"The second most important event in rock & roll history" was a one-day event held on September 12, 1969 at the University of Toronto's Varsity Stadium. An incredible story of how the life-changing concert came together.
REVIVAL69: The Concert That Rocked the World, is the remarkable, behind-the-scenes story of how a little known, but life-altering music festival came together — against all odds. Young, scrappy concert promoter John Brower puts his life on the line (literally) to turn his failing Toronto Rock n Roll Revival into a one-day event, later coined in rock mythology as “the second most important event in rock & roll history.” And it almost didn't happen.
The festival united rock legends like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, and Gene Vincent, with The Doors, who were the biggest band in the world. But it was the 11th hour arrival of John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band that ignited a truly seminal moment for the 20,000 fans at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium.
Through exclusive conversations with iconic musicians like Alice Cooper, Robbie Kreiger (The Doors), Alan White (Yes), Geddy Lee (Rush), Danny Seraphine (Chicago) and Klaus Voorman (Manfred Mann, The Beatles), and over 60 minutes of remarkable archival footage and audio tapes, the documentary immerses us in the whirlwind chaos leading up to the festival — the biker gang, threat of cancellation, a mid-flight band rehearsal, and inexplicable luck that culminated in Lennon shedding the mantle of the Beatles and nervously taking the stage with Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, and Alan White — an unforgettable happening that triggered Lennon's decision to leave the Beatles forever.
Forged with rare, recently discovered behind-the-scenes Super 8 verité footage, and including never-before seen 16mm film of the concert shot by D.A. Pennebaker and his crew, REVIVAL69: The Concert That Rocked the World, is an exhilarating VIP ride into a pivotal moment in music history, told through the eyes of those who were there: the musicians, the mavericks behind the scenes, and all who witnessed history in the making.