The Rolling Stones And Toronto
On October 24, 1978 Keith Richards entered a Toronto courtroom to face charges for heroin possession, facing a possible seven year prison sentence. The judge presiding over the case recognized that with his rock star income he wasn’t likely to steal to support the habit, and that his attempts to remove himself from the drug culture had made him an example for others.
Richards was then put on probation for a year and ordered to continue psychiatric treatment. As another part of Richard’s sentence, he’d have to give a benefit concert in the Toronto area for young people at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Keith was quite happy with this ruling and his fans were ecstatic. He performed two concerts for the CNIB at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium, which is just west of Toronto.
Some would say that the bust was retaliation, considering that in 1977 Prime Minister Trudeau’s wife Margaret attended a Stones concert in Toronto on her sixth anniversary and was seen partying with the band after hours. Reportedly to avoid questions from the press, Maggie flew to New York which only added more speculation as Mick Jagger was also on his way to the Big Apple. Both Jagger and the Trudeaus claimed no wrongdoing.
Since their colourful association with Canada’s First Lady, the Stones have continued to grace Toronto with their presence as they live there during tour rehearsals. Before opening their 2005 tour in Boston’s Fenway Park, Mick and the boys performed an eighty minute set for 1,100 fans at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Toronto’s Sherbourne Street. In 2002, they sprung a surprise appearance in the city’s Palais Royale, a thirties’ era dancehall overlooking Lake Ontario that once showcased the likes of Duke Ellington and Count Basie.
When the city of Toronto’s economy was threatened in 2003 by the SARS outbreak, tourism and film production suffered greatly as city officials attempted to ease the concerns for public safety. The Rolling Stones suggested an event which would become known as Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto. The Stones headlined a concert in Downsview Park to an audience reportedly in excess of 450,000, enlisting the talents of AC/DC, The Guess Who and Toronto’s own supergroup Rush. An interesting piece of trivia from the concert is that while Justin Timberlake’s set was not well received by some of the rockers in the crowd, Timberlake had the satisfaction of being Mick’s guest later in the show, joining him for a performance of “Miss You.” Plastic water bottles were thrown at Timberlake, and the commercially released concert DVD clearly shows Keith Richards reprimanding fans who continued to show their displeasure with Timberlake.
Rock’n’roll fans in Toronto may still get their Stones fix when the band is not in town. There’s a Rolling Stones theme bar on the city’s trendy Queen Street West called Stones Place. Jerry Stone has honoured the band by decorating his establishment with guitars, gold records and posters from every era of the band’s existence. Prior to opening Stones Place, Jerry represented Ronnie Wood, promoting his paintings and drawings.
The world’s greatest rock’n’roll band has made Toronto their second home, and the citizens of “Toronto the Good” will continue to look forward to their future visits.
