55 years ago this today, September 13th, 1969, which was a Saturday, John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band (Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voorman and future Yes drummer, the late Alan White) performed at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival, a one-day festival held in the city's Varsity Stadium. They were a last-minute addition to a lineup that included The Doors, Chicago, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Bo Diddley and Alice Cooper.
The show was the brainchild of Toronto promoter John Bower, who says Lennon was "only added on the bill at the last minute, and there was no real belief by the Toronto media -- or any media -- that he was actually coming until he was seen boarding a plane for Toronto the day of the show. Despite being the most important event in Canadian music history with international significance, other than some local articles, no one other than hardcore Lennon/Beatles fans and music industry insiders even knew about it.”
Lennon released an album Live Peace in Toronto 1969 in December 1969, the first concert album by a member of The Beatles.
Lennon's set that day was:
- "Blue Suede Shoes"
- "Money (That's What I Want)"
- "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy"
- "Yer Blues"
- "Cold Turkey"
- "Give Peace a Chance"
- "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)"
- "John John (Let's Hope for Peace)"
A documentary on the show, Revival 69: The Concert That Rocked the World, was released digitally this past June and played in select theaters.
With footage captured by the late documentarian D.A. Pennebaker, it features interviews with Brower, Alice Cooper, Klaus Voormann, The Doors’ Robby Krieger, Lennon's personal assistant Anthony Fawcett, who says the performance gave Lennon the confidence to tell The Beatles the week after that he wanted out, and Geddy Lee, who was 16 and in the audience of 20,000 with the late original Rush drummer John Rutsey.
Check out Geddy Lee's post about it here on his official Instagram account.