SARSstock Review (793 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.83 on 16 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Chris Rivers-Liebig <reverse88.at.hotmail.com> (View user info) at 2003-07-31 08:48:13 EDT
Yesterday I was one of the 450000 people who crammed into Downsview Park in Toronto to witness what was quite possibly the most explosive line-up to hit North America since the original Woodstock.
Holy *expletive deleted* Batman.
For those of you who havent heard about the concert, which Toronontians would find very hard to fathom, the line-up was headlined by the Rolling Stones, joined by AC/DC, Rush, the Guess Who, Justin Timberlake, The Isley Brothers, Belushi/Akroyd, Sam Roberts, Sass Jordan, Blue Rodeo and someone called Kathleen Edwards.
I arrived at 7:15 at the South entrance to the park. I was supposed to meet friends there, but unfortunately they were stupid and went to north entrance, about 5 km away. So I went through checkpoint, got my ticket ripped, and joined the throngs. By the time I got there, the crowd had already easily filled the first 200 meters to the stage. So I set up my pitifully small Chicago Cubs towel on the ground, and began to battle the onlookers for enough space to seat my 6 friends. People were pretty good about it.
Quite possibly the ugliest and dirtiest guy on the planet was about 10 feet away from me. He screamed pure raunch. His teeth were crooked, hair greasy and straggly, he wore black plether pants and an open black shirt, revealing chest hair that appeared to be well on its way to being dreadlocks. Then my friends arrived, and one of them knows him. Apparently he's some hardcore metalhead.
The better bands in the first session (RS, AC/DC, Rush and TGW were later) were the Isely Brothers and Sam Roberts. They both smoked out good, but short sessions. Justin Timberlake allowed the fans of Toronto to display their boorishness, when they all started launching half-filled water bottles at him, but he just dodged them while dancing. After his first song, people stopped, most likely because they were out of water bottles, as opposed to any real sympathy. But maybe Im a cynic.
Im hungry, so I start to make my way back through the crowds for food. This is the first time Ive looked behind me in hours. The crowd now stretches easily 1 kilometer BEHIND me, and as there were no in/out lanes, I had to wade through them all to get food. I think if I remember correctly (the continual smell of weed addled my brain....) I was given 3 death threats, one kick in the shins and a water bottle to the back of the head for my troubles. When I finally made it to "Florida's Best Ribs - Winner of the 2003 Boss Hog Award" I paid my 11 bucks for ribs and a coke, ate, and then sighed, looked at the crowd, and started back through.
The evening session made the 10 hours of 33 degrees whether and fat, hairy guys and one 80 year old topless woman with Rolling Stones lips on her nipples, worthwhile. The Guess who were awesome. Rush was decent. Then came AC/DC. I went with a group of hardcore AC/DC fans, though I myself didnt know much about them.
Ive been missing out.
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap was quite possibly the best song Ive ever heard. The entire crowd went nuts, and AC/DC up on stage was simply insane. They were dancing around, playing guitar with their ties, Angus Young stripped down to Canadian flag boxers. And then they played Thunderstruck. I didnt think my ears could take anymore punishment. I was wrong. BOOOOMMMM! Every song they played was better than the last. Hell's Bells, Highway to Hell and Back in Black were other songs that drew massive reactions.
Finally, around 10:05 the Stones pranced onstage. Mick was wearing a brilliant pink overcoat, and Keith Richards was resplendent in purple. But they rocked hard. And then Justin came out for one song, and when a fan launched a water bottle at him from near the front, Richards went to the edge of the stage and started reaming the guy out for it. The rest of the band kept playing, and this 60 year old rocker is just standing screaming at the unruly ran, making suggestive gestures with his fist and where it could end up. I loved it. Even though I dont like Justin, he didnt deserve what he got.
Overall, my ears are still ringing, Im a sunburnt, exhausted mess, and Im at work. But the second I think back to AC/DC and Dirty Deeds, I forget all about it and faze out again. So far Ive had 4 cups of coffee with no noticeable effect.
User Reviews
Submitted by Christ (user info) at 2004-01-02 00:40:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
No Comment
Submitted by messmind (user info) at 2003-08-21 17:09:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Had a big laugh on it !
Have fun !
Submitted by Rivers_Liebig (user info) at 2003-08-07 09:58:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Help - You fucking bastard! I was 3rd best post ALLTIME! Why would you do that?! You fucknut.
Submitted by Helpertin <me.at.fakeemails.com> at 2003-08-06 19:05:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Ha ha ha no longer a perfect rating!
Oh ya a -2 because concerts suck along with the people who go to them...
Submitted by Flapjacksupreme (user info) at 2003-07-31 16:15:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Although I'm a Canadian myself, I'm way out in the middle of no-where (somewhere above ND) , and couldn't go to the concert.
Although, I have watched the news the last couple nights. When JT was interviewed by the various Media about the water bottles he just chuckled and said something like "Well I can sort of understand it, if I came here to see AC/DC I wouldn't be too happy to see me either". That isn't what he said, but close.
I'm curious about those Ribs you had, from what I heard the promoters were ONLY Canadian Beef. I'm wondering if that was imported pig though. See any people flipping meat that seemed to be quite popular with the crowd? The deputy prime minister (Canadian Vice President), Paul Martin (The guy replacing Canada's Prime Minister at the end of his final term), and various Western Priemiers (Canadian State Senators) were selling Canadian Beef with big smiles.
Submitted by iddqd (user info) at 2003-07-31 12:01:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
acca dacca fucking RULE. that first riff from 'back in black' is just unforgettable.
yet another ridiculously fine contribution to the music world from australia.
hmmmm, i might put up a post listing some more aussie bands, so you can appreciate the pure awesomeness of aussie music.
Submitted by Rivers_Liebig (user info) at 2003-07-31 11:46:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Dont like giving myself 2's... but I do like the perfect ranking, so Ill leave it for now. Until someone disagrees with the 2, then Ill give 1's like usual.
El_Guapo: Its funny you mention that you like my reviews. :) Ive only been to 3 concerts in my life, this was my 3rd, and last week's Barenaked Ladies was the 2nd. I should keep going, just because they make decent posts.
Loki: Unrelated note. Feel free to be my fantasy. I mean... fantasy football buddy. Sorry.
Submitted by El_Guapo (user info) at 2003-07-31 11:00:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
""Submitted by DjSilky (user info) at 2003-07-31 09:41:28 (#)
Ranking: 2
You know, I predicted that someone would climb up on stage and try to beat Timberlake's ass....I guess I wasn't TOO far off. ""
hahahah. i threw a thing of nachos at blink 182 once, i almost got thrown out of the warped tour for that. however, i didn't almost get kicked out for running over the singer from Lit. he's a short mofo.
Submitted by Razor (user info) at 2003-07-31 10:44:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Sounds like a good concert.
From what I understand, Justin Timberlake put out a very good solo CD, although I haven't heard a single track off of it. They say he's garnering actual respect as an actual musician.
Submitted by El_Guapo (user info) at 2003-07-31 10:41:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
awesome. i love your show reviews man.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2003-07-31 10:23:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Did he "rock your body"? I have a treadmill at home that I run on when it's blazing hot or freezing cold like oh say 33. Sam freaks out everytime that song comes on mtv, he says it makes his ears bleed.
Submitted by Rivers_Liebig (user info) at 2003-07-31 10:16:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yeah, I was surprised that JT was included in the list myself. Someone actually made up t-shirts with the list of performers, with his name at the bottom upside-down.
But he did soldier through the boorish manners of the crowd, and so I have to respect him for that.
Submitted by DjSilky (user info) at 2003-07-31 09:41:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You know, I predicted that someone would climb up on stage and try to beat Timberlake's ass....I guess I wasn't TOO far off.
Submitted by d_d (user info) at 2003-07-31 09:37:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
JT was the best artist there
Submitted by Otter (user info) at 2003-07-31 09:32:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Hey--this is no place for concert reviews!
That sounded like a killer concert, I onlky heard about it yesterday. The line up soundeds great, but what friggen idiot thought that there would be a plethora of teenybopper girls that wanted to see Justin Timberlake.
It's funny that he was booed and targeted by water bottels, I didn't know that Canadians had it in them. That was kinda messed up though considering he was there to help the economy of Toronto.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2003-07-31 09:29:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Why would they throw Justin Timberlake into that group? Were the organizers on crack or what? My roommate in college dragged me to an AC/DC show - sooo not my scene, but the passed out drunk skinny girl rednecks getting carried out by piss drunk fat redneck men was entertaining. They actually do put on quite a show, but my ears rang for a week. They were blasting a damn cannon off inside the place, what the fuck.
33 degrees - wow freezing cold huh? HAHAHAH narrow minded American humor, here's another one, by "200 meters" do you mean "about the size of two football fields"?