Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Massey Hall: Toronto Mike'd #943

Episode Date: November 3, 2021

Mike chats with music historian David McPherson about the history of Massey Hall with a keen focus on Canadian acts who played there in the 1990s.

Toronto Mike is brought to you by the Yes, We Are Open podcast, a Moneris podcast production telling the stories of Canadian small businesses and their perseverance in the face of overwhelming adversity. Subscribe to this podcast at yesweareopenpodcast.com. Welcome to episode 943 of Toronto Mic'd. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery. A fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. ChefDrop. Access top chef and restaurant prepared meal kits shipped across southern Ontario. Thank you. KCEO Forums, the highest impact and least time intensive peer group for over 1200 CEOs, executives and business owners around the world. StickerU.com, create custom stickers, labels, tattoos and decals for your home and your business.

Palma Pasta, enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. From Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. Ridley Funeral Home. Pillars of the community since 1921. And Mike Majeski of Remax Specialists Majeski Group. Who's ripping up the GTA real estate scene. Learn more at realestatelove.ca. I'm Mike from torontomike.com. And joining me this week is David McPherson.

Welcome back, David. How you doing, buddy? I'm doing well, Mike. Thanks for having me back. Well, it's good to see you again. It's been a while, right? Whenabouts did... So today we're going to talk about Massey Hall. You got a great new book. By the way, I've been digging it because I love the pictures and the posters and stuff in the stories. We're going to go dive deep into Massey Hall but last time you were here we dove deep into uh the Horseshoe Tavern when abouts did that book come out uh that came out in uh around the same time right now a little earlier in the fall but of 2017 so hard to believe four years already have gone by I mean as all of us know the pandemic it felt like four

years itself how long it's lasted. So four years ago, you paid your first visit here to the TMDS studio. I did take note of the description in case people want to go back and hear our deep dive into the legendary Horseshoe Tavern. So people can always

pause this episode. By the way, if you're keeping track at home, this is episode 943. So here you are on 943. You were last here at 310. Wow. Wow. I'm working too hard, Dave. I think so. No wonder I'm exhausted. Okay.

Shout out to Stew Stone. So Mike chats with Horseshoe Tavern historian David McPherson about the history of the legendary Toronto concert venue. We talked for like an hour and 17 minutes. It was fantastic. And here you are back to talk about Amassi Hall. How was the drive from Waterloo this morning? It was surprisingly pretty easy. Not a lot of traffic and I was down here in about an hour and

20 minutes. so no complaints. Well, that's good, because that's a drive I've been doing quite a bit lately, because my boy's in Waterloo going to Laurier. And the 401, kind of when you're, they're doing work, I guess, to widen the 401, and at this time, you can just shut right down. Like, sometimes it comes to a crawl. Yeah, usually around Milton. Yeah. You know, that's where it stops. And, you know, it can take you as long from Waterloo to Milton as it does from Milton to downtown Toronto.

So you just got to be patient, I guess, like everything else these days. And you were telling me, here we are talking November 3rd, and you're telling me you had to scrape your windshield in Waterloo this morning? Yeah, yeah, it was fun. It was cold enough overnight. Had to get that scraper out of the garage back in the car. Okay. We haven't had that yet here in the big smoke, but it was cool this morning.

Like it was one of those mornings where it's like, I'm going to wear a pair of gloves. But it just feels too early for the snow scrapers and the ice scrapers. But you did a little of that this morning. Here you are, made good time. And honestly, just great to have you back. I love talking about these Toronto music venues. I love it, man.

So why don't we just start with, before we focus, like laser focus our attention on like the 1990s and Canadian artists who played Massey Hall, I've got some choice jams queued up, and that's a chapter of the book I want to kind of dive really deep into. But why don't we start by what prompted you to dive into the deep history of Massey Hall for this book? Well, I mean, I've always loved history. I love music. And it was kind of natural after the Horseshoe Tavern book.

It had some good success, far better than I ever expected. And I was like, OK, what's next? And Massey Hall was coming up on its 125th anniversary. It was getting ready, doing a big capital campaign to enhance the building and revitalize it. So it will last for another century, at least, hopefully. And I thought, why not? I mean, once again, I was kind of humbled. I didn't think that I would have a chance or the opportunity to write this story or to be the one to, you know, dig deep into the history of Massey and put it into a book form.

But luckily, my publishers put faith in me again, Dunder and Press, and all the fine folks at Massey Hall. I mean, from the late Dean Cameron, past president who passed away, unfortunately, you know, a couple of years ago. They supported me from the start. I got buy-in from them to do this project. I wouldn't have done it any way else. They've given me access to their archives, helped me with interviews and sourcing photos and everything else throughout.

Yeah, it just seemed like a natural. I love Massey Hall, too. I've been to so many concerts there over the years. Right. And, uh, you know, obviously it was a subject that, uh, you know, I knew there would be no shortage of material to, uh, to dig into. You know, Massey Hall got really lucky here in a sense. They might be the only ones who benefited here because they had to shut down for the major renovations, which revitalization and COVID hits like they would have been closed anyways. Like it feels like a stroke of luck there maybe. Yeah, definitely. I think there was a bit, I mean, early on, uh, it, uh, their plans were to open much sooner, obviously, just like, you know,

I had planned this book to come out sooner. But as you mentioned, it was probably a silver lining because even though they had to shut down for a bit when all construction was halted, they were able to catch back up. They were able to, I think, do some more fundraising to help increase money, add some more things to the Allied Music Center, help increase money, add some more things to the Allied Music Centre, which is the new building that's been attached to the original Massey Hall. And so, yeah, it worked out really well. And I can't wait for it to reopen in a few weeks. So it looks like it'll be pretty spectacular.

And will you be there for the first show back? I hope so, yeah. I haven't secured my ticket yet. Well, okay, you wrote the book. You literally wrote the book. People like me are talking about Massey Hall because of your book right now. There's got to be a ticket for you in this.

There's got to be. Yeah, we'll see. Do you want me to call Dave Hodge? Yeah. No, I mean, we'll see. I'm happy to buy a ticket. I just got so busy with stuff, and the shows were announced,

and next thing you know, it's November, and I'll definitely be going to quite a few of the shows coming up. They've got a great lineup, really exciting, with, of course, Gordon Lightfoot doing the first three nights. Makes sense. It's his home. He's played there more than anyone else 165 times and counting. Well, there's your first fun fact here. We're going to drop a bunch of fun

facts here, but another fun fact is that this book, which it's available now, right? I saw November 2nd. Yeah, just yesterday was the publication date, so yeah, good timing here. Awesome. The foreword, okay, this woman has come up quite a bit lately on Toronto Mic.

Jan Arden wrote the forward. So my last guest was Rick Mercer, who's like BFFs of Jan Arden. They're like thick as thieves. And FOTM Stu Stone. Hello to the fans of Pandemic Friday. I'm still exhausted, by the way. But he's off to Winnipeg. He flew to Winnipeg yesterday to film a movie,

and Jan Arden's going to be in that. Like, Jan is all over my world. Next stop, I think, is getting her on Toronto Mic tier. But how'd you get Jan Arden to do the foreword? Again, that was, you know, over the years, I've been writing about music now and been kind of connected with the music industry for about 20 years. And, you know, I've got writing about music now and been kind of connected with the music industry for about 20 years and you know I've got a lot of contacts and it was partly through Massey Hall

you know early on in the process we were thinking you know who would make a good who would be a good person to write the forward that we wanted to approach and as you said Jan she's such a a wonderful human being and she is everywhere's funny, and she's an artist. Another fact for you, she's the Canadian female artist who's played there more than anyone else. Oh, Kate, that is a fun fact. I'm not sure I would have guessed that. Maybe I would have gone with like a Joni Mitchell, maybe.

I'm not sure where I would have gone with that, but Jan Arden is the answer to that question. Yeah, because similar to Gordon Lightfoot in more, you know, the last few decades, she would do multiple nights, right? Play two or three nights and, you know, that's how it adds up. But yeah, so long story short, I basically reached

out to her management, Bruce Allen, you know. Hey, Bruce comes up a lot on this show too. We're always talking about tears are not enough. Yeah. And yeah, Joe Faluna was kind of my contact there and she was fantastic in getting the ask put forward to Jan and she said yes and I felt very grateful

and she came back with a great forward, you know, great way to lead off the book with, you know, a couple of funny stories of, of her history there and her love of Massey. No, fantastic. Okay. So I mentioned,

we're going to focus on chapter seven. So if FOTMs are grabbing this book again, I like it. I like looking at it. I get out. Do I sound like a kid? Like I sound like my five-year-old, I get her a book and she's like,

where are the pictures? I'm like, okay, well there's, there's such great like photos in here of, uh, oh my's there's bruce colburn and uh just the posters and uh the ads that you kind of read that were in the papers and such but chapter seven is called canadians take center stage the 1990s so naturally i'm gonna focus there because you gotta focus somewhere but uh i should point out rick mercer by the way i brought up your i brought up the fact

you're not from new finland because you're breaking my streak buddy i had a couple of new finlanders in a row and he mentioned he saw i guess you we had a tweet exchange and you seeded a question for uh rick and he said he bought a copy of your book after that tweet so oh wow rick mercer will be reading your massey hall book. But now I connect the dots. It's because his BFF wrote the foreword. How could he not buy a copy of that book? Okay, so I mentioned I got some cool 90s CanCon jams as we walk through it. But first, just to get the 101 on Massey Hall,

can you give us a little bit about who the heck is Massey? Is that Vincent? Who is Massey? Massey is Hart Massey. He was a philanthropist and industrialist who basically built up the business that his father had started before him in kind of the late 1800s, patenting a lot of farm equipment and things. And by the time kind of the 1880s rolled around, I mean, he was settled in Toronto with his family. He lived in what was called Euclid Hall, which is now the Keg Mansion today on Jarvis Street. That was their home.

Right. And he was kind of nearing the end of his life. And he was also a strict Methodist. And, you know, the religious teachings, they were all about not leaving any money, right? Or not leaving a fortune or wealth. Right. So it was all about philanthropy. And that's kind of how Massey Hall came about.

You know, partly through tragedy, one of Hart Massey's sons, Charles, had passed away at quite a young age of 36 from typhoid fever. And he was very active in the church and the choir and singing love music. So Hart Massey gave the gift of Massey Hall to the city of Toronto in memory of his son, Charles. And so when abouts, what year does this open?

It opens in 1894. I was just a kid back then. Yeah. So I think Dave Hodge was at the first show. I can't confirm or deny that. Just kidding. Dave's coming up soon. I saw him in the calendar.

He's going to be kicking out his 100 jams of 2021. Have you heard 100 new jams in 2021? Have you even listened to 100 new songs in 2021? Be honest with me, David. And you're a big music guy. You're a music historian. Have you heard 100 songs in 2021 that are new? Actually, I probably have only because of my kids, I'm sure,

because I have two teenagers. Oh, yeah. Yeah, well, I try and stay current with the music scene and stay up to date and listen to new music that comes out every week. It is hard to keep up, but the cool thing is both my kids are into quite different music by two teenagers, and they share a lot of music with me. What are they into? I'm naturally curious.

Well, my daughter's more into Post Malone, Taylor Swift, and some other kind of the current hip-hop whatever's on uh you know uh virgin radio that kind of thing whereas what about machine gun kelly is that a name but you continue but yeah i know the the yeah the top 40 stuff yeah yeah she's more into that kind of thing but you know the cool thing is my son who's 15 i mean he's into a bit of everything like he he's listening to jazz he's listening to indie rock you know he loves singer-songwriters like uh father john misty and uh you know sufjan stevens and you know and he's he's kind of like in the old hip-hop right the 90s stuff and uh so yeah he's he's turned me on to a few things that i

you know bands i might have heard of too and never got into for whatever reason over the years. Cool, cool. And again, just to preface this, David, I am going to focus on the 90s and the Canadian artists who played Massey Hall. But anytime there's a fun fact pre-90s, of course, this is a, you know, an old venue

and it's a historic venue. Feel free, like feel free. I love the fun facts. And these songs, I took this task very seriously because I wanted some songs that were going to guide us on our journey here. And I thought, okay, let me pick like some, some of the, my all-time favorite songs from some of these Canadian, but I didn't want to go too obscure. Like I wanted to pick my favorite jams that the, the average FOTM will be very familiar with. So I took this task very seriously.

Let's just listen to my opening jam here as we start our discussion about Massey Hall in the 90s and the Canadian artists who played there. Hours of hiding spent apart The wall was all we'd share About the closest you could get About all I would bear Don't tell me all the things I wasn't Could have made this big a difference To all the things you are

Still love this song, man. I'm telling you, all the things I wasn't. The Grapes of Wrath, a band that did not realize they needed a better SEO name. I don't think they... That they needed a better SEO name. I don't think they, that was not a consideration back then. But I bring, I wanted to start with Grapes of Wrath because they played Massey Hall back in 1991. Yeah. And here, and Kevin Kane, you had a chat with Kevin Kane, but tell me a bit about Grapes of Wrath.

You had a chat with Kevin Kane, but tell me a bit about Grapes of Wrath. They're from Vancouver, of course. And anything you can about them playing Massey Hall? Yeah, for sure. I did speak with Kevin Kane of the band, and he talked about what an incredible experience it was, as every artist I did. I mean, the dream, right? The pinnacle for most Canadian

artists. That's our Carnegie Hall, right? Like in the States, they say, Carnegie Hall. Here it's, no, got to play Massey Hall. Yeah, it really is. It's to use the kind of the phrase that the president, Jesse Kumagai has kind of said, it's an aspirational venue, right? That's where they aspire to play on their way up. And yeah, Grapes of Wrath, they played there on October 10th, 1991. And it was Elliot Lefkoe, longtime Toronto promoter. And if I may, if I may,

because his brother's been on the show, Perry. Fantastic FOTM. Elliot politely declined to come on Toronto Mic'd. Do you know the stories we could get from Elliot left on this? How important it is to get an...

I mean, the Gary's came over happily, as you know, from the horseshoe episode. And he was very polite about it. Like, it was not like he was rude about it. And you don't have to do

Toronto Mic'd, but I think he's got, you know, it wouldn't be a personal discussion necessarily, but he's got such music, Toronto music history in his noggin. We need to spit it into

these microphones to capture this and archive it. I'm building something here, David. You got to talk to Mr. Ryan. Elliot is never one of those guys could definitely write a book and I would be picking it up. Because he talked about a neat thing that happened with the Grapes of Wrath

that, uh, uh, I forget the, the band, it doesn't matter, but Grapes of Wrath had been, you know, on tour with some other band and saw that, you know, what they added to their rider every night was, uh, you know, a new pair of socks or something. And they thought this was a great idea. Uh, and so they kind of got in that habit of, you know, requesting that. And, you know, so Elliot made sure for this Massey Hall show

that, you know, that was a part of it. And they were kind of a extra special for them that night. And they got monogram socks. Yeah. Monogram socks.

So shout out to Ed the Sock. I know you don't remember, but of course now I'm aching to know the band that had that on the rider. You don't remember though. Was it Northern Pikes? Who are we talking about? No, I believe this was a, you know.

An American band? An American band, yeah. All right, I gotta know. Somebody, is it REM? REM wanted the song? Find out for me here. I'm a little bit mildly surprised that Grapes of Wrath,

were they headlining at Massey Hall? Yeah, they actually did. And that's a surprising thing that, and the 90s really, in many ways, was kind of the time that a lot of these Canadian bands exploded and they moved up from, you know, playing the clubs around Toronto. Well, that's like, I mean,

I saw Grapes of Wrath just before the pandemic opening up at the Danforth. They opened for the Watchmen. Yeah. And I mean, I know, I was a CFNY listener back in 1991, and they played the mess out of Grapes of Wrath. I just played one of my favorite songs of all time,

all the things I was into. There were a lot of great Grapes of Wrath songs. But still, that's pretty awesome that they were headlining Massey Hall back in the early 90s. Yeah, because that's what happened, right? A lot of these bands reached a certain level where, whether it was their promoter or whoever it was, felt that they could fill Massey. And, you know, they did.

And, you know, they got that off their bucket list, even if they never got to play there again, right? Right. Okay, before I play another 90s CanCon artist uh that i love uh i have an album i think it's from 1971 a neil young live at massey hall album that i spin often and i just want to say i'm that's amazing like it sounds amazing it's just just neil young like so neil young and now you don't have to give me the real you won't have the number on the top of your head, but how many times would a Neil Young have played Massey Hall like approximately? What are we talking about here? And I know I'm putting this spot here live.

Yeah, at least a dozen times, I mean, or more. Yeah, Neil's my idol, my favorite artist. I've seen him more in concert than anyone else, including twice at Massey back in 2007. And yeah, I was actually just spinning that 1971 on my turntable yesterday. I like that, When a Man Needs a Maid. I like his Man Needs a Maid from live at Massey Hall. And if anyone's listening, go find the album live at Massey Hall,

71 from Neil Young. It's just, the acoustics are so wonderful. And it just captures like, it is imperial peak. This is our, yeah, you're 71 from Neil Young. It's just the acoustics are so wonderful. And it just captures like it is Imperial Peak. This is our, yeah, you're a big Neil guy. Oh yeah, you had to come in through the side door now. But I was going to say Neil's in the hallway upstairs. Not, no, I think he's in, he does live in Ontario now. Neil Young, he's moved to Ontario with Daryl Hannah.

Apparently, yeah. Or at least part time. Right. There's sightings. There's Neil Young sightings in Ontario now. It at least part-time. Right. There's sightings. There's Neil Young sightings in Ontario now. It's like seeing Bigfoot. I have seen Neil Young. So there are some grapes of wrath here.

Let me just play another jam and we'll talk further. Hold on, hold on to yourself For this is gonna hurt like hell Hold on, hold on to yourself You know that only time will tell What is it in me that refuses to believe

This isn't easier than the real thing My love You know that you're my best friend You know I'd do anything for you

My love Still one of my favorite Sarah McLachlan songs. This of course is Hold On from my favorite Sarah McLachlan songs. This, of course, is Hold On from my favorite Sarah McLachlan album, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. Now, I'll preface this by saying there's a bunch of Canadian women, like globally successful Canadian women who would have played Massey Hall in the 90s. Canadian woman who would have played Massey Hall in the 90s

Celine Dion Shania Twain Alanis Morissette Katie Lang and Sarah McLaughlin so maybe chat with me a little bit about this like this this is quite a time like when we have our woman kind of dominant just dominating

the world stage it was quite a time for Canadian artists yeah I mean you know once again it was that was the time I mean we were blessed that there was all these incredible Canadian women that kind of burst onto the scene I mean they'd been toiling obviously to get their careers to a point where they could play Massey anyway but I, it wasn't just in Canada that they achieved, you know, success. You know, the Sarah McLachlins, as you mentioned, and Katie Lang and Shania's and that.

That Celine's, they went on to, you know. And Alanis, we got to throw her in there. But that's like, so if I'm counting right, Celine, Shania, Alanis, Sarah, Katie. That's a big, that's a five. That's like the Atlanta Braves 1995 starting rotation. Yeah. No, I mean, and so it was only natural that, you know, they would play Massey Hall, most of them.

And yeah, Sarah McLachlan, who we've just been listening to, she made her debut in 1993. And yeah, really, it was Canadians that took center stage at Massey throughout the 90s for the most part. I mean, there was lots of other global international artists, lots of diversity. But definitely, you know, more Canadians than ever, you know, achieved that dream and got to play on that storied stage. Right. Headlining shows at Massey Hall in the 90s. So Katie Lang played in June 92. And then Celine Dion in May 93.

And then we're listening to Sarah McLachlan right now. She played Massey Hall November 25th and 26th, 1993. Amazing. I would have loved to have been there. I'm trying to figure out why. Why the hell wasn't I there? Come on, David. I would have loved to have been there. I'm trying to figure out why, why the hell wasn't I there? Come on, David. I know. Well, same. I mean, I really did not get, you know, through those red doors until kind of near the end of that decade. Surprisingly, I actually wrote a blog for SOCAN that will probably be published this week at some point. But in that I referenced that, you know, when I was in high school,

living in Waterloo, it probably was a lot of the bands and people I was into. I mean, they were playing at a lot of venues that are no longer around. And so, yeah, most of my first concerts when I made the trip down the 401 was to go to the C&E, you know, or to go to Kingswood Music Theatre at Canada's Wonderland or, you know, Maple Leaf Gardens. You know, so, you know, it just happened that Massey Hall, although I knew about it, it just wasn't on my radar at the time to go to shows until I actually moved to Toronto in the late 90s.

Yeah, you know, I actually, I was late to the concert game, like not because I was in Waterloo, but because I don't understand why. Like, for example, in high school, I went to so few concerts, like going, looking back, it's like, why wasn't I going to,

it's like, it just wasn't something me and my buds were doing. Like, and then, so it's sort of like, you're in your early twenties when you realize, oh, like,

like these, these bands I love, like I can go see them live. Like, it's like a, I can take the subway to this venue. I don't know. So I was,

you know, a lot of, you'll chat with your buddies about like all the great bands they saw in high school. Like not my, but my now buddies, not my buddies at the time who weren't going to shows where I would be going to.

Uh, but you, the, Oh yeah, I saw this show in, uh, and I saw that show when I was in grade 11 or whatever. And I'm like,

I don't know, man, I, I, I didn't start my concert going thing till my early twenties. So I had some catching up to do. Well, I,

I was a little ahead of you that way and uh my first show was the who on their 25th anniversary tour at the cne and yeah i i never looked back after that and saw the stones that same summer so not bad two first concerts to see amazing uh what year was that uh 1989 yeah that was the steel wheels tour my buddy stew and i mentioned him earlier with the jan urden thing but uh we had this argument because i was outside the cnd grandstand for that show because i was working at the x and i could hear it from the side so i didn't have a ticket inside and he he he saw that same tour at the skydome oh and for the longest time i thought he was like misremembering and he thought I was misremembering.

And it took a while for us to clue into the fact that they played both venues on that tour and were both right. Like neither misremembering. Memory is a funny thing though. It is. It's a copy of a copy. And there's so many things you think you remember verbatim exactly as it was.

And it turns out you don't. And it's shocking how poor your memory can really be. Well, it's something I find fascinating too, because you kind of create the memory that you want to remember too, right? Right. If you tell the story enough times, it becomes the de facto happenstance. Absolutely. All right.

We're going to kick out another major 90s CanCon jam here and then we're going to talk about them at Massey Hall and then I'm going to give you some gifts for making that long drive from Waterloo. So I'm going to make it worth your while,

but here's a big one. I could make you scared If you want me to I'm not prepared But if I have to I said I could make you scared It's kind of what I do If you're prepared Here's what I propose to do

You're in Russia And more than a million works of art Whisked out to the world When the Nazis find the whole place dark The thing God's left the museum for good Make you scared If that's what I do I left the museum for good. Make you scared. That's what I do.

If you're prepared. If I have to. Make you scared. And you paid me to. That's the deal. Now here's what I can do for you Love it, okay. Love this band. This is, of course, from Day for Night.

This is Scared. And Where Do I Take You? Can we go before the 90s? I can break my own rule here. I can take it back because I find this an interesting story. This goes back to 1988, though. And this involves Jake

Gold, FOTM Jake Gold. Could you share the story of the tragically hip on stage at Massey Hall in 1988 playing for MCA's Bruce Dickinson who flew in from New York

City? Yeah, well I guess as the story goes, you know, Michael Barclay shares it well in his book that he wrote, The Never-Ending Present, on the hit, but basically Bruce Dickinson was with MCA Records, and for those, you know, of my age, or wouldn't remember that there was this Canadian, not Canadian, sorry, it was a college music journal, I think it was, or something that they gave out.

It was like a monthly service I remember subscribing to that was a little mini magazine and had reviews and a CD. Do you remember what it was called? Yeah, I think it was CMJ or something like that. I got a, yeah, it was something like College Music Journal. Okay. And long story short, Bruce Dickinson for MCA heard one of the hip songs that had made it onto

one of these compilation CDs and was blown away that he wanted to come see them live. And so Jake Gold, who was managing the hip, said, well, come on up. They're doing this thing at Massey Hall as part of these awards show, but they're only going to be doing one song or so. Right.

Yeah, they were only supposed to do two songs, I think. They were only scheduled to do two songs. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But anyhow, he made it there, was sitting there, and Gord apparently dropped the mic, fumbled with it, and as he was able to do, he made it all a performance. And it was like he was fighting with this microphone. And so it wasn't just the music that blew Bruce away that day it was you know the

presence of Gord and and the way he could control this situation that you know might have gone sideways or whatever and so you know he was ready to sign the band right there ended up seeing you know more a full set the the next night or so he at the Horseshoe Tavern. But Massey Hall played such a key role in that trajectory of the hip. And they'd go on to headline it many, many times. And I know it was a place Gord Downie loved with all his heart.

Without a doubt. And British journalist Chris Roberts from Melody Maker, I guess he was in town to see Mary Margaret O'Hara, and he pronounced, and I got the quote from your book here, the tragically hip, quote-unquote, the discovery of the night. So the hype kind of seems to kind of go next level that night at Massey Hall in 1988. Yeah, I mean, and it's kind of serendipitous. You're playing this.

I was listening to, you know, Road Apples on my drive down here, and then I switched over to Day for Night. And, you know, later today, I'm actually interviewing Rob and Gord from the band to chat over Zoom, to chat about the 30th anniversary of Road Apples and, you know, all the new outtakes and live recordings with that.

So looking forward to it. Yeah, the Saskadelphia, right? Yeah, that's right. And that came up again with the Rick Mercer conversation. Now, for the record, the Tragically Hip, as you reference them in the book, the quintessential Canadian band. They played Massey Hall nine times. And it's, yeah, it sounds like, I mean,

you got a quote from Gord Sinclair in the book about Massey Hall being the pinnacle. And that's really, that is the, you know, that's my target pants. I want to fit in that one day. Massey Hall is your target. You know, one day that's the stage you want to play. And love that the Tragically Hip played there so often, nine times.

Yeah. Well, I mean, on a side note there about it being the pinnacle, I mean, a quote I love, I always go back to, I chatted with Randy Bachman, and he basically said that he was, he was always jealous of, uh, Joni and Neil and, you know,

all the other, uh, artists, uh, like Gord that, uh, Gord Lightfoot, that is that,

you know, back in his time in the seventies, they got to play Massey, they got to headline, they got to play multiple nights and he never had a chance because, you know, guess who? And,

uh, BTO just became so big. They were too big to play there they went right straight to the arenas and so it shows that and that's another cool thing about Massey Hall I mean I talked earlier about seeing Neil Young there in 2007 and he's played their main times you know he's also played Air Canada Centre which is now Scotiotiabank. He's played the arenas and places. But oftentimes, artists will still prefer to play two or three nights at Massey versus one night

at the big arena just because they love it so much. The sound, everything, the atmosphere, acoustics. It's such a better experience. When you were here last time and we were diving deep into the Horseshoe Tavern, a name that kept popping up then, of course, you can't talk about the history of the Horseshoe Tavern without talking about Stompin' Tom Connors.

Just shout out Stompin' Tom as a Canadian who played Massey Hall in the 90s himself. He played it a few times in the 90s. He was there in 1990, he came back in 98, and then again to round out the decade, September 18th, 1999. Yeah, and the cool thing with Stompin' Tom is that, you know,

that was kind of when he got, you know, came out of retirement a little bit, if you will, and Dean Cameron, as I mentioned, who unfortunately passed away at the time he was at EMI Records as the head, and he was kind of the one who coaxed Stahn out of retirement. And, you know, what a fitting place to play to be able to come back and play Massey Hall, where he had actually played back in 1970. I think it was two or so, you know, after he graduated up from the horseshoe. No one thought that, you know, this, uh, guy singing songs about, uh, you know, Tilsonburg

and Bud, you know, uh, you know. Right. That he could fill a place like Massey Hall, but he did. Uh, and then to come back, you know, 20 some years later and, and do it again was, I think, pretty special for him, uh, uh, and his whole family and fans.

Another, and again, I'll just, I'll sprinkle a few other highlights from the 90s with Canadian artists. And this gentleman's actually not Canadian, so I almost feel like it shouldn't count, but I'm going to refer to him as an honorary Canadian. At this point, can Ronnie Hawkins, can we consider him an honorary Canadian at this point? Yeah, I think so.

Good Arkansas boy. Yeah, he's lived here most of his life, yeah. So we'll give him... But his 60th birthday bash was held January 12, 1995. Yeah, and that was a pretty special evening because it was a whole bunch of guests and, you know, big celebration. You had...

What's his name? Jerry Lewis. And Jeff Healy was part of the band. Nice. You know, Gowan performed. Wow. Yeah, it was quite an all- Barry G.

Yeah, some of the members of the band, I think. So it was quite an all-star band celebrating his birthday. And, you know And that's just one of the other things about Massey over the years too. There's been a lot of those kind of celebrations of multiple artists that make it pretty special too. Amazing, amazing. Here. So without further ado, let me give you some gifts and then we'll get back to the CanCon music and these great stories here. Where do I begin? Okay, this is awesome because I can't give this to the the can con music and these uh great stories here uh where do i begin okay this is awesome because i can't give this to the people on zoom and i'm so glad you're uh here in the

flesh as they say box and so i know you can't even do the history of horseshoe tavern without talking about the police shows that the gary's brought there the police uh how many people were there that first night uh nine yeah yeah i mean, I think maybe closer to a dozen or a bit more, but yeah. Not that many more, but again, the tie-in to Massey, that's the cool thing that right after, about two years after the police played the horseshoe,

the Garys presented them at Massey Hall. Yeah, that's the power of Roxanne. And there, my friend, Mike, Toronto Mike, King of Segways, is giving you the power of Boxan that's a wireless speaker but it's branded as a Moneris speaker and you're wondering Mike why am I so blessed I'm receiving this awesome wireless speaker just for making the trek from Waterloo uh that's because with that wireless speaker you can listen to the yes we are open podcast

which is hosted by fotm al grego alza i don't think he's played massey hall but he has headlined a couple of tmlx events at great lakes brewery on their patio he's a front man i don't know if he's got a new band now i don't know if he's if he's still active with uh the royal pains but he's got a new band, I think, called The Weekends. But Al Grego, he hosts this show for Moneris, and he travels the country interviewing small Canadian businesses, and then he tells the story of their origin, their struggles, and their future outlook. And if you're a small business owner or entrepreneur like myself, you'll find this podcast both helpful and motivational.

Yes, we are open. It's available wherever you get your podcasts. So you can subscribe at yesweareopenpodcast.com. So enjoy the wireless speaker. I mentioned the patio of Great Lakes where Al and the Royal Pains

played two or three times. I think it might be even three times. You have some fresh Great Lakes beer going home with you as well. So much thanks to the good people at Great Lakes Brewery. And I have in my freezer upstairs, I have a lasagna for you from Palma Pasta. This is, you know, Monty Hall didn't give away such a... No.

It doesn't even stop there. It actually gets better. So you got your lasagna. Thank you, Palma Pasta. People can go to palmapasta.com. Support that. It's a great family-run business, just like Great Lakes.

And, you know, speaking of family-run businesses, I've had the... This is interesting for you, I think. So the owner, the founder of StickerU, you can go to StickerU.com and get your stickers and such from this great company, StickerU. They're in Liberty Village.

Andrew Witkin is the gentleman who started StickerU. His father worked at the Purple Onion in Yorkville back in the heyday of the folk music scene. So there is a connection to music, historical Toronto music venues. But I'm giving you a Toronto Mike sticker. Excellent. Thank you.

Sticker you.com. I can add it to my guitar. Yeah, do it. Oh, that would be amazing. Put that on a guitar. And I actually have $75 for you. It's a gift card I'm going to email you, but you can spend $75 at chefdrop.ca.

There's these amazing chefs and restaurants. You can get these prepared meal kits shipped directly to your door. Honestly, every FOTM who's given it a shot has sent me a note to say it was fantastic, delicious, great service. So everybody who's listening can now get $50 off. This is a new promotion. If you use the promo code FOTM50,

FOTM50 at chefdrop.ca, you get $50 off when you spend at least a hundred bucks on your first order. That is a fantastic deal. Everybody should do that. But you, David, you're getting the $75 to spend as you wish. Just let me know how it goes, my friend. Well, thank you. That's overwhelming. Like you said, Monty Hall has nothing on you. Monty Hall, eat your heart out. And again, I'm glad you're here because a lot of these gifts are difficult to give to people when they Zoom in. I'd rather give it to them in person. So last but not least, Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of this community since 1921. Go to ridleyfuneralhome.com to find out about the good people there.

And Mike Majewski, he's been ripping up the GTA real estate scene. You can follow him on Instagram. He's a great follow on Instagram. He posts these zany, zany videos. And you can also go to realestatelove.ca to find out how to reach out to Mike and let him know Toronto Mike sent you. And last but not least, fireside chats with inspiring CEOs and thought leaders. That's the premise of the CEO Edge podcast. That's brought to you by McKay CEO Forums. I actually just posted a new episode hosted by Nancy McKay. I posted it to torontomike.com moments ago. So you can stream there, subscribe and enjoy responsibly. Let's

kick out another 90s Canadian jam. Broken glass, broken hungry, broken hearts and broken bones This is where we used to live Why did you paint the walls? Why did you clean the floor? Why did you clean the floor? Why did you plaster over The hole I punched in the door? This is where we used to live Why did you keep the mouse trap?

Why did you keep the dish rack? These things used to be mine I guess they're still here I want them back I've been advised in real time by the aforementioned Al Grego that he did play Horseshoe Tavern once. Okay.

So not quite Massey Hall yet, but it's never too late to get him to Massey Hall but Barenaked Ladies played Massey Hall uh tell me everything you can about uh the Barenaked Ladies and Massey Hall well I mean uh Barenaked Ladies again one of these uh local Toronto bands that uh you know they grew up most of the members of the band, probably seeing other artists on that stage, going there when they're in high school, maybe with their high school bands, and thinking, wow, you know, this is where I'd love to play one day. I can't imagine maybe ever doing it.

I read in your book, Ed Robertson saw the Kim Mitchell band there in 86. Yeah. Shout out to FOTM Kim Mitchell. Yeah, and Ed Robertson, yeah, for him, he really, he knew also about the Rush live album that was recorded there. All the Worlds of Stage. Yeah, back in 76. And he said that was kind of his, you know,

real connection with Massey Hall as a kid. And that album he fell in love with. And so then, you know, when Barenaked Ladies finally played there, you know, in the 90s. And, you know, it's a pretty special moment that, you know, the story goes that Geddy Lee and the guys left, you know, a bottle of champagne for them backstage. You know, it's kind of a congratulatory thing, even though Ed said he doesn't drink. But he was just more excited that Rush actually knew they existed. But you don't open that bottle. You save it.

It's like a trophy, a memento. Yeah. And it's 1992. So Gordon comes out in 92, which, of course, has sold over a million copies here in 1992. So Gordon comes out in 92, which of course has sold over a million copies here in Canada alone. And I guess the success of Gordon gets them to sell out four nights. Is it right?

Four nights at Massey Hall in April 93. Yep. And I mean, CFNY deserves a lot of the credit here as well. I mean, holy smokes. I close every episode of Toronto Mike with lowest of the low because I was basically, you know, the propaganda machine that is CFNY

played lowest of the low like crazy and I loved it. But Bare Naked Ladies, man, when they had the yellow tape that they were selling downtown, I think I purchased about every song on that was like just on high rotation.

And they would even find that, that cover version of a McDonald's girl, which never did get never it's live. They never put it on an album, but although I love it, they would just play everything bare naked ladies as early and often as they say. And next thing you know it,

they're, they're headlining at Massey Hall. That's unbelievable. Yeah, and they return there many, many times over the years. And interesting thing, it's one of those things again, that for people like Ed Robertson

and Barrack and the Ladies, it's a hometown show. And that came with it, a lot of other things. And Ed talked about that. It really took him a few times to play before he was really comfortable up on that stage because

he'd be up there and thinking, there's Joe in row four. Did I get him tickets? Who else is here that I know? Just to get focused on the show when there's so many other distractions. The hometown show is always a little different too.

Obviously at Massey Hall, that's the other thing I haven't said, but what makes Massey so unique, I mean, it's 2,500 people, but as Jim Cuddy had told me, it's really like the audience is giving you a hug. You know, other artists say it's like playing in, you know, someone's living room because it feels that intimate, even though, you know, it's a couple thousand people that are watching you up on stage. No, not a bad seat in the house. No, not really. Although, I mean, in the past, you know, some people talk about there's a few seats with obstructed views, but I mean, I've never found a bad seat. And with the current revitalization, it's going to be even better because they've tweaked things

a little more. Those old seats, as much as people love them, they will be, I think, that much more comfortable and they'll absorb the sound better which will just improve the acoustics. Your ticket should be comped for that first show. I am going to make some calls after that.

I actually think my ticket should be comped for that first show. But after yours, of course but uh and massey hall uh has also appeared in uh films and such i know that uh it's a key part of the uh academy award-winning shape of water which is a few years ago that's where she lived like she i mean they. So it was, yeah, the facade of where she lived was Massey Hall. Yeah. And I mean, I was watching the Umbrella Academy there a couple of years ago on Netflix with my wife and son. And I was like, oh yeah, that's Massey.

One of the scenes. So yeah, pretty cool. It's even featured in films over the years too. And often with my buddies, we talk about how how all and i've changed my mind a bit on this as i've uh grown up as they say as i've aged and matured but i i would i was always arguing that all the in most of the great music venues in the city were west of young street like so young street is demarcation line and again i love i love going to the danforth music hall and opera house and stuff that are east of young. But that Massey Hall is technically East of Young, of course.

It's on the east side. So that sort of plays in that favor. I think I was unfair to the East of Young. I was unfamiliar and unfair. And I'd like to take that back if I offended any East of Young Torontonians. Of which I've learned there are many. And they're also good people. So shout out to the East of Youngers.

Okay. By the way, Bare Naked Ladies, that very first show that they played at Massey Hall was broadcast live on the aforementioned 102.1 CFNY. That's pretty cool. And I mean, that was another thing over the years, as you mentioned, because of the acoustics, it was easy to do that. I mean, that was another thing over the years, as you mentioned, because of the acoustics. It was easy to do that.

I mean, I think the very first concert, another fun fact, was Crowbar. Back in 1971, they ended up recording a live album there. And it was the first time that a concert was live streamed on radio on Chum. Okay. Right. Back when, yeah, Chum was a cool station back then uh yeah i have to remind the kids because they only know it as a top 40 station or whatever but uh do you maybe now is a good time do you want to do you have any other uh at your disposal any other fun facts that maybe don't have to have anything to do with the 1990s that you want to

share again people for the deep dive and all the details, this book is available now. And honestly, even if you can't read, it's a good book. But it's even better if you can read, actually. But I'm digging it. I'm digging this. And it's a pretty book. Can books be pretty?

I'm telling you. Well done here. Well, thanks, Mike. And we're covering 90s here because we can't cover the whole thing because you got to get the book to get the whole thing but i mean there were a lot of stand-up comics would play massey hall and i i wanted to focus on canadians so i've skipped over like the shenate o'connor concert which was uh i know there's a great story in your book about somebody who that's like their favorite their favorite was the early 90s uh

shenate o'connor performance but the stand-up comics i mean you could have seen you know andrew dice clay headlined massey hall uh in the 90s like it was uh and and i used to see these ads on tv i hope i say his last name right you'll tell me if i'm wrong victor borge yeah okay so i grew up with these ads like they were selling like i don't know, VHS or something, some Victor Borge collections, and I'd see this guy. But he headlined Massey Hall in the 90s. Well, I don't know. It might have not been the 90s.

But he was probably one of the first comedians to play there, probably back in the 50s. And that is something that's pretty cool that you talk about fun facts even though the original name of Massey Hall was the Massey Music Hall and that's what you know you and I and many people know it as a place to see concerts and music I mean over the years you know besides comedy you know you had boxing matches, you had wrestling matches, you know, Helen Keller, you know, spoke there. Winston Churchill gave a speech. Authors spoke, you know, there was even a funeral for Stalin for, you know, people that were, you know, supporters of him in town.

Sympathetic to the cause. Yeah. I mean, it really, it ran the gamut. And that's the other cool thing. I mean, I started this book with kind of the thesis that Hart Massey had, that he wanted Massey Hall and this venue to be a place for the people and for the community. And it really has carried on for, you know, 127 years now. And, uh, management, uh, of Massey is continuing that. I mean, now they have a, an incredible artist development program. They have community outreach and education programs where they go into schools, partner with artists to give, you know, songwriting workshops. Uh, you know, there's so many things they do beyond just, you know, put on concerts and other events at that venue. Yeah. And Victor Borge, like you said, many times would return to Massey Hall way before the 90s. But I think he still, I still think he played like maybe his last show there in the 90s. But we'll have to head to the archives to confirm that.

the archives to, uh, to, uh, confirm that. Uh, another thing quickly before we leave Barenaked Ladies is, uh, Dee Snider was in town. I guess he was in a play here in town and he, uh, actually joined Barenaked Ladies on stage at Massey Hall to, uh, sing We're Not Gonna Take It. Yeah, that was, uh, apparently for, you know, an encore. And, uh, according to Ed Robertson, I mean, Alan Doyle, circling back to another great new fee there. Right. Yeah, he had opened up that show and I guess he still talks about that

as one of the highlights to watch Dee Snider and Barenaked Ladies saying we're not going to take it at Massey Hall from the wings, you know? And that, I mean, Alan Doyle's seen his fair share of great musical moments, and he puts that in his top five of all time. You're right, you're right.

He was a side stage, because he opened up, I guess that was solo Alan Doyle? I don't know, but I think he opened up, and that's a good point that we should point out, that another great Canadian band that played Massey Hall in the nineties is Great Big Sea. So I mentioned Sean McCann was on the show a couple of episodes ago. And yeah,

so Alan Doyle has that memory of the Barenaked Ladies and it kind of comes full circle here because I actually saw Alan Doyle not too long ago. I'm going to say August, August maybe, because he opened for another band. So let's just play another CanCon 90s classic. CanCon 90s classic. Strange and beautiful are the stars tonight That dance around your head

In your eyes I see that perfect world I hope that doesn't sound too weird And I want all the world to know That your love's all I need All that I need And if we're in love We are lost together. We are lost together Stand before this

Here's a band I've seen at Massey Hall. Took my mom there. It's her favorite band of all time, Blue Rodeo. You mentioned Jim Cuddy like, I don't know, half an hour ago here, but what can you tell me about Blue Rodeo and Massey Hall? Well, again, you know, it's just another example of that trajectory of, you know, bands kind of stepping up the ladder and the venue chain, if you will,

to use that analogy. As you know, they hone their sound at the horseshoe. I talked about that in my last book. From there, they moved their way up again until they got to the point they could play Massey. I think, if I recall correctly, their first time playing was opening for Sarah McLachlan. And then they ended up headlining after that themselves.

But they've gone on now to play Massey Hall more than any other group. You know, Gordon Lightfoot holds that record for most performances ever by an artist. But, you know, for a group, it's Blue Rodeo, Whitefoot holds that record for most performances ever by an artist. But, you know, for a group, it's Blue Rodeo, and they've even recorded an album there. And, again, it's one of the places they love. And, you know, Jim Cuddy said it takes a while to play it right.

You know, he loves the acoustics. And, you know, all the of the band have have played there over the years and in different other uh you know bands and groups and things special occasions but uh you know for them as well it's quite a special place and they even were uh on the bill to celebrate the centennial of Massey Hall back in 1994 uh June 12th uh so So they have a real rich history with the hall. They're in the record book also. I think they played what's now called the Budweiser Stage, but we used to call it the Molson Amphitheater. I think Blue Rodeo might be the band to play that the most often as well.

I wouldn't doubt it. So yeah, we're learning here. They play everything the most often. The hometown band that plays often. Well, that's the last or the first concert I've saw since the pandemic. Oh, so that's the one Alan Doyle opened for. Yeah. That's the show I was at.

It was raining and then it stopped. So that was the last show I've been at. And yeah, I've been fortunate to get to know the guys in the band over the years. They're all great guys. And, you know, for this book, especially, you know, Basil is another one of those guys. Basil Donovan, you know, a lot of people just see him as a quiet bass player in the background. But I mean, man, does he have some great stories in history as well. You know, I think you should have him as a guest if you haven't.

Yeah, sold. Yeah. you had me at hello you had me at hello here it's funny because you know we kind of touched on the fact that uh what you know you mentioned there was like a funeral there but it wasn't just bands and musicians that played at massey hall here uh i see uh in in the live chat here that Al saw a taping of the Vinyl Cafe Christmas at Massey Hall. Yeah, well there you go. They did. They had other filmings and things there.

The one part we haven't touched on, the Toronto Symphony. I have the whole classical side of things. Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. See, I'm not classy enough to know what I'm talking about there. But yeah, please. But I mean, they were intertwined with the hall from the early beginnings until Roy Thompson Hall was built

in the early 80s and opened. I mean, the TSO was the longest tenant, really. I mean, you know, because in the early years, that was the music, you know, probably from the 20s to the 50s when you started to get some jazz or big band or other styles of music in there. I mean, classical was kind of the main style and form of music people would go out and listen to, to hear an orchestra play, whether it was a local one or a visiting one from, you know, New York, Philadelphia or somewhere else.

Which begs the question, what would you deem to be the first rock and roll show at Massey Hall? It's a tough one. I mean, I know Cream played there and Geddy Lee talks about going to that show. I mean, that would have been something in, I think, 67, but probably, you know, I'd say the Dylan show, which was kind of another one of

those seminal moments when he played with the Hawks, who went on to become the band. You mentioned Ronnie Hawkins. It was his backing band that by 65, they had left Ronnie Hawkins and joined Bob Dylan for his tour. And that was the famous one where he went electric. And they played Massey Hall. I think it's what Lord Monick made it tell you. Yeah.

I mean, they played Massey Hall and there was booze coming down from the upper gallery. I mean, that's unheard of. I mean, who goes to Massey Hall and booze? But, you know, it happened at that Dylan concert and Robbie Robertson said how he was so shocked because, you know, he, he thought, okay, this is my hometown.

This is, you know, they're not going to boo me here, even though, you know, the rest of the tour they'd been booing, but you know, it was still, he, he was unaware of that whole, you know, Yorkville folk scene and all the folkies and how much they thought this was blasphemy that, you know, Dylan had plugged in his guitar. That's a wild story. Wild rock and roll story there. And here, let's talk about a genre I quite like but seems to be there seems to be sparse examples but uh rap music so i mean in the 90s l l cool j did play uh massey hall but this is there weren't a lot of uh hip-hop acts that uh played massey hall no not not back in the day i guess it really

wasn't uh whether it was the size of the venue, you know, the bands or the style of music, I don't know what it was, but LL Cool J did play there. Yeah, 1991. Yeah, and in more recent years, I mean, I know Maestro Fresh West has played there, and, you know, Shad is now part of their kind of artist development program and has performed on that stage. So, you know, more and more.

Things are changing. Things are changing, Things are changing. And that's a great thing with the Massey Halls. We know it today. I mean, it's quite a diverse lineup and they really do support artists and they want to be part of their careers and help them grow and develop. So I think that's, you know, a wonderful thing. So I'll shout out a couple of Canadian acts that I didn't pull a song for,

but Jane Sibury and Cowboy Junkies are a couple of Canadian acts I wanted to recognize who played Massey Hall in the 90s. And just to move away from Canadian acts for a minute, it's worth noting, you know, Aretha Franklin played back-to-back in 1993, April 1993. And I'm sure FOTM Brad Fay was at the Bruce Springsteen show in January of 1996. I wonder if that's the show Tom Wilson came on and told the story about seeing Bruce at Massey Hall.

I'll just tell the name of the story, and people need to find the Tom Wilson episode of Toronto Mike to enjoy it in all its glory, but I'll just name the story, Bruce Springsteen's Tits. Yeah. Okay, have you heard the story? Yeah, he actually shared that one,

and I included it in the book, toned down a little bit. So definitely go to that podcast because Tom's become a friend, and he's an incredible storyteller and much better to hear him tell that story. Well, his voice is better than ours. Oh, yeah. It's quite funny though. So yeah, he, just the reason he was there, it was kind of a neat thing. Basically Sony Music, they shared the same publisher at the time, and Bruce had heard his song,

Jesus Sings the Blues, that he'd put out with Junkhouse, and he really liked that song, so I guess he'd told Sony, they invited Tom to the show, and yeah, he got to be in a backstage, and yeah, go listen to that episode to hear what happened.

Bruce Springsteen's tits, one of the great stories told on Toronto Mic'd in all its uncensored glory and it's worth it. Johnny Cash, of course, he played in, I think, I don't know, was it 96? No, maybe not, but he played in the 90s

for sure and Pete Townshend's played and Keith Richards played in the 90s and there's a, you know, just so you know, it's not just these rock bands. It's also some heavy metal bands. Iron Maiden played Massey Hall in the 1990s. Yeah, that was a real surprise to me. I mean, you know, I don't know what it is.

Lately, I've been on a real Iron Maiden kick. They're one of those bands I saw back in high school. I saw them at the Coliseum at the C&E and saw them at Maple Leaf Gardens. And, you know, I love their music, but, you know, they're not a band. You imagine playing Massey Hall, right? You think they'd blow that old roof off. Maybe if they went acoustic.

But yeah. Are they allowed to do that? I don't know. But, you know, hey, they did. And I mean, ACDC played there back in the late 70s. And so, you know, there has been some harder rock bands that have played on that stage. What's your all-time, of all the shows you've seen at Massey Hall,

what is your all-time favorite Massey Hall show? It definitely is Neil Young. I mean, back in 2007, it was part of the Chrome Dreams 2 tour. And he played three nights. I went to two of the three. And he'll probably get a scalp one of my tickets for 500 bucks. And, you know, but it never even entered my mind. One evening, I went with my dad.

And another evening, I joined up with these Rustys that were kind of just Neil Young fans. They were strangers at the start of the night. But we got together for dinner and, you know, a few beers at the venue. And, you know, it was incredible. I mean, the one night I was front row center for the second half of the show, but he did an acoustic first half, just him,

then an intermission and second half, you know, plugged in. And unlike Dylan, no booze. I mean, most people love both the acoustic and electric, especially myself. I love both sides of Neil, and to see them both on the same evening in my favorite venue

was just truly magical. That's a perfect storm right there. That's amazing here. I'll close by pointing out that it really was for more than just it is, I'm sorry, it still exists. When is the opening reopening? November 24th.

Coming up. Yeah, coming up with Gordon Lightfoot performing. All right. So, Dave, if you're listening, we got to hook up the other Dave here. He wrote a damn book about the place. The Dalai Lama, the 14th Dalai Lama. Did you know that there's more than one? That's a fun fact about, uh, the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Uh, he played, he played, I don't know how much playing he did. Yeah. I don't know what instrument he plays, but, uh. But, uh, you know, he's more than just a Nobel Peace Prize winner. He, uh, he was there in 1990 at Massey. I imagine him going to Massey Hall to see the Dalai Lama. Yeah. Well, again, it's one of those examples.

Over the years, so many orators and speakers have, you know, been on that stage, you know, giving messages. Like I said, it could have been Helen Keller, you know, Eleanor Roosevelt, you know, authors like William Faulkner. I mean, it really, it ran the gamut and that's a neat thing as well. That, you know, that stage again, it's perfect for, you know, speeches as well and talks because of the acoustics again and the intimacy of it.

Have the lowest of the low played Massey Hall? I believe they played there once, yep, in the 2000s. Well, that'll be our sequel episode when we cover the 2000s. So this one's just for the 1990s. But David, let me just remind everybody that the book, Massey Hall, and we'll take a photo after this by the magic tree there, and I'll hold up the book.

But it's called Massey Hall, and it's great. It covers the whole history of Massey Hall. And there's a nice foreword by Jan Arden. And people can pick it up for their loved one for the holidays. Or you don't even need an excuse. Just get the David McPherson Massey Hall book. That's an order. You second that emotion.

I do. Thanks for doing this, buddy. I love talking about these great old Toronto music venues with you. This is amazing. No, it's a pleasure. Thanks for having me. Do you know what your next book's going to be about? Oh, of course. Everyone's asking me that. We'll see where the Mudes takes me next.

I don't know. I've got to focus on promoting this one for a little bit, take a little bit of a breather, but you know, we'll see. You know, I've, I've contemplated maybe putting my hand into trying to write some fiction and tying that into my love of music somehow.

And we'll see. Yeah. Well, that's the trick. You got to do that. And then you get a license that to like a, some Netflix series or something. Yeah.

That's the route we're going to go with you, buddy. Okay. And that brings us to the end of our 943rd show. You can follow me on Twitter. I'm at Toronto Mike. David,

what is your handle on Twitter? It's at McPherson Com. McPherson Com. Follow David there. Our friends at Great Lakes Brewery, they're at Great Lakes Beer. ChefDrop is at GetChefDrop. Remember, there's a new promo code to save

50 bucks. It's called FOTM50. Use it at ChefDrop.ca. Moneris, they're at Moneris. McKay CEO Forums are at McKay CEO Forums. Palma Pasta is at Palma.ca. Moneris. They're at Moneris. McKay CEO Forums are at McKay CEO Forums. Palma Pasta is at Palma Pasta. Sticker U is at Sticker U.

Ridley Funeral Home, they're at Ridley FH. And Mike Majeski of Remax Specialist Majeski Group. I mentioned he's on Instagram at Majeski Group Homes. See you all tomorrow when 1236's Mark Weisblatt returns to recap the month that was

october 2021 Maybe the world doesn't realize there's a thousand shades of gray. Cause I know that's true, yes I do. I know it's true, yeah. I know it's true. This podcast has been produced by TMDS and accelerated by Roam Phone. Roam Phone brings you the most reliable virtual phone service to run your business and protect your home number from unwanted calls. Visit RoamPhone.ca to get started. Maybe I'm not and maybe I am.

But who gives a damn because everything is coming up.