Random observations about the biggest rock concert in Canadian history:
I live about 10 minutes walk from Parc Downsview Park. Given the pre-concert hype about the quality of the sound system, I was disappointed that I could barely hear anything from my front porch. Is it too late to get my money back?
The Allen Expressway is a six lane highway that was utterly deserted the day of the concert. It looked like something out of 28 Days Later. To heighten the effect, there were even zombies wandering around shouting, "You need tickets? I got tickets! Need tickets?" Of course, they wanted blood.
Imagine your grandfather headlining a rock concert. Crazy, right? Now, remember that Mick Jagger turned 60 a couple of days before SARStock...
Am I the only person who thinks SARStock was a poor choice of name for the concert? The last thing anybody wants is to increase the stock of SARS in the city. (By way of contrast, I doubt anybody would argue with increasing the stock of wood anywhere.) I guess my choice of name, "The Concert In Support of Dennis Mills' Ego" wasn't considered catchy enough by organizers.
A lot of the crowd was probably made up of people who identified themselves as "jedi" in the latest Canadian census. Why? They were there to see the Mos Isley Brothers.
Don't you think it's time the Stones retired the tongue logo? I know where that tongue has been...everywhere.
Burton Cummings appeared to have put on a lot of weight, while Randy Bachman was actually quite svelte. Has the universe gone all topsy turvy, or is it just me?
The police relented and allowed fans to bring blankets and cushions, a nice gesture considering most people really aren't equipped to spend several hours standing on a jet runway in sweltering heat. (What did police chief Julian Fantino think would happen? Mass choking on blankets? If they all had been dipped in acid, maybe...) Same for drinks - forcing people to drink beer supplied by one of the concert's sponsors never struck me as a boon to order.
As for allowing snacks, well, anything so that people didn't have to eat Alberta beef. It's not that I have anything against western meat, I just think it's crass of Ralph Klein to be piggybacking on Toronto's benefit concert. Let him get his own! He can call it Smugstock - lord knows, he's in no danger of running out of that commodity.
But, umm, who let's the police make these kinds of decisions in the first place? New York run by the Swiss? Toronto is becoming Disneyland run by Saudi Arabians.
The Trouble With Jim (Belushi)? Don't get me started.
No, I didn't attend SARStock. The truth is that so much had been said and written about the benefit concert for Toronto in the week leading up to it that, by the day of the concert, I felt as though I had already experienced it. Several times over. And, that was several times more than I had ever wanted to see Sass Jordan.
I am not exaggerating the effect the concert had on Toronto media. One radio station spent 48 hours playing only music by those who were to perform at Parc Downsview Park. Unfortunately, it was a classic rock station (which means its DJs would never even have heard of Justin Timberlake), so it played a medley consisting of AC/DC's "Highway to Hell," The Guess Who's "Clap for the Wolfman" and Rush's "2112" suite. Over and over again.
I know Toronto is reviled throughout Canada, but this was just cruel.
You think I'm being cynical? Please! I live in a province where a heartless government has starved the health care system of funds, to the point where it is ill-equipped to deal with crises like SARS, to pay for tax breaks that mostly benefit its wealthy friends. Then, instead of putting money back into the system when the underfunding became apparent, the government supported a rock concert intended to make us all feel good about living here...oh, and to promote tourism.
I mean, Provincial Health Minister Tony Clement actually stated, "This isn't a stunt." Really? What was it, then, Tony? A fully paid trip to Florida for an appendectomy? An orange hoot owl on a short leash? Public health sanity?
But, no, you're right. My problem is I just don't have any civic pride.