The Stones Satisfy Toronto

The Rolling Stones' concert to aid Toronto rewrote the record books yesterday -- 430,000 people attended the eleven-hour spectacular that also featured Justin Timberlake, AC/DC, the Flaming Lips, the Guess Who and others, making it the largest paid concert ever staged.

Dubbed "SARS-stock," the concert was intended to bring much-needed tourism to the city, hit hard financially by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome this spring.

The Stones' long relationship with the Toronto includes many rehearsals sessions (and a notable drug bust). They flew in from Prague on Monday night, and were heading straight back to Europe after the show. Their night-closing ninety-minute set featured classics like "Brown Sugar," "You Can't Always Get What You Want," "Sympathy for the Devil," "Satisfaction," "Honky Tonk Women" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash."

Timberlake joined them to sing "Miss You" with Mick Jagger, the two shadowing each other's dancing and sharing the vocals. "What do you want to sing?" Jagger worked into the lyric. Timberlake answered, "Cry Me a River."

When Keith Richards took the mike to sing, he prefaced "Nearness of You" with a tribute. "We gotta recognize the ones who took the hit, you know," he said, referring to the forty-two people who died of SARS in greater Toronto. "All we can do is say goodbye and give them this song."

Jagger took the time to thank the healthcare workers of Toronto and the Canadian Armed Forces and U.S. troops overseas watching the concert, which was broadcast to 177 countries.

By the time the Stones took the stage with "Start Me Up," fourteen other bands had rocked Downsview Park, and the crowd, some of who had camped out overnight, was already started.

Timberlake's upbeat R&B-flavored set kicked off the night session. "I think I'm here for the same reason you are all here," he told the crowd. "To see the motherfuckin' Stones!"

They were also there for Toronto. Canadian rock legends the Guess Who got the red-and-white maple leaf flags waving: When they launched into the Bachman Turner Overdrive classic "Takin' Care of Business," former BTO guitarist Randy Bachman injected a snippet of "O Canada." Toronto natives and prog-rock legends Rush included an instrumental version of the Stones' "Paint it Black" in their set. "Thanks for coming to our hometown," singer Geddy Lee told the crowd. Later, Brian Johnson of Australian rockers AC/DC, in the midst of a set that included "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "Hell's Bells" and "Back in Black," dropped his pants to reveal his Canadian flag boxer shorts.

The concert raised one dollar Canadian from every ticket sold to go to SARS-affected hospitality and healthcare workers. The net profits will also go to the relief funds, and the Stones are donating fifty-percent of their proceeds from merchandise sales to the cause.

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Song Stories

“Is It True”

Brenda Lee | 1964

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."

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