Massey Hall … The Legend, My Memories, The Book

The legendary Massey Hall is about to reopen after a major multi-year long renovation. Fittingly, another Canadian musical legend, Gordon Lightfoot will perform on November 25, 26, and 27th to get things rolling. All the recent talk in the media about the reopening has got me thinking back over my own many Massey Hall experiences. I would like to share some of those with you.

First, a bit of history. Massey Hall was built by industrialist Hart Massey in memory of his son Charles who loved music. Its doors first opened on July 4, 1884. It was designated as a “National Historic Site of Canada” in 1981.

Since its doors opened, Massey Hall has hosted an amazing array of world-famous artists. These include the likes of Maria Callas, Enrico Caruso, Vladimir Horowitz and Luciano Pavarotti from the classical tradition. Jazz legends like Charlie Parker Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Mingus who performed a one-off concert together that was recorded and released as “Jazz at Massey Hall.” Contemporary musical giants like Bob Dylan, Cream, U2, Neil Young and Bob Marley and the Whalers have all graced the Massey Hall stage.

Massey Hall is one of North America’s most beloved concert venues. I don’t know how many times I have sat there at a performance and the artist has spoken about how thrilled they were to be playing the venue for the very first time, or for the “nth” time. It is one of the most significant “must perform at” venues for artists on the continent. Needless to say, it is absolutely electrifying to be a member of the audience at a performance there and be embraced in its sense of intimacy and wonderful acoustics.

My Personal Memories

Several significant events popped to mind as I was going through my mental checklist – some because they were musical highlights, and others for more obtuse reasons. The most memorable are recorded here.

As I go through these memories you may wonder how I managed to remember the exact date of all these concerts. Well, I didn’t, but there is a way to nail them down. The Massey Hall website has a section where they list, by decade, every concert and event that has taken place there since its opening up to and including 2009. All you need to do is remember in which decade a concert you saw took place, and then spend a few minutes sorting through the chronological list. Here is a link to that page.

For no particular reason, other than I am now certain when these concerts took place, I am going to go through these memorable events in chronological order.

James Taylor & Carole King – December 10, 1970

The first concert that leaps to mind whenever I think about my Massey Hall experiences, is when I went to see James Taylor at the end of 1970. I have seen James a few times over the years, but it was not the fact that I was seeing him that made this time so memorable. It was who he chose to open for him that night. It was a singer-songwriter who was in the process of launching her solo career, Carole King.

Being a serious lover of music, I was already aware of who she was. King was a member of the famous Goffin and King song-writing team who co-authored many of the 1960s number-one hits, including The Loco-motion, Go Away Little Girl, Up On the Roof, and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.

I BELIEVE this was her first performance in front of a large concert audience. Her performance was sublime, capturing the musical hearts of everyone in the room. A few months after this performance, the album Tapestry was released, and as the saying goes, the rest was history.

Another reason this event stuck was with me was James was frequently having to tune his guitar during his set. At one point he said in the midst of the process – and I paraphrase somewhat – “You’ll have to excuse me I just recently had my guitar restrung with human flesh”. Some of the things you could say in the 1970s you can no longer get away with. 🙂

Lighthouse – March 10, 1972

I loved the band Lighthouse. I played saxophone, so it was a natural for me to embrace the sounds of bands like Blood, Sweat and Tears, Chicago and Lighthouse, which all had amazing horn sections.

Lighthouse was a favourite amongst all these groups, probably because they were Canadian, and I got to see them perform several times over the years. This particular concert took place just after they returned to Toronto from a triumphant Carnegie Hall appearance.

The Carnegie Hall concert was recorded and released as a double album. It was the first Canadian album ever to go platinum. They were at their absolute peak.

I suppose I vividly remember this Massey Hall concert primarily for musical reasons. The energy in the room was amazing, and they played like a band that was absolutely on top of their game.

Beach Boys – September 2, 1973

I remember the Beach Boys event for another less-than-ideal reason – I almost turned it in to a disaster akin to a Greek tragedy. That said, it was an interesting and exciting concert to be at. The album Surfs Up had been recently released and it ultimately led them back to prominence. I’m sure that six months after this Massey Hall event they were playing stadiums again. But they had fallen so far that they were playing in relatively small venues at the time. A great way to see them, of course.

The near disaster part involved the ticket purchase and distribution. My girlfriend at the time had an uncle who managed the Massey Hall ticket office. He secured me 12 tickets in the first row of the centre balcony – people were not rushing to see the Beach Boys. I was in Toronto at the time and decided that I would mail the other 10 tickets to a buddy who would then distribute them to the other ticket buyers.

The mailed tickets never arrived. The short of it was on the day of the concert we were issued handwritten passes by my girlfriend’s uncle, and that got us into the building. This was all done with the understanding that if someone showed up with the physical tickets they would get in and we would have to leave. As you can imagine, this was a profoundly stressful situation.

The net result was that no one else showed up and we got to enjoy the show. Disaster averted. Several weeks later the envelope containing the tickets was returned to me due to insufficient postage. I still have most of those tickets as you can see in the picture.

Hawkwind – April 9, 1974/ May 12, 1975

Yet another Massey Hall concert I remember for “other” reasons. Hawkwind was an English band who’s claim-to-fame was that they were amongst the original psychedelic “space rock” bands – you know, music you listen to when you were sitting around feeling spacey. 🙂

For the diehard music fans amongst you, Lemmy was the band’s bassist at the time. I assume he was the only member of Hawkwind that went on to have a memorable career in rock ‘n’ roll. The opening group that night was another non-rememberable band called “Man”.

The reason I remember this particular event is because it is the only concert I have ever walked out of. I did get up and stroll around the Skydome while the band Living Colour was opening for the Rolling Stones Steel on their Wheels Tour, but I never actually left the building. 🙂

The reason I and my friends all walked out was because the volume was so profounly loud and disturbing, we thought we were going to have our eardrums pierced. I have not listened to any of Hawkwind’s music since that night.

Levon Helm & Lucinda Williams – June 30, 2010

Fortunately, this is another event that I remember for mostly musical reasons. The Band remains my absolute favourite musical group of all time. And of course, Levon was a major part of that.

Prior to this event I had often thought about going to upstate New York to attend one of his famous “Ramble” musical get-togethers in his Woodstock barn. This had never happened, so I was thrilled to get a chance to see him one last time. He regaled the audience with tales of playing in Toronto with Ronnie Hawkins and the other members of The Band in the early days, as well as of his love of Massey Hall. His band was tight, the music was fantastic, and the memories it stirred were deeply touching.

One of my other favourite Roots performers, Lucinda Williams, whom I have seen many times, opened for him. Her set was short, but it was a pleasure to see her yet again. She too mentioned how much she loves performing at Massey Hall.

One amusing anecdote that came out of the event evolved around Lucinda’s performance. This is the other reason that caused the event to stick out in my memory. An individual involved in roots music in Canada wrote an article about the event, speaking glowingly about Levon, but admonishing Lucinda because she had a binder containing the lyrics to her songs on stage with her that she frequently had to glance at.

I knew the individual indirectly and was aware that he had just recently married. It was clear that he had not had much experience with women “of a certain age”. I almost felt inspired to post a comment on his article pointing that he would understand why Lucinda was using a binder in due course when he and his wife had aged a few decades. 

When I relayed the comment about the use of a lyric binder to my wife, and many of the women I worked with, who were all women “of a certain age”, they fully understood why Lucinda required some lyrical support. One of my colleagues howled with laughter when she heard the story, framing the whole situation beautifully when she said, “there are many days when I even forget the names of my own children”. 🙂

Gordon Lightfoot – March of Many Years

I think I would be terribly remiss if I did not mention attending Gordon Lightfoot concerts at Massey Hall. His multi day performances in March that occurred most years were ones that I and my high school music loving buddies made sure we attended. I grew up in Gord’s hometown (Orillia, Ontario), so it was almost mandatory for my little posse of friends and I to get together to teach ourselves how to play the guitar while singing along to Gord’s tunes.

As I write this, he has just turned 83 years old, and is ready to fire it up one more time at Massey Hall for three consecutive nights. He no longer has the singing voice he once had, but I know that people who have never seen him before are always thrilled when they get to see him perform for the very first time. Have a great show Gord! And to all of you who will be there, embrace the historical significance and the magic of a Gordon Lightfoot performance.

The Book!

To coincide with the unveiling of the Massey Hall renovation a book celebrating the venue has just been released. Massey Hall: An Enduring Legacy examines the venue’s long, storied, and important history and highlights many of the amazing performances that have taken place there over the years.

I am pleased to say that a friend of mine, David MacPherson, is the book’s author. David also recently wrote and released a book that examined the history of another music venue in Toronto that is famous throughout North America, The Horseshoe Tavern.

I was thrilled when David dropped by the house a couple of weeks ago to bring me a copy of his latest missive. It was a fascinating read, further stimulating my recollections. It would make a wonderful Christmas present for a loved one, and should be available in most bookstores, including Chapters/Indigo. Sorry – had to squeeze in a shameless plug for my friend. 🙂

It was David’s arrival with the book that really got me thinking back over special events I have attended at Massey Hall. I am not sure how many dozens of events I have attended there – that’s why it’s a good idea to hang onto your ticket stubs  – but I have had the pleasure of seeing concerts by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Bruce Cockburn, John Prine, Blue Rodeo, and Jason Isbell, to name just a few.

When I was talking to David about my Massey Hall memories, I think I told him that I had seen the musical Hair there. I later thought, that can’t be right, and it wasn’t. I saw Hair at the Royal Alexandra theatre – another great Toronto venue.

The last act I caught at Massey Hall was the band The War on Drugs. They were only scheduled to play one night for which I was unable to obtain tickets, but then they added a second night – so in we went. And it was a fabulous concert. I am looking forward to picking up where I left off and getting to a show ASAP to see the renovations firsthand and to enjoy some live music for the first time in over two years.

Massey Hall – legendary venue, acoustic gem, small intimate setting, memorable performances, and now fully renovated. I can hardly wait to walk through those three red doors one more time.