Back in 2022, the documentary about the one-day Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival in 1969, Revival 69: The Concert that Rocked the World, was released on Video-On-Demand. It will now be released digitally on June 28th and play in select theaters.
Here's the backstory...
On September 13th, 1969, John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band (Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voorman and drummer 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.”
With footage captured by the late documentarian D.A. Pennebaker, it features interviews with Brower, Alice Cooper and Geddy Lee, who was 16 and in the audience. Also interviewed are Klaus Voormann, The Doors’ Robby Krieger and many others, including 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.