John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Little Richard, The Doors, Chuck Berry, Alice Cooper, and other legendary musicians performed at the 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll Revival music festival. This behind-the-scenes look at “the second most important event in rock and roll history” culminates in John Lennon’s first public performance with The Plastic Ono Band, triggering his decision to leave the Beatles.
“Captures the beautiful madness of the 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll Revival music festival.”
The Vancouver Sun
Directed by Ron Chapman
In Theaters & On Digital 28 June 2024
Theaters | Amazon Prime Video | AppleTV | Fandango at home | YouTube | Google Play | DVD
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 behind-the-scenes, Super 8 vérité, including unreleased concert footage from
D.A. Pennebaker’s original 16mm film, 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.
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