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The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History
A visual tour de force showcasing Toronto’s vast concert history.
“Not sure there’s ever been anything like this...The graphics are fascinating, the script is comprehensive. It’s staggering what’s been unleashed from the Vault.” — Gary Topp, promoter, half of the legendary duo the Garys
“These pages will take you on a musical magical mystery tour of Toronto’s important place in concert history. Reading The Flyer Vault gives you a rush, just like the one you get when the house lights go down!” — Dan Kanter, multi-platinum-selling songwriter/producer
“The Flyer Vault book helps bottle the lore, bringing me a little bit closer to my Toronto and its shows that have only grown in renown.” —Danko Jones, lead singer/guitarist of the rock trio Danko Jones
Duke Ellington. Johnny Cash. David Bowie. Nirvana. Bob Marley. Wu-Tang Clan. Daft Punk. These are just some of the legendary names that played Toronto over the last century. Drawing from Daniel Tate’s extensive flyer collection, first archived on his Flyer Vault Instagram account, Tate and Rob Bowman have assembled a time capsule that captures a mesmerizing history of Toronto concert and club life, running the gamut of genres from vaudeville to rock, jazz to hip-hop, blues to electronica, and punk to country.
The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History traces seminal live music moments in the city, including James Brown’s debut performance in the middle of a city-wide blackout, a then-unknown Jimi Hendrix backing up Wilson Pickett in 1966 — the year a new band from London named Led Zeppelin performed in Toronto six times — and the one and only show by the Notorious B.I.G., which almost caused a riot in the winter of 1995.
Complementing the book’s flyers is the story of the music, highlighting such iconic venues as Massey Hall, the Concert Hall/Rock Pile/Club 888, and the BamBoo, alongside lesser-known but equally important clubs such as Industry Nightclub and the Edge.
“Not sure there’s ever been anything like this...The graphics are fascinating, the script is comprehensive. It’s staggering what’s been unleashed from the Vault.” — Gary Topp, promoter, half of the legendary duo the Garys
“These pages will take you on a musical magical mystery tour of Toronto’s important place in concert history. Reading The Flyer Vault gives you a rush, just like the one you get when the house lights go down!” — Dan Kanter, multi-platinum-selling songwriter/producer
“The Flyer Vault book helps bottle the lore, bringing me a little bit closer to my Toronto and its shows that have only grown in renown.” —Danko Jones, lead singer/guitarist of the rock trio Danko Jones
Duke Ellington. Johnny Cash. David Bowie. Nirvana. Bob Marley. Wu-Tang Clan. Daft Punk. These are just some of the legendary names that played Toronto over the last century. Drawing from Daniel Tate’s extensive flyer collection, first archived on his Flyer Vault Instagram account, Tate and Rob Bowman have assembled a time capsule that captures a mesmerizing history of Toronto concert and club life, running the gamut of genres from vaudeville to rock, jazz to hip-hop, blues to electronica, and punk to country.
The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History traces seminal live music moments in the city, including James Brown’s debut performance in the middle of a city-wide blackout, a then-unknown Jimi Hendrix backing up Wilson Pickett in 1966 — the year a new band from London named Led Zeppelin performed in Toronto six times — and the one and only show by the Notorious B.I.G., which almost caused a riot in the winter of 1995.
Complementing the book’s flyers is the story of the music, highlighting such iconic venues as Massey Hall, the Concert Hall/Rock Pile/Club 888, and the BamBoo, alongside lesser-known but equally important clubs such as Industry Nightclub and the Edge.
328 pages, ebook
Published October 26, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 23, 2024
This book was OK, a little interesting, a little dull. considering this was a book based around flyers, there were actually not a ton of flyers reproduced in the book, and I have to say, a lot of flyers aren't that interesting.
Early on, I thought about abandoning this book as I feared it would have been of limited interest to me, but then when I realized how many books I'd read about the Toronto music scene (The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern: A Complete History, Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History Of Punk In Toronto And Beyond 1977-1981, Eve Of Darkness Toronto Heavy Metal In The 1980's), I thought I needed to read this as a completist.
I did find it interesting how many big names have come to Toronto, especially early on. I didn't realize that we had minstrel shows here. All the historic stuff was interesting. There are genres of music where I recognized a lot of names and some where almost none were familiar to me.
I will take issue with the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal chapter. Until then, I thought the authors dealt with every genre of music fairly respectfully, treating them all without judgement. Now, it's possible that I'm more sensitive about this genre because that's what I listen to, but it seemed very dismissive. Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is described as "interminable," there's a lot of talk about how plastic Kiss was, prompted by a concert review, Black Sabbath's music is described as "leaden" and Axl Rose is mocked for ripping up a Nirvana t-shirt on-stage.
Several chapters contain negative contemporary reviews of concerts, but the writers seems to enjoy inserting a few extra ones in this chapter for good measure. They also include one concert-goer's memory of a show, who evokes This is Spinal Tap to describe the crowd. I loved Spinal Tap, but using it in this context is an obvious putdown. It's funny, because the writer comments on a lot of these negative contemporary reviews as being ignorant, but basically takes the same tact in the treatment of these bands in this chapter.
Several details are just plain wrong. Judas Priest is described as being the first NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) band to come to Toronto. Judas Priest was not part of the NWOBHM, they preceded it. And if you're interested in learning more about this musical movement, I would recommend Martin Popoff's excellent two volume set, beginning with the first volume Wheels of Steel: The Explosive Early Years of the NWOBHM
Later, there is reference ton the emergence of sub-genres like black and death metal. It's stated that death metal didn't really get up to Toronto much since it started in Scandanavia (I'm paraphrasing here, as I don't have the book in front of me), with band like Bathory, Burzum and Emperor, but Cannibal Corpse made it up here.
The only thing accurate about that last paragraph is that Cannibal Corpse was a death metal band. The other three bands are all black metal bands. Black metal did indeed evolve and develop in Scandavia, but death metal was an American creation, with bands like San Francisco's Possessed and Orlando's Death leading the charge. The three bands listed are very important in the history of black metal, with Swedish band Bathory really embracing Venom's concept of black metal and blazing the path that other bands would follow. Burzum and Emperor were both involved in the Norwegian black metal scene, with members of both band being imprisoned for murder and arson (Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground).
This last point might seem a little nit-picky - metal is full of sub-genres - but considering the laundry list of sub-genres listed during the blowjob of a chapter on electronic music -"my favourite show ever" "I hope someone someday writes the history of electronic music in Toronto" and the care taken in describing the history of hiphop, I think a little research could have been done here. Although, it does cast into doubt how accurate their information is about other forms of music. If I can spot several glaring errors in a chapter about the music that I love best, how do I know that they got other information correct about music I know less about? The whole book could be riddled with misinformation.
Finally, with the exception of Rush, and Steppenwolf's predecessors The Sparrows, there's no mention of local hard rock/metal bands. Considering that every other chapter lists local acts, this is a glaring omission. So another mark against this chapter.
I will fully admit that if this chapter had been done with the care and respect that was given to the others, I might have given this book a slightly higher rating, but in truth, the book was kind of boring for big stretches, and the heavy metal chapter pissed me off. So, two stars it is.
Early on, I thought about abandoning this book as I feared it would have been of limited interest to me, but then when I realized how many books I'd read about the Toronto music scene (The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern: A Complete History, Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History Of Punk In Toronto And Beyond 1977-1981, Eve Of Darkness Toronto Heavy Metal In The 1980's), I thought I needed to read this as a completist.
I did find it interesting how many big names have come to Toronto, especially early on. I didn't realize that we had minstrel shows here. All the historic stuff was interesting. There are genres of music where I recognized a lot of names and some where almost none were familiar to me.
I will take issue with the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal chapter. Until then, I thought the authors dealt with every genre of music fairly respectfully, treating them all without judgement. Now, it's possible that I'm more sensitive about this genre because that's what I listen to, but it seemed very dismissive. Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is described as "interminable," there's a lot of talk about how plastic Kiss was, prompted by a concert review, Black Sabbath's music is described as "leaden" and Axl Rose is mocked for ripping up a Nirvana t-shirt on-stage.
Several chapters contain negative contemporary reviews of concerts, but the writers seems to enjoy inserting a few extra ones in this chapter for good measure. They also include one concert-goer's memory of a show, who evokes This is Spinal Tap to describe the crowd. I loved Spinal Tap, but using it in this context is an obvious putdown. It's funny, because the writer comments on a lot of these negative contemporary reviews as being ignorant, but basically takes the same tact in the treatment of these bands in this chapter.
Several details are just plain wrong. Judas Priest is described as being the first NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) band to come to Toronto. Judas Priest was not part of the NWOBHM, they preceded it. And if you're interested in learning more about this musical movement, I would recommend Martin Popoff's excellent two volume set, beginning with the first volume Wheels of Steel: The Explosive Early Years of the NWOBHM
Later, there is reference ton the emergence of sub-genres like black and death metal. It's stated that death metal didn't really get up to Toronto much since it started in Scandanavia (I'm paraphrasing here, as I don't have the book in front of me), with band like Bathory, Burzum and Emperor, but Cannibal Corpse made it up here.
The only thing accurate about that last paragraph is that Cannibal Corpse was a death metal band. The other three bands are all black metal bands. Black metal did indeed evolve and develop in Scandavia, but death metal was an American creation, with bands like San Francisco's Possessed and Orlando's Death leading the charge. The three bands listed are very important in the history of black metal, with Swedish band Bathory really embracing Venom's concept of black metal and blazing the path that other bands would follow. Burzum and Emperor were both involved in the Norwegian black metal scene, with members of both band being imprisoned for murder and arson (Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground).
This last point might seem a little nit-picky - metal is full of sub-genres - but considering the laundry list of sub-genres listed during the blowjob of a chapter on electronic music -"my favourite show ever" "I hope someone someday writes the history of electronic music in Toronto" and the care taken in describing the history of hiphop, I think a little research could have been done here. Although, it does cast into doubt how accurate their information is about other forms of music. If I can spot several glaring errors in a chapter about the music that I love best, how do I know that they got other information correct about music I know less about? The whole book could be riddled with misinformation.
Finally, with the exception of Rush, and Steppenwolf's predecessors The Sparrows, there's no mention of local hard rock/metal bands. Considering that every other chapter lists local acts, this is a glaring omission. So another mark against this chapter.
I will fully admit that if this chapter had been done with the care and respect that was given to the others, I might have given this book a slightly higher rating, but in truth, the book was kind of boring for big stretches, and the heavy metal chapter pissed me off. So, two stars it is.
April 10, 2021
After my last book which took me a month and a week to finish, I needed a lighter read next. Whereas Le Ton beau de Marot was both a weighty and an academic read, The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History by Daniel Tate & Rob Bowman was light only on content. Its pages were substantially glossy and thick, rendering its 306 pages as heavy as the 700+ page Marot.
The title refers to Tate’s vast library of concert flyers which he and music journalist Rob Bowman researched and wrote about. They reproduced these posters in vibrant colour, and found yellowed newspaper ads for some very early Toronto shows. I always had to use a magnifying class to read the fine print on the posters, which are essentially illegible when shrunk to fit the dimensions of even a large paperback.
Chapters were divided by musical genre and era. The authors deliberately ignored classical music, yet profiled inasmuch as it could genres by chronological history, starting thus with minstrel shows and vaudeville, followed by jubilees, spirituals and gospel tours, then jazz, blues, country and folk, followed by all forms of popular music from post-WWII.
A book of such length should have taken me merely a couple days to read, but unfortunately I found I could only take in two chapters at a time. The format of showing a poster and then listing the contents and a concert review, if there was one available, made for a sleepy read after an hour.
Tate and Bowman were competent researchers who often proved the newspapers wrong when concerts were cancelled or rescheduled last-minute, leaving the public record–newspaper ads and public posters–still showing the incorrect dates. Their research proved that even the memories of the performers themselves were wrong at times. I still found some inconsistencies, though, for example in regards to the date of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s first concert in Toronto. Was it in July 1983 at the CNE Bandshell (as stated on page 52) or in June 1983 at the Concert Hall (page 53)? The text was otherwise flawless with the exception of the possessive apostrophe error of it’s for its on page 278: “…it certainly had it’s coming out party in Toronto.” I also wondered why they always referred to Patti Smith as a poetess and not simply a poet.
Bowman exposed the sometimes racist reviews left by Toronto newspaper columnists. Open-mindedness was not a trait of some reviewers, who preferred to see and hear exactly what they expected on concert stages. Innovative artists who decided to shake up their performances were often given the thumbs down. Thus I was pleasantly surprised to read Bowman’s favourable review of Yoko Ono’s performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival:
“Yoko Ono contributed an astonishing version of ‘Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow),’ which the conservative Toronto media of the time predictably trashed. History would prove their take on Yoko to be both racist and artistically wrong-headed given the influence Yoko would have on numerous new wave and alternative rock bands to come.”
The title refers to Tate’s vast library of concert flyers which he and music journalist Rob Bowman researched and wrote about. They reproduced these posters in vibrant colour, and found yellowed newspaper ads for some very early Toronto shows. I always had to use a magnifying class to read the fine print on the posters, which are essentially illegible when shrunk to fit the dimensions of even a large paperback.
Chapters were divided by musical genre and era. The authors deliberately ignored classical music, yet profiled inasmuch as it could genres by chronological history, starting thus with minstrel shows and vaudeville, followed by jubilees, spirituals and gospel tours, then jazz, blues, country and folk, followed by all forms of popular music from post-WWII.
A book of such length should have taken me merely a couple days to read, but unfortunately I found I could only take in two chapters at a time. The format of showing a poster and then listing the contents and a concert review, if there was one available, made for a sleepy read after an hour.
Tate and Bowman were competent researchers who often proved the newspapers wrong when concerts were cancelled or rescheduled last-minute, leaving the public record–newspaper ads and public posters–still showing the incorrect dates. Their research proved that even the memories of the performers themselves were wrong at times. I still found some inconsistencies, though, for example in regards to the date of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s first concert in Toronto. Was it in July 1983 at the CNE Bandshell (as stated on page 52) or in June 1983 at the Concert Hall (page 53)? The text was otherwise flawless with the exception of the possessive apostrophe error of it’s for its on page 278: “…it certainly had it’s coming out party in Toronto.” I also wondered why they always referred to Patti Smith as a poetess and not simply a poet.
Bowman exposed the sometimes racist reviews left by Toronto newspaper columnists. Open-mindedness was not a trait of some reviewers, who preferred to see and hear exactly what they expected on concert stages. Innovative artists who decided to shake up their performances were often given the thumbs down. Thus I was pleasantly surprised to read Bowman’s favourable review of Yoko Ono’s performance at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival:
“Yoko Ono contributed an astonishing version of ‘Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow),’ which the conservative Toronto media of the time predictably trashed. History would prove their take on Yoko to be both racist and artistically wrong-headed given the influence Yoko would have on numerous new wave and alternative rock bands to come.”
The Flyer Vault is a rich trip down memory lane where clubs and venues of the past come back to life and on more than one occasion I stopped myself and recalled “Oh yeah, I was there!”
January 12, 2020
In 2015, Daniel Tate rediscovered a bunch of old Toronto hip hop concerts and rave flyers he'd collected over the years. He started posting them to Instagram and people started noticing. He connected with Rob Bowman re flyers for specific shows 1969 and 1970. They started chatting and decided to create a book with images of Daniel's image and Rob's musical background knowledge would be a great idea. They narrowed Daniel's 8,000 images down to the about 170 images that are included in the book. They also decided to use the year 2000 as the cut-off date. They tended to focus on debut performances by artists and shows that for whatever reason were "exceptional".
Performances and what was going on at the time are discussed at a high level. The first performance mentioned is Swedish soprano Jenny Lind who appeared at St. Lawrence Hall in October 1851. The chapters cover a wide variety of topics, genres and venues (the focus is more on the early years) and include:
1. Minstrel Troupes and Vaudeville Stars
2. Jubilee, Spirituals and Gospel
3. Jazz
4. The Blues
5. Country
6. Folk
7. '50s Rock 'n Roll
8. Classic Rock
9. Music Festivals
10. Soul and R&B
11. Calypso, Reggae and Dancehall
12. Punk, Hardcore and Grunge
13. Hard Rock and Metal
14. The Queen Street Scene
15. Hip Hop
16. Contemporary R&B
17. Electronic and Dance Music
I moved to Toronto in February 1987 and went to a lot of bars and clubs to hear live music and concerts so was familiar with most of the venues discussed in that time period. I hadn't been to any of the shows they discussed, though, even though I was into that kind of music. I found myself stopping and Googling the venues I'd never heard of wondering where they used to be. Many are long torn down with shiny buildings in their places. Or if it was a place I'd heard of and/or been to, I'd Google to see whatever happened to it. Throughout the book are flyers promoting many acts that came to Toronto. I found it amusing to see that many said "live" or "live in person".
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2020/01...
Performances and what was going on at the time are discussed at a high level. The first performance mentioned is Swedish soprano Jenny Lind who appeared at St. Lawrence Hall in October 1851. The chapters cover a wide variety of topics, genres and venues (the focus is more on the early years) and include:
1. Minstrel Troupes and Vaudeville Stars
2. Jubilee, Spirituals and Gospel
3. Jazz
4. The Blues
5. Country
6. Folk
7. '50s Rock 'n Roll
8. Classic Rock
9. Music Festivals
10. Soul and R&B
11. Calypso, Reggae and Dancehall
12. Punk, Hardcore and Grunge
13. Hard Rock and Metal
14. The Queen Street Scene
15. Hip Hop
16. Contemporary R&B
17. Electronic and Dance Music
I moved to Toronto in February 1987 and went to a lot of bars and clubs to hear live music and concerts so was familiar with most of the venues discussed in that time period. I hadn't been to any of the shows they discussed, though, even though I was into that kind of music. I found myself stopping and Googling the venues I'd never heard of wondering where they used to be. Many are long torn down with shiny buildings in their places. Or if it was a place I'd heard of and/or been to, I'd Google to see whatever happened to it. Throughout the book are flyers promoting many acts that came to Toronto. I found it amusing to see that many said "live" or "live in person".
Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2020/01...
November 19, 2019
A beautiful and fascinating book on everything you'd want to know about Toronto Concert History over the last 150 years. If you went to any concerts in Toronto, from the 50s (and before) to 2000, you'll find something about it here. From jazz to hip hop; folk to hard rock; it's all here, in an interesting, engaging and well-written format. Beautifully reproduced flyers and posters from hundreds of concerts. This book would be a great present for anyone interested in music, in musical history, or in Toronto history.
March 11, 2023
Awesome retrospective of all different genres of music and popular concerts in Toronto through Tate's flyers. Learned a lot with highlights being raves at what is now Eagle's Nest Golf Club (my first job), John Lennon making it last minute to Varsity Stadium and Leonard Cohen first singing at York U (perhaps Prof Bowman's touch there). Wanted more insight on these shows but I get that they had little sources on that and that the newspapers didn't review concerts back then.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews