Revival 69: The Concert that Rocked the World, a documentary about the one-day Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival in 1969, will be released digitally on June 28th and play in select theaters. The historic event that was largely unknown outside of hardcore Lennon/Beatles fans and music industry insiders.
The festival, held on September 13th, 1969, at Toronto's Varsity Stadium, featured a last-minute performance by John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band, which included Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, bassist Klaus Voorman, and drummer Alan White. They joined a lineup including The Doors, Chicago, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Bo Diddley, and Alice Cooper. Despite the star-studded lineup, the media remained skeptical of Lennon's participation until he was seen boarding a plane for Toronto on the day of the show.
The documentary, captured by the late D.A. Pennebaker, features interviews with festival promoter John Brower, Alice Cooper, Geddy Lee, Klaus Voormann, The Doors’ Robby Krieger, and many others. One notable interview is with Lennon's personal assistant, Anthony Fawcett, who reveals that the performance gave Lennon the confidence to announce his departure from The Beatles the following week.
Eric Clapton recalled John Lennon asking him to join them at the concert.
Clapton said, "We got into the first-class compartment of the airplane, got our guitars out and rehearsed the songs that he wanted to do. Can't imagine that happening now. The bonhomie was very strong, you know, there was great companionship there -- except when we got to Toronto airport, a limousine rolled up and John and Yoko got in and off they went and we were just left standing there on the curb, not knowing what to do. I don't know how we got to the hotel. I didn't even know what the thing was all about. I didn't know, for instance, that we'd gone on with Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis either side of us. I didn't know any of what was going on, really. It was just having a great time."
[Source: Classic Hits Today]