Well, 2011 was an interesting year to say the least. A great year to be Canadian. A terrible year to be a dic…tator.
The new mayor of Toronto provided all the fodder a comedian could ask for. The new majority Prime Minister is quick to shun tyrannical leaders (and no one sees the irony in this). The most heated debate in the house of Commons was whether or not to keep the beaver as a national symbol. And we left the Kyoto protocol in our greenhouse gas emissions proving that the new Canadian mantra is “we’re here for a good time, not a long time.” Heck, if Charlie Sheen can get his citizenship, maybe there’s a Senator post for him?
I doubt The Band set out to make the greatest rock movie ever. Most bands, when they break up, dissolve into a pool of watered down press releases all citing musical differences. We’ve heard it all before. But not The Band.
They get the greatest concert promoter in the history of music – Bill Graham – to produce a farewell show. Then they get the greatest filmmaker in the history of film – Martin Scorsese – to direct and document the evening. Then they get the world’s greatest musicians together to play some of the greatest music ever made.
Things like this don’t happen anymore. Today there’s a team of people behind the scenes all going over contract details and backstage riders before their ‘treasured artists’ step foot in the door. But in 1976, it was less formal and more about the music. The Last Waltz is the sound of some hippies getting together and saying goodbye. Thanks for the trip. CONTINUE READING >
Jamie Oliver is coming to Roy Thomson Hall next week (Wednesday, November 16!) for a speaking engagement, titled after his new book Jamie Oliver’s Food Escapes (which you receive for free with every ticket) - In addition to the event, you can send a question for Jamie to “soundboard(AT)rth-mh(DOT)com” and he’ll answer right here on the Roy Thomson Hall blog, soundboard.ca
To get you started, here is a great video clip of a speech he gave when he accepted the TED Award:
As our bio suggests, Soundboard is the official community of musicians, music fans, and friends of The Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall. Here, we provide a place for those on stage and behind the scenes to share their insights and experiences as it relates to events not only in our Halls but in our community at large. Today, guest contributor Laura Newcombe shares what she took home from a recent presentation by former US Vice President Al Gore. Laura is a Toronto resident, grade 9 student, and a master spelling expert! Here is Laura’s review of October 13, 2011 at Roy Thomson Hall.
When my mother asked me if I wanted to hear a speech by Al Gore ‘live’ at Roy Thomson Hall, my first reaction was: …He’s still alive?! This is the man responsible for An Inconvenient Truth that we watched in school years ago. Isn’t that a classic? And aren’t the guys who did the classics generally… ahem… somewhat… dead?
Next Tuesday, October 25, Roy Thomson Hall welcomes ‘I Believe – A Holocaust Oratorio For Today’. I Believe is a non profit organization who in their words “seeks to move audiences towards a spirit of understanding and acceptance of others through music and words in telling a story of the Holocaust.” An artistic work, created by composer and music teacher Zane Zalis, is intended to inform, educate, perpetuate remembrance and hopefully affect change and acceptance of others. In today’s post, guest contributor, Zane Zalis shares his thoughts on the project and the process and inspiration behind it.
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Creating I Believe has been and continues to be a life-changing journey. I knew when I started the project that it would be an artistic and emotional challenge but, as a dear friend shared with me “….bet you didn’t know what you were getting into” – despite all the preparatory work I had undertaken, he was right. In 2004 I had just completed a new work which had focused on Kristallnacht for the gala opening of the Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice at the University of Manitoba and as a result I felt compelled to create a large scale work about the Holocaust.
To announce our 2011|12 Season at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall, we created a video (with the help of Brent Kitagawa, Ryan Kitagawa, and Fil Bucchino) as an introduction to the year ahead at our Halls. We hope you enjoy and please feel free to share it!
Let us know what shows you’re looking forward to!
Stephen McGrath is Soundboard Editor and Media Relations Manager at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall
Massey Hall has a long and illustrious history. From the origins of the great Toronto Symphony Orchestra to the Greatest Jazz Concert Ever and beyond, there is a seemingly endless list of memorable events staged at Massey Hall over the years and that legacy continues today. For those of recent memory, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn’t think of Neil Young when they thought of the Hall. With all of the great feedback and comments we’ve been getting about the pair of Neil Young shows that occurred this week, we thought we’d post for your interest, a list of some Toronto show reviews not only as a way of documenting the events here on our site but hopefully, inspiring you to share your personal comments/thoughts about the shows in the comments section below.
Both shows were filmed by Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme for the third instalment of the Neil Young livedocumentary films and we are honoured to have hosted them.
“Young plays Massey Hall like it’s one of his beat up guitars. He rattles around the bones of the Old Lady of Shuter Street with his six strings on tracks like Down By the River and Tell Me Why as if a day hasn’t passed since those same songs were pressed into vinyl following his famous show there in 1971.” – National Post CONTINUE READING >
We would all get there early, if you were one of the first four you got in on the euchre game. You had to be in your uniform first, the red bellhop uniform that nobody wanted to wear, it was too hot, it made your neck itchy, and well, you looked like a bellhop… The game would commence, and it was not for the faint of heart, I was younger than most of the other ushers at the time, but they never cut me any slack. If you stepped out of line, you heard about it. The rest of the crew would arrive over the next thirty minutes and soon after that, the head usher, an austere man named Si Kuiack would enter and roll call would commence.
Everyone would gather around when Si spoke, a quirky and hilarious man who would bark “Tuesday, Wednesday” as he tried to fill the weekly roster. Tuesday & Wednesday were the regular nights of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra before they vacated the premises for Roy Thomson Hall in June of 1982.
Once at a particular Salvation Army graduation show, each audience member was handed a card that said “When I die, I am going to H_____.” With no hesitation, Si grabbed his pen and scrawled in “Hamilton” and promptly deposited the card in the collection box. It was Si we would come back to see 15 minutes after each show started. We would line up at his desk (to receive our pay for the evening) and he would give everyone 7 bucks, in cash.
Both artists are about to release new albums on April 5 and if you can tell us the title of either record in the comments section below, you’ll be entered into a draw to win a CD and a pair of tickets to the show. We have 5 prize packs available and we’ll award one pair to our readers each day all next week.
Good luck!
Oh! And here is a little something we found on a quick YouTube search…
Soundboard is the official community of musicians, music fans, and friends of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Canada. It’s your behind-the-scenes source for related music news, recommendations, and rewards.
