Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Rush And More Rock Against SARS In Toronto

07/31/2003 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
LAUNCH Radio Networks

(7/31/03, 4 p.m. ET) -- As many as a half-million people spent the night together with the Rolling Stones on Wednesday (July 30) at a star-studded concert in Toronto that some dubbed SARSstock. The Stones' 90-minute concert capped an 11-hour-plus concert at Downsview Park, a former military air base, which also featured sets by AC/DC, Rush, the Guess Who, the Isley Brothers and others.

The concert--officially called Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto--was organized by local politicians to give Toronto a boost after a SARS outbreak there earlier this year caused 42 deaths and curtailed tourism by as much as $2 billion. Stones frontman Mick Jagger, sporting a long, fuchsia coat, was among the many declaring that it's OK to be in Toronto again, telling the crowd, "We're here, you're here and Toronto is back and it's booming!" as the British group started their set.

The Stones concentrated on hits for their performance, which was scheduled during a break during the European leg of the band's current world tour. The group--which has rehearsed in Toronto for its last three world tours--kicked off with "Start Me Up" and charged through "Brown Sugar," "You Got Me Rockin'," "Don't Stop," "Tumbling Dice," "Ruby Tuesday," "You Can't Always Get What You Want," and "Honky Tonk Women." They then played two numbers sung by guitarist Keith Richards--"Nearness Of You" and "Happy"--and finished with a pyrotechnic-laden "Sympathy For The Devil," "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," and "Jumping Jack Flash."

The Stones were joined by *NSYNC's Justin Timberlake, who performed earlier in the evening, on a version of "Miss You" that included bits of Timberlake's hit "Cry Me A River." There were scattered boos and some bottles were thrown at Timberlake, after which Richards strode angrily to the front of the stage to stare down the crowd. AC/DC guitarists Angus and Malcolm Young also joined the Stones for a rendition of B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby."

Backstage before the show, Jagger told reporters, "I think it is the biggest crowd we have ever played for." Keith Richards--who faced jail time in 1977 for a drug bust in Toronto--told reporters that the Stones agreed to do the show "because we love (Toronto)."

After rehearsing on Tuesday (July 29), the Stones and Toronto-based tour promoter Michael Cohl were presented with keys to the city--inscribed with thanks for "celebrating Toronto"--in a private ceremony with Mayor Mel Lastman. The concert stage, meanwhile, sported a giant Toronto banner with the Stones' famous tongue logo protruding from the middle O.

AC/DC's 70-minute set was also stocked with hits, starting with "Hell Isn't A Bad Place To Be" and also including "Back In Black," "Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)," "Thunderstruck," "Hell's Bells," "T.N.T.," "You Shook Me All Night Long," "Whole Lotta Rosie," "Let There Be Rock" and "Highway To Hell." Frontman Brian Johnson thanked the crowd "for inviting us" to be part of the show. "We wouldn't have missed it for the world," he said. During "The Jack," guitarist Angus Young also paid tribute to their hosts, performing a striptease down to his boxer shorts--which were emblazoned with a Maple leaf, the Canadian national emblem--and subsequently mooning the crowd.

Toronto's own Rush delivered a crowd-pleasing 40-minute set featuring "Tom Sawyer," "Limelight," "Freewill," "Closer To The Heart" and "Spirit Of Radio." Prior to going onstage, frontman Geddy Lee told reporters that he felt reports about the dangers of coming to Toronto were "fabricated," adding that "I hope this concert brings a tremendous amount of awareness to the fact that this city is a very cool place to visit. Don't not come here because you think you are going to get some dreaded disease."

The Guess Who, another homegrown act, whipped through a short set of hits such as "Hand Me Down World," "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature," "American Woman" and "No Time." The group also performed "Takin' Care Of Business," guitarist Randy Bachman's hit with Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

R&B veterans the Isley Brothers gave the afternoon portion of the show a jolt with their set, opening with Sly And The Family Stone's funk anthem "I Want To Take You Higher" and blending a bit of Jamaican rapper Sean Paul's "Get Busy" into their own "It's Your Thing." Ernie Isley stirred the crowd with his guitar solo on "That Lady," and the group closed with its party classic "Shout."

Ottawa native Dan Aykroyd proved to be an exuberant emcee for the day. The actor performed two sets with the Have Love Will Travel Revue, the band he fronts with fellow comedian Jim Belushi, and helped whip the crowd up between acts. Early in the day he declared, "I love my country, I love my flag, and I love my brothers and sisters from the United States...We want the world to come to Canada." He was joined during the day by director Norman Jewison and actress Catherine O'Hara.

Costs of Wednesday's concert were estimated at more than $6 million, with $3.5 million provided by the Canadian federal government, $2 million from the province of Ontario and the rest from corporate sponsors. The artists were paid, but no specific fees were revealed.

The concert was webcast and carried live via satellite to Canadian military personnel stationed in the Persian Gulf and Europe, with mixed results. A glitch spoiled the simulcast on the HMCS Fredericton in the Gulf, so sailors had to satisfy themselves by playing the Stones' Forty Licks album over the frigate's loudspeakers. But 750 troops in northwestern Bosnia-Herzegovina received the transmission without flaws, though because of the time difference many opted to tape it rather than watch it live.

Organizers of the show hoped that it would help revive tourism in Toronto, especially now that the World Health Organization has removed Toronto from its list of cities to avoid. Local politicians estimated that the event itself brought $52 million to the local economy. Some 10 SARS cases remain active in Toronto, however.

The production at Downsview Park included nine video screens and 36 sound delay towers to bring the show to those at the farthest reaches of the massive field. There were 500 concession stands and 3,500 portable toilets, while 1,300 policemen and security guards patrolled the grounds. Local politicians worked at one of the food areas, dubbed the Quarter Mile Barbecue, where concertgoers could buy Sticky Fingers chicken dishes.

Though there were plenty of official souvenirs, including commemorative T-shirts and posters, there was also a booming business in bootleg merchandise outside the grounds. One unofficial T-shirt bore the Woodstock-like legend "SARSstock: One day, 14 bands (sic), one disease." Another pirate shirt dubbed the event SARSapalooza.

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