fuck with the program.
We have some jams to kick out, Mike.
Okay, so let's establish
the premise for this particular episode.
Good to have you back. Thank you.
A quick hello to Andrew Ward and Moose Grumpy
and Becky, who are, you know,
watching live and chatting live.
But there's an article coming out
in the Toronto Star,
which is still Canada's most
widely circulated newspaper.
Yes, it is.
Thank you for mentioning that, by the way.
Well, that's because it always has been
my whole life.
And it's still true.
Like, it's a shrinking pie, but they've got the biggest slice uh from a print perspective yes yeah exactly
like i actually my uh my profession is actually i'm in marketing research uh and it may actually
be for the star so you know but yeah they do uh they do let me write the occasional article as
a freelancer and i'm very, very appreciative of them doing that.
So when's your next article hitting the Toronto Star?
This coming weekend?
Exactly.
It was supposed to be this past Sunday,
but I guess there was an influx of graduation-type classified ads.
Pays the bills.
Exactly, which is great to hear.
It's a great way, by the way,, congratulating the people that are closest to you.
And it's a great initiative.
But yeah, they actually bumped me
until the next weekend,
which is actually July 4th,
which is Independence Day.
Here's an idea for FOTMs.
If you want a special message to a loved one,
maybe a graduate or some newly married couple,
whatever,
I will sell those announcements on Toronto Mic'd.
I got to compete with the star on this one.
I think that's a good idea.
So if you have any graduation notices,
Toronto Mic'd will shout out your loved ones
on Toronto Mic'd for a nominal fee.
So that's where we're going.
There you go.
But this article, it's about,
well, the fact is we've been without
big outdoor festivals in this city for,
well, we missed all of the 2020 outdoor festival season, really.
We absolutely did.
I mean, it's been tough.
It's been tough in a lot of ways for everybody.
I mean, when it comes down to it,
concerts are really, you know,
it's a trivial thing when you think about it.
Although, from a Toronto perspective,
it does generate a lot of income.
You know, there are many jobs that obviously are at stake.
Um,
so really in the past,
the past year and a bit is sucked,
you know?
So, um,
and here we have like,
you know,
where we've got an opportunity where it's a beautiful day outside.
It's a little bit muggy,
you know,
it's a chance of rain,
but you know,
right now it's absolutely sunny and there's,
and we got some lake effect here.
Not bad,
right?
Oh,
no,
no,
no,
no,
not too hot.
It's a perfect day. Perfect. Because I was just just i was in a breeze on my back i was as north
as the i don't even know if i'm allowed to say the name but i was as north as dundas we got to
change that name but uh holy smokes but i was that north and it was a whole different uh ecosystem
up there like so where you were i'm sure it's got you gotta have like a it's got to feel 10 degrees
warmer where you live it's my fear well i'm up in vaugh'm sure it's got, you gotta have like a, it's got to feel 10 degrees warmer where you live. It's my feeling.
Well, I'm up in Vaughan and it's, yeah, it is.
You're melting. You can, you can crack an egg on that sidewalk in Vaughan and
watch it fry.
There you go. Wow.
There you go. So, so yeah, that's the thing. So it's, I mean, it's been a tough,
it's been a tough, how much, how long have we been in this? 16 months?
Like the entire last season was completely gone.
But, you know, we kind of came up with the idea at the start,
the other dirt I was working with to, you know,
let's have like a little bit of a celebratory article, you know, and we could have gone a bunch of different ways in terms of, you know,
like when I was on last year, we talked about Molson Park Memories,
which is such a fun show, you know,
like there's tons of outdoor venues that are out and that are out and about in
the GTA,
but we wanted to focus on ones that we're fairly certain, let's hope,
that are coming back stronger than ever next year in terms of the shows that they're booking.
So summer 2022, we're going to go fucking nuts.
I hope so.
With outdoor concerts and festivals and such.
Because I'm approaching an age...
Oh, by the way, happy belated birthday, Mike.
Oh, thank you so much.
It was over the weekend, right?
Can I crack open my beer before you continue with this?
Oh, absolutely.
The elevator pitch is supposed to last the length of the elevator ride,
so I think you've exceeded that.
But maybe it's a very tall building.
But here I am.
I do talk a lot.
What are you going to crack?
You know what?
I'm going to try the sunny side.
It's staring right in front of me.
So do it with me.
Okay, so you've got the sunny side.
Great IPA. I got an octopus wants to fight. Let's going to try the sunny side. It's staring right in front of me. So do it with me. Okay, so you've got the sunny side. Great IPA.
I got an octopus wants to fight.
Let's do it on the mic here.
Oh, is that?
Okay, not on your laptop.
Anywhere but your laptop.
That shouldn't have shaken.
I took it straight from the fridge,
so I'm surprised that happened.
A little surprise there for Gilles.
That's quite all right.
As long as it doesn't hit the mic or the laptop.
No, exactly.
Not the laptop either.
So cheers to you.
I'm glad you're here, buddy.
Cheers to you, Mike.
And we're going to basically celebrate
great outdoor shows of seasons past.
Exactly.
So we wanted to focus on, like I was saying,
venues that are still around
and are going to come back stronger than ever.
So what I was going to say is that, you know, I'm, I'm at an age where I'm advancing into
an age where I thought I would be, you know, uh, focused less on shows, but you're turning
60.
Whoa, man.
Thanks for, thanks for thinking that I look that good for, you know, that age.
Now I may be the one before.
Oh, 50.
So have you hit it yet or are you soon? Okay. Cause I mean, I can see it from where I'm sitting in a couple of years, you know, that age. No, I may be the one before. Oh, 50. Very soon. Have you hit it yet or are you soon?
Very soon, not yet.
Okay, because, I mean, I can see it from where I'm sitting.
In a couple of years, you know, so there we go.
But that's okay.
You know how close I am to 50?
Honestly, I can reach out and grab it.
Yeah, but that's, you know, you and I are, you know, you and I are of a very similar,
obviously, we're a very similar generation.
But, you know, like, I thought it would be at the age where I would, like, you know,
be thinking about less shows going to.
But sitting here right now, there's no place I'd rather be than, you know, somewhere outdoors, whether it's the Budweiser stage or, you know, even like at a Downsview Park to to experience an outdoor kind of an outdoor show.
So are we going to structure this episode? And I've got a lot of jams loaded up and we're going to talk.
But is it we're going to structure it episode? And I've got a lot of jams loaded up and we're going to talk, but is it good? We're going to structure it basically in segments by venue.
Well,
that's how I think the stars running the article.
Oh,
but you don't,
cause that's a,
I can,
we can,
I mean,
you can,
you can control this content.
It's whatever you want to do.
But I mean,
I think,
you know,
logically,
I think we should start with Budweiser stage because that one it's got, it is an interesting history when you think about it because it, you know, in a lot of ways, it's a type of, there's nothing necessarily unique about the venue.
I mean, it's structured and constructed very much like a lot of amphitheaters are in the U.S., you know, but it's got great sight lines.
It's got the lawns, which, you know, I know are
a popular feature for a lot of venues. You know, but besides the fact that it's literally a
structure that's floating on Lake Ontario, you know, there's nothing necessarily unique about
it. But that is significant. Like, I don't want to bury that lead because the waterfront aspect
of the Budweiser stage is pretty damn awesome. Like you're right there on the water.
You do get that lake effect, you know.
So, I mean, I think there's a lot of factors that make it, that do make it a memorable venue.
And it is a great place to see a show because, you know, it doesn't get overly hot, you know, because you do have that lake effect kind of thing.
But at the same time, you know, despite concerts ending at, you know, 11 o'clock or whatever it is,
you know, you don't get overly cold. I find, you know,
like because of the season that it's in, you know, so, I mean, for me,
it's a fantastic place to see, you know, to see a show, you know,
the sightlines are all great. They have like, you know,
the big video screens that are on there. And so one joke from one of the last shows that I saw there was,
I think in 2018, was Queens of the Stone Age.
I don't know if you were at that show, but I was there.
And actually, I had Bubbles and George Straubelopoulos
sitting in back of me.
Were they sitting together?
They were sitting together, yeah.
That's a dynamic duo.
That is a great Canadian couple.
Mike Smith, that's Bubbles, right?
Mike Smith and George Straubelopoulos together.
Wow, at a Queens of the Stone Age.
That's amazing.
Exactly.
But the thing was is that so if you've been to the Bud stage before,
they've got the video screens at the side when the headliners come on
to catch all the action.
And they'll go into the crowd sometimes to show the reactions.
And I had quite a few people saying that they saw go into the crowd sometimes to show the reactions and uh i had quite a few
people saying that they saw me on the screen more than they did josh homie so um you know that's
yeah no it's like it's a great place to see a show you know like uh how was that show how because i
want to see queens of the stone age how was that show it it may have been i'm not the and i'm you
know i'm approaching 50 so i've been to quite a few shows. It was one of the loudest shows I've ever been to.
It was crazy.
It was crazy loud.
And they were playing a lot of older cuts from their earlier albums
where they were primarily more metal than anything else.
Yeah, just fantastic.
I mean, I loved it, but yeah, very, very, very loud.
And hey, it was great seeing Bubbles.
My person who I was with got a selfie with him.
And he, of course, also a great Canadian musician himself, Bubbles.
Bubbles, yeah.
Right?
Isn't he in that?
I'm actually, no, I don't know.
I wonder where you are.
Curious.
Remember Curious by Sandbox?
Bubbles is in Sandbox.
Really?
Yeah.
Okay.
I did not know that.
Chill.
This is why I'm here.
You're here for the fun facts.
You know what?
Some people say, hey, there's the guy from Trailer Park Boys.
I say, there's the guy from Sandbox.
See, I only know the Trailer Park Boys.
There you go.
Wow.
You're dropping knowledge on me, Mike.
I love it.
Isn't that Curious?
I can't name a second song, though.
This is why I like them a lot.
I only know Curious.
I can't name any more Sandbox songs. But Curious was a them a lot. I only know Curious. I can't name any more
Sandbox songs. But Curious was a good jam.
Excellent. But we're not kicking it up today.
So we're still talking Budweiser stage. Are you
surprised how quickly we adapt to
new corporate namesakes?
Like how quickly we went from
Molson Amphitheater to Budweiser
stage? I mean, is it because they're both
corporate or... What are your thoughts on that?
Yeah, but actually when you think of it, it took a while, right?
Because it was, now correct me if I'm wrong.
You may remember.
I can't.
I can't.
But it was the most, at one point it was the Molson Canadian Amphitheater.
Oh, I don't remember it being Molson Canadian.
Yeah, I remember at one point.
It was always Molson.
I owned them.
But I know at one point, I want to say like mid, like, you know, 2000s, you know, they changed it to the Molson Canadian Amphitheater.
And then it's only been 2016, I think.
Something like that.
I probably should have researched this more.
But yeah, it's something like that.
You know, it became the Budweiser stage, which is kind of interesting because Budweiser has always been brewed by Labatt here in Canada.
So, you know, so yeah, that switch from, I mean, when it comes down to it, you I think we do it pretty well in Canada.
You know, in terms of corporate sponsorship, they do pay the bills.
And, you know, if it allows and of course, you go back and you were talking about it on that excellent Edgefest episode that you had about literally how, you know,
the big beer companies have been footing the bills for a lot of shows over the
years in Canada, especially around here.
You know, so you're always going to need that.
So, you know, but, you know,
you look at some venues that are named in the States,
like the KFC Yum Center, you know, or something like that.
You know, like you can get some ridiculous names that are out there,
and we kind of keep that sort of clean here in Canada a little bit.
I don't think we're doing that intentionally.
I feel like the highest bidders get in the name.
I feel like we might have lucked out a little.
But I mean, the beers do have quite a bit of the money.
So Budweiser stage, would you like me to just kick out a jam
and then we'll continue talking about great.
I think this is a good lead for us On the Budweiser stage
Mike, it is your show
Well, I think this one might be yours
I chose a live version of this song
So let's get in the spirit
Of being at a live outdoor festival here Oh yeah
Well it's gonna be a party
Gonna make some noise
We're inviting all the girls
Inviting all the boys
They'll be dancing on the table
Dancing on the chairs
They'll be dancing in the parking lots and up in the stairs
Close the window, lock the door, turn it up now, pack the phone Back to floor Bouncer on the outside Man who's gonna fall
Can't turn out of the lights
This is the one house
It's a house to rest
Everybody run
Gotta be guilty
Having too much fun
It's a house to rest
Up against the wall
Can't stop rockin'
Just help me to blow.
It's like we're there.
So tell me the significance.
This is Brian Adams' House Arrest.
He's still got it.
He's still got it.
He's got some controversial views on things, but he still rocks.
That kind of got swept under the carpet a little bit, right?
We're past that now.
Yeah, we're past that.
It's okay.
Yeah, he does still rock.
He is a Canadian legend. but yeah um house arrest the first ever song played at budweiser stage that's
that is a uh fun fact yeah i i would think so um you know he was the i don't have the exact
date in front of me my apologies um i believe believe the Bud Stage only got, or sorry,
the Molson Amphitheater at the time, only got
going in, I want to say, July
of 1995.
But
yeah, no, Brian Adams
opened the venue
for the first two shows there.
House Arrest was the very first song played.
And other,
I guess, fun fact,
I was at the third ever Molson Amphitheater show,
which was the first Edge Fest of that year.
As discussed, and you mentioned it earlier,
but let's shout it out and shine a light on it,
that Brother Bill and Captain Phil Evans,
who was at the station organizing all these events,
were on Toronto Mike
very very recently to kind of
I say a deep dive into the history
of the Canada Day festivals
that evolved into the Edge Fests
and yeah that was kind of
we dove deep into that
subject matter and it was very informative
people should check that out after they listen to this one
absolutely
of course we're very appreciative of anybody who's listening today
and tuning in for myself and our little chat.
But, yeah, that Edgefest episode that you did, Mike,
honestly, it was fantastic.
And I think, you know, we have to super shout out that audio that you played.
Like, you know, like, this is nice hearing this, you know,
and, like, again know, like, this is nice hearing this, you know, and like, again, Bryan Adams rocks, but I mean, like, honestly, that, those tracks that
you were playing, not just the hip, but I mean, like, everything, like, gave me chills.
It sounded great, eh?
And it literally, like, brought me back to Molson Park.
So come for the fun facts and the information, but stay for the secret.
There's a false ending on that show.
I don't do it too often.
But I guess like yourself, because we're the same vintage,
I loved those CDs I would buy in the 90s with the hidden tracks.
Oh, sure.
I love the hidden tracks.
And then they're gone now, because where do you hide a track now?
You can't hide, but I mean, they do put it.
I think I've seen Spotify where they'll actually, in like in parentheses go this is the bonus track or whatever yeah so but
but it's not the same like when you would leave that i don't know that stone temple pilots album
you leave it running after the final jam and then there's like a you know 10 minutes of silence
and then all of a sudden some bonus track some great bonus tracks i remember cracker like that
that kerosene hat like uh they would they
did a weird thing of the numbering i remember like euro trash girl was like number 69 or something
like that i don't know if you had a kerosene yeah who am i trying to think um yeah something like
it was like um yeah it was like the 99th track on the cd when you would like put it through so
anyway shout out to the all the hidden tracks I love from Nirvana to Pearl Jam
to you name it. It was a big deal in the 90s to do
this, but on this episode
of Toronto Mic'd, the
CFNY Canada Day Festival
episode with Captain Phil Evans and Brother Bill.
When I say goodbye
and I play Rosie and Grey, don't
stop listening because there's a good
half an hour of this epic audio to go.
And I will tell the listenership that I have something up my sleeve for
tomorrow, which is July 1st.
So check your Toronto Mike feed for a surprise.
You did tease me, Mike, you know, you didn't mention that to me,
you know, when I mentioned, when I said that, how good the article was.
But actually, if you don't mind to go back just a second here,
we were talking about how, you know,
I am appreciative of anybody who's tuning into this
or watching it on Facebook, you know, however long it has up.
But we probably should acknowledge that today
on radio stations across Canada, actually,
they're doing a day for listening
with regards to Indigenous peoples across Canada
and everything that's been going on.
You don't have to read just the Toronto Star
to know what the news that's going on.
So I was listening to a little bit on the way here.
So in between,
and it's on all radio stations across Canada.
So in between the normal songs that they play,
regardless of
the genre of the genres, they're having indigenous peoples on to talk about their their own stories
and their own experiences. And some of our some of them are, you know, pretty tough listens,
you know, considering what the news that we've known, but you know, hopefully through this,
you know, that we listen, we can learn, and then, you know, hopefully take action in terms of reconciliation
and whatever needs to be done so that we can be a whole country again, I hope.
Okay, well said, Joe.
Yeah, that's my only comment for that.
And I'll just sort of piggyback on that to say that two episodes ago,
so there's an episode with, believe it or not, my neighbor, Chi,
episode with uh believe it or not my neighbor chi and her mother is a cree and a residential school survivor and that's just part of chi's story and you need to actually listen to this
hour to kind of get the full full full story but it's mind-blowing and it's super inspirational
and you're right i've been doing a lot of listening, like just listening and learning
and acknowledging that that shit's fucked up, man.
And like this Canada Day,
my brother came over for my birthday last weekend
and I said, we had plans in the calendar for months.
We had Canada Day jams on Pandemic Friday.
That was in the calendar for months.
And I basically said to Stu and Cam,
like, I'm not feeling it and I don't want to do canada day jams this year and we celebrated the uh 2s
lgbtq plus community and it was awesome and that was yesterday but i'm not feeling it and we need
to we need to to make you know you can't go back and change history but we need to make this right going forward so that i can celebrate canada i amazingly said um i still think not to get you know not to change the subject of this
because it is we're trying to have celebration of you know things that we love um you know
outdoor concerts but uh you know i still think there's i think there's enough good in this
country or there's been enough good throughout our history that is worthy of celebration,
but we can't be afraid to,
you know,
face the facts and face the truth.
And that's the only way we're going to truly heal.
And we got to remove politics from it altogether.
You know,
and we got to get to the truth.
And if that offends some people.
Brother truth and reconciliation, right?
That's the name of the game.
That's what it is, you know?
So, yeah.
And we all have to be on board with it.
And I think we're all waking up now.
I really do.
And I always think of the final years of Gord Downie's life.
And, you know, we'll address some of this.
But he basically, you know, his cause that he was pushing really hard,
Cheney Wenjack, and I got the print downstairs.
And it's like, oh, nice.
Yeah.
Are you kidding me?
That's in the studio.
And then one day maybe you'll get to return to the studio.
But not on a nice day like this.
I'll still make you do it in the backyard.
But we got some work to do there.
But, okay, so Budweiser stage.
Brian Adams opens the Budweiser stage.
There's the song House Arrest.
Beck makes a good comment on the Facebook feed here.
That's the perfect pandemic song, House Arrest.
There's some connotations in there.
I don't know if Brian himself thought about that or whatever,
even when he was making his comments not too long ago.
But, yeah, no, it's, and I don't even know, like, you know,
I probably should have, I am a bit't even know, like, you know, I probably should have.
I am a bit of a research buff and, you know, especially when it comes to music and my own job.
But I didn't look back to see if Adams had actually performed at Budweiser stage since.
I mean, that's the thing, right?
Because it really became the venue because before everything was sort of spread out um you know if we wanted like big shows within toronto uh there was still the cne stadium at
the time but you know to see that kind of went away because you know uh bmo field was coming
along um you know there was wonderland i was always team wonderland uh as opposed to team cne
um you know and kingswood was but you... But you're coming from Vaughan.
Were you raised in that neck of the woods?
No, actually, it's a bit of a longer story.
No, I was actually raised in Mississauga,
but I would go to Wonderland at least a couple times every summer
and literally spend the whole day there.
Now I can almost walk there.
It's worth the drive to Maple, as they say.
But the big differentiator for me is if you were a car person or not.
Like, if you were a car culture person, and a lot of car person or not, like if you were a car culture person,
a lot of Mississaugans,
of course,
we're a car culture people.
Yes.
Like you would be,
you would go Canada's Wonderland versus CNE,
let's say whatever.
Yeah.
But like if you were bike slash TTC person,
you would far more likely you'd go CNE versus Canada's Wonderland.
So it really depended on the car culture you were engaged in
and where you were kind of being raised.
Well, you are the poster child for biking or cycling.
Is there a poster and am I on it?
Because, well, now, as you saw, three of,
I actually biked today with my oldest daughter,
but I saw my old, I know it's very windy here, by the way,
so if we blow away, but my oldest daughter,
as just now, has gone biking with the five-year-old and seven-year-old so i'm trying to pass it on to
the kids you're influencing them very well mike it's great to see and you know and then speaking
of which kind of um you know it's great to see that we can be outside uh that we're you know
maskless um you know not to get into any were you you ever a mask wearer outside? Yeah.
Yeah.
Probably not as much as I probably should be.
But my family, again, you know, not to get into, you know, that whole crown of thorns.
But, you know, we're trying to be as safe as possible.
You know, so whatever we kind of need to do to.
So if you went for a walk with the family, you'd put on your mask?
Yeah.
Okay. So I never did.
I never did.
Like I basically, if I were outdoors, I never wore a mask.
Not the whole time, but even still, like my wife and I took a walk yesterday.
And so we'll have the mask kind of like half on.
So if we're passing people on as a common courtesy, we'll put it on even if they don't necessarily have it on.
Yeah, no way am I a denier, but I don't believe, if I'm socially distanced outdoors, I do not believe this virus can transmit.
No, and I mean, that's fair.
That's fair.
But I mean, you know, we're just, I guess, trying to be...
We have to get controversial, like Brian,
dedicating to Brian Adams.
We're going to get controversial on the COVID-19 here.
But I mean, I would never go inside anywhere
that wasn't my own home without wearing a mask.
I'm still there.
But when I'm outdoors outdoors i keep my distance
we're a good 10 feet away and uh no mask required uh as phil collins if you were going to remake his
album it might be no no mask required ah there you go so so if you don't mind i was going to
actually bring up a little bit of a question here yeah so um so yeah of course here in toronto uh
you know they've taken the extra precautionary step of cancelling pretty much all summer events.
So no C&E, you know, no outdoor concerts.
You know, it looks to be September is going to be the earliest shows that we're going to get.
You know, so but in the States, of course, like Lollapalooza, for example, like next month is expected to have like.
And it's outdoors, right?
It's outdoors.
for example, like next month is expected to have like... And it's outdoors, right?
It's outdoors.
And so, but for New York,
I was thinking of New York specifically.
So the Foo Fighters,
they play that Madison Square Garden show
with 20,000 people all indoors.
But the requirement was,
is that you had to be double vaccinated
and have had to have passed the two weeks
for allowed to be admitted into the show.
Now, I don't know what they necessarily used as proof, but I wanted to ask you, Mike,
what you necessarily thought of that. And then when
venues do start to reopen, whether it be
outdoor ones like the Budweiser stage or indoor ones,
do you think that outdoor ones like the Budweiser stage or indoor ones.
Do you think that vaccination requirements is something that should be mandated?
See, I'd love to see it.
I will say I've always had that mark in the sand to me has always been indoors versus outdoors.
So all along, I would have been happy to go to an outdoor concert the whole time.
I'll go see the Blue Jays outdoors.
Don't close that damn group.
Don't wear anything.
But outdoors, I've always been comfortable,
especially now that I've got the double vacs.
Very, very comfortable outdoors.
We have a TMLX planned for July 16 at a Southwest Toronto park.
And we're going to be outdoors and socially distanced.
And I'm jazzed about it.
Like, I have no problems with that.
No problems.
And we're going to, we have no location yet, but there will be another TMLX on August 27th.
And again, that will also be outdoors.
And we will, you know, and it'll be safe and it'll be fun.
So the indoor thing, I'm not ready for it.
I do, if it would be nice for me to know that you had to be double vaxxed,
fully vaccinated to get indoors, I might be more comfortable with with that like going indoors if I knew everybody was fully vaccinated um outdoors
again I was always comfortable with that so what's your comfort level at I know everybody's different
no I'm pretty much I'm pretty much the same I mean uh whether it's a matter of we were talking
about taking walks and you know still wearing masks like being a little bit overly cautious
but I mean I think that's the only way we're going to kind of get out of this.
I'd like to think so. I don't know if I'm 100 percent.
I mean, it sucks that we've had to close down everything and cancel everything.
But, you know, I think it's the right call in a lot of ways.
You know, I'm hoping everything goes well in the
states you know for things like lollapalooza or whatever and that they can have a hundred
thousand plus people in grant park and you know everybody have a great time um you know uh would
i want the same for it here sure but at the same time i think we're making the right steps in terms
of taking it a little bit slower. So summer 2022.
Summer 22.
Listen, it's going to be the revenge of everything.
We're going to really kick it out then.
Well, you want to hear a killer story?
Sorry to interrupt you.
No, no, no.
This is a breaking story.
So Canada Kev, who's a great FOTS, he says,
Hearing Brian Adams reminded me that I sang on stage with him at Molson Amphitheater on the opening night.
There was a second stage. I saw early on that they were setting something up mid-show. I told the people I was with that we had to go down to the concourse and we could be right there for it. We timed it
perfectly. They did about five songs out there. They pulled me up along with about four girls
during Only Happy When she's dancing.
I ended up back to back with Brian singing into his mic.
I had liquid courage that night.
That's amazing.
That is an amazing story.
Thank you so much,
Kevin,
for adding that.
Wow.
Okay.
Now who's the artist?
Do you know the artist,
uh,
who has performed Molson Park slash Budweiser stage the most times?
That would be easily Blue Rodeo.
Wow.
For sure.
But they also do the Massey Hall thing.
So I guess they double dip there.
I know they do a couple of nights a year at Massey Hall.
I know I've seen them there,
and I think that's like all the Blue Rodeo heads.
But you're right.
They do both.
Yeah.
So I think one of the last times that they
played Massey hall before it shut down for the renovations.
Um,
didn't Downey joined them on stage.
That is very,
very around that time.
Very possible.
Amazing.
Yeah.
Amazing.
And I,
I should mention as well,
not to jump around a little bit here,
but the,
that whole day of listening,
uh,
it is in support of the Downey,
uh,
Wenjack foundation or Wejack, We support of the Downey Wenjack Foundation,
or Wejack?
Wenjack?
Wenjack.
Yeah.
Jenny Wenjack.
Yeah.
It's amazing because we all,
I mean, us hip fans anyways,
we all watch the video,
and we learn the residential schools,
you know, running away and all this.
And then it's funny in 2020,
funny, not ha-ha funny,
but interesting that here we are in summer 2021.
And suddenly all that, that Gord was telling us crystallizes.
Like now that we go, there's, these are children, there's bodies,
there's unmarked graves.
And it's suddenly all the pieces are kind of coming together.
And you're like, yeah, we did this.
Like we have blood on our hands and we need to own this shit.
We need to own this.
And it's, you know, not to necessarily go back
or to stay honest, but that's fine.
We make the rules here, Jill.
Yeah, no, I found that it was a,
obviously it was a very powerful project that he did.
And you could tell that it was a very, you know,
it was very close to and dear to his heart.
Right.
You know, before he passed.
And it was very important for him that he got it out
before he passed. And it was very important for him that he got it out before,
before he passed it.
But I always found that it was almost like, oh yeah, this is like a cute little, I don't mean to sound demeaning at all,
but it's like, oh, it's this cute little side project.
But you know, the big thing is that, oh,
they're doing their last tour or whatever.
You know what I mean?
He, he did that and he did those, it was Massey Hall, right?
Didn't he do those shows that he did like two or shows. He only did like two shows in support of a secret path, but it was like, I think I'm pretty sure, it was Massey Hall, right? Didn't he do those shows? He did like two shows.
He only did like two shows in support of Secret Path,
but it was like, I'm pretty sure it was at Massey Hall.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to go.
But I mean, it almost seemed like an afterthought.
It was like, oh, it's this little side project
that he's doing afterwards or whatever.
So I don't think it, unfortunately,
it didn't have the impact at the time that say,
like if it would have come out now.
But I think it set the stage. but i think it's set the stage i
really did think it set the stage oh but for sure these thoughts and you start thinking and you're
you're learning and you're like oh wow like that happened oh interesting and then something like
what's happened in the last couple of months sort of takes those uh kernels and solidifies it all
like i find that all these pieces like i feel like the base the groundwork was done there
and now it's like whoa and now now like literally here we are june 30th normally tomorrow me and the
kids would be like canada flags everywhere canada day would be a whole thing and that's completely
muted now we're just talking about the uh the the atrocities discovered in the residential school
i think it was in bc but there was another discovery today,
or at least they came up.
Well, as I said with Chi two days ago,
tip of the iceberg, right?
This is all tip of the iceberg.
So brace yourself.
Okay, I'm going to play another song
before we wrap up the Budweiser stage segment here. La, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
My chameleon boy
Lovely as a summer day
Woo!
My chav-y amour, distant as the milky way
My chav-y amour, pretty little one that I adore.
You're the only girl my heart beats for.
I wish that you were mine.
In the castle.
So, Joe, we had some surprises at Molson Amphitheater
slash Budweiser stage over the years.
We did.
Thank you for playing some Stevie to break the mood a little bit.
You know, we need to lighten things a little bit.
And this is a good summer song.
Like, this is a perfect summer night song.
Yeah.
Anytime, like, you know, there's weather like this, throw on any of his albums.
I mean, you know, you can't.
Even The Secret Life of Plants.
I think you can even throw some of that in.
I don't know if you've heard The Secret Life of Plants.
Do yourself a favor.
Yeah, I'll look into it.
I'll look into it for sure.
But yeah, no, so Stevie Wonder
has only played Molson Amphitheater
slash Budweiser stage once in his stellar career.
And that was actually,
he was brought on as a surprise guest of Drake
at one of his earlier OVOFests,
which of course would take over the August long weekend.
And so with those early ones, I believe when Stevie was there,
it was 2011.
That was in the era when I was traveling to Montreal for Oceaga, you know, back then.
So I would always miss, you know, not that I'm a huge Drake fan, but, you know.
You would have gone?
Because these are the shows I would love to be there, but I can never get a ticket.
For sure.
So I'll find out what I missed later.
If you could get a ticket, they'd be fantastic to go to because he, especially those early ones, he would pull out everyone.
So Kanye was there one year.
Cardi B was at one of the recent ones.
Pharrell Williams.
And they just literally just come on stage, play a couple of songs.
And that's exactly what happened with Stevie Wonder.
So he actually duetted with Drake on this song.
what happened with Stevie Wonder.
So he actually duetted with Drake on this song.
And to me, you know, not that it's absurd,
but I mean, you know, you have Drake who, you know,
has songs like, hell yeah. But Drake can sing.
This is what I say.
Drake is a modern rapper.
That means he also sings.
Because back in the day, our rappers never sang.
Listen, respect to everything Drake has done
for the city of Toronto.
You know, he may have some issues,
but I mean, when it comes down to it,
you know, he's done a lot for the city
in terms of bringing up its awareness.
The man won us an NBA championship.
That's right.
2019.
The global ambassador, yeah.
Absolutely.
So, you know, but I just think it would be,
and I wasn't there, but I mean,
I'm sure it would have been quite the sight
to have, you know, a very romantic song being duetted by Drake himself
and the man, the myth, the legend, Stevie Wonder.
Wow. Do you think I'm petty, man? Let me explain.
So, you know, Kawhi Leonard, right?
Key part of the 2019 NBA championship.
And he leaves to go home to the Clippers, play for the Clippers.
So here we are now.
My son, James, loves Kawhi for delivering that championship
to a point where he roots for Kawhi.
So he's like, I hope the Clippers,
even though Kawhi's actually not playing right now due to injury,
but he hopes the Clippers beat the Suns
so that Kawhi could play in the NBA Finals
and win another chip, as they say.
He's got a couple already.
Meanwhile, I'm rooting actively and passionately against Kawhi Leonard
because he decided to, instead of, you know,
you've got to try to run it back.
Like when you win an NBA championship,
you've got to come back and try to run it back.
Drake was unsuccessful in keeping Kawhi in Toronto, unfortunately.
I'm rooting against Kawhi.
I'm like, if you left us, you left us.
Now, is this as petty of me?
Now I never want you to win again.
That's your punishment for leaving us.
A little bit.
It sounds like, you know,
I used to be more of the sports enthusiast.
And can I say that without slurring?
That's probably your trademark.
You should probably trademark that.
Well, yeah, I've been thinking about that.
But anyway, yeah,
I used to be more into sports before.
Now, yeah, it's been more of an enthusiast.
Okay, but in the premise of this,
where my son roots for the man who delivered the championship,
I root against him because he left.
I'm a small, petty man.
I think that's maybe not small, but there's a little bit of pettiness to it.
I think it's, you know, like you're the basis of sports is that you, you, you know, like
the song goes, you root, root, root for the home team.
You know what I mean?
Because the players are interchangeable, right?
You know, so yes, you do develop affinity
for certain players and what they bring to you.
But I rooted against Vince Carter and I was successful.
He never won an NBA championship.
Although now I've warmed up to him in recent history,
but I was rooting passionately against him
for many, many, many, many years.
But if you ever get him on the show,
will that change again?
Well, you know, he's done now.
He's retired.
But back to Kawhi, like there's a game six.
Might be tonight, actually.
And I'm rooting for the Suns.
And I have no allegiance to the Suns at all,
except that I like Kawhi to lose.
Steve Nash used to play there.
Yeah, he also never won a championship.
Lots of MVP. And I love Steve Nash. But okay there. Yeah, he also never won a championship. Lots of MVP stuff.
And I love Steve Nash.
But okay, so here we are.
We're segwaying from Molson Amphitheater
slash Budweiser stage to the C&E band show.
Absolutely.
But first, okay, so I have a meat lasagna in the freezer,
Jill, with your name on it, from Palma Pasta.
Trying to cut down on the carbs, Mike, but yeah. Palma Pasta, that's the best though. That is the best. If you're going to carb load, you've got to do it from Palma Pasta. Trying to cut down on the carbs, Mike, but yeah.
Palma Pasta, that's the best though.
That is the best.
If you're going to carb load, you got to do it at Palma Pasta.
And you already got your Great Lakes beer.
They've been fantastic partners.
How is that sunny side IPA?
Does this have some kind of citrusy to it?
Yeah, you can taste it.
It's really, it's really good.
I got some citrusy stuff going on
with the octopus wants to fight right now.
The way I work because I'm a lightweight
is if I'm going to have a couple in a short period of time i do the sunny side because i still feel
sharp at the end of that but if i down a couple of octopus like back to back at the end of that
i'm worried like uh am i slurring my speech if you know what i mean so so the sunny side is the
way to go yeah well you know what if if we were at a show, I could probably, you know, back in the day,
maybe not now, but, you know, I could see myself downing a couple of these
and not necessarily really feeling it.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I can't remember.
Something like 2.9% or something.
You would just sweat.
I'll look.
Check it out.
I don't know if your eyes, your old eyes can see that.
Yeah, exactly.
Might have to take off the glasses, actually.
But, yeah, but literally you would sweat it out, you know, at a show. So, exactly. Might have to take off the glasses, actually. But yeah, but literally you would sweat it out, you know, at a show.
So, yeah.
But we are moving to the C&E, the C&E band.
We're going to talk about the band shell because, of course, the C&E Stadium that we were talking about before has since been demolished.
But so many great shows were there over the years.
Did you did you happen to see any?
See any? See any?
See any.
I see what you did there.
That's wild.
Okay, so.
The beer hasn't kicked in right yet.
I've never seen a show at Exhibition Stadium.
What?
No, but I attended several shows by standing just, so I worked at the C&E for a few years
in the late 80s and early 90s.
Yeah, I remember you saying.
So Steel Wheels Tour, and I saw Alice Cooper,
where I would stand, I had a spot I would go to,
and I could hear everything, but I couldn't actually see the stage.
That's amazing.
But I never actually, I don't believe,
and I don't think I've ever actually attended a Exhibition Stadium concert.
Okay.
But I missed out.
My wife kind of has a similar story because i told you she
uh uh she lived she lived close to wonderland when uh you know as she was growing up so uh
from her room if you would go out on the like you know the half roof like landing or whatever
um you know not on the roof of the house but i mean you know the half landing if you want to
call it that uh she could hear songs sorry she could hear concerts crystal clear okay you know, the half landing, if you want to call it that, she could hear songs, sorry, she could hear concerts crystal clear.
Okay, you know, not far, I can go to the Fifth Street at the Lake.
I can actually, I can hear on a summer night,
I can hear what's coming out of Molson.
Oh, you're right here.
I wouldn't be surprised or whatever.
I was kind of struggling to remember what shows I had seen at the C&E Stadium.
The only one I can remember is that I was at,
very proudly, I was at the Neil Young Harvest Moon Tour
that had Pearl Jam before Versus came out,
which was ridiculous.
Before Versus or no?
No, no, no, it was before Versus.
It was before Versus.
So this was 93.
It was just before.
So nobody knew the songs, but yeah,
it was Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Blues Traveler.
It was an unbelievable lineup.
So yeah.
Wow.
Phenomenal stuff.
That's the only one that I can remember.
But yeah, but what was crazy at the time is that everyone left.
Half the crowd left after Pearl Jam, which was ridiculous.
Like for a band that had only had one album at the time,
but then they came back pretty much the entire band to play rock and free
with Neil Young.
So that,
that tells you something,
right?
Like,
you know,
we're here for,
I've never done that move.
I have gone to concerts because I wanted to see the opening band,
but I have never pulled that move where I said,
I'm out of here.
Not going to watch the headliner.
Like the headliner has never been a band that I hated so passionately
I couldn't watch them live.
And I will say, I enjoy music live
that I wouldn't throw on my, you know,
on, I was going to say on my iPod.
I don't have an iPod, okay.
But I wouldn't listen to here at home.
But live, I like it.
So where's that bar of a live act?
I don't know if there is a live act
I wouldn't tolerate. I don't know if there is a live act I wouldn't tolerate.
I don't know.
Considering I already paid for the ticket.
Yeah.
I'm not watching.
I was going to say,
I'm not much of a swearer really,
but like that is a total dick move to do that.
Right.
To go to a show and then,
you know,
leave before the headliner or whatever,
or leave,
or leave because,
you know,
I don't like this band or whatever.
See,
I wanted to see Stone Temple.
There's a few examples of Lincoln Park.
Okay.
So I saw Lincoln Park and Stone Temple. There's a few examples. Lincoln Park. Okay, so I saw Lincoln Park,
and Stone Temple Pilots was the opening band,
and I went to that concert to see Stone Temple Pilots,
but there was zero chance I was going to leave the venue.
I think it was Downsview Park, actually.
I was going to say, that was an edge fest, yeah.
Yeah, I wasn't going to leave for Lincoln Park,
and I ended up absolutely fucking loving
Lincoln Park live that night.
You know, you're under the sky.
Outdoor concerts are the best concerts.
You're under the sky.
You're already in a great mood.
You've been watching great music all night or whatever.
And now Lincoln Park,
they've got so many fucking hits and it's better live.
And it's like,
yeah,
I fucking,
all of a sudden you're like,
I love Lincoln Park.
Yeah.
Well,
I mean,
you know,
and that you,
you had a great choice actually with Brian Adams.
Cause I mean like we all have Brian's have Bryan Adams songs on playlists or whatever.
He's ubiquitous.
He's always kind of been there.
Sure, Mr. 769.
As the years have kind of gone on.
But I would completely rock out to House Arrest there.
That live version.
It's absolutely phenomenal.
But that might not be a song you might never think to put on House Arrest when you're at home.
Exactly.
That's a great point.
That's a great point,
Mike.
All right.
And I mean, I'm sure you could build an entire show around that if you wanted to as well.
So,
um,
lots of time.
We're only at eight 76 here,
you know,
in the 2000 episode arc here,
I'm going to play a song and then we're going to keep talking about the C&E grandstand.
You ready?
Yet our best trained,
best educated,
best equipped,
best prepared troops refuse to fight.
Matter of fact, it's safe to say that they would rather switch than fight. Chug, chug, chug. Come on, let's get down 1929
The number, another summer
Son of the funky drummer
Music hitting your heart
Cause I know you got soul
Brothers and sisters
Listen if you're missing, y'all
Swinging while I'm singing
Giving what you're getting
Knowing what I'm knowing
While the black band's sweating
In the rhythm I'm rolling
Gotta give us what we want
Gotta give us what we need Our Got to give us what we need.
Our freedom of speech is freedom of death.
We got to fight the powers that be.
Fight the power.
Fight the power.
Fight the power.
Fight the power.
Fight the power.
Fight the power.
Fight the power. We got power. Fight the power. Fight the power.
We got to fight the power.
That's me.
Fucking love this song.
Still love this song.
The truest definition of a jam.
I don't know if you've like,
I know your friend, I think, Tyler,
just put out something.
VP of sales?
Yes, VP of Sales.
He put out something I just saw that he was saying about songs that got repeated on your shows,
because you've had so many or whatever.
I don't know if you've actually...
Oh, Pandemic Fridays, right.
Yeah.
Right, right.
I don't know if you've actually played this one before, but...
For sure.
You know why?
We did an episode on protest music during the Black Lives Matter protests that were happening
across the continent and the world.
And I chose, you know, I bring four songs to the table.
I definitely brought Fight the Power from Public Anime.
And It Takes a Nation of Millions just celebrated its 35th anniversary.
I know this is a comment.
Still one of my favorite albums of all time.
So let's pause for six seconds.
Hey, what's up?
This is Chuck D.
You are listening to Toronto Mike right here, right now,
in the place to be.
All right, ask me where that was recorded.
I know that was recorded at the C&E stadium,
or sorry, the C&E bandshell before, what was it,
Public Enemy Radio played?
It was Public Enemy Radio.
Yeah, Public Enemy Radio.
So it's Public Enemy without Flavor Flav, I guess, right?
Right.
But Chuck is the best.
I mean, but if I can go back for a second here.
Yeah, go.
Chuck D is in a way responsible for my favorite Molson Park slash Budweiser stage memory.
I don't think they had changed the name yet.
I can't remember.
But when he was here with Prophets of Rage.
Right.
I was in Amsterdam.
Were you?
I remember being pissed off I wasn't there. But again, go on. You know what? I had opinions about Prophets of Rage. Right. I was in Amsterdam. Were you? I remember being pissed off I wasn't there.
But, yeah, go on.
You know what?
I had opinions about Prophets of Rage.
I still have my Rage Against the Machine tickets for next year,
hopefully I can go see.
You know, but, I mean, they did a serviceable job.
I love Public Enemy.
Don't get me wrong.
I love Public Enemy.
Sure.
I like, you know.
Were you at the last?
So, I was at the Sound Academy, and I believe,
I'm pretty sure that was the last time Public Enemy played Toronto. Like, I was at you know. Were you at the last? So I was at the Sound Academy, and I believe, I'm pretty sure, that was the last time Public Enemy played Toronto.
Like, I was at that show.
This is like, I don't know, seven years ago, maybe?
Yeah, well, no, I was at a Sound Academy show
where Public Enemy played.
Chuck D actually took my camera from the photo pit.
Wow.
Yeah, because he was standing, like, at the side
while Flavor Flav was doing all his shtick,
and he asked me for my camera because I was doing,
I was shooting the show.
And he took a photo of me in the photo pit, you know.
That's amazing, buddy.
It was very blurry, but, you know, it was fun.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
So, but back at, back at Molson, well, Budweiser Stage,
Molson Amphitheater, whatever, when Prophets of Rage were first here,
I was actually supposed to interview Chuck D.
Um,
you know,
so,
and I think I've told you about that before too,
but,
uh,
yeah,
that's neither here nor there,
you know,
I know things happen or whatever.
Um,
but,
uh,
that show is responsible for the greatest memory that I personally have,
because I guess this,
they brought out Dave Grohl as a surprise near the end.
Wow.
And they literally played kick Out the Jams.
Yeah, MC5.
Yeah, because Rage Against the Machine
used to play that in their latter years.
Yes, indeed.
And it was phenomenal.
Think what you want about Dave Grohl, you know,
but that was a moment, and it was absolutely amazing.
That sounds amazing.
Yeah.
Sounds amazing.
And even Public Enemy Radio is great, right?
You do miss the Flavor Flav hype man aspect,
but you still get the hard rhymer Chuck D doing his thing.
It was a great show.
Chuck is the best.
So, I mean, I am insanely jealous that you got to meet him
and talk to him.
I'm still a little surprised because, you know,
it's one thing you meet somebody because we actually met
because we both watched Mishi Mi together at the C&E band show.
But then when you go in a room and
it's just me him and he had a uh like a pr woman a woman kind of in charge of pr yeah who was kind
of in the corner kind of the woman who chuck was really into it at the 22 minute mark or something
and she gave me the wrap it up signal even though chuck was digging it because we were talking we
were talking hoops and i was you know i respected her call because I was told going in,
like, you got 20 minutes.
And normally, I don't know if you listen to Toronto Mic'd,
but normally I'm like, I need a minimum hour.
I won't even do it.
But they said, you can have 20 minutes in a room with Chuck D.
And I took the 20 minutes and I'm glad I did.
There you go.
And I remember it.
I mean, that was a great interview.
And I mean, that's part of your skill is that you get a lot out of people, you know, in that kind of an environment. You're a
very good talker and you're also a very good listener and a great interviewer.
Well, thank you. These are high compliments, praise from Caesar, if you will. But I will say
that knowing only you have 20 minutes with Chuck, you very quickly realize that you can't ask all
the questions everybody else asks him all the time.
Oh, by the way, did I tell you?
Maybe I think I put this on the public record.
But that woman who was in charge of PR said, she said to me, never gave me any warning, but I'm there now.
I'm set up and I'm going to have 20 minutes of Chuck.
And she looked at me and said, you can ask anything you want except about Flavor Flav.
That's what she says to me.
Of course, that's my first question.
Of course.
So I basically, right now on my feet
doing the 20 minutes,
I'm like, okay, focus on hip hop in Toronto
because I've been doing that anyways
for nine years on Toronto Mic.
And that's something you can't hear Chuck D
talk about playing Kitchener and Sudbury
and all this stuff anywhere else.
So I'm like, go there
and then play it so that he brings up Flav.
And that's honestly, it's as if I drew it on the board.
So we ended up having the chat I wanted to have
about Flav not being there for Public Enemy Radio,
but I kept my promise.
I did not ask him the question.
I just let him there and let him go there himself.
But what a moment.
Holy smokes.
No, he's the best.
He's honestly the best so that
was the festival of beer though just to be so he's been he was uh that's like a like yeah the who who
who's who of hip-hop playing uh toronto's festival of beer at the same time they've really i mean
they have done they have done quite a bit of rock too but i mean yeah they've really structured it
so that um and i hope that's one of the festivals events that come back
strong in 2020,
2022. I hope so too. I haven't really heard
much from them, but you know,
I really hope that they do because there
was a, you know,
they had a great mix of, they would have
purely hip-hop one night. Oh, that's what I wanted to kind of
say, that Sound Academy show,
remember, he brought out Mishimi
for one song and maestro
fresh west yes that's right and so and both have played you know the festival of beer whatever they
really uh they really extend because sound academy was kind of doing that too at one point right like
they were doing like almost like a legends of hip-hop uh kind of series where they would have
people in like you know the uh like the wu-tang clang and right and what have you but uh you know
festival i don't know if it's the same people that's behind it,
but the Festival of Beer seemed to be on that same kind of swing
in the last couple of years.
So I really hope that that does come back
because it really is a nice mix of, you know, rap and hip hop,
which, you know, are really, you know,
foundational music in the city long before Drake.
You know, Drake is just an extension of it. Um, you know,
but they would also mix it in with, uh, the rock. I, I think I was telling you,
I, uh, I saw the, uh, the sheepdogs and, uh, right,
right after they won the Rolling Stone cover or whatever,
but I saw them in the trues and, you know,
I know they've had bands like Finger Eleven there. Um, you know,
they just have had literally, and it's a great venue, just not only structurally
or aesthetically pleasing because it literally is like a band shell, you know, so the sound
carries so well from there.
But, you know, the, where they have it located on the grounds, you know, allows for quite
a bit of movement there.
You know, you don't, you ever really feel like crammed in or whatever.
And, but it hasn't just been the festival of beer, you know like they've had other events there and when the c&e
goes on they've always had you know uh the parade of acts that you know would have played the grand
stand back in the day like i know like you know buckman and turner will go in there or whatever
like you know so they'll have um they'll have those types of acts but they'll also bring in
you know like up-and-comers um i actually wanted to mention because we've been talking about the indigenous
aspect for a while. I remember it was either last year or the year before the
band, I don't know how well you know them, but the band Crownlands out of
Oshawa, like they're, they're an indigenous duo, you know,
bass, I guess, I don't know, but, but, you know, like a guitar and,
a guitar and drums duo.
And they are absolutely phenomenal.
And they were up for a Juno for Album of the Year,
Rock Album of the Year or something.
But, yeah, they've also, not only are they just an amazing rock band,
you know, they've had the fortune to see a couple of times,
and, you know, have always been great.
But they're using the
voices that they're getting and
the awareness that they're
being come to them to start to speak out about
the things that have been going on in their own community
so kudos to them so I wanted to give
them a shout out absolutely
yeah I hear nothing but I got to see them live too but
I've heard nothing but good things here
a couple quick comments though to pass on so Beck
points out she was at she saw U2 and depeche mode at exhibition stadium and uh moose
grumpy says that she saw the eagles reunion tour in 1994 so yeah the uh because i was thinking of
anniversary kind of stuff the uh so we're in 19 well if you if you go back, 1991. So I know Guns N' Roses for sure played there.
They played there that year on the Use Your Illusion tour.
And then they were actually back the next year for the Metallica G&R Stadium tour.
Right.
So they played like C&E twice, like two years consecutively, basically.
A lot of big acts have been doing that as well.
And the U2 one, actually, we should ask her if she was at the, because, oh my God, I'm, sorry, Octung Baby.
Octung Baby came out late.
91?
It was 91.
It was 91, but they never toured behind it in 91.
They saved the tour for 92.
They did the whole zoo tv tour and so they played a couple of
nights at uh at uh at sorry at the cne stadium and i was gonna try to bring up because public
enemy opened for them uh in europe but in uh in north america i wasn't at the show but uh i think
primus was one of the bands that opened for them um you know but they had uh you two have always
been great that way,
where, and, you know, like a band of their stature,
kind of like the Rolling Stones as well,
they'll bring in very established bands,
you know, to open for them.
And, you know, like really no fear of being upstaged,
you know what I mean?
So they would have Pearl Jam on, you know,
on some of their earlier tour,
when, you know, they were starting out, so to speak.
And, you know, and then U2 would just come out and, you know, knock were starting out, so to speak. And then YouTube would just come out and knock the house down, so to speak.
So yeah, the Zoo TV tour would have been a great tour to see
because Act On Baby is still one of my favorite albums.
Well, here, let me play a little jam here
before we wrap up the C&E band show segment here.
Sure.
So here's another one. You can look at the menu
But you just can't eat You can feel at the menu but you just can't eat
You can feel the cushions but you can't have a seat
You can dip your foot in the pool but you can't have a swim
You can feel the punishment but you can't commit the sin
And you want her. And she wants you.
We want everyone.
And you want her.
And she wants you.
No one, no one, no one ever is to blame
You can build a mansion but you just can't live in it
You're the fastest runner but you're not allowed to win
Some bigger rules
And less to count the cost
The insecurity
Is the thing that most get lost
And you want her
And she wants you
And we want everyone And you want her And she wants you. She wants everyone.
And you want her.
And she wants you.
No one, no one, no one ever.
It's too plain.
Smooth as butter Actually, I managed to slip into the article, smooth as synth.
I really like that line.
Yeah, patent pending.
Is that not like the perfect evening slow jam?
It's a great out.
You want to hear that outdoors.
You want it to be dark and you're under the stars.
But I'm shocked, if you are correct with this fun fact,
I'm shocked that that is the highest charting hit Howard Jones had in Canada.
Is that correct?
Yeah.
Aren't you surprised by that?
Apparently it is.
I'm struggling to think.
I'm kind of going back to your sandbox comment.
I can't really think of any other songs.
Like, I mean, Howard Jones is one of those ubiquitous 80 stars, you know what I mean?
That you hear all the time on, say, Boom or stations of that nature.
Things Can Only Get Better,
Life in One Day,
that was a big one, What Is Love, but
maybe No One Is to Blame is one of
those easy
listening, like you said, smoothest synth,
you said. It's one of those jams that just
sort of like, what's the Duncan She sheik song oh now you're barely breathing okay no one can name a
second duncan sheik song okay but duncan sheik had this one hit he's a bonafide one hit wonder
barely breathing it is the easiest listening like no one says i hate barely maybe there's a couple
of guys but most people are like i no one hates barely breathing barely. Maybe there's a couple of guys, but most people are like, I, no one hates barely breathing.
It's just pleasant and nice and mass appeal.
And that's what this song is.
And no one is to blame,
but think of yourself,
you know,
at the C&E band show,
which correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't think there's seating.
Like you would stand on.
I never saw a seating there.
No.
Yeah,
no,
there's no seating.
So,
I mean,
you're under the stars.
It's a night like that.
Well,
we're not at night, but you know, it's a night like this with a little bit of a breeze in the air from the lake
you know and you're you're you're just slow dancing with your partner and you get no one
is to blame howard jones wow so he rocked the main grandstand in its heyday howard jones yep
and he was yeah he was one of the last shows. He was there not last year, obviously. No one was there, but the year before,
he put on a great show, so.
So shout out to the C&E Grandstand.
Can't wait to, Bandshell, sorry, Grandstand.
The C&E Bandshell.
Long gone.
But you can see in that parking lot beside BMO Field,
you can see markers on the ground
where the bases were at the C&E Stadium.
Yeah, yeah.
I've taken pictures of those.
Yeah, I've walked that on the way to the amphitheater at times.
Right.
Oh yeah.
Right.
See,
I bike,
that's my move.
And I've been doing this for the last decade now,
but even I saw guns and roses at the,
it was the air Canada center.
Now the,
uh,
Scotiabank arena,
which we will not discuss today.
Cause it's not an outdoor venue,
but I,
I saw them in like a cold December night.
And I still,
my move is to bike.
Like if I'm going to the amphitheater
or slash Budweiser stage,
any venue I can bike to.
Even when I went to see Chuck D,
I biked my gear to the CineBand show.
I had the trailer on the bike of the studio.
I biked there.
I brought it in in crates.
I flushed out my studio in a room
behind backstage of the band show.
And that's where I set up shop.
And I just, you know, and I saw FOTM Jamar McNeil was there
because he was DJing for Mishy Mee.
I had some time with Mishy Mee, who's an FOTM.
And he just kind of wait till Chuck D,
we waited till Mishy Mee did her set.
And then Chuck D came back and said, let's talk, buddy.
It's great.
Michael, you are hardcore.
Hardcore. So let's move on. Speaking of said, let's talk, buddy. It's great. Michael, you are hardcore. Hardcore.
So let's move on.
Speaking of hardcore,
let's move on to a venue I'm less familiar with.
I guess these are all free shows,
but Young Dundas Square.
Yeah.
I can't remember there's ever been a paying,
I guess you couldn't enforce that, right?
I don't think you can have a ticketed event
at Young Dundas Square.
No, but I mean.
It's like my local park
where I saw Kim Mitchell and Sass Jordan and Helix.
Speaking of that, I think Mr. Howard Jones has, I know Freddie P, who's from Humble and Fred.
He saw Howard Jones in like a park in Peterborough.
Oh, yeah.
Like one of those, you know.
So Young Dundas Square is where you would go for free concerts.
Yeah, pretty much.
Well, the North by Northeast Festival had been, I want to say, a semi-permanent resident there for, I think, since like 2008 or 2009.
Right.
They sort of moved out of, well, they didn't move out permanently, but, you know, instead of like, you know, the small venues that they would take over, which you could obviously get the wristband for, they would put on bigger, larger shows with, you know, with main stage kind of acts as part of the Young Dada Square.
And I'm not 100% sure of the capacity, but I was there for Iggy and the Stooges, which was one of the first ones that they did to that kind of scale.
And it was such where I don't think the stage has changed from where it is because it's kind of like a permanent structure.
But basically they closed down Yonge Street right at Dundas.
And the crowd went all the way back.
To the Eaton Center.
All the way back to the Eaton Center.
So there were people literally against the glass doors to the Eaton Center. All the way back to the Eaton Center. So there were people literally against the glass doors of the Eaton Center.
And there were people crowd surfing
on Yonge Street.
Wow.
Trying to get to the front of the state.
I'll never, ever, ever forget that memory.
Amazing.
So the spirit of Yonge-Dundas Square here
is encapsulated by this cover
by a band that played there.
So let's get a song going here and we'll talk about it.
Here we go. Look out in the fruit, I like a lot of that I have only one burning desire Oh, girl, let me get over your fire
I'm insane, let's do your fire
Like a fire, fire
I'm insane, let's do your fire
Burn for me, fire
I'm insane, let's do your fire
Like a fire
I'm insane, let's do your fire
Oh, yeah
Now, listen, listen, baby
Stop being so crazy
Say your mom ain't home, baby
It ain't my concern
So go play with me
And you won't get burned
I have the only one of fun and desire
Oh girl, let me do it in your fire
Let me stay and see your fire
Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Chili Willys.
Cover, yeah.
We want Chili Willy.
That's right.
Hey, I told you I can do all those Simpson references
in the first like 15 seasons.
It's after that you lose me.
You know, not to change something.
Have you ever done a Simpsons-type episode?
No.
But, I mean, I liberally sprinkle the Simpsons references
throughout the entire 876 episodes.
But Chili Ways.
So, of course, this is Jimi Hendrix's Fire
by the Red Chili Peppers.
And this was on Mother's Milk.
Yes.
As I recall.
And Mother's Milk was my, I know people talk about Mojo and all this stuff.
That's my introduction to Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Yeah.
Because I heard a Stevie Wonder cover on Q107.
Yeah.
This is where it started for me.
Well, there you go.
Stevie Higher Ground was played on Q107 one night when I was listening to Top 10 of 10.
And they said it's Red Hot Chili Peppers.
I went out and I bought Mother's Milk and
the whole fucking thing,
you see me getting high, knock me down,
the whole thing, I fucking loved
Mother's Milk. So was Fire on it too?
I think so. I remember Fire being there.
Higher Ground for sure is on
Mother's Milk. Well yeah, that's why I bought it but
I think Fire was on that particular
album and that's, you know,
I was young enough that I did not know the Stevie Wonder version
of Higher Ground.
Oh, that's crazy.
So there you go.
So I, you know, it's like, hey,
and then you find out it's a cover
and then, you know, you go down that rabbit hole.
But Red Hot Chili Peppers,
they played Young Dundas Square.
They did, yeah.
So for whatever reason,
like I was a big Chili Peppers fan in the 90s.
Less so now, but I mean,
we were talking about it earlier, and I am looking forward
to hearing their new material now that
John Ruscianti?
Yeah, that's right.
Listen, with a name like mine, you try to get
others.
Hasn't he been back for a while?
No, he wasn't
back. Tell me, I know he was gone.
So the quick history was, is that
when I saw them in,
when I first saw them at Lollapalooza in 92 at Molson Park,
they had, he had left.
So he had left like earlier that year because I was 92.
And so he was replaced by some guy who they never ended up keeping.
And then, oh my God, the name is struggling
and someone's going to call me out.
But the guy from, the guy from Jane's Addiction, Dave Navarro sorry uh they had dave navarro for a while for the one
hot minute album that was less than successful and then um i wouldn't say almost killed them but
uh the californication album is where they really uh came back um and that's when that's when
frusciante came back right so frusciante was back with them from around that time,
which was 98, 99-ish,
up until what I guess was their most recent album,
I want to say like 2016 or so.
I can't remember, Josh Klinghoffer or something like that.
So they had him for an album,
and now they've parted ways, now for Shianti is back.
Um,
you know,
it even smells like an outdoor concert.
Do you smell that?
Do you smell the,
I was smelling something earlier.
Yeah.
I think Kareem is a spark in one next door.
It smells like an outdoor concert.
It adds to it,
but yeah,
that was the thing.
So it's like,
um,
so,
so young,
so technically they did not play young dundas square
per se because well this is uh scandalous well here we are uh i thought they played young dundas
square well that area was that whole the actual square uh was first developed in the early 2000s
so i want to say 2003 if you know i remember what i saw on wikipedia uh and then and then by like 2008 2009
that's when uh north by northeast kind of came in and said hey we want to put on you know uh
semi-regular annual concerts here um but there of course used to be the hmv uh which was uh just
adjacent to it was still on young street but just to just a Jason 3. Yeah, exactly, a 333, which I believe now is what used
to be a Tokyo Smoke,
because HMV
left, obviously. It's not
Tokyo Smoke anymore? I don't know if it's Tokyo Smoke.
I think it is, but you're right, I haven't been down there in a while.
I'm bringing up Tokyo Smoke just because of the little smells
that we're getting, so there you go. Anyway,
so what they did is they set up a
stage further down
on Yonge Street, and the crowd literally spilled out of that HMV and Chili Peppers put on a free show in support of the excellent Californication album.
Yeah, it was a great album.
I feel like though, I feel like we're being disingenuous here because I mean, I've seen, I mean, Edge 102, which had a storefront studio there.
Not too far, Not too far down. Right.
Like I've seen, for example, I saw a Sloan show.
I was living at Charles Street and Young,
and I biked over and watched Sloan perform out there.
You're close, but it's not quite Young Dundas Square
because Young Dundas Square didn't exist yet.
No, it's a little bit further.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's a little bit further.
It's close.
It's the further end of the Eaton Center from what I remember,
right around Shooter.
Yeah, they were right around Shooter, right?
Yeah, exactly. From what I remember, yeah. Exactlyer. Yeah, they were right around Shooter, right? Yeah, exactly.
From what I remember, yeah.
Exactly.
So I'm going to play another jam,
and this is going to tie into some performances
that were actually at Young Dundas,
where there's no funny business here.
And here we go.
All I want to get is
A little bit closer
All I want to know is A little bit closer.
All I want to know is, can you come a little closer?
Here comes the breath before we get a little bit closer.
Here comes the rush before we touch.
Come a little closer The doors are open, the wind is really blowing
The night sky is changing overhead
It's not just our physical
I'm the type who won't get up so critical
So let's make things physical
I will treat you like you're all so typical So happy Pride to you, Gilles.
I was going to say, yeah, it's the last day of June.
I'm really glad that the weather held out that I was going to be here so that I could say, yeah, happy Pride.
And yeah, that's the reason why you're playing uh tegan and sarah um i miss going to the young
dada square because that would be the kind of thing is that um it usually was father's day
weekend uh that uh north by northeast would put on their shows so they would take over the square
that weekend um yeah and a lot of great acts that passed through there. There would be the Flaming Lips.
There was Devo.
Billy Talent played one year.
Iggy Nistujas, like we mentioned, or whatever.
And then typically, the week after and the week before July happened,
and I don't know if it was necessarily as part of the Pride events,
but they would have Pride-related concerts at Yonge-Dundas Square.
So Tegan and Sarah headlined a great Canadian sister duo from Calgary.
Right.
I believe they were in 2014,
but they've had quite a string of other acts that have been there throughout the years.
Lights, Carly Rae Jepsen, I think, was one of the last ones.
Brandy, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, I think the Mounties, they were playing, you know, they were like the super group.
The Mounties? Oh, you mean the Trans Canada Highwaymen?
No, no, no, no.
But one of the guys is Sloan is in it, I'm pretty sure.
Oh, Trans?
Is that what they're called?
I know this is Chris Murphy's in it.
Oh, I probably should have brought it up.
I'm a little stumped a little bit here.
Yeah, no, no, no.
Okay, let's just...
Do you remember which member is Sloan?
No, I can't.
Because I know Chris Murphy's in a couple of super groups.
But wait a minute. So which is the one that? No, I can't. Chris Murphy's in a couple of super groups. But wait a minute.
So which is the one that, okay, this is a different topic.
Which is the one that, who is the member of Sloan who's in the super group with Sam Roberts and the singer from Colorado?
What are they called again?
They had that Last Night or whatever.
Not the Stroke song, but, you know, a good night.
Last Night.
Okay, so they're called.
I got it here.
Anyway Gang.
Anyway Gang, yes.
So who's that?
That's not Chris, is it?
No.
Yeah, that is Chris.
Yeah, Chris gets around, man.
Yeah, so here's Anyway Gang, if you're curious.
So it's Colorado's Menno Versteeg, Tokyo Police Club's Dave Monks, of course, Sloan's
Chris Murphy, and Sam
Roberts. So that is
yet another great Canadian supergroup.
But I noticed Chris Murphy,
he's probably in like
four or five bands right now.
Yeah, weren't they called Mounties?
Wasn't there another band called Mounties?
You know, I got my headphones
on, or something. Something like that. Yeah, okay, band called Mounties? You know, I got my headphones on or something.
Something like that.
Yeah, okay.
Yes, Mounties.
Okay.
Is it Mounties?
Okay.
I'll give you, you want to know that?
First of all, FOTM Hawksley Workman is in Mounties.
So shout out to Hawk.
Okay, there we go.
Good friend of mine now.
Steve Bays of Hot Hot Heat and Ryan from Age of Electric and Limblifters.
So a lot of big heavyweight talent there.
So yeah, Mounties.
Okay.
Shout out to the Hawk.
He's a good boy.
I know in my research,
they played the Pride Festival one year.
Wow.
I know that.
So happy Pride.
And can't wait to catch a show at Young Dundas Square again.
And the price is always right when you see music at Young Dundas Square.
And I mean, you know,
it's not Times Square.
It's not Piccadilly Circus.
Not that I've ever been there.
But I mean, you know,
there is a certain charm
in seeing, you know,
millions of ads everywhere,
like billboards or whatever.
Right.
And like, you know,
to literally be in the center
of the city.
Right.
And you're seeing like, you know, you're seeing a show.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, it's cool.
Like, there's one thing to be out in nature,
like, whether it's, you know, at Downsview Park
or, you know, like Molson Park back in the day.
But, you know, there is something to be said
for having, like, you know, a sea of commercialism around you
and, you know, you're rocking out to something.
Well, you said Downsview Park, so we're going there next.
This is our final stop.
See how I segwayed perfectly,
but I do want to thank Ridley Funeral Home for their support.
Pillars of the community since 1921.
Beside your Great Lakes premium logger there,
there is a hand sanitizer that's courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home because
they're trying to prevent you from being in their facility.
So that's the goal there.
So thank you, Ridley Funeral Home.
Honestly, great people there.
You know, life and death.
It's all part of the circle of life here.
And they're just a tremendous
family-run organization there.
So shout out to Ridley Funeral Home.
And Mike Majewski.
He can help you buy your next
home or sell your next home.
I always call Mimico Mike, but of course he's
involved in parts of Toronto beyond
Mimico. But if you go to realestatelove.ca
and reach out to Mike Majeski
and have a conversation with him about
buying and or selling,
let him know Toronto Mike sent you.
He's a good FOTM who kicked out the
jams here. And I just see now Michelle and Morgan have walked by because they're finished their bike ride.
So there you go.
Is your older daughter, is that a Rihanna shirt she's wearing?
Nice.
She saw Rihanna at the, I think the ACC and she bought, that's a bootleg shirt from outside the venue.
Because that's punk.
I think that is.
That is pretty punk.
But I mean, that's great that she's still wearing it
because, you know, usually those bootleg shirts,
it's a one and done kind of thing.
No, she's still wearing it
and she still raves about that Rihanna show she saw.
You're a good father, Mike.
I didn't take her.
She went with her girlfriend.
And I just, I was kind of jealous.
I went to, so when she was a bit younger,
I did take her to see Selena Gomez.
It's like your gateway drug to Rihanna.
It's like Selena Gomez.
So I took her to Selena Gomez
and then she went with her girlfriend to see Rihanna.
And I actually was kind of like disappointed
I didn't get the invite to like chaperone her at Rihanna
because I don't think I would see Rihanna on my own,
but I would go definitely with my daughter to see Rihanna
because I love a lot of Rihanna songs.
Well, it's tough, right?
You got to let the kids sort of like do their own thing.
I guess so.
Yeah.
I've taken mine to a couple, but, you know, it hasn't been a, you know,
it hasn't been like a regular kind of thing.
So, you know.
I just took my youngest to Splashin' Boots.
That was our big concert.
But they're FOTMs, aren't they?
Yeah, of course.
Absolutely.
And they had a good time.
So, okay.
So talk to me, Downsview Park.
That's, of course, a former military base.
But I've seen a number of shows at Downsview Park,
particularly when Molson Park closed down.
I noticed a lot of the edge fests and shows I might have seen at Molson Park
had moved to Downsview Park.
So talk to me about Downsview Park.
I think it was a great venue for that.
I mean, obviously the one that everybody points to
is the Rolling Stones benefit that happened for Sars.
Sars stuck.
Sars stuck.
And I mean, not to go off the rails, so to speak,
but we're almost at the 20th anniversary of Sars.
Isn't that amazing?
Because I felt old when Sars stuck. How old am I now? Well, see, that's one of the things. So of Star Stuck. Isn't that amazing? Because I felt old when Star Stuck.
How old am I now?
Well,
see,
that's one of the things.
So I didn't go.
I didn't go either.
Oh, no?
I watched it on,
I remember.
I didn't go
because everyone was going
to this live,
this free event.
It was free, right?
Was it free?
No,
but the tickets
were really cheap.
Tickets were really cheap.
I just felt like.
That's how they got
500,000 people in.
It was too popular for cool mic at that time to go.
I really did now in hindsight, I wish I went,
but at the time I felt that it was too cool.
Because apparently ACDC were...
Well, I don't have to say apparently
because I saw most of it on the...
They had like the live stream going.
They had like a live stream going.
Something was going down.
And then either MuchMusic
or I want to say even CBC was broadcasting
the last little bit of it.
But yeah, they made a huge production out of it.
And that's probably the biggest event that everybody points to because, you know, duh.
How many people showed up? 500,000?
So they estimated around 500,000.
Did the Pope ever go to Dance View Park?
So the Pope was there earlier.
Did he outdraw the Stones? Oh, I think they
did, yeah. I think the Pope got closer. That guy's got
that, but it's not only fair. He's literally
got a cult following.
Let's not
get into, you know.
Gilles LeBlanc doesn't want any anti-Pope talk.
Well, I don't want really any Catholic talk.
Catholic Church talk on this.
Hey, I was baptized.
Against my wishes, brother. I was baptized. Listen, I was baptized against my wishes, brother.
I was baptized.
Listen, I, anyway.
I got some chips.
How many sacraments are there?
I know you can't get them all, though.
It's kind of a weird game.
Like, if you think about it as a game,
because you can't get the priesthood and the marriage.
Like, you can't get all the,
you can't really get all the chips.
Yeah.
So the game is rigged.
It's the three card.
It's the three card Monty.
The only way you cannot lose is if you do not play.
And that's what I've told all four of my children.
So there you go.
Listen.
Good fatherly advice, Mike.
What was I going to say about Downsview Park?
I was going to say something.
Well, you want me to play a song that brings us into more Downsview Park?
Sure.
But that's what I was going to say.
Okay.
Don't say anything.
Okay.
I won't say anything.
Because we're going to hear
a great fucking song.
Whoa.
It holds up.
Love it.
What's with this homie's
dissing my girl?
Why do they got a front?
What did we ever do
to these guys
that they look so violent?
Ooh, ooh noise what you know
I'm
yours
and I
know
you're
mine
oh
I
know
just
my
buddy
Arnie
oh
and
your
Mary
Tyler
Moore
I don't care what they say about us anyways I don't Not so good, Al.
I was on Humble and Fred.
I do a weekly hit on Humble and Fred for their podcast.
And they asked me for my comments on something or other,
and I said, not so good al
so on the zoom was fred patterson humble howard and dan duran oh nice oh for three no clue what
was that reference like oh who's al what are you talking about and then i said oh yeah like
i'm here with a bunch of boomers and that's a gen x reference i guess yeah i guess like the boomers
don't know not so good at.
Humble and Fred
would know because
No, they played
the songs they were
told to play
but that doesn't mean
although Fred does
like a lot of that music
no doubt
but Howard's
a Steely Dan guy.
I guess they didn't see
the classic
Spike Jonze video.
No, they did not
see the classic
and it's a great video
but please tell me
how Weezer ties in
with Dance View Park.
So, fun fact Weezer hold the record uh so so uh dancing park hasn't been the most used venue
in toronto you know concert folklore right um but you know there's been quite a few events that have
been there like the veld festival that uh dead mouse started You know, and you would think that Deadmau5
would have played there every year. Deadmau5
has played there four times. It's appeared there
four times. Tied with
the almighty Weezer.
Say what you want about them. You know, I know
they've had their ups and downs, but you know,
I love them. I love my song.
Errol Hall in Mississauga.
It's tough to hate Weezer. I saw him at
the Phoenix. Oh, yeah?er. I saw him at the Phoenix.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah, I saw him at the Phoenix Concert Theater.
I loved Weezer in the 90s,
but I never got around to seeing them until,
I think the first time I saw them was like 2009.
But I've seen them like six times since,
and they're always fantastic.
No, I mean, to be honest, I've dropped off, but for the first few albums or whatever,
I was a big Weezer guy. Wow, let's be honest, I've dropped off, but for the first few albums or whatever, I was Big Weezer guy.
Wow, let's be honest.
That's what they play at most of their shows nowadays.
But that opening line in that song we just played, Buddy Hut, which I actually heard in a TV show.
We're watching this show.
It got canceled a couple years ago, but we're watching this show called Love.
It's a Judd Apatow joint, if you will,
with the gal from Community stars in this thing.
Anyway, I'm enjoying it.
It's a great show.
And then the song that showed up on the show yesterday
was Buddy Holly.
Nice.
So I was just singing this last night.
But Weezer, they played Downsview Park,
you said, as many times as Deadmau5.
That's amazing.
There's a lot of Deadmau5 real talk in the,
I did a melly fresh episode of Toronto Mike.
Oh, yeah?
Which you should check out for some Deadmau5 real talk.
Yeah.
I'm not the EDM enthusiast, but, you know, it's, no, I mean, I don't want to.
There's some EDM thing, though, that happens at the Budweiser stage
that I can hear here until they shut her down at 11 o'clock.
It used to be called Digital Dreams.
Yeah.
I don't know what it necessarily goes by.
But I think it's louder than most shows
because literally in this backyard,
I can hear the show.
That's not that close to, you know,
I know there's a lake there
and it's traveling over the lake,
but I'm not that close.
That's where curfew restrictions kind of come in.
11 o'clock, right?
Is that when you get to shut her down?
I think it's 11.
I've always wanted people to give me,
not this is another topic,
but I mean, I've always wanted someone
to explain to me how that necessarily works
because I remember going to a Pearl Jam show at,
I guess it would have been ACC at the time.
Oh, ACC.
That's different rules, I think,
than Molson Amphitheater.
Well, 11 o'clock is the curfew from what I know.
And that I was actually in a, you know, not to brag, but I mean, I was in a private box to see them.
Oh, brilliant.
But I remember asking the server because I was curious.
And I said, well, what time does, how long is the show going for?
And she's like, oh, they've already paid the fine.
So they're going to go until, And she's like, oh, they've already paid the fine. So they're going to go,
they're going to go until,
and I'm like,
oh,
really?
So then I started to hear that,
you know,
apparently the curfew,
now I don't have on any authority of this,
but apparently it's 11 o'clock,
um,
hard curfew.
Well,
soft curfew,
I guess.
And that unless you pay a fine,
go over your,
your trust.
Is that even true for the outdoor shows?
I thought because of the fact
there's people living
on the island and stuff.
So what I was going to say to that
is that I've been to
plenty of Molson Budweiser stage
and Molson Amphitheater shows.
So for example,
I went to the Black Keys
a couple of years.
Black Keys,
phenomenal live band.
But you could tell
that they were rushing their songs
to finish by 11 to finish by 11 and i've noticed that at several shows there too so usually that
was the hard and fast but then when i was actually at the queens of the stone age show yeah um you
know like they started what appeared to me to be a little bit late so i'm kind of like ah like
they're starting at like 11 they're starting at almost nine o'clock or no it would have been like
close to 9 30 i I'm like, ah,
we're only going to get like an hour and a half or whatever.
But then by the time the show finished,
I'm looking and it was like,
it's past 1130.
When you think about it,
what are they,
unless they're going to pull the plug,
like in the streets or name,
but they have,
they have pulled the plug at,
well,
I don't know about the,
but there's the,
they're not going to arrest you.
They can only find you.
No,
but they can pull the,
uh,
uh,
so I'm going back to now,
this is obviously, I don't know if the venue will ever be used again, but they can pull the... So I'm going back to... Now, this is obviously...
I don't know if the venue will ever be used again,
but on Toronto Island, where they had the...
Chin picnics.
I've never been to one of those.
But did they have those at C&E mostly?
They moved it to C&E because I actually worked it one year
selling pizza slices.
So they used to have the...
So, of course, they had the Virgin Festival
for a couple of years on Toronto Island.
Right.
And I remember, I think it was the first year because, you know, they were not as organized as, you know, in later years.
They pulled the plug on Flaming Lips because, yeah, because they were.
That's like the Streets Have No Name video, which I know that's the Beatles rooftop final concert.
So I don't know what the, so I don't know what their rule is. The Beatles' rooftop final concert parody.
So I don't know what the rule is,
but whatever the rule is necessarily.
But I was at that Weezer show.
I was at one of those Weezer shows at Downsview Park with The Hip on Canada Day with Broken Social Scene.
Wow.
Who else was there?
I was there too.
Were you?
Yeah, yeah.
It was a great show.
It was a great show, absolutely.
Yeah, that's funny. I forgot the Weezer was on that bill actually.
But yeah, was Sam Roberts there maybe?
But a metric
maybe? Do you feel a metric vibe?
Because I get my Downsview
Edgefests a little bit mixed up.
Was Billy Talent the headliner?
Billy Talent was
a headliner one year at Edgefest for sure.
Yeah, so Billy Talent I saw headliner one year at, at, okay. Cause I, and then, cause I already,
yeah.
So Billy Talon,
I saw a headline there.
I'm trying to think of this Downsview Park thing.
Uh,
I already mentioned,
I saw Lincoln Park headline there once,
but the hip one,
I remember it was very Canadian lineup as I recall.
And I remember it maybe aside from Weezer.
Yeah.
Right.
Aside from,
right.
Aside from honorary Canadian.
Yeah.
And even cause my hookup forever,
here's my little inside here.
Fred...
I used to do a lot of work for Humble and Fred.
I still do, but now they give me actual money.
But back before they gave me actual money,
Fred would get Casby Award tickets
and Edgefest tickets from Jason Barr.
Good old Jason Barr.
And then he would pass them on to me
and I would go to those two.
And I did that until Jason Barr was fired
and then it was like I was cut off.
But until then, I went to all the Casby Awards I did that until Jason Barr was fired. And then it was like, I was cut off.
But until then, I went to all the CASB awards and all the entrance fees free of charge.
So you're dropping, well, you're dropping knowledge.
So he was actually fired?
I guess like, have you ever done the whole deep dive of what?
Jason Barr has been on Toronto Mike.
He was fired.
They phoned him up.
I think it was on the phone.
They basically said your services are no longer required.
Yeah, no, he was fired.
Shapiro was fired too.
And then eventually Blundell was fired too.
Yes, eventually.
A lot of firings going on over there.
But he's out of Ottawa now, right?
Yeah, yeah.
Biggs and Barr, they're happy in Ottawa now.
And I think Barr is also selling real estate like Mimico Mike.
I have a friend of the family who knew him
way back when they worked at Wendy's
together in the early days
when they were back at
when they were in the Brampton studios.
He used to do the Scottish accent forever
when he was producing Humble and Tread.
Danger Boy they called him.
Hey here's another song before we wrap up
Downsview Park. You ready? Got it. Thank you. Show me, show me, show me how you do that trick
The one that makes me scream, she said
The one that makes me laugh, she said
Through her arms around my neck
Show me how you do it
And I promise you
I promise that I'll run away with you
I'll run away with you
And the song still sounds good in the headphones, man.
It really does, yeah.
Wow.
So tell me, did the Cure play Downsview Park?
Because otherwise it's ridiculous I'm playing it right now.
Yeah.
Listen, Riot Fest, I don't know if you've ever had a chance to attend a Riot Fest.
No, I've never been to a Riot Fest.
So they had it at Fort York for a couple of years.
That's a good venue. I like that as a a venue i don't think they're using it anymore i wanted to put it as part of this article but i don't think they're i don't think they're actually
using it anymore i saw the hip there once and i because i would see the hip wherever they were
at that time and uh i remember thinking they should do more shows here it's a good location
it was a great location, yeah.
Although, as Gord pointed out during his set,
he said, remove the gardener.
Why do we have that fucking gardener
blocking us off from our waterfront?
Who planned this city?
Oh, I don't know.
Well, you're up in Vaughan, you don't give a shit,
but I'm telling you, bury it or get it the fuck out of the way.
Well, that's the thing, right?
It's not always been the thing of just like, just junk the whole thing, you know?
Well, it completely cuts off this great city from its waterfront.
You got this fucking gardener in the way.
All right.
And I'm south of the gardener.
It's an eyesore.
I don't care.
I'm south of it.
I'm, but most Torontonians are north of the gardener.
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
Yeah. But I mean, you had, you know, not only was it, well, it was Fort York.
Well, we're not going to get into the history of Fort York, but I mean, great historical location.
But yeah, the sight lines for it were just great.
And you were, you had this like almost like in nature, you know, so yeah.
So anyway, what I'm getting at is that.
And I remember a great deal on burgers.
This is going to sound strange,
but when I go to these outdoor things,
the food and drink is always exorbitantly priced.
And I remember at Fort York seeing the Tragically Hip,
it was like, oh, have a drink and a big burger for five bucks.
And I almost like, I almost like fainted from like,
like really, I only have to give you a $5 bill
and I get that giant burger and a drink at Fort York. So that's
what I was thinking because for Down 2,
that's what I put as part of
my article a little bit, especially with Edgefest.
So let's
go back to Downsview Park.
So that was the thing. So it's like, of course
they're known for having half a million
people there to see the Rolling Stones.
They would not get that for an Edgefest or
for the Weezer shows or whatever.
But they would almost enclose
an area of about 30,000
people to make it
big in size but intimate in the
same way. But you would
have it surrounded by food
trucks. So there was plenty
of ways to move around but you had
tons of options
for food. And it wasn't all exorbitantly
priced you know what i mean so i really missed that because here's what i remember from downsview
park uh and i actually was still dating monica at the time i took her to i think that weezer show
was like we went to a couple edge fest like i said i got the hookups with the edge fest yeah
but my brother steve i remember it was like a 40 degree day or something. Yeah, it was.
And I remember, I have memories of him,
he refused to pay six bucks for a bottle of water.
This was a principal, forget the principal motion,
could have died, I would say.
But that's the thing.
Water has always been, bottled water has always been. Six bucks for the little bottled water,
because they've got you trapped or whatever.
But wasn't that an aspect of the Veiled Festival too?
Is that because people,
wasn't there an incident where people died
or there was dehydration because they didn't want to pay?
I'm not surprised.
How many deaths can we attribute
to the overpriced bottled water at outdoor festivals?
There would have been plenty at the Woodstocks, at the Woodstocks from the 90s for sure.
Right.
But so anyway, Riot Fest, which started in, well, it's a US-based festival, but they had a couple of iterations here in Toronto.
And I miss it with, you know, every fiber of my being.
You know, ran a couple at Fort York,
and then they moved for their last couple of years
in Toronto at Downsview Park.
And again, I thought it was incredibly well run,
and it was well spaced because they had multiple stages.
So, you know, and even if it was such a big space
as you're going to get with Downsview Park,
you wouldn't necessarily get the sound bleed that you would like at a, you know, smaller kind of like space where you would have multiple bands playing on different stages.
You know, so it was very well set up for that because you could use, you know, the entire grounds.
And it was 2014 where The Cure played.
And usually, you know, at these, you know, as well as I do, Mike, with these festivals,
usually, you know, if you get, if you get close to 20 songs in, you know,
it's considered, you know, a great night or whatever.
The Cure played for well over two hours.
And, you know, it was, I think it was like 26 songs that they played.
And it was like 26 or 27 songs. Wow. wow you know and they just played everything at the time and you know so uh and that's the kind
of little fun fact that i wanted to say is that uh just like heaven uh which of course you played
right they played that at both uh that downsview park show which was for riot fest they came back
to toronto couple of years later
at play that Woodbine Park actually in the beaches
for the name is escaping me of the festival now.
They had Florence and the Machine played there one year.
It didn't last long.
Help me out.
Somebody's going to help me out.
But there was a festival that was played at Woodbine Park
for a couple of years and they were there in 2016.
That was their last time that they were in Toronto.
They also played Just Like Heaven there.
Not bad for a guy who doesn't want to fly, right?
Because he's the guy who doesn't want to fly, right?
Robert Smith, isn't he the guy who hates flying?
I don't know, actually.
I thought he had a flight fear of flying.
The one thing I knew about Robert Smith is that anytime he would play in Toronto
or in any Canadian city, he would be one of the first to wear, you know, the home team's hockey jersey.
Right.
Yeah, there's a picture of him in a Leaf jersey.
Yeah.
Well, I know that there's pictures of him in Leaf jerseys from Eden Fest when they headlined that in 1996.
So we are the 25th anniversary of Edenfest. And Edenfest comes up a lot because
Stu Stone and Cam Gordon read
Edenfest and they talk about it quite a bit
on the Pandemic
Friday episodes of Tronamon.
So I won't steal any of their thunder
but shout out to
Edenfest.
Speaking of Edenfest, let's do
this. We have just a recap
as we approach the end of the episode.
Fantastic job, Jill, fantastic.
But we did Budweiser Stage,
which of course was formerly known as Molson Amphitheater.
Then we covered C&E Bandshell,
and we touched on Exhibition Stadium,
which is no longer in existence because BMO's there now.
Why don't they have concerts at BMO?
I feel like that would be a good place to see a show.
I always thought so too.
And weren't they going to have one?
I want to say in the early 2000s when it first was built
that Genesis were going to have a reunion show there.
I want to say someone was supposed to have a show there.
It just seems like there's some.
They never did.
There must be like, oh, we don't want to cannibalize something or other
because it doesn't make sense that there's no concerts
at BMO. But I think there's some kind of
you know, and this goes back to kind of like the
whole structure of Molson
Amphitheater as well because
they kind of took business away
from Kingswood at the time
you know, when they opened. So it's sort of like
if you're going to play Toronto or the Toronto
area, you're going to play here and nowhere else, know what i mean so i'm sure there's a lot of
that's going on as well for sure but young dundas square we also covered and then we covered downsview
park but let's just burn through and i do have one more jam loaded up here which uh but let's burn
through the honorable mentions yeah i do mention some of do mention some of the larger events
that have happened throughout Toronto's history. So we
focused on those four venues that you had mentioned before.
But there have obviously been some big events that
have happened in the Toronto
area, if you want to call. And
for example, when the last time the Rolling Stones
were here, it wasn't necessarily in Toronto,
but it was up in Burroughs
Creek, where they used to do
the Way Home Festival. but it was up in Burroughs Creek where they used to do the,
the way home,
the way home festival.
Way home.
But didn't they do,
where's Boots or Hearts?
It's the same,
same thing.
So Boots and Hearts used to be at Mo Sport,
Mo Sport in Bowmanville.
And then they moved to.
Oro Adante,
Medante.
That's what they call this place,
right?
Oro.
See,
I didn't go to the Stones concert cause I couldn't bike there.
No.
But yeah, this, I did of go to the Stones concert because I couldn't bike there. No. But, yeah, I did, of course, follow it closely that Oro Medante had the big Stones concert.
That was only a couple years ago.
So, yeah, they never got those crowds for Way Home, but they got like 70,000 for the Stones.
So pretty significant, obviously.
And I'm not sure what song you're kind of queuing up for.
Oh, here, let me play it, and then we'll wrap up here.
Here we go.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Perfect. Still my favorite Black Crowes song.
Yeah, for sure.
Well, hold on.
Let's let him give us the big jealous again
before I bring it down. I'm jealous, jealous again.
All the time I left you in.
Yeah, I'm jealous, jealous again.
Got no time, baby.
I went back all the time.
Before you utter a syllable, Jules LeBlanc,
Moose Grumpy wonders
if you're thinking of
Bestival at Woodbine Park.
She is absolutely correct.
Okay, so thank goodness
we got that figured out.
Thank you.
So, why are we playing
Jealous Again by Black Rose?
So, I was going to ask
really quickly,
did you see,
last year,
last summer,
they were doing
Bud Stage at Home.
No, I didn't. I have not
watched. I peeked in at some
Facebook shows by Ron Hawkins.
But other than that,
I have not watched
during this pandemic, because to me
it's not nearly the same thing.
It's not the same thing. So I have
not watched any remote
Zoom live music.
I think they did a good job. And't tara sloan a uh yeah fotm of course no she so she is amazing she was an amazing host yeah um she was
an amazing host for them um but i caught the black crows one and chris robinson still sounds great
again and you know so there's a black crows member i think is it gorman steve gorman somebody lives
in toronto i feel like there's a toronto connection to a black crows member, I think, is it Gorman, Steve Gorman? Somebody lives in Toronto. I feel like there's a Toronto connection to a Black Crows member.
There could be.
But they were supposed to play Budweiser stage last year for, I believe it's the, no, the
anniversary of the album that came out after this one.
Right.
This one, I can't remember the names right now but uh but anyway when uh when that album came out um it uh they uh played a
show for a free show for q107 in 1992 and um i had a friend who was a quite the big black
crow's friend and i was living in mississauga at the time and we trekked out to G. Ross Lord Park, which is basically Dufferin and the Finch area.
You know, right on the cusp of, you know, North Toronto.
Almost into now my hometown of Vaughan.
But Steeles is the border, right?
Steeles is the border.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So Finch is the street before.
But the park actually stretches all the way out to Steeles.
Wow.
G. Ross Lord Park.
G. Ross Lord Park.
I've got to make a trip there, but that's a long way too.
I'm sure they have great biking trails there, Mike.
Sounds good.
G. Ross Lord Park.
I know, actually, honestly, I'm almost ashamed,
but that is a neck of the woods.
I'm actually ashamed to tell you,
that name does not resonate with me at all.
But I've got to tell you, it's the same kind of thing.
You know, I live in the area.
That is the only time that I've been there.
And it was for that Black Crowes free show.
Wow.
I can't remember there being a opening act, but, you know, I just remember that the Black
Crowes were absolutely amazing.
Yeah.
And yeah, it seemed like they played forever, even though it was only probably about a 20
song set or something along those lines.
But it was actually in celebration of Q107's 15th anniversary at the time.
So they were able to bring them in.
And they were literally like that album that came out, the Southern Harmony.
I can't remember the title.
Is that the one where they go, hey, little thing, let me let you come in.
Yes, exactly.
That cover was on it.
The Heart of the Handle was on it it yeah so so that was the thing like you know so they brought
them in just for that but they were on they were literally on top of the world um and i think they
were expecting like 15 000 people and 70 000 people showed up wow but from what i remember
and i remember i remember running into my cousin and you know like all sorts of people like you
know like what are we all doing here?
It's like, hey, it's a free show. Like, why wouldn't we come?
You know, but I just remember like even in a crowd that size, there was still an intimacy to it.
And it was just it it kind of encompassed everything that's so great about an outdoor show, you know, because, you know, people were just having fun.
There were beach balls that were going around. Yeah, sure.
There was like there was drinking, but there wasn't any were beach balls that were going around. Yeah, sure, there was drinking,
but there wasn't any incidences or anything going on.
It was just a mass of people enjoying some good tunes and good times.
And that's really what we want to celebrate here on this episode of Toronto Mike.
We can't wait to get our asses back to G. Ross Lord Park
for a 70,000- person TMLX event.
That's what you told me.
That's what you need to book, Mike.
Come on, you know?
So actually, yeah, let's close with Mo Sport Park in Bowmanville.
Okay.
Because it's just been some big, I mean, you know, not exactly a Toronto venue, but hey, it's worth the drive.
It's GTA.
It's more GTA than Oramadate is. I'm going to tell the Bowmanville
people that this is GTA.
Well, it's the outskirts of GTA,
but it is considered the GTA.
Where does the GTA end? Kingston?
Well,
some people have it going as far as Peterborough,
but you know, it's not really.
It's that Durham region, basically.
So what are some of the big events that took place in most sport over the years? but you know, it's not really, it's that Durham region basically. Anyway.
So what are some of the big, big events that took place in most sport over the years?
So that's the, so that's the thing. So I don't know if it was necessary.
Oh no, it definitely wasn't necessarily the first.
I don't know if you ever talked about it before, but the in 20, well,
in 2019 would have been the 50th anniversary of the,
the Toronto rock and roll revival. Did you ever talk about that?
Possibly. And I don't remember.
Tell me a bit about it, and it'll remind me.
So quickly, that was the one that took place at Varsity Stadium,
and the doors were there.
But it was when John Lennon,
who it was his first appearance after the Beatles,
he came with the Plastic Ono Band.
That was his first appearance of any nature
before the Beatles broke up, you know, was at that festival.
But that was at Varsity Stadium at the time.
Right.
And, you know, it was around the same time frame as, you know, the famous Woodstock Festival.
So there was all these, that's where festivals kind of like really, that was the germination of them, really.
So the next year at Moseport, it may have been the first event that they held there of that nature
but they had the strawberry fields festival um and you know i'm escaping because i don't have
it on my screen right now but uh you know like a who's who at the time of uh people who like you
know were there acts that were there i don't know if you're going to try to look it up but
you know uh zeppelin was apparently uh rumored to play it and never did but they the
point was is that they got close to you know a hundred thousand people coming out for this um
for this festival um and that was in 1970 uh a couple years later i want to say 1978
they had um so to go back to the uh to the foo fightersers earlier, you may or may not know that they put on their own festivals in the before times, you know, called the California Jam.
And that was, you know, reminiscent of a festival that used to take place in California called the California Jam.
But most part actually hosted the Canada Jam back in 1978, I believe.
And that was literally put on by the same people.
So another big, like very rock orientated.
Do you want the lineup from the Strawberry Fields Festival in 1970?
Do I want? If you have it in front of you.
I have it in front of me.
It's interesting because there were some,
some acts that were advertised, but did not actually.
So I know Zeppelin was one, right?
Right.
Yeah.
But even more. Okay. So Procol Zeppelin was one, right? Right. Yeah.
But even more.
Okay.
So Procol Harum, I hope I said that right.
Procol Harum, Jose Feliciano, 10 years after, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, which I plead ignorance, I actually don't know, but Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, Grand Funk Railroad,
Nice.
The Youngbloods, Jethro Tull, Melanieanie and i asked my oldest daughter uh i got a brand
new pair of roller skates you got a brand new key i was singing that to her forever uh hog heaven
i don't know hog heaven either i got some catch-ups here the freedom express lee ashford
fat chance james ambrose mountain cactus's great But Cactus I don't know
Syrinx
Crowbar
Featuring King Biscuit Boy
There he goes
The King Biscuit Flower Hour
Luke and the Apostles
Lighthouse
So some more King Con
Chakra
Alice Cooper
Oh sweet
Here we get some big names
Sly and the Family Stone
Oh that's worth the price of admission right there
Papa Gray Do you. Papa Gray.
Do you know Papa Gray?
I'm going to plead ignorance like you do.
Me too.
We're going to both do it.
And then two acts that were advertised but never showed up,
Led Zeppelin and Leonard Cohen.
Ooh.
I must have missed that.
Yeah.
That's a nice little fact.
What's interesting to me is going to the show,
and there's a lot of great acts,
but you see Led Zeppelin on the bill. I must have missed that. Yeah. But I was, what's interesting to me is going to the show and there's a lot of great acts,
but you see,
you know,
Led Zeppelin on the bill.
Imagine in 1970 going to a Led Zeppelin show and Led Zeppelin does not show
up.
I think that would be disappointing.
That would be disappointing.
To go back to something I said earlier,
that would be a very dick move by Led Zeppelin.
Unless sometimes the promoters though,
don't have like a,
the ink's not,
you don't have the ink on the contract and they start promoting it to sell tickets.
So that might be a promoter being a dick.
But more recently within our era.
So in 1980, there was the Heat Wave Festival that I know you mentioned on your Edgefest episode,
which was 1980, which was kind of like a who's who of New Wave at the time.
You know, the teenage had opened, but sorry, Elvis Costello was there.
I want to say the B-52s are also there, maybe, if you have it in front of your screen.
No, I don't have it.
Oh, no?
Do you want me to get it?
No, it's okay.
It's okay.
But, you know, I know for sure that talking heads were there.
But same kind of thing is that similar to, and you probably talked about the Edenfest stories from Stu and from Cam Gordon.
But that was the thing is that they sold a certain amount of tickets.
But, and I'm going to say, I've never actually been to Mossport Park or seen an event there.
But those two in particular, as legend has it um there were a lot of
gate crashers um so i know for eden fest like they had sold i don't know how many tickets it would
have been but like a 50 000 or whatever but almost as many people crashed the gates to get in and so
you had literally like twice the size let's do this because we talk a lot about eden fest on
toronto mic which I did not attend.
I will disclose
but I wish I had
but here's the lineup.
So it's a three-day event
I believe.
So on the Friday
and I'll just do the main stage
although there's some great acts
on the small stage too
but main stage
the Refreshments,
Luster,
Glue Leg,
and FOTM.
Bob Mackiewicz Jr.
was a member of Glue Leg.
Nice. Poe, I remember them from the CFNY cassettes but anyway. Glulag, an FOTM. Bob Mackiewicz Jr. was a member of Glulag, by the way.
Poe, I remember them from the CFNY cassettes.
But anyway, Spirit of the West.
The ultimate FOTMs.
Well, Spirit of the West, not yet.
Unfortunately, I missed out.
But rest in peace, John Mann.
The Nixons, Seven Mary Three.
Remember Cumberstone?
That was a big fucking hit.
They were great.
Sloan.
Of course. Sloan. Of course.
Sloan are everywhere. Come on. Bush.
Not Bush X. No X required.
No X required. And headliners on the Friday on the main stage
was The Cure.
So when were the Goo Goo Dolls?
Well, hold on. On a Saturday.
Here, let's finish this up. On a Saturday,
this is July 13th, by the way,
in the year 1996. Okay. So on a Saturday, this is July 13th, by the way, in the year 1996.
Okay.
So on the Saturday, Elk.
I don't know Elk, but they're now a football team in Canada.
So Tracy Bonham.
Mother, Mother was a great jam.
Space Hog.
Wow.
In the meantime.
Ever Clear.
Wow.
Odds.
Love and Rockets.
Porno for Pyros.
So far down on the list, really?
Yeah, and then Live.
And then Headliners on that Saturday.
This is a hell of a lineup.
Headliner on the Saturday, The Tragically Hip.
Okay, so where were Goo Goo Dolls, Dan?
Now we're on.
It's coming, it's coming.
Here's the final day, this Sunday, July 14th.
Doughboys.
Yes, great Montreal punk band.
Sun don't shine, man.
James Hall.
Who the fuck is James Hall?
I feel like I should know that.
Spin Doctors.
Little Miss can't be wrong.
Absolutely.
The Mighty Mighty Boss Tones.
Gotta love their ska punk.
Howard Jones.
See, I did not know that.
Goo Goo Dolls.
Here you go.
The Goo Goo Dolls.
Catherine Wheel.
Yes.
I knew the Catherine Wheels there.
FOTM's The Watchmen.
And then Ani Di Franco.
Yes.
Wow.
Okay.
I've been hearing about the legend of Edenfest.
Yes.
I have serious FOMO right now that I've missed out on that.
But the big thing about the legend is that, you know, as people were crashing the gates, as legend goes, and it was very interesting to follow along because, you know, of course, we didn't have the internet back then.
Or the internet was very rudimentary.
And I remember that they were attempting some kind of webcast at the time,
but I could never get it to work.
Oh, in 96?
That's very ambitious of them.
Because it took me forever to load the JPEGs.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, they had a state-of-the-art website at the time,
but it never really worked.
So I never was able to watch it.
You need your real player to watch that, I think.
Back in 96.
But the thing was is that I can distinctly remember is that there were really work so i never was able to you need your real player to watch that yeah back in 96 but the
thing was is that i can distinctly remember is that there were um rumors going on that they were
going to fly in or drop in a big band at the end and i heard everyone from the pumpkins to green day
to uh the foo fighters uh and none of them materialized. So people kind of left it a bad taste in their mouth.
But, you know, overall, if you were there,
you really enjoyed the time that you were there.
The trick is to under-promise and over-deliver.
Absolutely.
And that's what you did today, brother.
You kicked ass.
You over-delivered.
Gilles LeBlanc.
Well, we went over on time.
I never had a time in my head.
Did you have a time in your head?
I never had a time.
I figure it is as long as it takes to do it.
That's very true.
But thanks for doing this.
Again, the weather was perfect, and I'm glad you're here, buddy.
Thank you, Mike.
And that brings us to the end of our 876th show.
You can follow me on Twitter.
I'm at Toronto Mike.
Jill, you're the at rockthusiast on Twitter?
Correct.
Follow Jill, at rockthusiast.
Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery are at Great Lakes Beer.
My octopus wants to fight with delicious.
Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta.
Sticker U, they're at Sticker U.
Ridley Funeral Home is at Ridley FH.
And Mimico Mike, he's not on Twitter.
He's on Instagram,
at Majeski Group Homes.
I'll see you next week,
but check your Toronto Mike feed
for a special drop on July
1st that's tomorrow don't you dare miss
it
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