Posted on 07/19/2003 11:21:33 AM PDT by My Favorite Headache
TORONTO - The blockbuster lineup for the Rolling Stones concert in Toronto on July 30 has been expanded.
The Tea Party and Blue Rodeo are confirmed to take part in the event that's expected to attract 600,000 people to an old Armed Forces base in Downsview, in the city's north end.
Besides the Rolling Stones, the performers also include Rush,AC/DC, the Guess Who, Justin Timberlake, Sam Roberts, the Flaming Lips, Kathleen Edwards, the Isley Brothers, Sass Jordan and La Chicane.
Tickets for the ten-hour music marathon, which will be hosted by actors Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi, are $21.50. Half of the 600,000 tickets for the show have been embargoed for U.S. and international ticket buyers at $16 US each.
But the star-studded lineup may not be enough to convince some people to attend. Fans continued Wednesday to speak out about restrictions being imposed on concertgoers, who are allowed to take in just two bottles of sealed water. They also will not be permitted to take in blankets, umbrellas, lawn chairs, coolers, video or recording equipment or food onto the open field.
Food, beer and water will be sold at the site.
The Toronto Transit Commission has warned that it can only move about 50,000 people an hour, and those who live within a two-hour walk of the venue might wish to make their way home on foot.
The concert is designed to help the city recover from the stigma of the SARS virus.
Follow Up
It’s like the second coming of Y2K: newspapers are coming out with lists of items for naïve consumers to stock up on in preparation for what is being touted as the Event To End All Events. Of course, we’re speaking of the much-anticipated July 30 Rolling Stones/Rush concert at Downsview Park, which promises to draw over 500,000 people out to the massive Toronto airfield.
As the excitement and anticipation has mounted over the past few weeks, officials have been continually modifying their lists of allowed and prohibited items. The latest word puts the following among the allowed list: snack foods, special dietary foods, two sealed bottles of non-alcoholic beverages (with free water refills being offered on-site), cell phones, soft-sided coolers and knapsacks, beach towels, non-zippered cushions or sleeping bags, binoculars, medications and rain ponchos.
Wow, that’s more than most of us bring on a weekend of camping; yet for some reason, many-a-fan are still getting their panties in a knot about other restrictions. Currently, the list of prohibited items includes cameras and other recording devices, chairs, weapons of any sort, alcohol, cans and bottles, camping equipment, hard-sided coolers, bicycles, skateboards, inline skates and scooters.
Now come on, how is that fair? We all know that it’s impossible to enjoy a concert without shooting off some fireworks as we skateboard merrily along, recording the show with one hand and chugging a 40 of vodka with the other.
Despite the fact that the restrictions on what could be brought into the park were eased yesterday, there are still fans complaining about the fact that they can’t take things like chairs and blankets into the show. Which leaves us all to wonder: have these people ever attended a concert in their lives, or are they just trying to annoy the rest of us? Sure, this concert is going to be huge, but in the end it is just another rock show – and if you don’t like the rules, perhaps you should just head on back to your living room, perch yourself on a comfortable chair, and watch the concert coverage on television.
Because they are worried about terror attacks.
No, actually it's because they want to sell food/beer/water at exorbitant prices, and they're willing to let people without water get dehydrated.
Anyone who sets up a venue like this and won't let people bring their own water should have to provide it for free.
One of these things is not like the others...
One of these things just doesn't belong...
Justin is probably VERY thankful that alcohol is verboten.
ps: Who or what are the Blue Rodeo and the Tea Party?
They're the other opening bands that'll get booed off stage. Other than that, I don't know.
This is Canada after all.
Reminds me of those commercials "Don't be that guy".
Nah, you had another six years of good music yet. Led Zeppelin, Boston, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Yes, and a few more would still come out with stuff worth listening to.
Universal Truth #13,308 - Metalheads don't like boy bands and they tend to display behavior to that end.
Thankfully, I did get to meet a dozen or so stars of all sorts while playing in Hollywood, including Betty White, Lou Rawls, Jim McGuinn, saw Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and Stephanie Powers in cars next to us; saw Groucho Marx just before he died and talked to him in his driveway; and hung out with Bonnie Pointer. I also got a Pepsi out of the machine for Greg Allman, who was too stoned to put his quarter in!
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